This document provides an overview of social psychology. It begins with a brief history, noting early studies in the 1880s-1930s, and increased research following World War 2. Social psychology is defined as understanding how social situations influence individual behavior and thought. The scope includes how individuals influence and are influenced by others, groups, and relationships between groups. Research methods discussed include surveys, observation, experiments, correlations, and qualitative approaches. Ethics surrounding informed consent, privacy, and minimizing harm are also outlined.

1. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
MODULE 1
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT, DEFINITIONS, NATURE AND GOALS OF Spsy
-SHAHANA SATHAR K P
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
DCAS, PERAMBRA
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

2. SCIENTIFIC OR COMMONSENSE
• ACCURACY- careful, precise, and error-free manner
• OBJECTIVITY- free from bias
• SKEPTICISM- verified
• OPEN-MINDEDNESS- if evidence suggests
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

3. HISTORY
• EARLY STAGE- 1884s to 1930s
• 1898- Triplett’s study- Social Facilitation Effect
Wundt’s Folk Psychology
The first Social Psychology textbooks published in 1908 –
Edward Ross – Social Psychology –
McDougall – Social Psychology
McDougall (1908) – influence of instincts
Allport (1924)- Environment/past experience
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

4. World War 2- The Nazi Germani
brings a Gestalt Perspective to the American Psychology
- Kurt Lewin, Fritz Heider, Bob Zajonc, Solomon Asche
- - Gives rise to Social,and Cognitive perspectives
Sparked Much Research
- The Authoritarian Personality
- Conformity (Asche)
- - Obedience (Milgram)
- - Prejudice Reduction (Sherif)
- - Aggression (Bandura, Buss, Taylor)
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

5. • 40-60s- Cognitive dissonance/Aggression
• Festinger
• Interpersonal Attraction
• 1970s-90s- Attribution/sex discrimination/gender differences
• Johns and Davis
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

6. DEFINITION
• The scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behavior and thought in social situations.
• How social environments we live influence our thoughts/feelings and
actions.
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

7. SCOPE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social psychology attempts to understand the relationship between minds, groups, and
behaviors in three general ways:
• 1) It tries to see how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other(s).
• This includes social perception, social interaction, and the many kinds of social
influence (like trust, power, and persuasion). It deals with questions like: How do
small group dynamics impact cognition and emotional states?
• Second, it tries to understand the influence that individual perceptions and
behaviours have upon the behaviour of groups.
• Third, and finally, social psychology tries to understand groups themselves as
behavioural entities, and the relationships and influences that one group has upon
another group.
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

8. INTER-INTRA DISCIPLINES
• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY
• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLINGUISTICS
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

9. METHODS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

10. SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

11. SELF REPORT METHODS
SURVEYS
• Question type- factual, attitude and behavior.
• Question wording- exact, wording terminology shud be simple, loaded
questions should be avoided, short and simple, shud not make assumptions,
• Question sequence
• Response format (close ended/open ended)
• Internet surveys
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

12. SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

13. OBSERVATIONAL
STUDIES
Participant, non participant, direct observation
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

14. SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

15. Research Designs
1. A true experiment allows the researcher to
• assess whether, and the degree to which, a variable (the possible cause) manipulated by the experimenter leads to a change
in another variable (the effect).
2. Quasi-experiments allow comparisons to be made in observations across time and among groups with the assumption that
these groups may not be equivalent to each other.
• Pre test and Post test
3. A correlational study involves measuring variables and determining the correlation between them. A correlation
coefficient is a measure of the degree of association between different variables, so that knowing one thing about a person
may tell you something else (e.g., knowing a person’s height may let you predict his or her shoe size).
• Mathematically, correlation coefficients (denoted by r) range from −1 to +1.
4. In descriptive research, the objective is to observe variables and summarize the observations by using descriptive statistics
such as means, frequencies, and percentages.
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

16. Qualitative Research Design
Qualitative research methods represent the “means for exploring and understanding the
meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem.”
Creswell (2007) enumerates five qualitative research methods.
1. Narrative research focuses on
• gathering detailed stories about one individual or a small number of individuals.
• It involves collecting data on the stories through observation, interviews, letters, and other
artifacts, and then
• restorying—reorganizing the stories into a coherent framework—taking context (e.g.,
personal, cultural, historical) into account. Narrative research would be used, for example, to
produce someone’s biography
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

17. 2. Phenomenological research involves gathering the stories of a group of
people in order to ascertain what experiences they have in common when they
live through some specific phenomenon (e.g., getting dumped, being bullied at
work).
3. Grounded theory is to move beyond people’s accounts of their experiences
in order to formulate a theory of people’s actions, interactions, and social
processes as they pertain to aparticular topic.
4. Ethnographic research focuses on the description and interpretation of
the shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and language of a specific intact cultural
group.
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

18. 5. Case studies involve the investigation of a particular issue within a specific
context, for example, examining why a patient failed to take her medicine as
prescribed and became seriously ill.
MIXED-METHOD APPROACH
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

19. RESEARCH ETHICS
1. Respect for the dignity of persons. As the central ethical principle, psychologists’
respect for human dignity underlies all of the others. Note, for instance,
that we refer to those persons who take part in a study as “participants”
rather than as “subjects” (which was used for most of the history of
psychology) because it reflects the dignity and respect afforded to the
people we study.
2. Minimization of harm and reduction of risk. Psychologists must take steps to
avoid harming participants.
3. Informed consent. Researchers should describe the procedures to participants
before they take part in a study, including any factors that might affect their
willingness to participate, and they should document participants’ agreements
to take part in the study.SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

20. 4. Freedom to withdraw. Participants must be informed that they are free to withdraw
from a study at any point with no negative consequences for doing so.
5. Privacy and confidentiality. All information obtained from individual participants
must be held in strict confidence. Confidentiality refers to restricting access to the
data and to releasing results in such a way that each individual’s privacy is not
violated.
6. Minimal use of deception.
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS

21. THANK YOU
SHAHANA SATHAR K P, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,DCAS