Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. It examines how our thoughts and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. The field began in the early 20th century with studies on social facilitation. Social cognition focuses on how people process and apply social information, while social identity theory proposes that people derive part of their self-concept from group memberships. Evolutionary psychology examines how evolutionary pressures have shaped human cognition, perception, language, and behaviors over time.

1. Introduction of social
psychology
Chapter no.1

2. What is social psychology?
• Definition: The scientific study of how people think
about ,influence and relate to one another . it is the
science that studies the influence of our situation.
• Sociology: The study of people in groups and societies
• History of Social Psychology :
The discipline of social psychology began in the United
States at the dawn of the twentieth century. The first
published study in this area was an experiment by
Norman Triplett (1898) on the phenomenon
of social facilitation.

3. Social cognition and identity theory
• Social cognition : It is a sub-topic of various
branches of psychology that focuses on how
people process, store and apply information
about other people and social situations it
focuses on the role that cognition process play in
social interactions.
• Social identity theory : It is the portion of an
individual’s self-concept derived from perceived
membership in a relevant social group it means
that (group us) will seek negative aspects about
(them group)

4. Evolutionary Approach : Evolutionary
approach uses evolutionary ideas such as
adaptation, reproduction, and natural
selection as the basis for explaining specific
human behaviors.
The evolutionary perspective considers
many different traits which include memory,
perception and language.
In other words, evolutionary psychology is
focused on how evolution has shaped the mind
and behavior.
Psychology : the study of mind and behavior.