What is Social Psychology?

Social Psychology is the scientific study of feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of individuals in social situations.

Scientific study: Use of systematic observation, measurement, and experimentation to test hypotheses.

Social situations: Contexts involving actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Panic buying of toilet paper during COVID-19 (Slide 8).

Not just “irrational behaviour.”
Can be explained through conformity, social norms, fear, and uncertainty.

Importance

Helps explain real-world events (e.g., pandemic behaviour, social media bans).
Moves beyond “common sense” explanations.
Uses theory-driven empirical research.

What It Shows

Human behaviour is strongly shaped by social context, not just personality.

Social Psychology vs Common Sense

Scientific Method in Social Psychology

Process:

Hunches based on observation.
Develop theory.
Derive hypotheses.
Conduct empirical research.
Confirm or reject predictions.
Modify or reject theory.

Why Not Common Sense?

Common sense is often contradictory.
Hindsight bias makes outcomes seem predictable.
Scientific testing prevents biased conclusions.

Before Milgram’s study, most people predicted low obedience. Results showed high obedience.

Approaches to Understanding Behaviour

Using the Holocaust as an example:

1. Individual Differences Approach

Personality traits.

“Were perpetrators authoritarian?”
Emphasises dispositional explanations.

2. Sociological Approach

Social systems and structures.

Government, ideology, economic pressures.

3. Social Psychological Approach

Situation.

What features of the situation caused ordinary people to behave this way?

Attempts to recreate conditions in lab settings.

Importance

Highlights “power of the situation.”

4. The Power of the Situation

Situations can override personal morality or personality traits.

Key Idea

Ordinary people can engage in harmful behaviour under certain conditions.

This is central to:

Milgram’s obedience research.
Later studies such as Zimbardo’s prison experiment (additional context).

5. Milgram’s Obedience Study (1963)

Obedience: Behaviour change produced by the commands of authority.

Study Design

“Learning and Memory Experiment.”
Participant = “Teacher.”
Confederate = “Learner.”
Shocks ranged from 15 to 450 volts.
Learner was not actually shocked.

Key Findings

What It Shows

About 65% (2/3) went to 450 volts.
Participants showed distress (sweating, nervous laughter).
Many predicted low obedience; actual obedience was much higher

Authority has powerful influence.
Moral discomfort does not necessarily stop obedience.
Situational pressures can override personal values.

Variations of Milgram’s Study - Stanley Milgram

Immediacy

Victim in same room: 40% obedience.
Experimenter absent (telephone): 30%.
Contradictory experimenters: 0%.

Immediacy = Physical or psychological closeness of authority or victim.

Gradual Escalation

Shocks increased in small increments.

Makes it harder to withdraw.

Release from Responsibility

Participants believed experimenter was responsible.

Importance - Demonstrates how subtle situational changes alter behaviour.

Ethical Debate

Issues Raised

Deception.
Psychological distress.
Informed consent.
Freedom to withdraw.

Importance

Led to stronger ethical guidelines.
Modern research requires ethics committee approval.

Replication Crisis

Repeating a study to see if results can be reproduced.

Why Important?

Ensures reliability.
Tests robustness of findings.

Issues

Some classic findings fail to replicate.
Possible causes:
- Different populations.
- Ambiguous protocols.
- Research misconduct.
- Cultural change over time.

Critical Perspective

Alex Haslam suggests obedience may reflect identification with authority, not blind obedience.

Social Psychology Around the World

Key Question:

Do social situations and behaviours vary across cultures?

Culture is a collection of shared beliefs, values, norms, rules, and customs that guide behaviour within a group.

Culture influences:

How people define the self
How emotions are expressed
How authority is viewed
How relationships are structured
What behaviours are considered appropriate

Evolutionary Perspective

Human minds evolved to solve survival and reproductive challenges.

Core Idea

Common psychological processes exist worldwide due to shared ancestry.

Paul Ekman’s research on universal facial expressions.

Emotions such as anger, fear, happiness recognised across cultures.

What It Shows

Some behaviours are universal.
Reflect adaptive survival mechanisms.

Cross Cultural Perspective

Culture shapes thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

Culture = Shared beliefs, values, rules, customs.

Explains differences between societies.
Prevents Western bias in psychology.

Individualistic vs Collectivistic Cultures

Individualistic Culture

Independent self.
Personal goals prioritised.
Identity based on personality traits.
Common in Western cultures.

“I am confident.”

“I am ambitious.”

Collectivistic Culture

Interdependent self.
Group harmony prioritised.
Identity based on social roles.

“I am a daughter.”

“I am a member of my community.”

Aboriginal Social and Emotional Well-Being (SEWB)

Social and Emotional Well-Being integrates:

Body and mind.

Family.

Community.

Cultural identity.

Self is embedded in relationships.
Similar to interdependent self-concept.

What It Shows

Western psychological models may not fully capture Indigenous worldviews.

Self Concept Across Cultures

Research Finding

Westerners: More personality-based descriptions.
East Asians: More role-based descriptions.

What It Shows

Self concept is culturally shaped.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The Fundamental Attribution Error is a cognitive bias in which individuals overestimate the influence of internal, dispositional factors (such as personality or character) and underestimate the influence of situational factors when explaining other people’s behaviour.

We assume behaviour reflects who someone is, rather than considering the situation they are in.

If someone cuts you off in traffic, you might think:

“They’re rude and selfish.” (dispositional attribution)

Instead of considering:

“Maybe they’re rushing to an emergency.” (situational attribution)

Why It Happens

Situations are often less visible than behaviour.
We tend to focus on the person (the actor) rather than the context.
We are motivated to see the world as predictable and stable.

Key Concept: Attribution

Attribution = The process of explaining the causes of behaviour.

Dispositional attribution: Behaviour caused by personality traits.
Situational attribution: Behaviour caused by external circumstances.

Chapter One Notes

1. Definition of Social Psychology

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others.

Key Focus:

The individual
Within a social context
Influenced by social situations

Social psychologists aim to understand how and why the social environment shapes individual behaviour.

2. Level of Analysis

Social Psychology:
Individual in a social situation.
Personality Psychology:
Focuses on individual traits and stable characteristics.
Sociology:
Focuses on groups, institutions, and society as a whole.

3. Social Psychology vs Other Approaches

Personality Psychology

Explains behaviour in terms of traits (e.g., “She is aggressive.”)

Sociology

Examines broad social systems (e.g., institutions, social structures)

Social Psychology

Emphasises the power of the situation.
Seeks universal principles of human behaviour.
Uses empirical, experimental methods.

4. Social Psychology vs Philosophy & Common Sense

Philosophy and journalism often rely on reasoning or opinion.
Social psychology uses scientific experiments.
It tests hypotheses through controlled research.
Cross-cultural research is essential to identify universal laws of behaviour.

Why It Matters How People Explain Behaviour

1. The Power of the Situation

Individual behaviour is strongly shaped by the social environment.

However:

People often resist believing how powerful situations are.

2. Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to explain others’ behaviour in terms of personality traits while underestimating situational influences.

“He failed because he’s lazy.”
(Ignoring external pressures or circumstances.)

Social psychologists show that situations are often more powerful than personality.

3. The Importance of Construal

Construal = The way an individual perceives and interprets the social world.

Key idea:

People do not respond to the objective situation.
They respond to their interpretation of the situation.

The relationship between person and situation is:

Two-way.
Situations influence people.
People interpret situations.

Perceptions can be more influential than objective reality.

Self-Esteem vs Accuracy Motives

1. Two Basic Human Motives

A. Self-Esteem Motive

The need to feel good about ourselves.

People want to see themselves as competent, moral, and decent.
They may distort reality to protect self-worth.

B. Social Cognition Motive

The need to be accurate.

People want to understand the world correctly.
Helps them make effective decisions.

2. Conflict Between Motives

Sometimes:

Accuracy threatens self-esteem.

Admitting selfish behaviour may damage self-image.

In these cases:

People may prioritise self-esteem over accuracy.
They reinterpret events to maintain a positive self-view.

3. Social Cognition

Social cognition is the study of how people:

Select information
Interpret events
Remember details
Make judgments and decisions

Reality:

People often act on incomplete or misinterpreted information.

Week One:

Social Psychology	The study of the psychological processes people have in common that make them susceptible to social influences. Study of individuals in social contexts. The scientific study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. → Focuses on individuals within social contexts rather than personality alone.
Scientific Study	Use of systematic observation, measurement, and experimentation to test hypotheses.
Scientific method:	Systematic testing of hypotheses.
Replication	Repeating research to confirm findings. The process of repeating a study using the same or similar methods to determine whether the original findings can be reproduced, thereby strengthening the reliability and validity of the results.
Social Situations	Contexts involving actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Contexts in which behaviour is influenced by the real, imagined, or implied presence of others, including direct interaction, social norms, or societal expectations.
Obedience	Behaviour change produced by the commands of authority. A form of social influence in which an individual changes their behaviour in response to direct commands from an authority figure.
Culture	A shared system of beliefs, values, norms, customs, and practices that shape how members of a group think, feel, and behave. Culture influences: Self-concept and identity Emotional expression and regulation Perceptions of authority Relationship structures Social norms and acceptable behaviour
Evolutionary Perspective	Human minds evolved to solve survival and reproductive challenges. Behaviour shaped by survival pressures. An approach suggesting that human thoughts and behaviours have developed through natural selection because they enhanced survival and reproductive success in ancestral environments. → Emphasises universal psychological tendencies shaped by adaptive pressures.
Cross Cultural Perspective	Culture shapes thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Culture = Shared beliefs, values, rules, customs. Explains differences between societies. Prevents Western bias in psychology. An approach that examines how cultural contexts influence psychological processes, highlighting differences and similarities across societies. → Helps identify cultural variability in behaviour. → Reduces Western bias in psychological research.
Authority	Individual with perceived legitimate power. An individual perceived as having legitimate power, status, or expertise that grants them the right to direct or influence others’ behaviour.
Collectivistic culture	Culture emphasising group membership and harmony. A cultural orientation that prioritises group harmony, interdependence, and collective goals over individual achievement.
Culture	Shared beliefs, norms, and practices.
Evolutionary perspective:	Behaviour shaped by survival pressures.
Immediacy	Physical or psychological closeness. The physical or psychological closeness of an authority figure or victim, which can strengthen or weaken social influence effects.
Individualistic culture:	Culture emphasising independence. A cultural orientation that emphasises independence, personal autonomy, and individual goals over group obligations.
Obedience	Compliance with authority commands. Obedience is a behavioural response to authority in which individuals comply with explicit instructions, often even when those instructions conflict with personal beliefs or moral standards.
Fundamental Attribution Error	The Fundamental Attribution Error is a cognitive bias in which individuals overestimate the influence of internal, dispositional factors (such as personality or character) and underestimate the influence of situational factors when explaining other people’s behaviour. We assume behaviour reflects who someone is, rather than considering the situation they are in. If someone cuts you off in traffic, you might think: “They’re rude and selfish.” (dispositional attribution) Instead of considering: “Maybe they’re rushing to an emergency.” (situational attribution)
Attribution	The process of explaining the causes of behaviour.
Dispositional attribution	Behaviour caused by personality traits.
Situational attribution	Behaviour caused by external circumstances.
Construal	The way in which people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world.