Chapter 1Chapter 1Chapter 1Chapter 1Introducing Social Introducing Social

PsychologyPsychology

Important Announcements

• Website:– http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~myildiz/

• Online slides from last year will be slightly changed.

– SlidesCourse Overview– Beginning Time (09:30)– Photocopies (Büşra)

• Topic: What is social pyschology?

Chapter OutlineChapter Outline

I. What is Social Psychology?

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

Social psychology is the scientific study of social influence.

Social influence is the effect that words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

Social Psychology is defined as the scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.

Question

• Which real or imagined people or groups of people influence your thoughts, feelings, and actions???

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

Other people can influence us either through direct attempts at persuasion, or more indirectly through their presence and the transmission of cultural values.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

• The Power of Social Interpretation

Social psychology is distinct from other social sciences because of its emphasis on people’s construals, or personal interpretations.

The Power of Construals

Never Underestimate Yourself

AVATAR AND CONSTRUALS• The film is not anti-religious. It

puts in a strong plug for nature pantheism. But it is for this reason implicitly anti-Christian in part, even though it has some elements that are very Christian, such as forgiveness, awareness of sinful arrogance in the mighty. justice for the underdog, and universalism (openness toward all creatures). It is not anti-military, but it does reflect–to a biassed extent–the "ugly American" construal of US intervention in global affairs.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

• How Else Can We Understand Social Influence?

We can understand social influence through journalists, instant experts, and social critics.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

• How Else Can We Understand Social Influence?

Social psychology is distinct from philosophy because it is an empirical field.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

• Social Psychology Compared with Personality Psychology

Individual differences are defined as the aspects of people’s personalities that make them different from other people.

What is Social Psychology?What is Social Psychology?

• Social Psychology Compared with Other Social Sciences

For the social psychologist, For the social psychologist, the the levellevel of of analysisanalysis is the is the individual individual in the context of a in the context of a social situation. social situation.

The goal of social psychology The goal of social psychology is to identify is to identify universal properties of human nature that universal properties of human nature that make everyone susceptible to social make everyone susceptible to social influence, regardless of social class or influence, regardless of social class or culture. culture.

The Power of Social InfluenceThe Power of Social Influence

• Understanding the Power of Social Influence

People are prone to the fundamental attribution error, the tendency to overestimate the role of traits and underestimate the role of the situation in determining people’s behavior.

The Power of Social InfluenceThe Power of Social Influence

The Power of Social InfluenceThe Power of Social Influence

• The Subjectivity of the Social Situation

Behaviorism is a school of psychology maintaining that to understand human behavior, one need only consider the reinforcing properties of the environment.

The Power of Social InfluenceThe Power of Social Influence

• The Subjectivity of the Social Situation

Gestalt Psychology is a school of psychology stressing the importance of studying the subjective way in which objects appear in people’s minds, rather than the objective, physical attributes of the object.

What is this?

The parts

The Whole

Chapter OutlineChapter Outline

III. Where Construals Come From: Basic Human Motives

Where Construals Come FromWhere Construals Come From

• The Self-Esteem Approach: The Need to Feel Good about Ourselves

Self-esteem is a person’s evaluation of their own self-worth.

Where Construals Come FromWhere Construals Come From

• The Social Cognition Approach: The Need to Be Accurate

Social Cognition is how people think about themselves and the social world.

Question

• What are some other basic human motives which shape construals?

Construals shape our world

• Self- fulfilling prophecy

– How your teachers treats you can make a difference in your success at school.

Chapter OutlineChapter Outline

IV. Social Psychology and Social Problems

Social Psychology and SocialSocial Psychology and Social Problems Problems

Whereas social psychologists are often motivated by curiosity to study social behavior, they are also motivated by the desire to help resolve social problems.

Social Psychology and SocialSocial Psychology and Social Problems Problems

Example: Social psychologists have contributed important insights to AIDS education and prevention.

Question

• Which other social problems can be solved if we use the findings of social psychology?