The Task of Social Psychology Is to Explain Behavior not Just to Observe it

Doliński (2018, this issue) deplores the decline of behavior observation in social psychology since the 1960’s and asks whether (social-) psychology is still a behavioral science. I question both, that there was a decline and that direct behavior observations are essential for a science of behavior. After all, behavior can also be inferred from outcomes and other traces of behavior. During the alleged heydays of behavioral observation, social psychology was threatened by a crisis partly precipitated by Wicker’s (1969) demonstration that verbal attitude measures were often unrelated to behavioral responses towards attitude objects. His critique was devastating, because social psychology at that time relied heavily on rating scales as dependent measure. The advance of the social cognition movement in the 1970’s was to provide social psychology with new techniques (e.g., priming, cognitive load, reaction time techniques) that eased the reliance on rating scales. At the same time, it became insufficient to merely show a relationship between an external event and a behavioral response and to rely on speculations about the internal processes that might have been responsible for this relationship. Instead, studies had to assess the cognitive and motivational processes assumed to link those external events, typically – but not always – using social cognition techniques. This required additional studies leading to a decline in the proportion of studies reporting behavioral observations. I illustrate this development with one of my own research programs and also suggest that in this example an outcome may be a more valid measure of behavior than behavioral observations.

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1. All about us

Social Psychology: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198715511.003.0001 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Richard J. Crisp

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Social Context ◽

19Th Century ◽

Early Years ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

The People ◽

The Social ◽

History Of ◽

Context Shape

Social psychology is all about the ‘social universe’ and the people who populate our everyday lives. It’s the study of how society, culture, and context shape attitudes, behaviour, and beliefs. It’s how we figure out who we are, and how who we are is intimately linked to our relationships with others. ‘All about us’ outlines the history of the how the discipline came to be from the early years in the late 19th century with the work of Gustav LeBon and Norman Triplett, through the two world wars that provided inspiration for many studies that shaped social psychology, to the concept of social cognition, and how this is affected and impacted by social context.

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The continuity of the knowledge in Social Psychology, could it be possible? Commemoration to the 95th anniversary of G.M. Andreeva

Social Psychology and Society ◽

10.17759/sps.2019100313 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 196-201

Author(s):

D.A. Khoroshilov

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Social Constructionism ◽

Social Space ◽

Social World ◽

Modern Human ◽

Social Changes ◽

State University ◽

Collective Emotions ◽

The Social

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Galina Mihailovna Andreeva, who was a creator of the Russian school of Social Psychology at the faculty of Moscow State University. Adreeva suggested that the psychologist’s main objective was to integrate scientific knowledge into the context of social changes and issues. She determined the main problem of Social Psychology as the problem of social cognition. Social cognition represents constructing the image of the social world, which is vicariously lived by people in their everyday life. This definition unites such theories as sociocultural approach (L. Vygotsky, A. Leontiev, A. Luria), K. Gergen’s social constructionism and cognitive psychology (S. Fiske). According to the ideas of Andreeva, the image of social world integrates micro- and marco-levels of social structure, what manifests in general directions of the discipline of Social Psychology: communication-groups-personality. Indeed, human personality is formed through group interactions, as well as his personal and social identity which are determined by the culture and by the society where we interact. The concepts elaborated by Andreeva greatly anticipated contemporary research on the perception of social space and time, collective emotions and experiences, as well as collective memory. Therefore, we see the need for an immediate revisit of her heritage in the context of the modern human sciences.

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Analisis Wacana Pesan Dakwah pada Film Cinta dalam Ukhwah

Tabligh: Jurnal Komunikasi dan Penyiaran Islam ◽

10.15575/tabligh.v3i1.33 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 91-110

Author(s):

Yasyifa Fajaria Nursyamsi ◽

Dindin Sholahudin ◽

Tata Sukayat

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Qualitative Research ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Personal Experience ◽

Societal Issues ◽

The Social ◽

Film Texts ◽

Theory Of Discourse ◽

Psychosocial Approaches ◽

Islamic Values

This research describes the message of dakwah clarity of discourse. Film as a medium of da'wah becomes a thing to be examined both in terms of meaning and production, especially in the field of I'lam. Its presence in the scholarship of da'wah can be a reference that supports the spread of Islamic values. This qualitative research uses the theory of discourse analysis according to Teun Van Djik with the concept of 'social cognition' which is adapted from the social psychology approach to explain the structure and process of forming a text. The results of the film Love in this ukhuwah got three main conclusions: first the text of this film contain Message da'wah with the topic of tolerance, ukhuwah and inclusivism. Second, the social cognition of the author's personal experience affects how text scenarios are produced. Thirdly, the social context of Islamic societal issues is raised as 'conflict and anti-climax' in dialogue on scenarios and film texts produced. The story presented in the film is lifted from the discourse through psychosocial approaches, constructing discourses about critical attitudes and tabayun against this Jewish strategy as a moral message. Penelitian ini memaparkan pesan dakwah dari kejelasan wacananya. Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan teori analisis wacana menurut Teun Van Djik dengan konsep ‘kognisi sosial’ istilah yang disadur dari pendekatan psikologi sosial untuk menjelaskan struktur dan proses terbentuk suatu teks. Hasil penelitian di film Cinta dalam Ukhuwah ini didapatkan tiga kesimpulan utama: pertama secara teks film ini mengandung Pesan dakwah dengan topik toleransi, ukhuwah dan inklusivisme. Kedua, kognisi sosial pengalaman pribadi penulis mempengaruhi bagaimana teks skenario diproduksi. Ketiga, konteks sosial permasalahan masyarakat Islam diangkat sebagai ‘konflik dan anti klimaks’ dalam dialog pada teks skenario dan film yang diproduksi. Cerita yang disampaikan dalam film di angkat dari wacana melalui pendekatan psikososial, mengkontruksi wacana tentang sikap kritis dan tabayun terhadap strategi yahudi ini sebagai pesan moral.

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Associations between Daydreaming Style and Information Processing Predispositions

Imagination Cognition and Personality ◽

10.2190/n068-n19g-959p-43uh ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 159-166 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

J. S. Tanaka ◽

A. T. Panter ◽

Wayne C. Winborne

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Information Processing ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Need For Cognition ◽

Self Report ◽

Research Tradition ◽

The Social ◽

The Common

Various domains of chronic predispositions in information processing have been studied from different perspectives. For example, strict experimentally-based information processing paradigms stem from a different research tradition than daydreaming styles. This study considers the association between these domains by examining the interrelations between two-self report measures of chronic information processing. One measure is the Need for Cognition, developed in the social cognition literature to study individual differences in chronic tendencies to utilize information. The second measure, the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory, is a measure of daydreaming style. Results show that these measures are related. A single bipolar dimension measuring affective/evaluative domains in information processing underlying the common properties of both measures is identified. Extensions of this research to domains in clinical and social psychology are discussed.

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Kalıpyargılar ve Sosyal Yargı / The Streotype and The Social Judgement

Journal of History Culture and Art Research ◽

10.7596/taksad.v5i3.539 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 203

Author(s):

İbrahim Işıtan

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Behavioral Outcomes ◽

The Third ◽

The Social ◽

Social Judgement ◽

Prejudice And Discrimination ◽

Definition Of

The Streotype and The Social JudgementAbstractThe concept of stereotype, an important topics of social psychology is closely related to prejudice and discrimination. Stereotypes may drag people into generalization and failure in judgements in addition to many unwanted behavioral outcomes.The first section of the article deals with the definition of the concept of stereotype and ascertains the motives of individuals who intend acting in accordance with stereotypes, followed by offering various solutions to this very problem. The second section points out the effect of stereotypes on interpretation of the social judgement and the social cognition while the third section dwells on how stereotypes can be changed. This study, which presents a summary of the researches about the stereotype and the social judgement is of importance in terms of indicating how stereotypes turn into prejudices and how they eventually cause discrimination.Kalıpyargılar ve Sosyal YargıÖzKalıpyargı sosyal psikolojinin önemli konularından biridir. Kalıpyargı kavramı önyargı ve ayrımcılık kavramlarını da anımsatmaktadır. Kalıpyargı, davranış planında birçok istenmeyen sonuçlarıyla, kişileri yargıda genelleme ve hata yapmaya sürükleyebilmektedir. Makalenin birinci bölümü, kalıpyargı kavramının tanımı konusunu ele almakta, kişilerin kalıplaşmış inançlarla hareket etmeyi tasarlamalarının hangi sebeplere dayandığını ortaya koymakta ve çeşitli tedbir yolları önermektedir. İkinci bölümde, kalıpyargıların sosyal yargıları ve bilgileri yorumlama üzerine etkisine dikkat çekilmektedir. Üçüncü bölümde ise, kalıpyargıların nasıl değiştirilebileceği konusu üzerine durulmaktadır. Kalıpyargı ve sosyal yargı konusunda yapılan araştırmaların bir özeti şeklinde sunulan bu çalışma, kalıpyargıların önyargıya nasıl dönüştüğünü ve sonuç itibariyle ayrımcılığa nasıl yol açtığını göstermesi bakımından önem arz eder.

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My Scientific Supervisor - GM: to the 95th Anniversary of G.M. Andreeva

RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics ◽

10.22363/2313-1683-2019-16-2-287-292 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 287-292

Author(s):

Inna B. Bovina

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Voluntary Participation ◽

Psychology Department ◽

State University ◽

Outstanding Scientist ◽

The Social ◽

Psychology History ◽

History Of ◽

Moscow State University

The article is devoted to the 95th birthday of Galina M. Andreeva, an outstanding scientist, a wonderful, bright personality. Memories about the scientific supervisor brings back to the 90s of the last century, when students were lucky enough to listen to lectures of G.M. Andreeva on social psychology, history of western social psychology (shared with N.N. Bogomolova and L.A. Petrovskaya) and psychology of social cognition. Readers can easily imagine the founder of the Social Psychology Department at the Faculty of Psychology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. A person with an outstanding life, that could hardly have been imagined otherwise: a voluntary participation in the WW2, studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, the rebirth of sociology in Russia, the foundation of the Department of Social Psychology, and many generations of social psychologists.

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