Social Psychology: Bringing It All Together

PSY 301

Sarah Koerner-Jordan

October 22, 2012

Franchelle Guy

Social Psychology: Bringing It All Together

Social psychology is the scientific study of human thoughts, feelings, and behavior as they relate to and are influenced by others (Feenstra, 2011). It is a broad field that covers a variety of topics. Social psychologists study a variety of topics, including views of the self, persuasion, attraction, and group processes. Researchers study all aspects of social psychology and in some cases enlist the help of a “confederate”, someone who appears to be a naïve part of the experiment. The confederate ensures that the experiment is going as planned. A part of social
Attitudes based in the automatic, unconscious reactions we have toward an attitude object are implicit attitudes. Humans tend to evaluate their environment and the things in that environment, therefore forming attitudes. We aren’t always aware of the attitudes we hold and they continue to affect our behavior.
Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination are the greatest problems faced by humanity are created by those attitudes. Showing prejudice is a negative attitude toward people or things based on their membership to a particular group. Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics of particular groups or members of those groups. Discrimination is negative behavior toward individuals or groups based on beliefs and feelings about those groups. In reference to “groups”, a group you are a part of is called your ingroup such as a social club, a bowling league or poker club. A group you are not a part of is your outgroup. We naturally form discriminatory behavior toward those outside our groups, and we form categories that lead to stereotypes, discrimination and ultimately prejudice (Feenstra, 2011). Our personal identity or how we look at ourselves is learned based on our life’s challenges and or crisis as well as the support that we receive while growing up. Sorting people into categories is related to stereotyping and