2. What is Social Psychology
• Social Psychology:
• Scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate
to one another.
• The influences of our situations, with special attention to how we
view and affect other people.
• Social Psych vs. Personality Psych
• Individual differences vs how individuals view and affect one
another
3. • Does our behavior depend on the objective situations we face
or how we construe them?- Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Would people be cruel if ordered?- Obedience, Milgram
• To help, or to help oneself? – Influence of culture, collectivistic
vs individualistic
4. Social Psychology’s Big Ideas:
Social Thinking
• We construct our social reality:
• Attribution: circumstances, person
• Culture
• Social influences shape our behavior and attitudes
• Obedience, Altruism
5. Social Psychology’s Big Ideas:
Social Influences
• Personal attitudes and dispositions shape behavior
• Violent actions vs Nonviolent actions
• Civil Rights Movement
Social Psychology can help understand our own behavior, attitudes
- thinking and how it is influenced by others and how other
behavior can be influenced by us
6. The influence of human values in
Social Psychology
1. Choosing Research Topic
1. Social History
2. Personal History
1. Culture
2. Personal preference
3. Topic – how they form, change, influence
2. Subjectivity:
1. Common Culture within researchers
2. Definitions
7. Social Psychology and Common
Sense
• Hindsight bias:
• Tendency to exaggerate after learning an outcome, ones ability to
have foreseen how something turned out
• Attraction to people
• Opposites attract vs. Birds of a feather flock together
9. Research Methods
• Theory vs. Hypothesis
• Research Method:
• Correlational Research
• Survey Research
• Experimental Research
• Locations
• Field Research
• Laboratory Research
• Ethics
10. Hypothesis
• Hypothesis: testable proposition that describes a
relationship that may exist between events.
• states expected relationship between variables.
• A statement about the predicted relationship
between the two or more variables
• Directional hypothesis: specific relationship
between IV and DV
• Nondirectional hypothesis: a change in IV will cause
a change in the DV
11. Research Methods!
Hypothesis vs. Theory
• Theory: integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed
events
A theory is someone’s understanding of how things work.
This means:
Most theories are proposals about what causes what, and under what
conditions.
Two Examples: Theories of Aggression
Frustration-aggression theory says aggressive behavior is one response to
frustration.
Social learning theory understands aggression as an imitative response to role
models.
Notice that these theories of aggression are complementary – each
addresses an idea that the other does not.
Both frustration-aggression theory and social learning theory can be part of a
more general understanding.
Theories do compete with each other sometimes, but they also often co-exist
or even combine.
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12. Correlational Research
• Try to determine if two variables are statistically
related without manipulating either one
experimentally
• Used when can’t do an experiment
• Relationship of interest is degree to which a set of
behaviors may be related
• CAUTION: Causation cannot be determined
• Directionality problem: we do not know which variable
may be doing the causing
• Third variable problem: we do not know if some other
behavior not being measured may be doing the
causing 12
13. Survey Research
• Participants are asked to complete a questionnaire
assessing behaviors, attitudes, and/or opinions
• Interested in describing phenomena or in
correlating variables to determine whether
relationships exist
• May be administered as paper-and-pencil,
telephone, face-to-face, web-based, or over email
• Should use a random sample out of the population
• Random Sampling: survey procedure in which
every person in the population being studied has
an equal chance of inclusion 13
14. Survey Research: Biasing Influences
• Unrepresentative samples
• Order of questions
• Response Options
• Wording of questions
• Framing – the way a question is posed
15. Field research
• Field research: conducted in a natural real-world setting,
outside the laboratory
• Advantage: people tend to act more natural in a real-world
setting (high validity)
• Disadvantage: it is difficult to rule out alternate explanations
(low reliability)
16. Experimental Research
Studies that seek clues to cause and effect relationship by
manipulating on or more factors (IV) while controlling
others (holding them constant
17. Experimental Research
• Some factor is varied, all else is held constant,
and then some result is measured
• The relationship of interest is between a set of
circumstances and a behavior - IMPORTANT
• An aspect of the environment is manipulated
(stimulus) and some aspect of behavior is
measured (response)
• Under certain circumstances, it is possible to
say that the manipulation caused the response
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18. Experimental Research
• Independent variable:
• Experimental factor that the researcher manipulates.
• Independent of the participant’s behavior.
• What the experimenter manipulates or chooses... it is the
circumstance
• Dependent variable:
• The variable measured, it may depend on the manipulation of
the independent variable.
• A.k.a. “outcome” or “criterion” variable
• Want to see if it is predicted/influenced by IV
• Should (hopefully) be “dependent” on the levels of the
independent variable
19. • Random assignment:
• Assignment of participants to the conditions of an experiment.
• All participants should have the same chance of being in a given
condition
• In experiments: random assignments in groups -> cause and effect
• In sampling surveys -> generalize in a population
20. Exercise: Recognizing Correlational
& Experimental Research
• Do people find comedy funnier when alone or with others?
• Can they be randomly assigned to the conditions
• Independent Variable
• Dependent Variable
• Do higher-income people have higher self-esteem?
• Can they be randomly assigned to the conditions
• Independent Variable
• Dependent Variable
21. Ethics
• Informed Consent
• Requires that research participants be told enough information
for them to choose if they are willing to participate
• Deception:
• Only when justified
• Protect participants:
• IRB
• Confidentiality
• Anonymity
• Debrief participants:
• Explain the experiment to participants, after the experiment,
specially in case of deception
