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Social Psychology Concepts and Principles Nikolitsa Vagenas Azusa Pacific University Social Psychology Concepts and Principles Nikolitsa Vagenas Azusa Pacific University Social Psychology is the study of social behavior such as people’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors in certain social situations (Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S., 2015). There are many concepts and principles in this field, specifically in social influence, which was talked about in chapter 8. Social influence is a part of everyday life and in one way or form everyone takes part in it. The literal definition of social influence is the result of words, mere presence, or actions that other people can …show more content…
These three åinfluences are very important to fully understand and grasp. Conformity has always been an interest of mine because it fascinates me why and how people conform to society and other figures. The literal definition of conformity is the change in one 's behavior to match a behavior modeled by another. There was a study done by Asch which modeled social influence this line study was done to see if the non confederate would model the behavior of the confederates. It turns out that this study did prove conformity about 75% of the participants conformed (Aronson, 2016). Some major contributions to conformity are; group size, status, and social validation. They are essential because as we saw in the elevator clip in class people have a highest tendency of conforming to a group size of 5 or more. People also conform to status, for example, people are more likely to listen to a man in a suit and tie, than a homeless man. This is all based on physical appearance. Which leads us to social validation, people often use other people 's actions/reactions to determine if theirs is correct and matches the model. This is often used in the business world because modeling is the most efficient way of reaching their customers. Equally important, obedience is the change in person 's expected behavior to an authority figure (Aronson, 2016). Milgram’s study supports and reflects this form of social influence. Furthermore, Milgram’s study brought interesting data in reference to obedience about 65 percent of participants carried out the orders of shock of the confederate. These results are shocking and expected, this is yet another study showing the evidence of social influence and authority figures have on an individual (Aronson, 2016). Authority being the third and final category of social influence is probably one of the most underestimated contributors of social influence. In particular,
Social psychology is a scientific study that studies how people think, feel, and how they behave under the influence of other people (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2013, p. 2). Thinking about what social influence really means, we tend to think of a person who tries to persuade another person to acting a certain way. It can be a form of peer pressure, like taking that first puff of a cigarette, or it can be conforming to popular societal views, such as obeying the law of the land. Fiction is a great way to learn about social psychological perspectives. Watching popular theatrical films is the perfect way to learn because it illustrates the application of many perceptions within the subject of social psychology.
Social psychology is an empirical science that studies how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This field focuses on how individuals view and affect each other. Social psychology also produces the idea of construals which represent how a person perceives, comprehends or interprets the environment. Construals introduce the idea that people want to make themselves look good to others and they want to be seen as right. It is also said that the social setting in which people interact impacts behavior, which brings up the idea of behaviorism. Behaviorism is the idea that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.
Solomon Asch developed and ran an experiment regarding the power of conformity that affects most populations. Psychologists have been attempting to fully understand the mental workings behind why people are so easily pressured into following others for the longest time. The main focus of psychologists, is to figure and understand what the causes are behind social conformity. Numerous terms are brought up when studying conformity. The “unspoken rules or guidelines for behavior in a group” (Hock 293) are labeled as social norms. When individuals are placed in large groups, the tendency is to lean with whatever the majority of the group thinks. The regular behavior of the individual tends to readjust to appease the superior crowd.
... Involvement, the more we involve ourselves with the people in that group the more we’ll seek their approval of them causing us to conform. Beliefs, when people share the same norms and values they are less likely to argue and resist conformity. If social bonds are weak then the chances of becoming deviant is increased. Those that lack these four basic elements of social bonding will have little respect for society and do whatever they want.
Social Psychology is the study of how we think and relate to other people. These psychologists focused on how the social situation influences others behavior. We see social influences everywhere we go, but might not notice it. Like when watching a movie for fun you do not notice it as much as when you are actually looking for the behaviors, like in the film The Breakfast Club. There are several examples of social psychological behaviors in the film.
Social psychology is one of the many variations of psychology. By definition, social psychology is how humans influence each other’s way of behaving and thinking. Under social psychology, there are various ways to define human behaviour and understand why we behave in a particular manner. These approaches deal with multiple concepts such as conformity, obedience, and social influences. They help answer questions about our behaviour and actions, while also analyzing our cognitive processes in certain situations. Social experiments conducted throughout history have also led to more understanding in the aforementioned areas. With these understandings of social behaviour, society can benefit and become aware of themselves and their mentalities.
According to psychologist Gordon Allport (1985) social psychology is defined as the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or, implied presences of others. Essentially, how the people we are around every day can consciously or unconsciously influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Social psychology can focus on small groups, large groups, or even society as a whole. But, social psychology is not only about social influences. This research paper will also speak of the importance of social interaction and social perception and how they play a role in our social behavior. The way we think people see us and the way we see others can play a vital role in our decisions and actions.
Conformity is one form of a social influence that changes the attitude or behavior of an individual, adhering to that of a group or social norm (Shiraev &Levy, 2010). Social psychology explains conformity as a need to provide accommodations for the majority or group, uphold the consensus, lessen negativity, and live up to specific expectations of other individuals while maintaining a encouraging relationship (Shiraev &Levy, 2010). Rational actor theory suggests that conformity is a rational choice allowing individuals to choose other alternatives after considering the benefits of a choice and the negative consequences that will result because of that choice.
Conformity is defined as the occurrence of people yielding to social pressures as a result of pressure from a group of their peers; when faced by the pressure to conform, people will alter their behaviour and actions to fit the norm demonstrated by their peers (Lilienfield et al., 2012). Conformity is studied so that is can be understood and used in society to facilitate positive outcomes, and help avoid situations where peoples’ predisposition to conform leads to negative consequences (Lilienfield et al., 2012). By understanding conformity and other social processes society as a whole is able to understand themselves better and motivates them to work on improving as a whole (Lilienfield et al., 2012).
There are two reason can explain why people conform .First one is normative social influence and information social influence . Normative social influence is one kind of type for social influence leading conformity ,people think that oth...
We tend to conform to these examples due to information and pragmatics. If you see others deciding on a certain answer in a test, you are more likely to also go for that option if the information you already acquire is limited. If other people tell you rhubarb leaves are poisonous, then to be safe, in the absence of better information we should not eat them (7th edition. Gray, Bjorklund). Within each stem of social life lies the great power of sharing information. Humans use this advantage to avoid having to make additional mistakes in life. This type of normative social influence is referred to as informational influence. Another reason we may conform to these behaviours, is to feel socially accepted by a group and to encourage the togetherness of a group. There is a fundamental human need in society to feel worthy of belonging somewhere, usually within a group setting. Within these social groups, the pressure to conform is often very high and usually stems from a social interaction or from the social norms that the group or an individual from the group believes. Therefore, an individual will adjust their own beliefs and behaviours in order to align themselves with the thinking of a particular group. This is often to feel accepted or to feel that sense of closeness within the group. Asche (1951) was the first social psychologist to demonstrate conformity and
The first type of social influence is conformity. Conformity is defined as yielding to group pressures (Crutchfield, 1955). The examples for group pressure are bullying, teasing, and criticism. According to Man (1969), there are three types of conformity such as normative, informational and ingratiational. However, Kelman (1958) dignified the differences between the three different types of conformity through the course of compliance, internalization and identification. The normative conformity states that the yielding to group pressure occurs in accordance where a person wants to adjust themselves in the group by accepting the point of views given by the group while privately disagreeing their perception which is known as compliance. This
What are the things that make us conform? Why do certain people conform or choose not to conform? This topic in social psychology peaked my interest because I’ve noticed myself conforming on different occasions. Have you ever found yourself going along with what everyone else is doing? Why do you think you conform? While researching this topic I found some answers that will help elaborate on these questions.
Social interactions can affect how an individual reacts, behaves, and feels. This means that social interactions can affect every aspect of individual’s life. When a social interaction changes how an individual behaves or feels, means that this interaction had an effect on that individual. Another way that social interactions effect individuals is through the idea of conformity and obedience. Both classical and contemporary research studies look at the affect social interactions have on an individual’s behavior. Another aspect of these concepts is the concept that societal influences can lead to deviance from dominant group norms.
Regardless of whether we need to comprehend it ourselves or the social world around us, social psychology offers important experiences. Social psychologist considersour feeling of individual character, our impressions of other individuals, our beliefsabout worldevents, the pressure we now and again feel to fit in with social gatherings, and our search for loveand important social connections. Social psychologist also encourages us to understand the stories behind the present news headlineson such points as globalterrorism, school violence, sexual harassment, same‑sex marriage, andsaving energy. As anyone might expect, educators, healthexperts, attorneys, political examiners, business leaders, and individuals in a wide range of professions discover social psychologist profitable in their work. Attemptingto exhibit the fundamental speculations and discoveries of social psychologist and to indicate how social psychologystandards are significant to our day by day lives.(wordtrade.com)To completely comprehend why individuals,do the things that they do, it is necessary to take a lookat singular attributes, the circumstance and setting, and the interaction between these two factors. In many examples, individuals act distinctively relying on the circumstance.Our social interactions help us form our self-concept and perception. Sometimes we participate in upward social comparison where we rate ourselves