THE SOCIAL APPROACH TO PSYCHOLOGY WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

Social Psychology can be defined as the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.(Allport 1935) Social psychology is therefore about how people influence each other. Peoples behaviour is affected by the social situation they are in it is normal to be naked on a nudist beach, but its not normal to be naked whilst shopping in Morrisons! Social psychologists are therefore particularly interested in the effects that environments (situations) have on peoples behaviour. Social behaviour occurs when two or more people interact. Individuals however interact differently depending on the situation e.g. you may act differently with a parent, a friend, a stranger, or when in a group. Whenever we are not alone we are influenced by the people around us. Social psychology also considers how individuals think about other people. This is known as social cognition and it can involve such things as stereotyping, prejudice, helping behaviour and aggression. The influence of others can cause individuals to change their behaviour. Social psychologists have conducted numerous studies of why people conform (change their behaviour to fit in with that of others) e.g. Asch, Zimbardo; and why they obey authority figures e.g. Milgram, Hofling. KEY STUDIES TOBE CONSIDERED THROUGH THIS APPROACH MILGRAM (1963): BEHAVIOURAL STUDY OF OBEDIENCE REICHER & HASLAM (2006): RETHINKING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TYRANNY: THE BBC PRISON STUDY PILIAVIN, RODIN & PILIAVIN (1969): GOOD SAMARITANISM: AN UNDERGROUND PHENOMENON?

ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF THE APPROACH Social psychology has a long history within scientific psychology. Like most psychological research, social psychologists began by investigating social processes and influences as they applied to the individual. Most of this research came form America though gradually a more European approach was incorporated to take more account of social, historical and political contexts and collective/shared representations and identities. Famous social psychological studies include: Triplett Triplett looked at competitive cycling records and noted that paced times were 35 seconds per mile faster than unpaced times and competitive times were even faster. This was followed up by a controlled study looking at children winding fishing reels. He found that the children wound the reels in faster in pairs than when alone, suggesting that the presence of others can have a significant effect on performance.

Ringelmann found that when two people were pulling on a rope, their effort was 93% of the average of the individuals performance, this dropped to 85% of the individuals performance when three people were pulling and the performance slipped to only 49% when eight people were pulling, suggesting that as group size increases, performance decreases. This reduction in individual effort that occurs when people work collectively is known as social loafing. Asch

Ringelmann

Asch designed an experiment to see whether people would conform to a majoritys incorrect answer in an unambiguous task (one where the answer is obvious) involving matching of lines. He found people will conform towards a group norm so they dont stand out, even when they think the rest of the group is wrong. Milgrams famous study was concerned with the nature of obedience to authority. In his experiment he asked participants to give, what they believed to be genuine electric shocks to a learner if they answered a question wrongly. Most of his participants carried on giving shocks, even when they thought they were causing harm. He concluded that, in extreme situations, most people will follow orders even if it means doing something they dont think is right. ASSUMPTIONS OF THE SOCIAL APPROACH Social psychologists assume that, for anyone who has been raised in a society: All behaviour occurs in a social context, even when nobody else is physically present. A major influence on peoples behaviour, thought processes and emotions are other people and the society they have created. STRENGTHS OF THE SOCIAL APPROACH
Social influences have been shown to be involved in, and have a strong effect upon, peoples behaviour, thinking and emotions often stronger than dispositional influences e.g. Piliavin, Milgram. The approach has many practical applications in a wide range of areas e.g. conformity, obedience, helping behaviour, performance levels. The approach has provided explanations for a great many phenomena e.g. obedience +Nazis, Conformity/non conformity + peers, helping behaviour + race/gender.

Milgram

LIMITATIONS OF THE SOCIAL APPROACH

The approach tends to underestimate what people bring with them into social situations individual differences (whether inherited or learnt) do affect the results of social psychological studies but are often explored less. Social psychological studies are often superficial snapshots of social processes (Hates, 1995) and so ignore their development over time and the broader social, political, historical and cultural context in which the research takes place. The approach shows considerable support for the NURTURE side of the nature/nurture debate so can be seen as reductionist since it minimises or ignores the influence of biological factors on behaviour.