UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITIONS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1. Social psychology is a science that addresses and examines the general
behaviour of the community and the mutual interaction between the individual
and the community.
2. Social psychology studies the interactions of individuals with the environment
to understand the positive and negative effects of this interaction on the
individual and their trends.
3. Social psychology is a science that studies the behaviours, responses, and
interactions of the individual during his communication with the group.
4. Social psychology is a social science that studies the behaviour of an individual
and his responses within a particular group.
5. Social psychology studies the psychological characteristics of the groups and
the interactive social behavioural patterns that connect different societal
groups, such as studying the relationship between parents and children within
the family.
6. Social psychology studies the behavioural patterns and interactions of
individuals and groups during different social events and situations, as well as
the forms of such responses and the expected consequences.
7. Social psychology is best defined as the discipline that uses scientific methods
in an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behaviour
of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of
other human beings. - Gordon Allport
8. Social psychology is defined as the “scientific study of how people think about,
influence, and relate to one another”.
● Myers and Spencer (2006)
9. Social psychology is defined as the “scientific field that seeks to understand the
nature and course of individuals' behaviour and thoughts in social situations”.
● Baron and Byrne (2007)
CURRENT TRENDS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
,● Social psychology is the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and
causes of individual behaviour in social situations. It focuses on people's
thoughts, feelings, beliefs, intentions and goals.
● It is the developing branch of psychology that focuses on the social side of life.
● The major trends in modern social psychology are; Cognition and Behaviour,
The Role of Emotion in the social aspect of life, social relationships, Social
Neuroscience, The role of implicit processes, Population psychology, social
diversity.
● Social psychology as it is today with broadening it field by the research work
on touching various aspects of life, viz. population psychology, health
psychology, environmental psychology, legal system and psychology. It can be
used to understand personal health problems as well problems our earth is
facing. Social psychology has adopted multicultural perspective to understand
behaviour with respect to the cultural and social context.
1. Cognition and Behaviour:
● In modern social psychology, behaviour and cognition are seen as intimately,
and continuously, linked.
● Social behaviour can be defined as all the behaviour that influences or is
influenced by other people or a group.
● Social cognition focuses on how people process, store and apply information
about other people and social situations.
2. The Role of Emotion in the social aspect of life:
● Emotions play a key role in many aspects of social life.
● It is an important area in which rapid advances are being made at the
boundaries of our current knowledge of social life.
3. Social Relationships:
● The social relationship is the building block of the social life of an individual.
● As much as we know the social relationship is important for the well-being of
an individual it also can undermine one’s psychological health and well-being.
4. Social Neurosciences:
● The merging of 2 different fields (i.e.) social psychology and neuroscience
which helps us to understand how the biological factors and systems execute
social processes and behaviour.
● It helps us to understand and purify theories of social thought, behaviour and
process.
5. Role of Implicit process:
● Implicit process refers to perceptual, memory, comprehension, and
performance processes that occur through unconscious awareness.
● These factors influence our behaviour, which we are not aware of such as why
we think or behave as we do in social contexts.
, ● These thoughts and actions are shaped by the factors and processes that we are
dimly aware of and which takes place automatically.
6. Population psychology:
● Population Psychology studies the psychological consequences of population,
typically regarding high population density and concentrates on the effects of
rapid expansion of the number of humans on this planet and on efforts to
control this expansion. Social psychology is important in changing attitudes
and enhancing sensitivity. Population psychology concentrates on the effects of
the rapid expansion of the number of humans on this planet and on efforts to
control this expansion. population grows geometrically each year.
7. Social Diversity:
● Social diversity and its influence on personal and social identity, discrimination
and prejudice, attraction and relationships, group behaviour and social
relationships and on health
● Cultural diversity has an effect on social life which plays a significant role in
religion, language, region, gender, ethnicity etc.
8. Health Psychology:
Health psychology is the specialty that studies psychological processes
affecting the development, prevention and treatment of physical illnesses. A
major obstacle to the prevention of many physical disorders is the reluctance of
people to believe that some aspect of their lifestyle requires changing; mainly
became information about possible threats to health arouses fear and anxiety,
the more relevant such messages are to oneself the less one believes them.
● stress and illness, stress and coping and reduction of the harmful effects
of stress have been investigated by psychologists.
● The body’s immune system functions less well when stress is high.
● This finding of a direct link between psychological responses and the
body’s defense against disease has led to the development of the field of
psychoneuro-immunology. This interdisciplinary approach studies
stress, emotional and behavioural reactions, and the immune system
simultaneously.
● Health is also affected by the kind of goals for which we strive.
The general finding is that people who interact closely with family and friends are
better able to avoid illness than those who remain isolated from others, if illness does
occur, those who receive social support recover more quickly.
9. Environmental Psychology
Environmental psychology is the field that deals with interaction between physical
world and human behaviour. Among the environmental factors affect behaviours
are environmental stress, noise, temperature, air pollution, atmospheric electricity
etc. The negative effects of human actions on environment in include global warming
and the ever-mounting problem of waste. Studies designed to consol littering suggest
that pro-environmental behaviour can be increased by the use of prompts, rewards and
legalisations.
, 10. Industrial Organisational Psychology
● It is an application of social psychology which focuses on understanding
behaviours in work settings especially within the field of industries and
organisations.
● Work related attitudes include employees’ evaluation of jobs (job satisfaction)
and of their organisations.
● Research has emphasised the determinants and the consequences of these
attitudes.
● Work motivation is influenced by cognitive factors, the outcomes of
performance, and the perception of inequity.
● A common problem in organisations is conflict, and psychologists have
identified both organisational causes, competition over scarce resources, and
interpersonal causes such as stereotypes, prejudices, grudges and ineffective
communication styles.
11. Legal System and Social Psychology
● Forensic psychology has produced ample evidence that the reality of our lega
system often doesn’t live up to its ideals.
● Witnesses and defendants are influenced by interrogation procedures and
media publicity.
● Eyewitness testimony is often inaccurate and the behaviours of attorneys and
judges can influence verdict.
● Jurors respond in part on the basis of cognitive reinterpretation of the evidence
and on emotional biases for and against specific defendants.
● Psychologists working in this area contribute to the social order by their
research human cognitive system and communication patterns.
● Human cognitive system has limits and it is affected by various things.
● Legal procedures depend mostly on reports and evidences by eyewitness.
● But the fact about human memory can be revealing: its limited capacity,
constructive processes all need to be paid attention to in court hearings.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN TODAY ‘s CONTEXT
● The importance of social psychology is shown in all the interactive aspects of
the individual's social life and all the environments in which he coexists, which
can affect the individual's interactions and personality.
● As social psychology studies the behaviour of individuals and groups, everyone
who deals with and communicates with different community groups needs this
science; to understand and guide individuals and to study various responses
within the community.
● Social psychology also requires social specialists to understand the philosophy
of society, the secrets of its composition, the relative appearance, and absence
of phenomena, and link to societal behaviours.
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITIONS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1. Social psychology is a science that addresses and examines the general
behaviour of the community and the mutual interaction between the individual
and the community.
2. Social psychology studies the interactions of individuals with the environment
to understand the positive and negative effects of this interaction on the
individual and their trends.
3. Social psychology is a science that studies the behaviours, responses, and
interactions of the individual during his communication with the group.
4. Social psychology is a social science that studies the behaviour of an individual
and his responses within a particular group.
5. Social psychology studies the psychological characteristics of the groups and
the interactive social behavioural patterns that connect different societal
groups, such as studying the relationship between parents and children within
the family.
6. Social psychology studies the behavioural patterns and interactions of
individuals and groups during different social events and situations, as well as
the forms of such responses and the expected consequences.
7. Social psychology is best defined as the discipline that uses scientific methods
in an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behaviour
of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of
other human beings. - Gordon Allport
8. Social psychology is defined as the “scientific study of how people think about,
influence, and relate to one another”.
● Myers and Spencer (2006)
9. Social psychology is defined as the “scientific field that seeks to understand the
nature and course of individuals' behaviour and thoughts in social situations”.
● Baron and Byrne (2007)
CURRENT TRENDS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
,● Social psychology is the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and
causes of individual behaviour in social situations. It focuses on people's
thoughts, feelings, beliefs, intentions and goals.
● It is the developing branch of psychology that focuses on the social side of life.
● The major trends in modern social psychology are; Cognition and Behaviour,
The Role of Emotion in the social aspect of life, social relationships, Social
Neuroscience, The role of implicit processes, Population psychology, social
diversity.
● Social psychology as it is today with broadening it field by the research work
on touching various aspects of life, viz. population psychology, health
psychology, environmental psychology, legal system and psychology. It can be
used to understand personal health problems as well problems our earth is
facing. Social psychology has adopted multicultural perspective to understand
behaviour with respect to the cultural and social context.
1. Cognition and Behaviour:
● In modern social psychology, behaviour and cognition are seen as intimately,
and continuously, linked.
● Social behaviour can be defined as all the behaviour that influences or is
influenced by other people or a group.
● Social cognition focuses on how people process, store and apply information
about other people and social situations.
2. The Role of Emotion in the social aspect of life:
● Emotions play a key role in many aspects of social life.
● It is an important area in which rapid advances are being made at the
boundaries of our current knowledge of social life.
3. Social Relationships:
● The social relationship is the building block of the social life of an individual.
● As much as we know the social relationship is important for the well-being of
an individual it also can undermine one’s psychological health and well-being.
4. Social Neurosciences:
● The merging of 2 different fields (i.e.) social psychology and neuroscience
which helps us to understand how the biological factors and systems execute
social processes and behaviour.
● It helps us to understand and purify theories of social thought, behaviour and
process.
5. Role of Implicit process:
● Implicit process refers to perceptual, memory, comprehension, and
performance processes that occur through unconscious awareness.
● These factors influence our behaviour, which we are not aware of such as why
we think or behave as we do in social contexts.
, ● These thoughts and actions are shaped by the factors and processes that we are
dimly aware of and which takes place automatically.
6. Population psychology:
● Population Psychology studies the psychological consequences of population,
typically regarding high population density and concentrates on the effects of
rapid expansion of the number of humans on this planet and on efforts to
control this expansion. Social psychology is important in changing attitudes
and enhancing sensitivity. Population psychology concentrates on the effects of
the rapid expansion of the number of humans on this planet and on efforts to
control this expansion. population grows geometrically each year.
7. Social Diversity:
● Social diversity and its influence on personal and social identity, discrimination
and prejudice, attraction and relationships, group behaviour and social
relationships and on health
● Cultural diversity has an effect on social life which plays a significant role in
religion, language, region, gender, ethnicity etc.
8. Health Psychology:
Health psychology is the specialty that studies psychological processes
affecting the development, prevention and treatment of physical illnesses. A
major obstacle to the prevention of many physical disorders is the reluctance of
people to believe that some aspect of their lifestyle requires changing; mainly
became information about possible threats to health arouses fear and anxiety,
the more relevant such messages are to oneself the less one believes them.
● stress and illness, stress and coping and reduction of the harmful effects
of stress have been investigated by psychologists.
● The body’s immune system functions less well when stress is high.
● This finding of a direct link between psychological responses and the
body’s defense against disease has led to the development of the field of
psychoneuro-immunology. This interdisciplinary approach studies
stress, emotional and behavioural reactions, and the immune system
simultaneously.
● Health is also affected by the kind of goals for which we strive.
The general finding is that people who interact closely with family and friends are
better able to avoid illness than those who remain isolated from others, if illness does
occur, those who receive social support recover more quickly.
9. Environmental Psychology
Environmental psychology is the field that deals with interaction between physical
world and human behaviour. Among the environmental factors affect behaviours
are environmental stress, noise, temperature, air pollution, atmospheric electricity
etc. The negative effects of human actions on environment in include global warming
and the ever-mounting problem of waste. Studies designed to consol littering suggest
that pro-environmental behaviour can be increased by the use of prompts, rewards and
legalisations.
, 10. Industrial Organisational Psychology
● It is an application of social psychology which focuses on understanding
behaviours in work settings especially within the field of industries and
organisations.
● Work related attitudes include employees’ evaluation of jobs (job satisfaction)
and of their organisations.
● Research has emphasised the determinants and the consequences of these
attitudes.
● Work motivation is influenced by cognitive factors, the outcomes of
performance, and the perception of inequity.
● A common problem in organisations is conflict, and psychologists have
identified both organisational causes, competition over scarce resources, and
interpersonal causes such as stereotypes, prejudices, grudges and ineffective
communication styles.
11. Legal System and Social Psychology
● Forensic psychology has produced ample evidence that the reality of our lega
system often doesn’t live up to its ideals.
● Witnesses and defendants are influenced by interrogation procedures and
media publicity.
● Eyewitness testimony is often inaccurate and the behaviours of attorneys and
judges can influence verdict.
● Jurors respond in part on the basis of cognitive reinterpretation of the evidence
and on emotional biases for and against specific defendants.
● Psychologists working in this area contribute to the social order by their
research human cognitive system and communication patterns.
● Human cognitive system has limits and it is affected by various things.
● Legal procedures depend mostly on reports and evidences by eyewitness.
● But the fact about human memory can be revealing: its limited capacity,
constructive processes all need to be paid attention to in court hearings.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN TODAY ‘s CONTEXT
● The importance of social psychology is shown in all the interactive aspects of
the individual's social life and all the environments in which he coexists, which
can affect the individual's interactions and personality.
● As social psychology studies the behaviour of individuals and groups, everyone
who deals with and communicates with different community groups needs this
science; to understand and guide individuals and to study various responses
within the community.
● Social psychology also requires social specialists to understand the philosophy
of society, the secrets of its composition, the relative appearance, and absence
of phenomena, and link to societal behaviours.
