Psychology

Assignment # 01
Topic: Social Psychology.

Submitted to: Miss Mahwish

Submitted by: Maryam Nisar
BSCS(a) 2nd
Roll # 32
17-Arid-5605

PMAS Arid Agriculture University

Sahiwal Campus.
 Content:
1. Social Psychology
i. Introduction.
ii. Definition.
iii. Social behavior.
2. Sociology
i. Definition.
ii. Social psychology equal to Sociology.
iii. Social psychology VS Sociology.
3. Intrapersonal Phenomena
i. Attitudes.
ii. Social cognition.
iii. Self-concept.
4. Interpersonal Phenomena
i. Social influence.
ii. Group dynamics.
iii. Interpersonal attraction.

5. Conclusion.
 Social Psychology
i. Introduction:
It is the scientific study of how we feel about, think about, and behave toward the
people around us and how our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are influenced by
those people. As this definition suggests, the subject matter of social psychology is
very broad and can be found in just about everything that we do every day. Social
psychologists study why we are often helpful to other people and why we may at
other times be unfriendly or aggressive. Social psychologists study both the
benefits of having good relationships with other people and the costs of being
lonely. Social psychologists study what factors lead people to purchase one
product rather than another, how men and women behave differently in social
settings, how juries work together to make important group decisions, and what
makes some people more likely to recycle and engage in other environmentally
friendly behaviors than others.

ii. Definition:
“Social psychology is the study of the dynamic relationship between individuals
and the people around them. Each of us is different, and our individual
characteristics, including our personality traits, desires, motivations, and emotions,
have an important impact on our social behavior.”

iii. Social behavior

Social behavior is the effect of the operation of two distinct systems of information
processing: a reflective system and an impulsive system. The systems can be
specified by different principles.

“Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms, typically from the
same species.”
 Sociology
i. Definition
Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of social
relationships, social interaction, and culture. It is the science of society,
social institutions, and social relationships; specifically : the systematic
study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of
organized groups of human beings .

ii. Social psychology equal to Sociology

Social psychology and sociology go hand in hand – they are both the scientific
study of people. Both help people understand the dynamics of
emotions, relationships and behaviors better. There are several significant
differences, though, and each role with their complexities and nuances is important
and notable.

iii. Social psychology VS Sociology

Social psychology, put simply, is the study of people in a group. Sociology is the
study of groups of people. Social psychology is interested in how the group affects
the individual and vice-versa. Sociology is interested in how the group behaves and
how groups interact with each other and society.

3. Intrapersonal Phenomena
Intrapersonal topics (those that pertain to the individual) include emotions
and attitudes, the self, and social cognition (the ways in which we think
about ourselves and others).
Attitudes:
In social psychology, attitudes are defined as learned, global
evaluations of a person, object, place, or issue that influence thought and action.
More simply, attitudes are basic expressions of approval or disapproval,
favorability or unfavorability, or as Bem put it, likes and dislikes.

Social cognition:
Social cognition is a growing area of social psychology that studies
how people perceive, think about, and remember information about others. Much
research rests on the assertion that people think about (other) people differently
from non-social targets. This assertion is supported by the social cognitive deficits
exhibited by people with Williams syndrome and autism.

Self-concept:
Self-concept is a term referring to the whole sum of beliefs that people
have about themselves. According to Hazel Markus (1977), the self-concept is
made up of cognitive molecules called self-schemas – beliefs that people have
about themselves that guide the processing of self-reliant information.

4. Interpersonal Phenomena
Interpersonal topics (those that pertain to dyads and groups) include
helping behavior, aggression, prejudice and discrimination, attraction and
close relationships, and group processes and intergroup relationships.

Social influence:
Social influence is an overarching term given to describe the
persuasive effects people have on each other. It is seen as a fundamental value in
social psychology and overlaps considerably with research on attitudes and
persuasion. The three main areas of social influence include: conformity,
compliance, and obedience.
Group dynamics:
A group can be defined as two or more individuals that are connected
to each another by social relationships. Groups tend to interact, influence each
other, and share a common identity. They have a number of emergent qualities that
distinguish them from aggregates:

 Norms: Implicit rules and expectations for group members to follow, e.g.
saying thank you, shaking hands.
 Roles: Implicit rules and expectations for specific members within the group,
e.g. the oldest sibling, who may have additional responsibilities in the family.
 Relations: Patterns of liking within the group, and also differences in prestige
or status, e.g., leaders, popular people.

Interpersonal attraction:
A major area in the study of people's relations to each other is
interpersonal attraction. This refers to all forces that lead people to like each other,
establish relationships. Several general principles of attraction have been
discovered by social psychologists, but many still continue to experiment and do
research to find out more.

Conclusion
The major areas of social psychology make it easy to understand study and control
the major parts of study in order to make it possible to influence the social
behaviors. Social psychology is an important discipline of psychology. It has major
influence in understanding group behaviors and to influence the major social
perspectives like socio culture perspectives or social learning. This field of
psychology helps to determine the community behavior that will have major
influence in social dealings and growth perspectives in individual life.