Social Psychology PSYC250 Author: David G.

Myers
Understanding Social Behavior Ulrike Lerner Senior Instructor Spring 2008-2009

Understanding social behavior

Introducing Social Psychology

What is Social Psychology

Social psychology is?

Social behavior varies not just with objective situation but also how we construe it Social beliefs can be self-fulfilling; i.e., happily married couples compared to unhappily married Would people be cruel if ordered? How did Nazi Germany conceive & implement unconscious slaughter of 6 million Jews? Partly because thousands of people followed orders! Were those individuals normal human beings? To help? Or to help oneself? What situations trigger people to be helpful or greedy? Do some cultural context perhaps villages & small towns breed greater helpfulness? These questions deal with how people view & affect one another Social psychologists study attitudes & beliefs, conformity & independence, love & hate

Social Psychology's Big Ideas

We construct our social reality Our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous Social influences shape our behavior

Personal attitudes and dispositions also shape behavior Social behavior is biologically rooted Social psychologys principles are applicable to everyday life and other disciplines

Social Psychologys Big Ideas

Social Psychology & Human Values

Obvious ways Values Enter psychology When psychologist choose research topics i.e., study of prejudice flourished during 1940s fascism 1950s a time o look-alike fashions & intolerance of differing views studies of conformity 1960s interest in aggression increased with riots & rising crime rates Feminist movement of 1970s wave of research in gender & sexism 1980s resurgence of attention to psychological aspects to arms race 1990s & 21st century interest in how people respond to diversity of culture, race, & sexual orientation

Not-so-obvious ways values enter

The Subjective Aspects of Science Science is not purely objective Scientists interpret nature, using own mental capacities We too view world through lens of our preconceptions Ability to prejudge reality based on expectations is a basic fact about the human mind Scholars often share common viewpoint or come from same culture Assumptions go unchallenged We take for granted shared beliefs called our

Different Sciences offer Different Perspectives

What do you see?

Psychological Concepts Contain Hidden Values

Psychologists own values play important part in theories & judgments they support May talk as if stating facts when really making value judgments values influence ideas of best way to live reflects advice givers' personal values In Western cultures individualistic encouraging what feels best for me Non-Western cultures more often encourage what is best for we Professional psychologist cannot answer questions of moral obligation, of purpose & direction & of lifes meaning hidden values seep into psychologys research-based concepts; labels reflects the judgment

Labeling
True of everyday language We label someone engaged in guerilla warfare terrorist or a freedom fighter depends on our view of the cause We view wartime civilian deaths as the loss of innocent lives or collateral damage affects our acceptance of such We call public assistance welfare or aid to the needy reflects our political views Whether they exalt their country & people its nationalism When we do it its patriotism Values lie hidden within our cultural definitions of mental health, our psychological advice for the living, our concepts, & our psychological labels

Summing Up
Social Psychologists values penetrate work; such as choice of research topics; types of people who are attracted to various fields of study Hidden assumptions when forming concepts, choosing labels, & giving advice Penetration of values into science not a reason to fault social psychology or any other science That is why we need systematic observation & experimentation if we are to check our cherished ideas against reality

I Knew It All Along

Is Social Psychology Simply Common Sense? Do Social Psychologys theories provide new insight into the human condition? Or do they only describe the obvious? It must be acknowledged that social psychology faces two contradictory criticisms: 1. That it is trivial because it documents the obvious 2. That it is dangerous because its findings could be used to manipulate people (will examine further the second issue in chp7) Statements like, Day after day social scientists go out into the world. Day after day they discover that peoples behavior is pretty much what youd expect was a typical view of writer, Cullen Murphy (1990) and many other sceptics.

Sociologist Paul Lazarsfelds (1949)review of studies done on WWII Soldiers

1. Better educated soldiers suffered more adjustment problems than did less educated soldiers (Intellectuals were less prepared for battle stresses than street-smart people). 2. Southern soldiers coped better with the hot South Sea Island climate than did Northern soldiers. (Southerners are more accustomed to hot weather).

Lazarsfeld went on to say, every one of these statements is the direct opposite of what was actually found. Studies found that less-educated soldiers adapted more poorly.

Problem with common sense

Events are far more obvious and predictable in hindsight than beforehand Experiments reveal that when people learn the outcome of an experiment, that outcome suddenly seems unsurprising Likewise in everyday life we often do not expect something to happen until it does Then we suddenly see clearly the forces that brought the event about & feel unsurprised After the widespread flooding in New Orleans (2005), seemed obvious that public officials should have anticipated the situation (levees vulnerable, no transport available, no money to live elsewhere during flood, weather forecast) Life is lived forwards but understood backwards (Kierkegaard)

I Knew it all along!

We can draw on many proverbs to make almost any result seem to make sense; i.e., If a social psychologist reports that separation intensifies romantic attraction then John Q Public responds, :you get paid for this? Everybody knows that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Should it turn out that separation weakens attraction, John will say, My grandmother could have told you, Out of sight, out of mind.

Conclusions?
What do we conclude that common sense is usually wrong? Sometimes it is at other times, conventional wisdom is right Does happiness come from knowing the truth or preserving illusions? From being with others or living in peaceful solitude? But which of these many competing ideas best fit reality? Research can specify the circumstances under which a common sense truism is valid. Point is not that common sense is predictably wrong common sense usually is right after the fact. We therefore easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we know & knew more than we do & did! That is why we need science to help us sift reality from illusion & genuine prediction from easy hindsight

Summing Up

oSocial psychology is criticized for being trivial because I documents things that seem obvious oExperiments, however, reveal that outcomes are more obvious after the facts are known oThis hindsight bias often makes people over-confident about the validity of their judgments and predictions