Social Phsy Unit I Reflection

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PSY 3140, Social Psychology 1

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Describe the history of social psychology. 1.1 Explain the history and development of social psychology.

4. Discuss the application of social psychology to a variety of disciplines. 4.1 Distinguish social psychology from other fields of psychology. 4.2 Apply social psychology to your personal and professional interests.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Unit I Reflection Paper

4.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 1 Unit I Reflection Paper

4.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 1 Unit I Reflection Paper

Reading Assignment

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Social Psychology

Chapter 2: Research Methods

Unit Lesson

An Introduction to Social Psychology

Consider the following scenarios that might happen to many people in their daily lives.

Traffic is bumper-to-bumper today. While trying to make it to work on time through all the gridlock, you notice someone driving on the shoulder to pass everyone. You think to yourself, “What makes that person feel so important?” or “Where are the police when you need them?” The person passes you and continues along the shoulder, eventually getting off at the next exit. You make it to work 15 minutes late, and you have to listen to your boss lecture you about promptness.

You are waiting in line at the bank to cash a check. You are in a rush, but you really need this check cashed before the weekend. After 30 minutes, you are next in line to meet with a banker. As a banker becomes available, someone rushes up and goes to the banker in front of you. You give the person a dirty look, but stay in line, and do not say anything. After another 15 minutes, a second banker becomes available. When you go to cash the check, the banker tells you that because it is ten minutes past two o’clock, the check will take an extra day to clear. Therefore, you cannot get the check cashed today.

Today has been very busy at work. By noon, you are absolutely starving. You go to a fast food restaurant and order your food. While you are waiting for your food, you notice someone talking on his phone, and he is

UNIT I STUDY GUIDE

Introduction to Social Psychology

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clearly not paying attention. You hear that your order is ready, and you receive a tray with your food and drink. You walk away to your table, and just as you get there, the person on the phone bumps you from behind. The food on the tray falls to the floor, and the drink spills on your shirt.

These scenarios are very different and can make you think about explanations for the behaviors of the people involved including yourself. Many social psychologists attempt to answer why humans behave in certain ways. Throughout this course, you will learn the various ways that social psychologists think about and explain human behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Social psychology is the scientific study of how people influence each other’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). This influence can be obvious (e.g., a friend asking for a favor) or subtle (e.g., catchy jingles from advertisements), coming from real, perceived, or even the unrealized presence of other people, such as cultural or social norms.

Most of social psychology’s current big questions in exploring human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors stem from three primary areas of interest: social thinking, social influence, and social behavior (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Briefly, social thinking involves definitions of the self and how you think about people around you; while social influence relates to issues of conformity, prejudice, and persuasion; and social behavior describes instances of helping, hurting, liking, and loving others.

Hundreds of years ago, if you wanted to study social psychology, you would end up studying with philosophers. Philosophers and social psychologists both ask questions about human behavior, but social psychologists attempt to look at these questions scientifically. Social psychologists ask empirical questions that are derived from experimentation or measurement rather than by personal opinion, as set

forth by our predecessors, the father of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, and the father of social psychology, Kurt Lewin (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019).

Sometimes, new students believe that social psychology merely utilizes common sense to explain people’s behaviors, thoughts, and feelings because they are familiar with many of the relevant social scenarios. Social psychologists do not utilize common sense to empirically study human behavior. The problem with this approach is that folk wisdoms often contradict each other. For instance, the American idiom “birds of a feather flock together” is in conflict with “opposites attract.” In addition, “absence makes the heart grow fonder” and “out of sight, out of mind” are in direct opposition. It is clear that these are just sayings—not absolute truths that explain human behavior.

Because some of our explanations are drawn from assumptions, guesses, and ideas, social psychologists rely on various scientific methods to examine and potentially falsify assumptions, guesses, and ideas about complex social behavior. These methods allow one to systematically and empirically test these ideas. Through falsification, or testing whether a hypothesis can be disproved, one can determine what assumptions, guesses, and ideas to believe (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). In Chapter 2, you will uncover more about the tools social psychologists utilize to examine phenomena.

When you decided to take this course, you may have imagined that most areas of psychology cover the same topics, and you probably thought about how this particular area might apply to your own career interests. Throughout this course, you will probably come up with many ways that social psychology applies to your life. The most frequently thought of psychological area, clinical or counseling psychology, takes a different approach than social psychology by addressing issues of abnormal behaviors, whereas social psychologists focus on the normal behaviors seen in everyone, both positive and negative. How do you think social psychology compares to other social sciences, like sociology, anthropology, and political science? What about its comparison to other fields of psychology of which you are aware?

Why do people behave the way they do? Social psychology aims to answer this. (Ibreakstock, n.d.)

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While not all-inclusive, much of social psychological theory and application can be centered around 10 big questions noted in your textbook. Keeping these questions in mind throughout this course can be useful for understanding the motivations and accomplishments of social psychologists and your own responses. For example, think back to the scenarios listed above, and imagine how you would have responded if the situations occurred when others were not present. Would you have responded differently? While social influence may have an effect on your immediate surroundings, culture, and family background, it helps address some of the big questions in social psychology. How much are thoughts and behaviors influenced by culture? What are the benefits and drawbacks of living in groups?

1. Which is more influential–personality or the environment?

2. Are we shaped more by nature or nurture?

3. Are people basically good or basically evil?

4. How do people decide whether to maintain romantic relationships?

5. What are the benefits and drawbacks of living in groups?

6. How much are thoughts and behaviors influenced by culture?

7. Why do stereotypes and prejudices exist and persist?

8. How do media outlets shape our thoughts and behaviors?

9. Do people think logically or intuitively?

10. Are humans special? The Big Questions (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019)

Now, think back to the first situation. If you need to, feel free to review the situation again. What are your thoughts about this situation? Is the person just rude with no respect for the rules of the road? Would your thoughts about this situation differ if you were the person who was driving along the shoulder? You may find it hard to believe that the person who was driving along the shoulder is not just a jerk, but you might explain your own behavior with more compelling reasoning. Engaging with these ideas is part of social thinking and can connect to several big questions including: Do people think logically or intuitively? Are people basically good or basically evil? Why do stereotypes exist and persist?

Finally, think back to the last scenario. Would you respond differently if the person who had bumped into you was not distracted by talking on his phone? Your explanations and own social behavior connect to big questions in social psychology (Which is more influential–personality or the environment? Are we shaped more by biological or environmental factors?), and they depend on a variety of factors. These topics and many more will be discussed throughout this course.

Applied to a variety of social problems, social psychological theories are shown to be effective for predicting and dealing with problems like prejudice, crisis/disaster management, important life decisions, unhealthy habits, and violence between groups (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Can you think about how to apply social psychological theories to other social problems? You will explore more about social psychology’s application to various disciplines throughout the course, particularly in Units VII and VIII.

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Research Methods

Many social problems can be studied scientifically. Remember from Chapter 1 that many students consider social psychology to be common sense science. Therefore, it is not surprising that the results of many studies in social psychology seem to be obvious. This is because many times you can rely on your own personal experiences to connect to the results. As hinted in Chapter 1, researchers develop a falsifiable statement, or hypothesis, about what they want to investigate and how the results will turn out. Usually these hypotheses are developed from theories and research (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Other times, one forms hypotheses

based on personal experience. In either case, researchers employ the scientific method. The scientific method systematically cycles through observation, forms a hypothesis, tests that hypothesis, and interprets the results, which in turn, can lead to further observations and hypotheses.

How do you test your hypotheses? Think about something you would be interested in studying—either related to social psychology or your personal interests. There are many types of methods you can use to test your hypotheses including archival studies, naturalistic observation, surveys, and, perhaps most commonly, experiments and correlational designs. Typically, the first three methods are used to collect data from many participants but can also be employed as case studies, which focus on testing hypotheses through in- depth study of a single example or

person (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019).

The first three methods primarily focus on observation of pre-existing data, naturally occurring environments, or self-reported responses. Archival studies utilize pre-existing data originally created for other purposes (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). An example of an archival study would be the compilation and study of news articles and video interviews of cyberbully victims’ parents. The point of interest is the victims’ life before he or she committed suicide. Naturalistic observation involves gathering data through observing how people naturally behave in a given environment (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). An example of a naturalistic observation would be recording customers’ responses to an incorrect order at a coffee shop. Surveys provide data by asking people to respond regarding their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors on a specific topic of interest, such as how much they like their job and how often they call in sick to work (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Surveys can be administered in a variety of ways—over the phone, face-to-face, on the Internet–and allow for researchers to address topics that possibly are not well documented or are illegal to observe.

As noted above, experimental and correlational methods are the most commonly used research methodology for social psychologists. The correlational method is a technique where two or more variables are analyzed to determine the relationship between them (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). To examine this relationship, researchers assess how well you can predict one variable from another. A positive correlation means that increases in the value of one variable are associated with increases in the value of the other variable. A negative correlation means that increases in the value of one variable are associated with decreases in the value of the other (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Surveys are often used in the correlational method. Imagine that a researcher is interested in the relationship between SAT scores and GPA. The researcher might administer a survey to incoming college freshmen, asking for their SAT scores and high school GPA. Do you think this relationship will be a positive or negative correlation? What about the relationship between studying

The scientific method (Andreus, n.d.)

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Title for a driving test and making errors while driving? Also, can you think of variables that would not be related to each other?

Remember that correlation does not equal causation! It is very easy to find examples of correlational studies presented as causal studies in the popular media. This also can be applied to pre-experimental and quasi- experimental designs. You can Google this topic and find many examples. Some are very comical.

The only way to determine causal relationships is with a true experiment. In this method, participants are assigned to groups, and changes are compared in a specific outcome or response (Heinzen & Goodfriend, 2019). Critical to an experiment is the independent variable, or what is manipulated to determine its effect, and the dependent variable, or what is measured as the outcome, influenced by the independent variable. Take, for example, a researcher who is interested in how feedback influences employee performance. The research could assign employees to receive a negative or positive evaluation (the independent variable) and compare which group showed more productivity in the workplace (the dependent variable). Could differences among participants influence results? To minimize differences among participants for any type of true experimental design, researchers use random assignment to experimental condition.

Once data is collected, researchers use statistics to analyze their results and find patterns in the data. Many of the statistical tests used by social psychologists involve looking for statistically significant differences between groups, but the specific tests used to find these differences depends on how many groups are being compared: a correlation coefficient for one group, a t test for two groups, or an analysis of variance for more than two groups. Using established statistical methods can help assess the quality of one’s research and what conclusions about the data one can feel confident in making. Learning about research methods can be tough, but it is a worthwhile endeavor.

References

Andreus. (n.d.). Scientific method (ID 26397963) [Photograph]. Retrieved from www.dreamstime.com

Heinzen, T., & Goodfriend, W. (2019). Social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ibreakstock. (n.d.). Human behavior word cloud (ID 88534535) [Photograph]. Retrieved from www.dreamstime.com

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