...Running head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION PAPER Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY 400 October 24, 2011 Matt Diggs Social Psychology Very often, one wonders why one acts the way he or she does. It just seems to be human nature to ask such questions and to try to discover more about the complexity of human actions and causes. Of course, there are many perspectives in the field of psychology that attempt to address these significant questions. For instance, biopsychology considers important factors including one’s brain, genetic predisposition, and many others when addressing behavior. However, social psychology, even though it agrees with other branches in psychology, does focus on different aspects when seeking these kinds of conclusions. Social psychology centers their attention on understanding human actions such as what led to the cruelty of killing millions of people during War II. Why will one always help him or herself first, before helping others? Why do others matter more when making decisions? Social psychology is essential not only to the field of psychology but also to every individual because it provides answers to questions one seeks about him or herself and others. However, social psychology does more than provide answers to these few questions, as these merely touch the surface of social psychology’s focus (Myers, 2010). Definition of Social Psychology Social psychology is a science just like many other fields including astronomy...
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...SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION PAPER Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY 400 March 25, 2012 For this paper, the definition of social psychology will be assessed, as well as how social psychology is researched. Also discussed will be how social psychology is different from other disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, and general psychology. What is Social Psychology? Social psychology is the scientific study of social thinking, social influence, and social relations (Meyer, 2010). . Social influence is the effect that words, actions, or the presence of other people, have on our thoughts, feelings, attitude, or behavior. In other words, social psychology is the way in which individual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people, whether they are real people, or imagined in ones thoughts. At the heart of social psychology is a phenomenon of social influence. Every single person is influenced by other people. Sometimes we are influenced by persuasion, where another person deliberately tries to change another individual and their way of thinking and behavior (Meyer, 2010). Social influence is happening now on television and across America with the presidential candidates all trying to persuade the people of America to vote for them, or the commercial on crest toothpaste, using creative techniques to persuade people to buy this particular brand. Another example of social influence is seen in schools a lot. One being direct attempts from...
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...SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION PAPER Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY 400 March 25, 2012 For this paper, the definition of social psychology will be assessed, as well as how social psychology is researched. Also discussed will be how social psychology is different from other disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, and general psychology. What is Social Psychology? Social psychology is the scientific study of social thinking, social influence, and social relations (Meyer, 2010). . Social influence is the effect that words, actions, or the presence of other people, have on our thoughts, feelings, attitude, or behavior. In other words, social psychology is the way in which individual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people, whether they are real people, or imagined in ones thoughts. At the heart of social psychology is a phenomenon of social influence. Every single person is influenced by other people. Sometimes we are influenced by persuasion, where another person deliberately tries to change another individual and their way of thinking and behavior (Meyer, 2010). Social influence is happening now on television and across America with the presidential candidates all trying to persuade the people of America to vote for them, or the commercial on crest toothpaste, using creative techniques to persuade people to buy this particular brand. Another example of social influence is seen in schools a lot. One being direct attempts from...
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...Social Psychology Definition Social Psychology is the study of how individuals think, influence, and relate to other individuals. In social psychology the focus is more on the individuals and use of experimentation. The boundary of social psychology is based through asking questions and dealing with how people see and affect each other. Social psychology also covers topics such as attitudes, beliefs, conformity, and independence. In society, humans have the natural urge to explain behavior, attributing it to a cause, to make it seem predictable and controllable. Social influences play a role in shaping the behavior of individuals. As individuals, the response to social interactions are immediate, which can contribute to individuals responding to expressed attitudes (Myers, 2010). For example, in a catastrophe such as tornados in Missouri, individuals pull together and donate to help those in need. Whether it be through donation of items or through the physical aspect of volunteering to help clean up or rebuild. As humans inner attitudes affect behavior. This making individuals vulnerable to peer pressure and attitudes, which influence individual’s political views are some examples (Myers, 2010). As individuals attitudes play a role in how each individual behaves. Social psychology has principles that are used to guide thinking and behavior, which play a vital role in everyday life. First one must understand what clinical psychology, general psychology, and sociology are...
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...Social Psychology Definition Madaline Goldstein PSY. 400 July 15, 2013 Julee S. Poole, Ph. D Social Psychology Definition Psychology in general involves a complex view of one’s mind and mental processes (Myers, 2010). Social Psychology is the scientific field of psychology, which focuses on how people individually think, feel, and relate to one another. Compared to other disciplines in relation to psychology, social psychology has its own uniqueness in relation to others such as sociology, personality psychology, biological psychology, and clinical psychology (Myers, 2010). Social Psychology Verses Sociology. Many confuse sociology with social psychology as a result of the common misconception that social psychology is the study of social groups (Greenwood, 2013). Some may assume that sociology is a sub-study of psychology regarding how individuals deal with various social settings. In actuality, while sociology is the study as a whole in a group, social psychology focuses on each individual in a group setting. Sociology puts an emphasis on the origins of a social society, the developments of that society, the organizations developed within the society, and the institutions founded by the society (Greenwood, 2013). Sociology, does of course, resemble much of the focal point of social psychology. Social Psychology Verses Personality Psychology. Personality psychology and social psychology are more similar than contradictive (Cherry, 2013). Social psychology involves...
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...PSY/400 | Social Psychology Definition Paper | Julee Poole | | Jamie Uber | 7/29/2013 | In this paper I want to explain what the meaning of social psychology is and how social psychology differs from other fields, such as clinical psychology, general psychology, and sociology. Also I will explain the methods used to research social psychology. | Social psychology is the branch of psychology that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual. Social psychology looks at all different types of social interactions, including group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression, and prejudice. One thing to know about social psychology is that it does not just deal with social influences, but they are vital to understand it. Social psychology has been around since the 1800’s, but wasn’t really used until the horrors of the Holocaust; it led researchers to study more on the effects of social influence, obedience, and conformity. Also the government wanted to use social psychology to influence the citizens; it has grown since then and more and more are interested in understanding social experiences and behaviors. Social psychology differs from sociology because it deals with social behavior of an individual and uses more experimentation, when compared with personality psychology; it tends to focus less on an individual and more on how they affect one another. Social psychology tends to...
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...Social Psychology Definition Paper Social psychology is fairly new, and an important aspect of human psychology. This paper will define social psychology and how it differs from other disciplines, such as clinical psychology, general psychology, and sociology. This paper will also describe the types of research in social psychology. Researching these elements will be informative and exciting. When we, as human beings, do something to influence a situation, there are probably some motives behind our influences. Some influences happen as a matter of resonance bouncing off other planned influences. Other influence may be unintentional. For example, if a child were to be talked down to and verbally abused for a period of time this may influence self-esteem. If a child were to be encouraged and praised for their efforts throughout their childhood that may also influence self-esteem in a different way. At times, we may relate to some people better than others because of past social influences we have experienced with others in those environments. For example, if a woman were to meet someone and that person looked like, and reminded her of a rapist, that may influence the way she looks at that person. All of this brings us within the realms of social psychology. “Social psychology is a science that studies the influences of our situations, with special attention to how we view and affect one another. More precisely, it is the scientific studies of how people think about, influence...
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...Social Psychology Definition Paper Douglas Cooper PSY/400 April 4, 2016 Ami Taharka Social Psychology Definition Paper How do people think about, influence, and relate to each other? These are just some of the questions that social psychologists are looking to answer. This paper will further define social psychology’s goals to elicit a richer understanding of the field. It will discuss how social psychology differs from other disciplines, such as clinical psychology, general psychology, and sociology and why those differences are important. Finally, it will examine research methods and strategies that social psychologist utilize to answer questions. Social Psychology Defined According to our text, social psychology “is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another” (Myers, 2010, pg. 4). It is a relatively young science, that some may confuse with sociology. Whereas sociology focuses on group dynamics, social psychology focuses more on how individuals interact with each other. At the heart of social psychology are three different constructs. These are: social thinking (what we perceive about ourselves and other, what we believe, the judgements we make, and our attitudes), social influence (culture, conformity pressures, persuasion), and social relations (prejudice, aggression, attraction and intimacy, and helping). There are several concepts that contribute to these constructs. Some of these include the following. First is that...
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...Social and Multicultural Psychology Psych/620 June 1, 2015 Dr. Lazarus Dr. Lazarus Dr. Lazarus Introduction The study of human beings has been the topic of many seminars, discussions and studies. Human nature has been and will continue to change and dictate how individuals act and react to certain situations and how they behave in different societies. Studying multicultural psychology will benefit society and will give insight to how different cultures act and respond to various stimuli and situations. When we learn about how individuals from different cultures act around each other, we will better know about those cultures. The way that an individual acts in one culture may not be how they act or relate to or in other cultures. When studying individuals it is important to know the culture they are in. Multicultural psychology is the systematic study of all aspects of human behavior as it occurs in settings where people of different cultural backgrounds encounter each other. Multiculturalism has been considered a “fourth force” in the field of psychology, supplementing behaviorism, psychodynamic theories, and humanistic psychology (Smith, 2015). Social psychology is not unlike multicultural psychology because it is also the study of human beings in different area of life. Social Psychology Social psychology deals with individuals and how they act and react in society to various situations in society. How one person...
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...social cognition | Attribution | attitudes | Heuristics | persuasion | Empathy | attraction | Idiosyncracy credit | prosocial behavior | Individualism | stereotype | Collectivism | prejudice | Personal identity | discrimination | Multiculturalism | social psychology | Prejudice | conformity | Normative influence | schemata | Sexism | idiosyncrasy credits | Racism | obedience to authority | Schema | altruism | Reciprocity norm | bystander effect | Self-assessment | halo effect | Self-presentation | kin selection | Social influence | reciprocity norm | Flattery | empathy-altruism hypothesis | mere exposure | altruistic personality type | propinquity effect | 1. Write 1-2 sentences of definition/explanation opposite to each concept. 2. Write the appropriate scientists' names. 1. Kurt Lewin was a famous psychologist who is largely considered to be the father of social psychology, due to the fact that his studies paved the way for future psychologists to look at the relationship between a person's thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and the society around them. 2. Solomon Asch was a famous social psychologist whose study on conformity showed that people often conform to the group, even when they know the correct answer. 3. Albert Bandura is a famous social psychologist whose Bobo doll study illustrates the social learning theory of psychology. 4. Edwin Hollander made idiosyncrasy credit theory popular in 1958. 5. Serge Moscovici believed that...
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...Social Influences on Behavior Debbie Noonan PSY 300 October 15, 2011 Ashley Dolecki Social Influences on Behavior Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. These are the broad questions that social psychologists and personality psychologists seek to answer. By exploring such inner motivations such as traits, attitudes, and goals and looking at the situation or context such as social norms, social psychologists seek to unravel how interactions such as romance, friendship, aggression, and group interactions affect social areas of our lives. Although personality psychology focuses on the individual, and social psychology on the situation, the two perspectives are often explored together in explanations of human behavior in psychology. This paper shall outline human behavior changes based on two social situations, teasing and prejudice, and the precursors and consequences of those behaviors. Teasing is almost as much a part of childhood as skinned knees and runny noses, but the effects of that teasing can have long-lasting and profound effects. Is there a place for this behavior? We do playful teasing every day, poking fun at the coworker who is always running late, commenting on someone’s choice of words, or even making innocent comments about our spouse’s choice of clothing for the evening. Is this teasing acceptable in all situations? How do we know when it isn’t? One of the...
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...of modern social psychology. It is therefore important to consider that social psychology cannot be traced back to one single source of origin. Hence, this is the reason why there are debates of what social psychology is. Gordon Allport described social psychology as the study an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which are influenced by the actual, imagines, or implied presence of others. As seen from this definition there is a direct link between social science and the individual psychology. Social psychology cannot be seen as a linear phenomenon. This is because social psychology has been derived from a combination of influences. The development of social psychology can be discussed in two different ways. Firstly, social psychology is argued to be found upon political movements and social philosophies in the United Stated of America. Secondly, it can be argued that social psychology has developed in response to social and political needs. There have been debates regarding whether social psychology should be dealt as a natural science or not. The ideology of natural science is very important as it affects the way the social psychologist deals with the situations. For example, if there are specific scientific objectives then the study can be laboratory based and use experimental procedures in order to gain knowledge. Psychologists who use this positivistic method are classified as experimental social psychologists. On the other hand, critical-social psychologists...
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...Social Psychology Defined According to Fiske (2010), the classic definition of social psychology is, “the scientific attempt to explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings” (p. 4). Social psychology is all about people influencing other people. It is all of the ways that people impact other people from trivial behavior to important behavior such as torturing innocent people, as soldiers sometimes have done (Fiske, 2010, pg. 2). In other words, social psychology is doing what others around them are doing (Fiske, 2010, pg. 2). Social Psychology is at the far end of the social sciences, which lean towards macro levels of analysis. According to Fiske (2010), Sociology looks at small groups, families, and neighborhoods, institutions, cities, to nations and psychology looks at the individual. Thus, social psychology is the study of human behavior in a social context. The Four Key Characteristics of Social Psychology The study of human behavior from a social perspective is characterized by four key elements. The four elements are broad scope, cultural, scientific methods, and the search for wisdom. Furthermore, social psychology encompasses a very broad point of view such as conformity and deviance, altruism and aggression, loving and hating, self and groups, attitudes and actions (Fiske, 2010, pg. 15). In sum, it addresses the whole human being. Therefore, social psychology...
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...Social Psychology Paper Christina Bacon Psych/555 April 4, 2016 Dr. Dobier Social Psychology Paper This paper will attempt to analyze the foundations of social psychology, and to do so this paper will explain what social psychology is, what the four characteristics of social psychology is and how they are addressed. Situationism will be discussed as well as what role it plays, and what the five social motives are and how they affect the field of psychology. Defining Social Psychology Firstly, the definition of social psychology is simply people influencing other people. It is the attempt, or rather the scientific attempt to explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of other people are shaped by the presence of others. For instance, public speaking, now most people have a significant reaction to speaking in front of others. Usually they are nervous and scared or they are confident and comfortable. The role of social psychology would be trying to explain the reason the individual feels that way. Another example would be a professor in front of his or her classroom, if the teacher asked their students to remove their shoes and throw them into a nearby receptacle, most if not all of the students would comply. The role of the social psychologist would be to try and explain the different reactions that the students felt (Fiske, 2010). Analyzing the four characteristics There are four characteristics of social psychology and they are broad scope, cultural...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Every individual has a unique way of evaluating objects, persons or events in their social world. We normally respond to others ideas, issues, and the entire social environment in a favourable or unfavourable manner. Social psychologists therefore refer to attitude as the predisposition to behave in a consistent evaluative manner towards others, groups, objects etc. Attitude is defined as the individual’s evaluation of any aspect of his/her social world (Olson & Maio, 2003). It refers to the general and relatively enduring evaluations people have of other people, object or ideas (Petty, Wheeler, & Tormala, 2003). According to Dillard (1993), there are several varying conceptualizations of attitude in social research. At different points in it history, the concept of attitude has been linked to emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes (Brecker & Wiggins, 1989). Therefore, the definition of attitude should consist of cognitive, affective and behavioural components (Rokeach, 1968, Ajzen, 2005). According to Thurstone’s definition of attitude, it is referred to an affect for or against a psychological object (Ajzen, 2005). Ajzen and Fishbein (1975), defined attitude as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object. Petty and Cacioppo is of the view that attitudes are general and enduring positive or negative feelings about some person...
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