Book: Social Psychology (Smith et al., 4th Edition)
Chapter 1- What is social psychology?
Definition of social psychology
People are common-sense and they often reach conclusions about social behavior based on
limited samples from their own or others’ experiences. Might be contradictory and inconsistent.
Scientists avoid misconceptions and distortions that so often afflict our common-sense
knowledge.
Social processes: the ways in which our thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced by the
people around us, the group we belong to, our personal relationships, the teaching of our
parents and culture and the pressures we experience from others.
Cognitive processes: the ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions and
motives guide our understanding of the world and our actions.
Social and cognitive processes are intertwined: social processes affected us even when others
are not physically present. Group membership becomes a part of who we are and this influence
us even when the group is not there. It has become a basic part of your identity. Social
psychologists examine how people are affected by their knowledge and what is expected of
them.
Social processes that affect us are dependent on how we interpret those others and their
actions, the operation of our cognitive processes. The way others affect us depends on our own
thoughts and feelings.
Social psychologists examine the effect of extern factors (sociology) on the individual.
→ they look for a reason why people act the way they do in social situations
Historical trend and current themes in social psychology
Before 19th century: Greek philosophers were studying the impact people have on each other
19th century: birth of the discipline psychology
1880s: Study by Ringelmann showing that people put less effort in tasks that are done in a group.
1898: starting to measure how behaviour is influenced by the presence of others. First study by
Triplett (performance of swimmers).
1908: first textbooks about social psychology
Early 20th century: social psychology becomes distinct from psychology because of the
resistance against behaviorism. The effect of external stimuli depends on how individuals
interpret it.
1930s: Hitler’s influence on social psychology. Nazi domination across Europe → psychologists
flee to US, bringing the gestalt theory to the US.
1949: Stouffers’ study about American soldiers and that their interpretations of how they were
doing compared to others mattered more than how well they were actually doing.
1950s: social psychologists’ main questions were about the roots of the Nazi genocide. In US
social psychologists were asked how to change eating habits from the civilians because of short
food supplies and to help the military maintain troop morale. Lewin.
1953: Hovland’s’ study about how to get American soldiers to brush their teeth.
1950s-1960s: flourishing social psychology in US. Folk psychology in Europe.
1970s: scientific maturity of social psychology in US and Europe
,Lewin (1930s)
- All behaviour depends on the individual’s life space
- Life space: a subjective map of the individual’s current goals and his or her social
environment
- “There is nothing so practical as a good theory” → combining the testing of theories with
the solving of problems
1970s: integration of cognitive and social processes
- Researchers in social psychology focused on the study of cognitive processes
- Our behavior is a function of our perceptions and interpretations and our attitudes and
beliefs, but these factors in turn are fundamentally shaped by our relationships to others
→ integration of social psychology in US with Europe
- Cataloging cultural differences in social and cognitive processes to develop theories of
when and why differences occur
Integration with evolution psychology: people’s thoughts and judgments are deeply intertwined
with sensory experiences and bodily movements, rather than being based on just abstract
knowledge. We use our own bodies in the process of perceiving others.
Chapter 2- asking and answering research questions
Scientific theory, 3 requirements, this is also how theories are tested:
1. It is a statement about constructs
o Construct: abstract concepts, e.g. anxiety/aggression → you cannot observe it
directly
2. It describes causal relations
o A change in one construct (cause) produces a corresponding change in another
construct (effect)
o Social comparison theory: our knowledge of other people’s outcomes,
performances and opinions causes changes in how we evaluate our own
o Interventions are taking when cause and effect is clear, to change behavior or
solve problems
3. It is general in scope
o Apply to many people in different settings and time
o Social comparison theory is applicable to all people, but the reactions differ in
culture
Construct validity
= the events that occur in the research actually correspond to the theoretical constructs under
investigation.
- Causal factors are independent variables, effects are called dependent variables
- The cause-and-effect constructs must not correspond to other constructs
- Threats: observed variable may be affected by unwanted influences, e.g. through social
desirability response bias: people’s tendency to act in ways that make them look good
- Measurements
o Self-report measures: most direct source of information, but can be susceptible
of social desirability
o Observational measures: directly watching and recording people’s behavior
o Archival measures: traces of past behavior
o Performance measures: ask participants to perform some task as well as they
can → social desirability is less of a problem here
, o Physiological measures: heart rate, skin conductance, muscle movement, blood
levels of certain substances through EEG or fMRI
→ best way is to use multiple measurements
Internal validity
= a change in the independent variable caused a change in the dependent variable
- Dependent on the research design: a plan that specifies how research participants will
be selected and treated
- Threats: factors other than the independent variable may be causing changes in the
dependent variable → have to eliminate the alternative factors
o Nonexperimental research design: researchers measure the independent and
the dependent variable
▪ Threats to internal validity: correlation does not equal causation
▪ Used if the research manipulations are not as powerful as the natural
variation in constructs found in everyday life.
o Experimental research design: random assignment of participants (making the
groups equivalent) where the independent variable is manipulated so that
different conditions are exposed to different treatments
Confederate: a research assistant playing the role of just another participant
External validity
= results can be generalized relevant to the theory
- What aspects of the research conclusions will successfully generalize
- The underlying principles, rather than the details of the finding will generalize from one
population and setting to other appropriate ones
- Threat: the types of people studied → unrepresentative for all people
- Across cultures content and processes can differ
- Lot of research is done in the lab, which makes an artificial manipulation of the real
world and participants pay much more attention in the lab then outside, also effecting
their behavior because they are aware they are being researched
- Demand characteristics: cues in a research setting that lead participants to make
inferences about what researchers expects or desire and that therefore bias how the
participants act
- Field research has a good construct validity, but hard to carry out → most are
nonexperimental
, Increasing one form of validity often decreases other forms of validity
Replication attempts, even if they fail, are of great value to understand problems with internal,
external or construct validity.
The role of ethics and values in research
Humans are both the investigators and the investigated → does the end justify the means
- Avoid harming participants
o Keeping details anonymous, informed consent
- Deception: to combat demand characteristics and social desirability bias → necessary
to produce valid results
o Debriefing: researcher can explain deception
Chapter 1- What is social psychology?
Definition of social psychology
People are common-sense and they often reach conclusions about social behavior based on
limited samples from their own or others’ experiences. Might be contradictory and inconsistent.
Scientists avoid misconceptions and distortions that so often afflict our common-sense
knowledge.
Social processes: the ways in which our thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced by the
people around us, the group we belong to, our personal relationships, the teaching of our
parents and culture and the pressures we experience from others.
Cognitive processes: the ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions and
motives guide our understanding of the world and our actions.
Social and cognitive processes are intertwined: social processes affected us even when others
are not physically present. Group membership becomes a part of who we are and this influence
us even when the group is not there. It has become a basic part of your identity. Social
psychologists examine how people are affected by their knowledge and what is expected of
them.
Social processes that affect us are dependent on how we interpret those others and their
actions, the operation of our cognitive processes. The way others affect us depends on our own
thoughts and feelings.
Social psychologists examine the effect of extern factors (sociology) on the individual.
→ they look for a reason why people act the way they do in social situations
Historical trend and current themes in social psychology
Before 19th century: Greek philosophers were studying the impact people have on each other
19th century: birth of the discipline psychology
1880s: Study by Ringelmann showing that people put less effort in tasks that are done in a group.
1898: starting to measure how behaviour is influenced by the presence of others. First study by
Triplett (performance of swimmers).
1908: first textbooks about social psychology
Early 20th century: social psychology becomes distinct from psychology because of the
resistance against behaviorism. The effect of external stimuli depends on how individuals
interpret it.
1930s: Hitler’s influence on social psychology. Nazi domination across Europe → psychologists
flee to US, bringing the gestalt theory to the US.
1949: Stouffers’ study about American soldiers and that their interpretations of how they were
doing compared to others mattered more than how well they were actually doing.
1950s: social psychologists’ main questions were about the roots of the Nazi genocide. In US
social psychologists were asked how to change eating habits from the civilians because of short
food supplies and to help the military maintain troop morale. Lewin.
1953: Hovland’s’ study about how to get American soldiers to brush their teeth.
1950s-1960s: flourishing social psychology in US. Folk psychology in Europe.
1970s: scientific maturity of social psychology in US and Europe
,Lewin (1930s)
- All behaviour depends on the individual’s life space
- Life space: a subjective map of the individual’s current goals and his or her social
environment
- “There is nothing so practical as a good theory” → combining the testing of theories with
the solving of problems
1970s: integration of cognitive and social processes
- Researchers in social psychology focused on the study of cognitive processes
- Our behavior is a function of our perceptions and interpretations and our attitudes and
beliefs, but these factors in turn are fundamentally shaped by our relationships to others
→ integration of social psychology in US with Europe
- Cataloging cultural differences in social and cognitive processes to develop theories of
when and why differences occur
Integration with evolution psychology: people’s thoughts and judgments are deeply intertwined
with sensory experiences and bodily movements, rather than being based on just abstract
knowledge. We use our own bodies in the process of perceiving others.
Chapter 2- asking and answering research questions
Scientific theory, 3 requirements, this is also how theories are tested:
1. It is a statement about constructs
o Construct: abstract concepts, e.g. anxiety/aggression → you cannot observe it
directly
2. It describes causal relations
o A change in one construct (cause) produces a corresponding change in another
construct (effect)
o Social comparison theory: our knowledge of other people’s outcomes,
performances and opinions causes changes in how we evaluate our own
o Interventions are taking when cause and effect is clear, to change behavior or
solve problems
3. It is general in scope
o Apply to many people in different settings and time
o Social comparison theory is applicable to all people, but the reactions differ in
culture
Construct validity
= the events that occur in the research actually correspond to the theoretical constructs under
investigation.
- Causal factors are independent variables, effects are called dependent variables
- The cause-and-effect constructs must not correspond to other constructs
- Threats: observed variable may be affected by unwanted influences, e.g. through social
desirability response bias: people’s tendency to act in ways that make them look good
- Measurements
o Self-report measures: most direct source of information, but can be susceptible
of social desirability
o Observational measures: directly watching and recording people’s behavior
o Archival measures: traces of past behavior
o Performance measures: ask participants to perform some task as well as they
can → social desirability is less of a problem here
, o Physiological measures: heart rate, skin conductance, muscle movement, blood
levels of certain substances through EEG or fMRI
→ best way is to use multiple measurements
Internal validity
= a change in the independent variable caused a change in the dependent variable
- Dependent on the research design: a plan that specifies how research participants will
be selected and treated
- Threats: factors other than the independent variable may be causing changes in the
dependent variable → have to eliminate the alternative factors
o Nonexperimental research design: researchers measure the independent and
the dependent variable
▪ Threats to internal validity: correlation does not equal causation
▪ Used if the research manipulations are not as powerful as the natural
variation in constructs found in everyday life.
o Experimental research design: random assignment of participants (making the
groups equivalent) where the independent variable is manipulated so that
different conditions are exposed to different treatments
Confederate: a research assistant playing the role of just another participant
External validity
= results can be generalized relevant to the theory
- What aspects of the research conclusions will successfully generalize
- The underlying principles, rather than the details of the finding will generalize from one
population and setting to other appropriate ones
- Threat: the types of people studied → unrepresentative for all people
- Across cultures content and processes can differ
- Lot of research is done in the lab, which makes an artificial manipulation of the real
world and participants pay much more attention in the lab then outside, also effecting
their behavior because they are aware they are being researched
- Demand characteristics: cues in a research setting that lead participants to make
inferences about what researchers expects or desire and that therefore bias how the
participants act
- Field research has a good construct validity, but hard to carry out → most are
nonexperimental
, Increasing one form of validity often decreases other forms of validity
Replication attempts, even if they fail, are of great value to understand problems with internal,
external or construct validity.
The role of ethics and values in research
Humans are both the investigators and the investigated → does the end justify the means
- Avoid harming participants
o Keeping details anonymous, informed consent
- Deception: to combat demand characteristics and social desirability bias → necessary
to produce valid results
o Debriefing: researcher can explain deception
