Unit I Applied Social Psychology

Applied Social
Psychology?
Definition of social
psychology
The influence that people

have upon the beliefs and
behavior of others.
Social psychology
Social psychologists seek to acquire basic
knowledge about how people think about, feel about,
relate to and influence one another, and why they do
so. Thus, social psychology may be defined as
the scientific field that seeks to understand the
nature and causes of individual behaviour and
thought in social situations.
This includes, for example, behaviour and thoughts
related to helping, attraction, conflict, prejudice, self-
esteem, group processes and social exclusion
(Baron & Byrne, 2004).
Applied Social Psychology
 Applied social psychology, in turn, may
be defined as the systematic application
of social psychological constructs,
principles, theories, intervention techniques,
research methods and research findings to
understand or ameliorate (something bad or
unsatisfactory) social problems (Oskamp &
Schultz, 1998). Constructs are the building
blocks of psychological principles and
theories.
Situational and Dispositional
Explanations
• Situational explanations look to factors

outside of the person – in the environment,
when trying to explain behavior and attitudes.
 Dispositional explanations look to factors

within the person – personality, temperament
for example when trying to explain behavior
and attitudes. (Dispositional attribution is the
explanation of individual behavior as a result caused by
internal characteristics that reside within the individual, as
opposed to external (situational) influences that stem from
the environment or culture in which that individual is
found.)
Concerns of social
psychology
 How are people influenced?
 Why do people accept influence?
 What variables increase and decrease the
effectiveness of social influence?
 Is the effect permanent or transitory?
 Do the same principles apply to everyone?
Basic and applied social psychology as
science
Both basic and applied social psychology are sciences. The term science refers
to two things:
(1) reliance on scientific methods
(2) guidance by the core values of science
• Scientific methods are those methods that depend on empirical tests,

that is, the use of systematic observations to evaluate propositions and
ideas. An empirical test of an idea or proposition means, first of all, that
studies are set up in a way that allows support or refutation
(to prove to be false ) of the idea being tested.
• Second, the study should be conducted in such away as to enable other
researchers to evaluate and replicate the research. Researchers adopt
these scientific methods because ‘common sense’ is often unreliable and
inconsistent.
Applications of social psychology to increase the impact
of behaviour-focused intervention
A behaviour-analysis approach to intervention

 Behavioural intervention strategies
 Antecedent strategies
 Consequence strategies
 Enhancing interventions through social influence
 Consistency
 Authority
 Liking
 Reciprocity
 Scarcity
Social psychology and economic behaviour:
heuristics and biases in decision making and
judgment
 Social-psychological factors
 Personal, social and situational reference
 Personal reference
 Social reference
 Situational reference
 Towards a new ‘rationality’ of economic behaviour of
consumers, investors and entrepreneurs
Applying social psychology to the
classroom
 Socialcomparison
 Students’ ‘Theories’ of intelligence and
academic self-concept
 Classroom climate
 Academic self-concept of failure and
performance
Social psychology and environmental
problems
 Effectsof behaviour on the environment
Environmental problems and human
behaviour
 Understanding environmental behaviour
Social psychology of health and illness
 Description of problems in the field

 The societal burden of unhealthy behaviours
 The societal burden of chronic illnesses
 Contributions of social psychology to prevent
and solve health problems
 Understanding health and illness behaviours
 Motivation and self-efficacy expectations
Social psychology and mental health
 Disturbed body image

 Gender differences in body image
 Consequences of disturbances in body image
 Theoretical explanations of disturbed body
image
 Preventing body image disturbances
 Depression
 Relationship problems
 Social psychology and modern
organizations: balancing between
innovativeness and comfort
 Social psychology and the study of politics

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Applied Social

The influence that people

• Situational explanations look to factors

 Dispositional explanations look to factors

• Scientific methods are those methods that depend on empirical tests,

A behaviour-analysis approach to intervention

 Description of problems in the field

 Disturbed body image

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