Introduction to Social Psychology
Research/Ethical issues
The Person and the Situation
Social Psychology
Chapters 1 & 2
August 27, 2004
Class #1
What is Social Psychology?
Social psychology is the scientific
study of how people’s thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors are
influenced by other people
Social Psychology, like any science,
involves:
Description: careful and reliable
observation
Explanation: Development of theories
that connect and organize observations
Sociocultural Perspective
Looks at the whats involved in large social groups
such as:
 norms within cultural groups
 social class differences
 nationality/ethnicity
 Fads
Social Norms
rules and expectations for appropriate social behavior
Culture
beliefs, customs, habits, and language shared
by the people living in a particular time and
place
Evolutionary Perspective
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Genetic predispositions inherited from our
ancestors
That promoted their survival and
reproduction (such as) tendency to
automatically recognize an angry face
Animals with features suited to demands of
environment will survive better than those
with less well-adapted features
In the same way, humans who are best
suited to their environment will be most
successful
Social Cognitive Perspective
What we pay attention to
How we interpret and judge social
situations
What we retrieve from memory (such as)
People notice the behaviors of group
members who are in a minority, and
exaggerate the significance of the things
they do
Ethical Issues in Social Psychology
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Deception
Use of Deception
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Milgram (1974)
• Original study included 40 male college
students as the participants
• Several other versions were conducted
by Stanley Milgram who was a professor
at Yale University (approx. 1000
subjects overall)
Milgram (1974)
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Did they realize it was a hoax?
• No, film of the experiments clearly
show that subjects were very
uncomfortable – sweating,
fidgeting, giggling nervously, etc.
Milgram (1974)
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How many of the subjects went all
the way and hit that final switch (450
volts) even after the learner had
apparently passed out????
Ethical Implications Involved…
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Implications of this????
Would never be done today –
considered unethical
American Psychological Association
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Human Subjects Committee
Research Review Board (APA)
guidelines:
• Use deception sparingly
• Must be good reason and no other way to get
meaningful results
• Must obtain an informed consent from
participants

Basically, they are agreeing to participate despite
potential risks involved and that they can withdraw
from the study at any time
American Psychological Association
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Can not cause any permanent harm
– physically or psychologically
Full debriefing – make sure
subjects leave testing laboratory in
the same mental state they arrived
Experimentation:
The Scientific Method
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Observations
Theories (pure speculation)
Hypotheses (best guesses –testable
predictions)
It’s a Continuous Cycle
hypotheses
theories
observations
Variables:
Dependent and Independent
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DV = Variable (behavior) you are
measuring
In my study: gambling tendencies
IV = variable or variables being
manipulated
In my study: IV1 = athletic status
IV2 = sex
Statistical Significance
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When the difference observed
between two groups is probably not
due to chance factors
Common alpha levels (levels of
significance) are set at .05 or .01
Medical experiments often set theirs
at .001
Main Effect and Interaction

Main Effect
• Looking at one variable to see if there is
an effect

Interaction
• Seeing an effect only when combining
more than one variable
Making sure things are consistent…

Reliability
• Degree of consistency or repeatability
 Interrater Reliability
• When different observers witness a
behavior is there agreement

Test-Retest Reliability
• Experimenters will often retest people
using either the same test or another
form of it
Making sure things are meaningful…
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Validity
• Are we measuring what we intend to
measure?
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Internal Validity
• Are we sure the independent variable caused the
effect?
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External Validity
• Is the extent to which the results of a study can be
applied to circumstances outside the specific research
setting in which a particular study was carried out
• Or in other words the extent to which the results can
be applied to what is known as the real world
Is it the Person or is it the Situation?
Or both???
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Internal and External influences:
Internal
• Inner personality
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External
• Specific situational factors
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What's more influential insofar as
prediction of a person’s behavior is
concerned?
Is it the Person or is it the Situation?
Or both???
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To address this issue, we will be
analyzing real-life and experimental
examples all semester
• Today’s example:
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Subway Conductor
My error???
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Fundamental Attribution Error
• Occurs when we overestimate
someone’s personality as the cause of
their behavior and underestimate social
influences (the situation)
But maybe it is the person?
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Personality psychologists believe that
an individual tends to behave
consistently across situations
• Consistent patterns are seen
• Individual differences are apparent no
matter the situation
Different Persons Respond
Differently to the Same Situation
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Different people are attuned to
different parts of a situation, and
the same situation means different
things to different people
If this is true, then is personality the
more influential of the two
Another question???
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Does the person choose the situation
or does the situation choose person?
Situations Choose the Person
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Example: Athletic teams have slots
for only so many players, so not
everyone gets the experience of
playing on the team
Persons Choose Their Situations
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We choose situations that provide
opportunities that fit with our
personal characteristics
Example: If you are an introvert, a
quiet evening at home might be
more appealing than a crowded
rock concert
Different Situations Prime Different
Parts of the Person
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Inside each one of us, there are
different motives, memories, and
feelings
Each of these is likely to be triggered
by some situations more than others
Different Situations Prime Different
Parts of the Person
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Example: After watching a slapstick comedy
that primes memories of innocent accidents,
an ambiguous collision with a stranger may
draw one reaction:
 “Oops. How clumsy of me!”
But a blow-em-up action thriller may trigger
your inner Rambo:
 “Hey! How dare you bump into me!”
Persons Change The Situation
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Sometimes people change situations to
better achieve their goals…
 A teacher will set up his or her
class so that her students get
along
Other times people change situations
inadvertently…
 Depressed college students may
depress their roommates
 (Joiner & Metalsky, 1996)
(Strack & Coyne, 1983)
Situations Change the Person
•You may be a different person after
spending time in a situation…
 Example
•Two similar high school students
may be very different after one
spends four years in the military
while the other is in a liberal arts
college
Situations Change the Person
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Socialization
•The process through which a
culture teaches its members about
its beliefs, customs, habits, and
language
The answer to the questions???
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Not yet…
• We will primarily be looking at the
effects of situational factors throughout
the semester
• We will critically attack these ideas
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Maybe in December we will have
some answers???