Lecture 1 introduction to Social psychology

Introduction to Social
Psychology
By
Associate Prof. Atta Allah Elenizy
Assistant Prof. Mona Hamdy
Nursing Department
2023
Lecture Objectives
By the end of this lecture each student will be able to:

 Define social psychology
 Importance of social psychology
 Review the history of the field of social psychology
 Summarize the four major theoretical perspectives of
social psychology.
 Summarize the basic principles of social behavior.
Introduction
Social psychologists study why we are often helpful to

other people and why we may at other times be unfriendly
or aggressive, study both the benefits of having good
relationships with other people and the costs of being
lonely, how men and women behave differently in social
settings, how juries work together to make important
group decisions.
History of Social Psychology
- During the 1940s and 1950s, the social psychologists

Kurt Lewin and Leon Festinger refined the
experimental approach to studying behavior
- Lewin is sometimes known as “the father of social

psychology”.
- Leonard Berkowitz (1974) pioneered the study of

human aggression.
Irving Janis (1972), focused on group behavior, studying
why intelligent people sometimes made decisions that led
to disastrous results when they worked together.
- Lieberman, 2010 : study how social situations influence

our health and happiness, the important roles of
evolutionary experiences and cultures on our behavior.
What is Social Psychology
Is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings,

and behaviors are influenced by other people.
Scientific study of how people think and behave when

interacting with others. How people’s thoughts, feelings
and actions are affected by others.
Social influence
Social Influence is the effect that the

words, actions, or mere presence of
other people have on our thoughts,
feelings, attitudes, or behaviors.
Importance of SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:
1. Enrich your understanding of yourself and of the world around

you.
2. Gain a greater appreciation for how social relationships

influence individual functioning.
3. Tackles how individuals are consciously/unconsciously

influenced to act in a desired manner.
Four Major Theoretical Perspectives
of Social Psychology
Four major perspectives (or families of theories)

have dominated the field: sociocultural, evolutionary,
social learning, and social cognitive .
The Sociocultural Perspective -1
1- Sociocultural theorists focus on the

central importance of social norms, or rules
about appropriate behavior, such as Don’t eat
with your hands, Don’t wear shorts to a
wedding, and so on.
The Sociocultural Perspective
’.cont
At the center of this perspective is the concept

of culture, which we can broadly define as a
set of beliefs, customs, habits, and languages
shared by the people living in a particular time
and place.
Each of us has been exposed to different

cultural norms depending on our ethnicity, our
socioeconomic status, the geographical region
in which we were raised and our religion
2- The Evolutionary Perspective
A theoretical viewpoint that searches for the causes of social behavior

in the physical and psychological predispositions that helped our
ancestors survive and reproduce.
 Social behaviors developed through genetics and

inheritance (the role of biology and gene transmission
(heredity) across generations to explain current behavior).
The Social Learning Perspective -3
A theoretical viewpoint that focuses on past

learning experiences as determinants of a
person’s social behaviors with reward and
punishment.
We learn behaviors through observing and

mimicking the behavior of others.
The Social Cognitive Perspective -4
A theoretical viewpoint that focuses on the

mental processes involved in paying
attention to, interpreting, and remembering
social experiences.
The emphasis on an interaction between inner

experience and the outside world led
naturally to a close association between
social psychology and cognitive
psychology.
Basic Principles of Social Behavior
1. Social behavior is goal oriented.

2. Social behavior represents a continual interaction between the
person and the situation.
3. The interaction between the individual and the situation helps
determine the outcome.
4. We analyze and explain the behavior of those around us.
5. We believe that a person's behavior is a good indicator of their
personality.
Social Behavior Is Goal Oriented -1
Goals affect our social behaviors on several levels.

At the surface level, we can enumerate a long list of day-to-
day goals: to find out the latest office gossip, to make a good
impression on a teacher, or to get a date for next Saturday
night.
At a somewhat broader level, we can talk about longer-term

goals: to gain a reputation as being competent, to be seen as
likable, to feel good about oneself, or to develop a romantic
relationship.
At the broadest level, we can ask about fundamental motives
—the ultimate functions of our social behavior .
Fundamental motives includes:-

1. To Establish Social Ties
2. To Understand Ourselves and Others
3. To Gain and Maintain Status
4. To Defend Ourselves and Those We Value
5. To Attract and Reta in Mates
Social behavior represents a continual interaction -2
between the person and the situation
The fundamental motives and specific goals

active at any one time reflect the continual
interaction between factors inside the person
and factors outside.
Social behavior represents a continual interaction
between the person and the situation
The Person: When we talk about the person, we will

typically be referring to features or characteristics that
individuals carry into social situations (physical
characteristics & psychological traits).
The Situation: When we talk about the social situation, we

are referring to events or circumstances outside the person.
Person–Situation Interactions
Different social situations trigger different goals

sometimes we want to be liked, sometimes we
want to be feared, and so on.
Our personalities also affect which situations

we choose to enter (If you are an introvert, you might
decline an invitation to a party; an extravert might crash the party,
even if he wasn’t invited).
Person–Situation Interactions
Just as people choose their situations, so social

situations may choose certain types of people to
enter them.
Thus situation and person shape and choose

one another in a continuing cycle.

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Introduction to Social

By the end of this lecture each student will be able to:

Social psychologists study why we are often helpful to

- During the 1940s and 1950s, the social psychologists

- Lewin is sometimes known as “the father of social

- Leonard Berkowitz (1974) pioneered the study of

- Lieberman, 2010 : study how social situations influence

Is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings,

Scientific study of how people think and behave when

Social Influence is the effect that the

1. Enrich your understanding of yourself and of the world around

2. Gain a greater appreciation for how social relationships

3. Tackles how individuals are consciously/unconsciously

Four major perspectives (or families of theories)

1- Sociocultural theorists focus on the

At the center of this perspective is the concept

Each of us has been exposed to different

A theoretical viewpoint that searches for the causes of social behavior

 Social behaviors developed through genetics and

A theoretical viewpoint that focuses on past

We learn behaviors through observing and

A theoretical viewpoint that focuses on the

The emphasis on an interaction between inner

1. Social behavior is goal oriented.

Goals affect our social behaviors on several levels.

At a somewhat broader level, we can talk about longer-term

Fundamental motives includes:-

The fundamental motives and specific goals

The Person: When we talk about the person, we will

The Situation: When we talk about the social situation, we

Different social situations trigger different goals

Our personalities also affect which situations

Just as people choose their situations, so social

Thus situation and person shape and choose

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