Research Methods & Theoretical Perspectives in Social Psychology

Scientific Method

A systematic process involving observation, hypothesis generation, testable predictions, and empirical testing to explain social phenomena.

Correlational Design

Measures the natural co-occurrence between two or more variables without manipulation.

Positive Correlation

Variables move in the same direction.

Negative Correlation

Variables move in opposite directions.

Limitations of Correlational Design

Does not establish causality due to the directional problem (B could cause A) and the third-variable problem (an unmeasured variable causes both).

Experimental Design

Used to uncover causal relationships by manipulating variables under controlled conditions.

Independent Variable (IV)

The factor manipulated by the researcher (the hypothesized cause).

Dependent Variable (DV)

The factor measured to observe the effect of the IV.

Control

Standardizing the laboratory environment to eliminate confounding variables.

Random Assignment

Placing participants into conditions by chance to ensure background characteristics/third variables are equally distributed across groups.

Experimental Realism

Designing settings and cover stories/deception so participants take the task seriously and act naturally.

Sociocultural Perspective

Focuses on how social behavior is driven by group-level influences, cultural norms, and shared traditions across time and place.

Evolutionary Perspective

Focuses on psychological adaptations and physical traits that evolved through natural and sexual selection to solve ancestral survival and reproduction challenges.

Social Learning Perspective

Assumes social behavior is driven by past learning experiences, shaped via direct reinforcement/punishment or indirect observation and imitation.

Social Cognitive Perspective

Examines how behavior is driven by individual subjective interpretations, attention, memory, and cognitive processing of social events.

Integration of Perspectives

These perspectives interact (e.g., evolutionary drives shape cultural norms; cognitive processes enable social learning).

Research Challenges

Controlling complex social confounds and maintaining experimental realism.

Social Desirability Bias

Survey biases that affect responses based on the desire to be viewed favorably.

WEIRD Samples

Overreliance on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic samples.

5 Fundamental Social Motives

1. Establish social ties; 2. Understand ourselves and others; 3. Gain and maintain status; 4. Defend ourselves and those we value; 5. Attract and retain mates.

Exemplars

Specific instances or memories of a particular event, episode, or individual.

Schemas

General mental representations capturing the core features of a category or concept.

Priming

Temporary activation of knowledge or goals by environmental cues or related concepts.

Chronic Accessibility

Knowledge that is permanently accessible and ready for immediate use due to frequent activation.

Attitudes

Positive or negative evaluations of specific targets (can be automatic/implicit or deliberative/explicit).

Emotions

Intense, short-term evaluations accompanied by physiological arousal and complex thoughts.

Moods

Broader, longer-lasting affective states not tied to a specific stimulus.

Mere Presence

Creates competition, motivation, or temporary opportunities/threats.

Affordances

Opportunities or threats provided by different people in an environment.

Descriptive Norms

Describe what people typically do in a given situation.

Injunctive Norms

Describe what behavior is socially approved or disapproved.

Strong Situations

Clear norms and expectations that demand specific behavior (e.g., attending a funeral).

Weak Situations

Diverse acceptable behaviors with few prescriptive norms (e.g., hanging out at a park).

Individualistic Cultures

Emphasize self-reliance, personal goals, and individual choice.

Collectivistic Cultures

Emphasize group harmony, social ties, and interdependence.

Six Person-Situation Interactions

1. Different people respond differently to the same situation. 2. Situations choose the person. 3. People choose their situations. 4. Situations prime different aspects of the person. 5. People change the situation. 6. Situations change the person over time.

Attention

Consciously focusing on aspects of the environment or self; limited resource guided by active motives.

Interpretation

Assigning meaning to ambiguous social information.

Judgment

Using interpreted information to form impressions, make decisions, or draw conclusions.

Memory

Storing and retrieving past experiences; directly forms judgments or indirectly guides attention and interpretation.

Expectations & Confirmation Bias

Prior beliefs simplify decision-making but cause us to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms our pre-existing expectations.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When an initially inaccurate expectation leads to behaviors that cause the expectation to come true.

Dispositional Inferences

Spontaneous judgments attributing behavior to internal traits rather than external factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overestimate dispositional causes and underestimate situational influences when analyzing others' behavior.

Actor-Observer Bias

Attributing others' actions to dispositional traits (observer) while attributing our own actions to situational demands (actor).

Representativeness Heuristic

Categorizing something based on how similar it is to a typical prototype.

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily instances come to mind.

Anchoring & Adjustment Heuristic

Starting with a baseline value (anchor) and adjusting insufficiently from it.

False Consensus Effect

Using oneself as an anchor, leading to an overestimation of how much others share one's views.

Automatic Thinking

Fast, non-conscious, effortless, and spontaneous cognition.

Controlled Thinking

Conscious, intentional, effortful, and rational mental processing.

Dual-Process Model

Initial responses are automatic; controlled thinking takes over if motivation and cognitive resources are present.

Factors Influencing Heuristic Use

High arousal, off-peak circadian rhythm times, high need for structure, high situational complexity, and time pressure increase heuristic use.

Error Management Theory

Cognitive shortcuts are biased to minimize the most costly error in a given context.

False Positive

Inferring a signal/danger when none exists (e.g., men over-perceiving sexual intent).

False Negative

Failing to infer a signal/danger when one exists (e.g., women under-perceiving commitment).

Desire for Accuracy Prompters

Sad/depressed moods, high need for cognition, and unexpected events.

Correspondent Inference Theory

Determines if an action reflects a personal trait based on whether it was intentional, foreseeable, freely chosen, and occurred despite opposing forces.

Discounting Principle

Confidence in one cause decreases as alternative causes increase.

Augmenting Principle

Confidence in a cause increases if the behavior occurred despite strong opposing forces.

Covariation Model

Evaluates behavior across three dimensions: Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency.

External (Situational) Attribution

High Consensus, High Distinctiveness, and High Consistency.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

Low Consensus, Low Distinctiveness, and High Consistency.