1/10/13CHAPTER 1 Social Psychology focuses on the Person X Situation InteractionResearch Methods in Social PsychologyIs psychology a science?I knew it all along Hindsight bias- the tendency to exaggerate one’s ability to have foreseen an outcome, after learning about ito Proverbial and anecdotal knowledge can support almost any claim “ Birds of a feather flock together” vs. “Opposites attract” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” vs. “Our of sight, out of mind”Answering “WHY?” with Social Psychology Social psychology uses the scientific method to answer questions about human nature Through carefully designed experiments, social psychologists are able to distinguish between “common sense” and truth.How do social psychologists study what they study?Theories vs. Hypotheses Theories are integrated principles that explain and predict observed events Hypotheses are testable predictionso allow theories to be testedTesting Theories Theory: clothing color influences people’s aggressive tendencies Hypothesis: people who wear black are more aggressive than people who don’t wear black Correlational approacho Tests for relationship between variableso Strength of relationship between two variableso Positively correlated, Negatively correlated, No correlationo ***Correlation does not equal causation*** Experimental Researcho 2 key features1. Control: manipulation of independent variable and all other variables kept constant2. Random assignment of representative sample of participantso Independent variables are often controlled or manipulated Color of T-shirt participants woreo Dependent variables are measured Aggressiono Operational Definition What do we mean by “aggression”? Must specify key terms used in the study (happiness, better, love, etc.)o Interpreting Results Interaction : when the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable, depends on the value (or level) of the other independent variable Main Effect : when an independent variable has an effect of similar magnitude and direction across levels of the other independent variableTerms: IV is something manipulated DV is something measured Correlational studies can determine variables that are related, but cannot determine that one variable causes anothero Experimental lab studies can determine causation1/15/13 The Traid Social psychologists are interested in three main aspects of human experience:o Affect- feelings, emotions, mood (in the head)o Behavior- observable actionso Cognition- thoughts or mental processesThe Self Concept (cognition part) Constructing the self concept Four methods1. Introspection2. The looking glass self3. Self-perception4. Vicarious self-perception***Priming*** Stimuli encountered in the world activated related concepts in the mindo Seeing snow activates information about “snow” in the mind Activation spreads to all related conceptso Seeing snow ALSO activates concepts like ice, Christmas, hockey, winter, etc.o This phenomenon is referred to as spreading activation1. Introspection Duplex mind:o We usually know what we feel or thinko But not often why we feel or think that way2. The looking glass self Learn about ourselves from others’ feedback Or by imagining how others see us Discrepancieso Peoples opinions of themselves do not perfectly match those of otherso People don’t always accept the opinions of otherso Others don’t always have complete insight3. Self-perception Observing our behavior and actions as we would observe others. Then interpret actions Particularly when we’re unsure or in a new situation Study:o Participants performed a boring know-turning tasko Asked to lie and were either paid $1 to lie or $20 to lieo Then filled out a questionnaire evaluating the task and surprisingly people who got $1 said they enjoyed the task moreo In novel situations we look to our behavior to make up our minds P’s remember they convinced someone to do the task. One dollar is insignificant amount for justification Need some justification for convincing other person…. It must have been fun!4. Vicarious Self-Perception People have a merged identity with similar otherso Sense of connection with others based on important self-relevant trait or featureo Once you establish you have a similarity or merged identity and you learn something new about them, you agree and think similarly Review:Four Ways of constructing self concept: Introspection: learn from “inner voice” The looking glass self: learn from the opinions/feedback of friends or family Self Perception: observe yourself from perception of a stranger Vicarious Self Perception: change self to mirror “merged other”1/22/12Self Esteem Self-concept: knowledge of one’s self Self-esteem: evaluation of one’s selfo Trait: how good you feel generally (stable)o State: how good you feel in the moment (changes)Measuring Self EsteemExplicit measure Self reports, conscious, you can control it Problemso self-presenting: best behavior, trying to cultivate the best of you to fit something. Job interview, first date, meeting boyfriends parentso self-deception: want to see self as a positive thingImplicit measure Measuring self-esteem via primingo Prime “nurse” (activate) “doctor”o Does priming “me” activate “good? The Name Letter Test (NLT): high self esteem people with love the first letter of their last name, low self esteem will not Signature size: high self esteem people will sign their name larger Smell-esteem: lick hand and smell it a few minutes later, rating the smell of their saliva. Someone with high esteem will like their smell better than someone with lower self esteemExplicit vs. Implicit Explicit measures provide more content specific index of self-esteemo How great of a basketball player am Io Specific but susceptible to self-presentation Implicit measures provide a less biased measure of general positivityo How positive do I see myself overallo Avoids self-presentation, but not content specific oSelf-esteem movement Correlation does not imply causation No difference in…o Intelligence, success, social relationships, attractiveness Good grades more likely a cause of high self-esteem (or some other third variable like involved parents)High vs. Low self-esteem Self-protection vs. self-enhancemento Low self
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