COURSE TITLE: GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE CODE: BSPH 112
LESSON 01
Objectives of the lesson
By the end of the lesson students should know:
1.The definition of Social Psychology.
2.Major theoretical perspective of Social Psychology.
3.The Social Self concept and factors affecting it.
4.The meaning of attribution and some attribution biases.
Introduction to Social Psychology
Definition of Social Psychology
1. The Scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by others.
2.Social psychology as a scientific study can be divided into categories description and explanation.
a.Careful description is the first step to account for any phenomenon i.e. migration and intertribal warfare. Scientists develop reliable and valid methods to help them avoid biased description.
b.Social Psychologists also seek to explain why people influence one another in the way they do. A good scientific explanation can connect many unconnected observations into an interconnected, coherent and meaningful manner.
c.Scientific explanations that connect and organise existing observations are called theories.
d.Scientific theories organise what is already known and give hints about future occurrences. A good theory provides information on how to solve the problem.
e.Social psychological theories are more likely to suggest searching elsewhere for the causes of social behaviour – in a person’s interpretation of his or her immediate social environment.
f. Finally, scientific theories can help people to make predictions about future events.
3.Social Psychology is an interdisciplinary bridge – Social psychologists consider interaction of social behaviour at different level of analysis. For example studies of societies in the world have found that cultural differences in friendliness and sociability are linked to geographic variations in disease prevalence – Where there are more diseases, people have traits that lead them to avoid with others.
MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSECTIVES OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
The four (04) major theoretical perspectives (families of theories) of Social Psychology are:
1. The Sociocutural Perspective
a.It states that a person’s prejudices, preferences and political preferences are affected by factors that work at the level of the group such as nationality, social class, and current historical trend.
b.Sociocutural theorists’ focus on the importance of social norms or rules about appropriate behaviour.
c.At the centre of the Sociocutural perspective is the concept of culture which is a set of beliefs, customs, beliefs and language shared by the people living in a particular time and place. Culture includes man made features of the environment houses and clothings. Technological features of the culture (i.e. cell phones, internet sites) can affect social behaviour.
2.Evolutionary Perspective
a.The evolutionary perspective contends that social behaviours developed through genetics and inheritance.
b.Emphasizes the role of biology and gene transmission across generations to explain current behaviour.
c.The central driving force of evolution is natural selection, the process whereby animals pass to their off spring those characteristics that help them to survive and reproduce. New characteristics that are well suited to particular environments - called adaptations - will replace the characteristics that are less well suited to the demands and opportunities of those environments present.
d.McDougall and Charles Darwin suggested that human social behaviour (such as smiling, sneering and other emotional expressions) had evolved along with physical features such as upright posture.
3.Social Learning Perspective
a.Social learning perspective views social behaviour as driven by each individual’s past learning experiences with reward and punishment.
b.Not everything the individuals learn is positive, he/she can also learn something that is negative imitating aggressive people.
c.There are three ways in social behaviour can be acquired:
(1) Association or Classical Conditioning
(2)Reinforcement- learning based on rewards:
(3)Observational- people learn through observing others’ behaviour, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviours.
4.Social-Cognitive Perspective
a. The Sociocutural, evolutionary and social learning perspective of Social Psychology all emphasize the objective environment. Each perspective assumes that our social behaviours are influenced by real events in the world.
b.According to the social – cognitive perspective, social behaviour is driven by each person’s subjective interpretations of events in the world.
c. The Socio – Cognitive theorists (i.e. Kurt Lewin) emphasized on the importance of the interaction of the situation and the person’s interpretation on the importance of the formation of the social behaviour.
d.The emphasise on the interaction between inner experience and the outside led to close association between social psychology and cognitive psychology.
e. Cognitive psychologists study the mental process involved in the noticing, interpreting, judging and remembering the events of the world.
Summary of the major theoretical perspective of Social Psychology
S/ No / Perspective / What drives social behaviour / Example01 / Socio - cutural / Large in large social groups. / People who work in offices are more likely to wear suits.
02 / Evolutionary / Inherited tendencies to respond to social environment in ways that would have helped our ancestors survive and produce. / Human infants are born with a set with a set of behaviour mechanism (sucking, crying and cooing).
03 / Social learning / Rewards and punishments. Observing how others people are rewarded and punished for their social behaviour. / A teenage boy decides to become a musician after watching an audience scream in admiration of the lead singer at a concert.
04 / Social Cognitive / What we pay attention to in a social situation, how we interpret it and how we connect the current situation to related experiences. / If you pass a homeless person on the street, you may be more likely to help if you interpret this plight as something beyond his control and if he reminds you of the parable of the good Samaritan
THE SOCIAL SELF
Social Self can be defined as how an individual perceive others are perceiving him or her or a conscious understanding of how one sees oneself in relation to social situations.
Components of self-concept
The basic components of the self - concept include:
1.The ideal self - This is what a person would like to be, such as a good, moral, and well-respected person.
2.The real self-This is what the person really thinks about oneself.
3.The Public self - This is what the person thinks others think of him. The public self influences the ideal and real self.
The self-concept is formed on various levels:
1.Cognitive level (intellectual) - it constitutes the ideas, opinions, beliefs, perceptions and the processing of exterior information. We base our self-concept on past experiences and beliefs.
2.Emotional level - this is the judge of our values (our personal qualities). This implies a pleasant or unpleasant feeling that we see in ourselves.
3.Behavioural level - this is the decision to act, to practice a consistent behaviour.
Characteristics of a Positive Self concept
Positive self-concept and good mental health results when all three components of the self concept (the ideal, real and public self) are compatible. Characteristics of an individual with positive self concept are as follows:
1.Have Self-confidence.
2.Have the ability to accept criticism and not being defensive.
3.Sets achievable goals.
4.Willingness to take risks and try new experiences.
Factors affecting the self concept
The factors that can affect the development of the self concept are as follows:
1.Life Experiences - Life experiences, including success and failure, will develop and influence a person’s self-concept. Experiences in which the individual has accomplished a goal and achieved success will positively reinforce the development of a healthy self-concept. Difficult experiences and/or failures can negatively impact a person’s self-concept unless they have established coping strategies to deal effectively with these challenges to their self-concept.
2.Heredity and Culture - Individuals typically grow up learning and integrating their family’s heredity and culture into their life. Beginning at birth, heredity and culture shape and influence a person’s self-concept. Individuals who have integrated their heredity and culture into their life tend to have a healthier self-identity and self-concept.
3.Stress and Coping - Common stressors include financial, work-related, relationship, and health issues. Individuals react and deal with stress in different ways depending on their past experiences and success and failure with dealing with stress. Individuals who learn and use effective coping strategies to deal with stress will most likely develop a positive self-concept. People who become overwhelmed with stress may feel hopeless and powerless, leading to a feeling of low self-confidence and self-esteem.
4.Health Status - People tend to take their good health for granted. When they become ill, their altered health status can change their self-concept.
5.Developmental Stage - Growth and development begins at birth and continues into adulthood. Typically a person will achieve specific developmental tasks as one passes through each stage of life. The successful accomplishment of each task will influence and reinforce the development of a healthy self-concept. Individuals who experience developmental delays or situations in life that prevent or delay the accomplishment of developmental tasks can have an altered or negative self-concept.
Interventions of promoting a positive self-concept
The interventions of promoting a positive self –concept in an individual are as follows:
1.Identify the individual’s strengths.
2.Listen to the individual’s self-description.
3.Involve the individual in decision making.
4.Keep goals realistic.
5.Encourage the individualto think positively.
6.Maintain an environment conducive to individual self-expression.
7.Explain to the client how to use positive self-talk instead of negative self-talk.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a personal opinion of oneself and is shaped by individuals’ relationships with others, experiences, and accomplishments in life. It also refers to the confidence and worth and how one feels about oneself. Self- esteem influences everything one does, thinks and feels
A healthy self-esteem is necessary for the development of mental well-being and a positive self-concept.
The signs of high self-esteem in a person
1.Accept yourself
2.Admit mistakes
3.Take responsibility for one’s actions
4.Little self-doubt
5.Feel competent
6.Willing to learn and try new things
7.Viewing mistakes as a learning process
The signs of low self esteem in a person
1.Easily influenced by other people in negative ways.
2.Worry a lot about what others think about him.
3.Seem to be more confident than he/she actually feels.
4.Engage in activities that endangers one or others’ health.
5.Avoid new challenges.
6.Viewing other people negatively
Increasing self - esteem
The following are the activities that increase self esteem in a person:
1.Support an individual in grieving over the loss.
2.Provide resources for role-modelling or instructions regarding role.
3.Praise and encourage the person when he does tasks successfully.
4.Provide opportunities for discussing new role.
5.Advise an individual to set achievable goals.
6.Avoid criticising a person with low esteem.
7.Individual to express feelings about role changes.
ATTRIBUTION
Definition:The way people understand the causes of things happening and the causes of people's behaviour, including their own. Attributions may be correct or incorrect, and can form the basis of misunderstandings.
When finding out for the causes of other people’s behaviour, answers can stem from individuals internal causes (such as their own characteristics, motives or intentions), external causes (such as some aspects of physical environment or social world) or from the combination of the internal and external causes.
Kelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution
Kelley came up with three basic factors which affect people in explaining the causes of others behaviour namely:
1.Consistency - Whether the behaviour is relatively stable across time (a similar pattern) or unstable (an infrequent occurrence).
2.Distinctiveness – Whether the person’s performance is different on this task than on most of the tasks in the job.
3.Consensus – The degree to which the person’s peers behave in the similar manner.
The combination of the three assessment results gives an explanation for cause of the individual’s behaviour in the given situation.
Kelley suggested that we are most likely to attribute another’s behaviour to internal causes under conditions where consensus and distinctiveness are low, but consistency is high. In contrast we are most likely to attribute another’s behaviour to external causes under conditions where consensus, consistency and distinctiveness are all high. Finally, we attribute to a combination of these factors (internal and external cause) when consensus is low, consistency and distinctiveness are high.
Examples of Attribution biases
1.Fundamental Attribution Error – This happen when we are trying to understand and explain what happens in social settings, we tend to view behaviour as a particularly significant factor. We then tend to explain behaviour in terms of internal disposition, such as personality traits, abilities, motives, etc. as opposed to external situational factors. This can be due to our focus on the person more than their situation, about which we may know very little. We also know little about how they are interpreting the situation.
When observing other people performing a task, we are likely to make this Fundamental Attribution Error. When we are thinking about ourselves, however, we will tend to make situational attributions.
Example of a fundamental attribution error - I assume you have not done much today because you are lazy, rather than perhaps tired or lack the right resources.
Fundamental attribution error can be due to the following factors:
a.Having a self-centered orientation, adopting a self-protective and defensive posture and seek to guard one’s concerns in conflicts.
b.The information available to actors and observers may differ; differing data may entail different subsequent causal attributions.
c.Differences in the focus of attention among the actors and observers.
2.Negative Impression Bias is another common attribution bias. Attributors have a strong and reliable tendency to overemphasize negative information about the individuals being judged. Negative information is perceived to carry greater weight than positive information. This negativism is most evident when parties are in serious and deep conflict situation. Parties are almost completely biased against the other party. They see very little well in the respondents. This results in a complete lack of trust and respect in the relationship. Furthermore, these negative perceptions are then used to judge the other person’s subsequent behaviours.
Some of the approaches to overcome the negative impression bias are:
a.Focusing on positive attributes.
b.Ignoring unhelpful negative comments.
c.Being understanding and maintaining posture of impartiality.
LESSON 2
ATTITUDES AND PREJUDICE
Objective of the lesson
To ensure that the students know the following:
a.Definition of attitudes and their components
b.Importance of attitudes.
c.How attitudes are formed.
d.Definition of prejudices and overcoming them.
Attitudes
Attitudes are positive or negative evaluations of particular things.
Components of attitudes
The three basic components of attitudes are: emotional, informational, and behavioural.
1.The emotional component involves the person’s feelings about an object and they can be positive, neutral, or negative.
2.The informational component consists of the beliefs and information the individual has about the object.
3.The behavioural component consists of a person’s tendencies to behave in a particular way toward an object.
The importance of attitudes
1.Attitudes serve as one way to organize our relationship with our world. They make our interactions more predictable affording us a degree of control. For example, the attitude “I like working for this company” is very useful in guiding one’s behaviour towards the company’s work.
2.Attitudes also enable people to reduce the vast amount of information that they possess into manageable units. People’s attitude represents the combination of many bits of information.
3.People can use others attitudes to make judgments about them.
4.Help in developing relationship with other people.
5.Attitudes can be useful in predicting behaviour, for instance people’s attitudes will determine how they will vote in an election.
Attitude formation
Attitudes come from the following sources:
1.Classical conditioning:Through Classical Conditioning, people come to like or dislike new objects or events merely because they are associated with objects or events they like or dislike. For instance, when we associate people with something good (like the receipt of good news) we like them more even if they did not cause good news. Conversely, when we associate people with something negative, we like them less.
2.Operant Conditioning: Through the process of Operant Conditioning, people learn by being rewarded or punished. People can learn to hold an attitude in that way.
3.Observational learning: We often learn by observing others. When we see others being punished, we avoid their behaviours and the attitudes they represent. When we see others rewarded, we engage in those behaviours and adopt the attitudes they represent.
4.Heredity: The studies on attitudes have shown that there is unlearned, genetic component to many attitudes such as those involving political and religious issues. For instance, attitudes towards the death penalty or censorship are more likely to be influenced by heredity than are attitudes towards teenage driving.
Prejudice
Definition
Prejudice is defined as attitudes, generally negative, towards members of specific social group that are based solely on their belonging to these groups, ORjudgement of people based on the group they belong rather than based on their individual characteristics.
Overcoming prejudice
Prejudice can be overcomed by using Emotional Intelligence (EI) by following three steps. EI refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions and manage relationship with other people. Emotional intelligence demands self-awareness and then using that self-awareness to change how we think, feel, and act.