Chapter 14Social Psychology.ppt

Chapter 14:Social Psychology Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D. The Department of Psychology The University of West Florida Social Psychology Study of the impact of the social context: Presence of other individuals (real or imagined) Activities and interactions among individuals Contexts in which those interactions occur Expectations and norms governing behavior within those contexts Resulting behaviors related to social factors AND Social Psychology Study of the subjective interpretations of so-called real and objective situations AND The impact of interactions between the context and interpretations on individual and group behaviors Situationism Two forces that influence human behavior: Individual dispositions (e.g. temperament, personality) Social Context (e.g. people, physical environment) Situationism is the position that the Social Context is likely the more influential Social Standards for Behavior Consider a study by Maurer Pleck (2006) on parenting by fathers Investigated how fathers’ parenting behaviors were related to their subjective interpretations of: Their wives’ stated expectations Other fathers’ parenting behaviors Other fathers’ comments and reflections on father-parenting behaviors Social Standards for Behavior Maurer Pleck (2006) They found that fathers’ parenting behaviors were related to: Subjective interpretations of: Their wives’ stated expectations Other fathers’ comments and reflections on father-parenting behaviors The interpretation of others’ views was the most important factor in determining fathers’ parenting behavior Social Standards for Behavior Social Roles (e.g. Gender): socially defined pattern of behaviors expected of individuals in a given class or group Script (e.g. parenting behaviors): knowledge of the sequence of events and actions expected of an individual within a given setting Social Standards for Behavior Social norms (e.g. fathers’ rules for behavior): a group’s expectations about what is appropriate for its members’ attit