Social Psychology

This unit includes the following chapters.

“Why It Matters: Social Psychology” explains how social psychologists examine how the presence of others impacts how a person behaves and reacts.

“Introduction to Social Psychology and Self-Presentation” explains that social psychology is the study of how people affect one another’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

“Social Psychology and Influences on Behavior” describes situational versus dispositional influences on behavior; gives examples of the fundamental attribution error and other common biases, including the actor-observer bias and the self-serving bias;  and explains the just-world phenomenon.

“Social Norms and Scripts” describes social roles, social norms, and scripts and how they influence behavior; explains the process and the findings of Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment.

“Introduction to Attitudes and Persuasion” is an introduction to how attitudes can be changed through cognitive dissonance and persuasion.

“Attitudes” defines attitude and recognizes how people’s attitudes are internally changed through cognitive dissonance.

“Persuasion” explains how people’s attitudes are externally changed through persuasion; and compares the peripheral and central routes to persuasion.

“Introduction to Group Behavior” an introduction to how conformity, obedience, groupthink, social facilitation, social loafing, altruism, and attraction relate to group behavior.

“Conformity and Obedience” describes the results of research on conformity, and distinguishes between normative and informational social influence; and describes Stanley Milgram’s experiment and its implications.

“Group Behavior” illustrates when the presence of others is likely to result in groupthink, social facilitation, or social loafing.

“The Bystander Effect and Altruism” explains the factors that influence human altruism, including reciprocal altruism and diffusion of responsibility.

“Attraction and Love” describes attraction and the triangular theory of love; and explains the social exchange theory as it applies to relationships.

“Introduction to Prejudice, Discrimination, and Aggression” an introduction to prejudice, discrimination, and aggression as a negative side of human behavior.

“Prejudice and Discrimination” defines and provides examples of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination.

“Why do Prejudice and Dissemination Exist?” explains why prejudice and discrimination exist and defines scapegoat theory, ingroups, and outgroups, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Aggression” describes aggression and bullying.

“Putting It Together: Social Psychology” reviews the learning objectives in the unit; and gives an interview of Jonah Berger by Ilaria Schlitz.