Theory in Social Psychology: Seeing the Forest and the Trees

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaacov Trope
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Social Judgment ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Psychological Theories

The phenomena social psychology seeks to explain–how people think, feel, and act in response to social situations–are rich and diverse. Therefore, explanatory power, the simplicity of a model relative to its empirical scope, is an important desideratum for social psychological theories. A model achieves high explanatory power to the extent that it integrates narrower models within a unified conceptualization, reconciles conflicting findings, and makes novel predictions regarding specific phenomena. This article first relates explanatory power to the various facets of scientific inquiry (modeling, derivation, observation, evaluation, and decision) and then discusses this criterion as a guide for 2 theory-based lines of research my colleagues and I have conducted in the area of social judgment and decision making.

Social reflection, performed role-conformant and role-discrepant responsibility, and the unity of responsibility: a social psychological perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald A. Mieg
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Social Fact ◽  
Complexity Hypothesis ◽  
Social Psychological Perspective

AbstractThis paper contributes to the study of responsibility as a social fact (Durkheim), combining research from social psychology, philosophy, and sociology. The pivotal concept is social reflection that serves to better understand how responsibility is performed in different social situations. The paper presents an experiment, providing evidence for, inter alia, the central complexity hypothesis: Under a complex perspective (implying increased social reflection) more responsibility is performed than under a less complex perspective (implying less social reflection). The paper concludes with considerations on the principle and unity of responsibility.

Conservation and human behaviour: lessons from social psychology

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freya A. V. St John ◽  
Gareth Edwards-Jones ◽  
Julia P. G. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Improved Design ◽  
Species Declines

Despite increased effort from non-governmental organisations, academics and governments over recent decades, several threats continue to cause species declines and even extinctions. Resource use by a growing human population is a significant driver of biodiversity loss, so conservation scientists need to be interested in the factors that motivate human behaviour. Economic models have been applied to human decision making for many years; however, humans are not financially rational beings and other characteristics of the decision maker (including attitude) and the pressure that people perceive to behave in a certain way (subjective norms) may influence decision making; these are characteristics considered by social psychologists interested in human decision making. We review social-psychology theories of behaviour and how they have been used in the context of conservation and natural-resource management. Many studies focus on general attitudes towards conservation rather than attitudes towards specific behaviours of relevance to conservation and thus have limited value in designing interventions to change specific behaviours (e.g. reduce hunting of a threatened species). By more specifically defining the behaviour of interest, and investigating attitude in the context of other social-psychological predictors of behaviour (e.g. subjective norms, the presence of facilitating factors and moral obligation), behaviours that have an impact on conservation goals will be better understood, allowing for the improved design of interventions to influence them.

Good in Theory: A Metatheoretical Review of Social Psychological Theories of Human Sexuality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Quistberg ◽  
John Kitchener Sakaluk
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Human Sexuality ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Current State ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Sexual Science ◽  
Psychology Theory ◽  
Theory Generation ◽  
Future Theory

The fields of social psychology and sexual science have an intuitive and growing connection, with social psychology’s tradition of theory generation poised to enrich the psychological study of the sexual. For those interested in applying social psychological theories to topics of sexuality, however, there are questions regarding the features, qualities, and strengths and weaknesses of social psychology’s theoretical offerings. We therefore conducted a comprehensive metatheoretical review of social psychology theories applicable to sexuality (n = 44). In doing so, we (i)promote a deeper understanding of the current state of social psychology theory (ii)provide original theory maps to streamline future theory testing (iii)evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current social psychology theories. Our review finds existing social psychology theory to present a range of clarity with regards to theory definition, theory applicability, and testability. We interpret our results as encouragement for the pursuit of contemporary methods of theorizing in social psychology.

Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Supriya Srivastava ◽  
Kuldeep Chand Rojhe
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Attitude Change ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Attitude Formation ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Attitude Object ◽  
The Core

The study of attitudes formation and attitude change are two defining features at the core of social psychology. An attitude is a set of beliefs that people hold in relation to an attitude object, where an attitude object is a person, a product, or a social group. Since attitudes have been a strong influence on human behavior, social psychologists have viewed attitudes as important to understand behavior of individuals. Firstly, the chapter will introduce the concept of attitude with social psychological perspective. Attitude formation is important to understand to know why people hold different attitudes and how attitudes help to predict their behavior. In the second section, distinct ways of attitudes formation are discussed. It is also important to understand how attitudes influence in decision making, which is also discussed in the next section of the chapter. In the later section, changing processes of attitudes have been discussed.

scholarly journals Teori-Teori Transorientasional dalam Psikologi Sosial

Humaniora ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1351
Author(s):  
Juneman Juneman
Keyword(s):  
Role Theory ◽  
Social Judgment ◽  
Social Response ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Descriptive Model ◽  
Social Judgment Theory ◽  
Psychological Theories

The author discusses the recognition of social judgment theory, descriptive model of social response, and role theory as transorientational social psychological theories, criticism in this field as well as their  application in everyday’s life. 

Proper experimental design and implementation are necessary conditions for a balanced social psychology

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-353
Author(s):  
Andreas Ortmann ◽  
Michal Ostatnicky
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Bayesian Analysis ◽  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Significance Testing ◽  
Null Hypothesis Significance Testing ◽  
Design And Implementation

We applaud the authors' basic message. We note that the negative research emphasis is not special solely to social psychology and judgment and decision-making. We argue that the proposed integration of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and Bayesian analysis is promising but will ultimately succeed only if more attention is paid to proper experimental design and implementation.

Bounded autonomy in deciding to seek medical help: Carer role, the sick role and the case of dementia

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAC Chrisp ◽  
S Tabberer ◽  
BD Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Sick Role ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Health Decision Making ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
The Individual

Social psychological theories of illness and health decision making place the individual with the symptoms at the centre. In the case of dementia it is often a relative who is first to contact health care professionals. The article illustrates how the autonomy of both the individual with symptoms and their carers is bounded by the actions of others. An over arching theme of ‘bounded autonomy in decision making’, and four subthemes emerged. Bounded autonomy is where a person’s actions are constrained or contested by another person. There are implications for interventions to bring forward the point at which diagnosis occurs.

scholarly journals Who Is This “We” You Speak of? Grounding Activist Identity in Social Psychology

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 237802311771781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Horowitz
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Role Based ◽  
Role Responsibilities ◽  
Distinct Role

What is an activist identity? Prior answers have focused almost exclusively on collective identity, without (a) considering the possibility of role-based identities or (b) grounding collective identities in broader social-psychological theories. The present study investigates activist identity through the lens of role-based and category-based identities and reports two major findings. First, there is a distinct role-based activist identity, one that involves internalizing role responsibilities and the expectations of friends and family. Second, collective identity represents a relationship between a social identity and an injustice frame; it either involves incorporating an injustice frame into a preexisting social identity or using the injustice frame to create a new in-group. The present findings help to illuminate the processes underlying collective identity, indicate that a great deal of role-based activist identity is mistaken for collective identity, and suggest new directions for the study of micro-mobilization and organizational forms and tactics in social movements.

scholarly journals Who is a terrorist? Exploring the utility of interdisciplinary fields

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-161
Author(s):  
Heba Mohamed Zahra
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sociological Factors ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Psychological Theories

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the dilemma of terrorism as a political phenomenon that many political scientists care about; however, they find themselves incapable of explaining some of its aspects and they resort to other disciplines. The second part of the dilemma is related to the incapability of well-established disciplines to provide political scientists with much help. This raises the following question: Will political scientists be able to enhance their knowledge of terrorism with the help of scholars from consolidated and well-established disciplines or with the help of scholars from interdisciplinary fields? Design/methodology/approach This research depends on the main theories of psychology and of social psychology and adopts a comparative approach to assess the effectiveness of both disciplines in providing political scientists with the knowledge they lack. Findings In spite of being a well-established and consolidated discipline, psychology is not the perfect discipline that can help political scientists know who a terrorist is. Social psychological theories of aggression provide political scientists with greater ability to understand what psychological and sociological factors motivate a person to turn to aggression and terrorism. Moreover, social psychology developed the “terror management theory” which clarifies various aspects of the phenomenon. Originality/value This research paper calls the attention of scholars of terrorism to the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach to understand the various aspects of a complex phenomenon such as terrorism. The interdisciplinary field adopted will differ according to the research question that a researcher needs to answer.

The Social Psychology of Dialogue Simulation as Applied in Elbot

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Illusion Of Control ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Online System ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
The Mind

Because of the high expectations users have on virtual assistants to interact with said systems on a human level, the rules of social interaction potentially apply and less the influence of emotion cues associated with the system responses. To this end the social psychological theories of control, reactance, schemata, and social comparison suggest strategies to transform the dialogue with a virtual assistant into an encounter with a consistent and cohesive personality, in effect using the mind-set of the user to the advantage of the conversation, provoking the user into reacting predictably while at the same time preserving the user's illusion of control. These methods are presented in an online system: Elbot.com.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document