This paper provides a broad introduction to social psychology, examining how individuals think, feel, and interact with others. It traces the field's origins from Norman Triplett's work on social facilitation through Kurt Lewin's person-environment framework, then explores key topics including self-concept and self-esteem, attribution and attitudes, prejudice and discrimination, persuasion techniques and compliance, group dynamics and conformity, aggression and helping behavior, and attraction and love. The paper concludes by reflecting on how social psychology helps explain human behavior and interpersonal relationships in an evolving social landscape.
Social psychology covers a broad range of issues that closely relate to other branches of psychology such as cognitive psychology and personality psychology. It pertains to the way people think, feel, act, and interact with others. It covers several topics such as the self, how we act in groups, and how we think about, influence, and persuade others. It helps us understand who we are and why we behave the way we do in certain settings. It is a "branch of psychology that focuses on how individuals are affected by others; social psychology from a sociological perspective pays more attention to the social setting and the person's place within the dynamics of the social system" (Feenstra, 2011).
Social psychology was believed to be founded in 1898 by Norman Triplett. He was watching a bicycle race and was curious as to why cyclists seemed to race faster when in the presence of other cyclists than when racing against the clock alone (Feenstra, 2011). Later, Kurt Lewin took the field in a different direction, claiming that "behavior (B) was a function (f) of both the person (P) and the environment (E), resulting in an equation written as B = f (P, E)" (Feenstra, 2011). Lewin saw the importance of observing people in groups and in natural, everyday situations and settings. During and after World War II, social psychology gained more popularity, and several other psychologists contributed to this new and exciting field of study.
As a person grows up and develops into an individual, they start to develop a sense of self. This is a collection of attributes and characteristics that you know to be true about you. Sometimes referred to as self-concept, it is what you think, feel, and who you are. Your "self" is what makes you separate and unique from other people. We organize all of the details of who we are in self-schemas, a way to categorize the information about ourselves and use it to understand the world around us and how we fit into it. Several things factor into how our self-concept is developed, such as culture, our relationships with others, and observing feedback from those around us.
Self-esteem is how you evaluate your personal qualities and how you feel about yourself. A person who feels good about themselves and has a good opinion of their personal qualities is said to have high self-esteem. "Too much self-love can result in an off-putting sense of entitlement and an inability to learn from failures" (Psychology Today). A person who thinks badly of their personal qualities and does not have a very good opinion of themselves would have low self-esteem. "Possessing little self-regard can lead people to become depressed, to fall short of their potential, or to tolerate abusive situations and relationships" (Psychology Today). Those with high self-esteem are typically happier, while those with low self-esteem are more likely to suffer from depression. A person's self-esteem is affected by acceptance and rejection. People who are popular and attractive usually have higher self-esteem than those who don't have a lot of friends and are unattractive (Feenstra, 2011).
Another concept that involves how a person evaluates themselves is self-efficacy. This is "how an individual evaluates their abilities" (Feenstra, 2011). If a person has high self-efficacy, they believe that they are able to accomplish more things. An individual can have high self-efficacy in some areas and not in others. If someone feels they are good at basketball, they would have high self-efficacy in that area. But if they felt like they did a bad job at cooking, they would have low self-efficacy about cooking. We tend to engage in and enjoy more the activities that we have high self-efficacy in.
Having self-awareness is "being aware of yourself and certain aspects of yourself" (Feenstra, 2011). There are two different types of self-awareness. Private self-awareness is "your awareness of your internal states, for example your thoughts, feelings, or desires" (Feenstra, 2011). Public self-awareness is "awareness of how you appear to others" (Feenstra, 2011). Our public self-awareness gets higher if we believe that others are observing our behavior.
The acting self is how we use our actions to portray who our "self" is. It is how we present ourselves to others. Most people typically try to appear as attractive, intelligent, and put together as possible. Some people try too hard to portray a positive image to others and do things that are unhealthy or unbelievable. If an individual isn't really all that intelligent but is trying too hard to make others think they are, it can seem unbelievable and fake. This is considered self-defeating.
Every day we make judgments and assessments about the way others behave, and others do the same to us. This is called making attributions. Attributions are "our explanations of the behavior of ourselves and others" (Feenstra, 2011). An internal attribution is "when you blame personality, attitudes, or some other dispositional factor for the action" (Feenstra, 2011). On the other hand, external attribution is when you "blame situational factors for the action" (Feenstra, 2011).
Attitudes are how we think and feel about the people and things around us. They are evaluations. "These evaluations are based on our reactions, both in terms of how we feel and what we think, to some attitude object. Attitude objects can be physical objects, other people or groups of people, abstract or concrete ideas, animals, behaviors, or even some aspect of ourselves" (Feenstra, 2011). We have explicit and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are "the attitudes we report, those that rely on our knowledge and beliefs about an attitude object" (Feenstra, 2011). Implicit attitudes are "attitudes that are based in the automatic, unconscious reactions we have toward an attitude object" (Feenstra, 2011). Explicit attitudes are formed in ways such as someone giving us their opinion on something and that becoming the impression we have of it as well. Implicit attitudes are formed by us encountering something over time and forming an opinion of it.
Attitudes typically predict behavior, but not always. It depends on the strength of the attitude you have toward something. Research shows that if you have a strong attitude toward something and can quickly assess it, your behavior will usually coincide with your attitude. For example, if a person is asked if they like to dance and they quickly, without even thinking about it, respond that they do not, then chances are that you will not catch them dancing. On the other hand, if your attitude is not very strong toward something, then your behavior may not match your attitude. If a person is asked if they like to swim and they have to think about it but then reply that they do not, their attitude isn't a strong one toward disliking swimming. You may see them occasionally splashing around in the water, even though they said they don't like to swim.
Prejudice occurs when "a negative attitude towards individuals is formed based on their membership in a particular group" (Feenstra, 2011). Prejudice is an unfavorable feeling one person may have for another due to their affiliation with a particular group. An example of prejudice that happens every day is when a person dislikes a certain race of people simply because they are members of that race. They may not know any other details about the person, but still have negative feelings toward them because of the race they associate with it.
Stereotypes closely correlate with prejudice. They are "beliefs about the characteristics of particular groups or members of those groups" (Feenstra, 2011). Stereotyping involves making assumptions about a person because of the group they are affiliated with. An example of stereotyping would be if someone saw a Mexican person and assumed that they entered the country illegally. Just because some Mexicans enter the country illegally does not mean that they all do. We learn stereotypes from our peers, family members, and others that we are exposed to growing up.
Discrimination is also closely related to prejudice and stereotyping. It is when you display "negative behavior toward individuals or groups based on beliefs and feelings about those groups" (Feenstra, 2011). Discrimination can occur to people due to gender, race, or religion, just to name a few. It can happen just about anywhere, including schools, the workplace, and other social settings. An example of discrimination would be if "an employer offers a lower wage for a woman doing similar work as a man or offers a lower wage to a new immigrant having similar experience and skills as a non-immigrant" (NAJC).
All people possess the power to persuade. Some are just better at it than others. Sometimes we are being persuaded and don't even realize it. There are a few things that factor into how much persuasive power a person has. Credibility is very important when it comes to whether an individual considers the persuader believable or not. "Credibility has two aspects: expertise and trustworthiness. A communicator with expertise is one who appears to have knowledge and is able to communicate it. A trustworthy communicator is one we believe is giving us accurate information" (Feenstra, 2011). If the communicator seems trustworthy and knowledgeable, we are much more apt to listen to and be persuaded by their message. A person's attractiveness and likability also play a role in how much persuasive power they have. If an individual finds a person attractive and likes them, they are much more likely to be persuaded by them.
Persuaders use emotion, such as guilt, fear, or concern to try to convince us to do things. This is a strong and usually effective form of persuasion. The animal rescue association has commercials geared toward evoking emotion so people will donate to their cause. The commercial consists of sad music playing in the background while someone describes the abuse that the adorable animals on the television have suffered. People feel sorry for the animals and give money to help them.
Persuaders use framing in order to convince you that you need their product as well. Gain framing is when you are persuaded of the benefit you will receive. Loss framing conveys what you will be missing out on if you don't do or buy what the persuader is trying to talk you into.
Another quite successful form of persuasion is the use of narratives and rational appeals. This is when a person shares a story that the audience can relate to and the story is strong and convincing. "Individuals are persuaded by stories if the stories are good even when arguments are weak. On the other hand, when a message is shared not in a story but as a rational appeal, arguments that are weak are not persuasive. In a rational appeal, only strong arguments lead to attitude change" (Feenstra, 2011). Narratives also work well with the "sleeper effect." This is when the story sticks in the person's mind and the longer they think about it, the more it persuades them. They may not initially act on it, but after time, the message becomes effective.
There are several factors about people that make them more or less persuadable. Culture plays a part in a person's ability to be convinced of certain things. "Persuasive messages in the United States focus more on uniqueness and individual preferences. In Korea, advertisements and other persuasive messages are more likely to focus on harmony with others, particularly family or other ingroups" (Feenstra, 2011). Also, a person's sex makes a difference. Women are typically more easily persuaded than men. If a person has low self-esteem, they can be talked into things more often than someone who has a positive opinion of themselves. "Individuals with low self-esteem are likely to be yielding. As people who do not trust their own opinion, they are likely to yield to what others say" (Feenstra, 2011).
There are different techniques that persuaders use. One of which is the "foot in the door" technique. This is when "a small request is made and agreed to, followed by a larger request" (Feenstra, 2011). A salesperson might ask you to watch a small presentation of their product. Then after you agree to that, they make a larger request such as you purchasing their product.
Another technique used to persuade is the "low-ball" technique. This is when "a request is made that is reasonable, but after the person agrees, additional things are added that make the overall request less reasonable" (Feenstra, 2011). For example, you might be interested in buying a new laptop. It is advertised at a certain reasonable price. Once you agree to purchase the laptop, the salesperson informs you that in order to use the laptop, you must also buy the charger and additional software, which in turn increases the price.
When the reciprocity technique is used, the persuader gives us something or does something for us that we did not ask for and we naturally feel obligated to do or give something back. One might receive a package of greeting cards along with mailing address stickers, without asking for them, from the Red Cross. Along with this "gift" comes a request for a donation. One feels obligated to send them money because they have received something, even though they didn't really want the cards in the first place.
Another technique used is the "door-in-face" technique. This "begins with a large request. When the message recipient says no to the first request, the persuader follows with a second, more reasonable request, the actual target of the communication" (Feenstra, 2011).
Lastly, there is the "that's not all" technique. This is used to sweeten the deal. An offer is presented and then the persuader surprises you with an additional deal that acts as an "icing on the cake." They try to make it seem like a deal that you just can't refuse.
"Group influence and authority compliance mechanisms"
"Harmful and helpful behaviors with causal factors"
"Relationships, bonding, and collective decision-making"
Just as most everything in life, social psychology has changed over the years. As technology advances, social norms are modified and the walls of prejudice are broken down, people start to see themselves and others in different ways, therefore behaving and treating others differently. Social media is and will continue to set standards for us such as how we should dress and what our bodies should look like. But in the future, a more positive outcome seems likely—a greater sense of equality amongst us as a nation. With gay individuals gaining rights and racial tolerance becoming more of the norm, some stereotypes will be deteriorated and acceptance will likely become a more common theme.
You’re 62% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 3 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.