Principles of Social Psychology

PSY 301

October 14, 2012

Principles of Social Psychology

Social psychology is the understanding of an individual’s behavior in a social context. It is the scientific field that focuses on the nature and causes of that individual’s behavior in social situations. It looks at the human behavior that has been influenced by others and in the social context with which it occurred. Social psychology pays attention to how feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and goals are constructed and how these factors influence our behavior and interactions with others. This paper will examine the principles of social psychology and help us to
We describe these behaviors as something internal or external. When we make an internal attribution we are blaming personality, attitudes, or other temperamental factors for the action. An example of this might be that your boss gave out yearly bonuses and you did not get one. You believe this is because your boss does not appreciate you. When we make an external attribution we are blaming situational factors for the action. An example of this might be instead of assuming your boss doesn’t appreciate you, you believe he has just forgotten in error or hasn’t had a chance to get yours to you yet (Feenstra, 2011, p. 3.1). Our explanatory style is the pattern we use in making these judgments. These patterns vary in terms of whether we make and internal versus external attribution, a stable versus unstable attribution, or a global versus specific attribution. The patterns we use are known as optimistic or pessimistic. Optimistic explanatory style is to make an attribution that is internal, stable, and global for positive things and external, unstable, and specific for negative things. Pessimistic explanatory style is to make an attribution that is exactly opposite of optimism (p. 3.2). Our attitude and behavior can also affect our judgment of other people. Our attitude involves the evaluation of other people, behaviors, and objects. These evaluations should affect our behavior toward these attitude objects. An example might be if you have a favorable