Chapter 1 Introduction to Social Psychology

1. Chapter 1
Introduction to Social Psychology

2. What is Social Psychology?
• Social psychology, as defined by Baron and Byrne (2006), is the scientific field that
seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour and thought in social
situations.
• Gordon Allport, in 1968, defined social psychology as a discipline in which people
attempt to understand, explain and predict how the thoughts, feelings and actions of
individuals are influenced by the perceived, imagined or implied thoughts, feelings and
actions of others (Raven & Rubin, 1983).
• Gerrig and Zimbardo (2006, pg G-II) define social psychology as 'the branch of
psychology that studies the effect of social variables on individual behaviour, attitudes,
perceptions, and motives; also studies group and intergroup phenomena'.
• Barrett (2017, p. 5) defined social psychology as the '[s]cientific study of the social
experiences and behaviours of individuals.

3. Principles of Social Psychology
1. The purposive nature of social behaviour: Any human behaviour, according this principle, is directed towards achieving a
goal. For example, human beings develop friendship to achieve certain goals. Thus, behaviours do not take place randomly.
And the fact that behaviour is purposive actually motivates the social psychologist to understand the purpose behind a certain
behaviour.
2. Dispositional and situational influences determine social behaviour: When we hear about an incident of sexual abuse or a
gruesome murder, we try to understand why the perpetrator behaved the way he/she did. Can the behaviour be attributed to
some psychological problems, his/her upbringing or past negative experiences. Here, we basically want to know whether the
determinants of such behaviour were dispositional or situational. Most often, any behaviour is attributed to interactionism,
where both dispositional ad situational factors play a role.
3. How situations are interpreted influence the social behaviour: A presentation in office in front of the superiors may be
seen by one employee as an opportunity to express himself/herself, whereas another employee may see it as a threat. Thus, a
single situation can be interpreted in different ways by different individuals, and that has an influence on the social behaviour
of the person.
4. Social behaviour is cultural: As also discussed under the scope of social psychology, culture also has an influence on our
behaviour in a social set-up. Cross cultural differences are found in the way individuals behave. This will be dealt in detail in
Chapter 12 on culture, where the relationship between culture and behaviour will be studied.

4. Social Psychology as Science
Psychology is explained as a scientific study and, being a part of psychology, social psychology also renders itself to being a
science.
Social psychology employs a scientific methods to test the assumptions and ideas with regard to human behaviour in social
set-up.
While carrying out research in social psychology, both scientific understanding and core values need to be considered to
study of issues and phenomenon under social psychology and to ensure valid evaluation.
Science has four main goals that are discussed as follows:
1. Description: It involves detecting and reporting the details about a particular phenomenon/issue. For example, a
research could be carried out on adjustment problems amongst adolescents. These adjustment problems could be related
to home or school or could be emotional or social in nature. The adjustment problems amongst adolescents are thus
described in detail.
2. Prediction: This has to do with identifying factors that may be related or correlated with the phenomenon/issue. For
example, with reference to the research on adjustment problems amongst adolescents, there could exist a relationship
between parenting style or peer influence and adjustment patterns and problems displayed by the adolescents. And if such
a relations exists, then adjustment problems can be predicted based on the parenting style or peer influence.

5. Social Psychology as Science contd.
3. Determining causality: This means establishing a cause and effect relationship between variables/factors and
the phenomenon. That is, when changes occur in one variable, they lead to changes in the other variable, thus
denoting a cause and effect relationship between the two variables. This can be said to be one step further, as
existence of mere relationship between two factors does not denote causality. For example, though there may exist a
relationship between parenting style or peer influence and adjustment problems in adolescents, peer influence may
not necessarily cause adjustment problems in adolescents. But, if there is a cause and effect relationship between
the previously discussed variables, then, based on the results, obtained interventions can be developed (with a focus
on parenting style or peer influence) in order to prevent adjustments problems amongst adolescents.
4. Explanation: This has to do with describing the reasons with regard to why a particular phenomenon occurs.
This will include explaining why parenting style and peer influence is leading to adjustment problems of
adolescents. Thus, under explanation, the reasons why a relationship of causality exists between the factors are
explored.

6. Further, there are also core values that need to be adhered to by scientists in order to
ensure validity of the study. They are:
1. Accuracy: The collection of information has to be accurate using an error-free
measurement, and the information collected also has to be precise.
2. Objectivity: While collecting data and testing the idea or proposition, the bias
should be kept at the minimum.
3. Scepticism: The findings should be rigorously verified before deriving
conclusions.
4. Open mindedness: The scientist should openly accept the evidence that may be
inconsistent with his/her belief or theories.
5. Ethics: It is extremely important to follow ethical guideline while carrying out
any research.
Social Psychology as Science

7. Theories of Social Psychology
Three theories that form the basis of other theories are psychoanalytic theory,
behaviourism and Gestalt psychology.
Other theories in psychology that will help us understand social issues and
aspects in a better manner are:
1. Learning theories
2. Cognitive theories
3. Motivational theories
4. Decision-making theories
5. Social exchange theories
6. Role theories