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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PRACTICAL

Name: Dhwaani Dabas

Roll no.: 23528051

BA (Hons) Psychology

Introduction To Social Psychology- DSC V

Title- Introduction to Social Psychology

Submitted to:-

DR. AKANSHA DOCHANIA

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

LAKSHMIBAI COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

INDEX

S NO. TITLE TEACHER’S SIGNATURE

1. Introduction to social psychology

2. Assessing attitudes among undergraduate students of

psychology
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TITLE- INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Introduction to Social Psychology

What is Social Psychology?

Social psychology is the study of how people think about, influence and relate to others. It

emerged at the interface of psychology and sociology in the early 20th century. The sphere of

social psychology is social and its focus is individual. It is the study of individual in social

situation. This social situation can be person to person interaction, person to group interaction

and a group related to another group. A social psychologist uses scientific methods to study

how we perceive peoples and social events, how do we influence others and get influenced,

social relation and communication and group dynamics.

According to Gordon Allport (1954) social psychology is best defined as the discipline that

uses scientific methods in “an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and

behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other

human beings”. Myers and Spencer (2006) define social psychology as the “scientific study

of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another”. Barron and Byrne (2007)

defined social psychology as “the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and

cause of individual behaviour and thought in social situations”.

Difference between Psychology and Social Psychology

Psychology and Social Psychology are two fields in which certain differences can be

observed. While psychology can be considered the larger discipline that caters to a number of

sub-disciplines, social psychology is one such sub-discipline. Psychology can be defined as

the scientific study of the human mind and behavior. It includes a variety of sub-disciplines

such as personality psychology, positive psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal

psychology, etc. Psychology is concerned with understanding individuals, and how they

think, feel, and behave. Psychologists use a variety of research methods to study behavior and

mental processes, including experiments, surveys, and observational studies.

On the other hand, social psychology can be defined as the scientific study that pays attention

to the impact of societal factors on the individual. Social psychology studies a wide range of

topics, including attitudes, conformity, prejudice, social cognition, and group dynamics.

Social psychologists use a variety of research methods to study social behavior, including

experiments, surveys, and observational studies.

Nature of Social Psychology

There are three major components that characterize the nature of social psychology.

1. Social Psychology Applies Scientific Methods of Study

Social psychology is scientific in nature. It applies the scientific method of systematic

observation, description, and measurement to the study of human behaviour in social context.

Social psychological studies refer to the data being collected through direct observation or

experiment. Such experiments and observation are carried out carefully and reported in detail

so that other investigators can repeat and verify the work.

The scientific social psychology carries out three major activities: description, explanation

and prediction of social behaviours. Social psychology provides a scientific account of social

behaviour based on direct observation rather than on common beliefs. Social psychology also

attempts to explain why people behave in a particular way in a particular

social situation. Such interconnected explanations of social behaviours lead to formation of

theories which help in predicting social behaviours and managing them in a desirable

direction.

2. Social Psychology Studies Individuals' Thought, Feeling and Behaviour

The varied issues of the field of social psychology include- individuals thoughts, feeling and

behaviour. Cognition is referred as the manner in which people process information.

Social psychology studies cognition that relates to social activities and that helps us

understand and predicting our social behaviours. Social psychology also studies the feelings

we experience as an individual in our social lives. What we think or feel in the social context

is expressed through our behaviours in social interactions. Social psychology studies these

behaviours in the forms of cooperation, helping behaviour, conflict, aggression, etc.

3. Social Psychology Studies Individuals' Behaviour in Social Contexts

Social psychology studies an individual's thoughts, feelings and behaviours in the social

contexts. This component of social psychology refers that our behaviour is influenced by the

presence of other people and we also influence other people's behaviour. Even the implied or

imagined presence of others can have important effects on individuals (Gordon Allport,

1985). However, in order to establish general principles of human social behavior, social

psychologists sometimes examine non-social factors. Kurt Lewin (1936), one of the

important early figures in social psychology proposed a model for understanding social

behaviour, which says that social behaviour is a function of the interaction of the situation

and the individual's characteristics.

History of Social Psychology

Social psychology began to emerge from the larger field of psychology in the 19th century.

Many psychologists attempted to discover concrete cause-and-effect relationships that

explained social interactions. In order to do so, they applied the scientific method to human

behavior. The first published study in the field was Norman Triplett's 1898 experiment on the

phenomenon of social facilitation. These psychological experiments later went on to form the

foundation of much of 20th-century social psychological findings.

An early, influential research program in social psychology was established by Kurt Lewin

and his students. During World War II, social psychologists were mostly concerned with

studies of persuasion and propaganda for the U.S. military. Following the war, researchers
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became interested in a variety of social problems, including issues of gender and racial

prejudice. During the 1960s, there was growing interest in topics such as cognitive

dissonance, bystander intervention, and aggression. In the 1970s, several conceptual

challenges to social psychology emerged over issues such as ethical concerns about

laboratory experimentation, whether attitudes could accurately predict behavior, and to what

extent science could be done in a cultural context. By the 1980s, social psychology had

developed a number of solutions to these issues with regard to theory and methodology.

At present, most modern researchers are interested in phenomena such as attribution, social

cognition, and self-concept. Social psychologists are, in addition, concerned with applied

psychology, contributing towards applications of social psychology in health, education, law,

and the workplace.

Scope of Social Psychology

Social psychology concentrates on the individual behaviour in the social context, so the

subject matter of social psychology is the interactions of the individual with other individuals

and society as well. The scope of social psychology can be broadly outlined in the following

ways:

 People generally express feelings of approval and disapproval or likes and dislikes

towards different persons, objects, or issues that further influence their thoughts and

actions. This phenomenon is termed attitudes and social psychologists have been

emphasizing various aspects of attitudes such as the formation of attitude, attitude

structure, attitude change, function of attitudes, and the relationship between attitudes

and behavior.

 One of the emerging areas of social psychology is social cognition, which studies the

ways people perceive, ponder, and remember information related to social stimuli.
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Various phenomenon studied under social cognition is perception. attribution process.

schema, stereotypes. etc.

 Social influence is a traditional area of study in social psychology which refers to the

way people affect their thoughts, feelings. and behaviours of others.

 Social psychologists are also interested in the question of why people sometimes act

in a pro-social way (helping. liking or loving others). but at other times act in an

antisocial way (hostility, aggression, or prejudice against others).

 Social psychologists have vastly studied various phenomena related to social groups

and group dynamics. Groups may be understood in terms of group composition, group

structures, group process, and the effect this has on individual change and group

development. Thus, a social psychologist studies almost everything that we do every

day in the social context.

Social Psychology in India

In 1928, the first book on social psychology in India, entitled - Introduction to Social

Psychology was written by N. N. Sengupta, the first chairman of the first department of

psychology at Calcutta University, in association with an eminent sociologist Radhakamal

Mukherjee. Jamuna Prasad, inspired by Bartlett's (1932) reconstructive memory of events,

studied the earthquake in Bihar in 1934 and collected and analyzed more than 35 thousand

rumours, and published this work in the British Journal of Psychology in 1935. This, and the

later work of Durganand Sinha (1952) on similar lines, was reported by Festinger as the basis

of formulating his theory of cognitive dissonance. In the later years, Indian social

psychologists continued working in the areas of prejudice, stereotypes, and social attitudes.

Large-scale surveys were conducted taking various attitude measures. Adinarayan conducted

studies on racial and communal attitudes (1953) and on caste attitudes (1958). During these

years social psychology was growing in popularity in India as evident from surveys
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conducted from time to time. Social psychologists further explored the areas of intergroup

relations (Singh, 1981), relative deprivation (Misra, 1982), ingratiation (Pandey, 1986), and

leadership (J.B.P. Sinha, 1980) in which the influence of social groups on individual

behaviour was investigated. More recently, the interest is shifted to studying ethnic identities,

the rise of depressed classes and related topics. In much of this research, efforts are being

made to establish causal linkages between macro-level variables (demographic, social or

cultural) and micro-level variables (attitudes, feelings of deprivation, etc.). A large number of

scales were constructed to measure the achievement motivation of school and college

students. In recent years the work of Ashish Nandy on self, science. nationality and Sudhir

Kakar's work on identity and relationships have been somehow indigenous and not directly

influenced by what and how of social psychology in America and Europe.

Current Trends

Current trends in social psychology encompass a wide range of topics reflecting societal

changes and advancements in research methodologies. There's a growing focus on

understanding and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in social psychology research.

This involves examining issues such as implicit bias, intergroup relations, and strategies for

reducing prejudice and discrimination. With the increasing role of technology and social

media in people's lives, researchers are exploring how these platforms shape social

interactions, identity formation, self-esteem, and mental health. There's a growing interest in

understanding the relationship between humans and their physical environment, including

topics such as environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behavior, and the psychological

effects of climate change. In response to social and political movements advocating for

justice and equality, social psychologists are studying the psychological processes underlying

activism, collective action, and social change efforts.

These trends reflect the evolving nature of social psychology as it continues to adapt to

changes in society and embrace interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human

behavior.