SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Symbolic Integration, Symbolic Interactionism, Psy

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 1Z03
• Professor: Paul Glavin

Document Summary

We make claims about human behaviour based on our peers which can be problematic. We use theory- set of propositions that try to explain an observed phenomenon. (ex. the bystander effect: argues that people are less likely to help someone in need the more people that around them at the time. Reason for this because the feeling of personal responsibility decreases as there are more people around you. However, if everyone thinks that then no one will help. Begin with a theory and then it is tested in the social world. Thus none of the examples are theories because they need to have some sort of explanation. Broader umbrellas of theories, make general arguments for how human social behaviour operates. Social psychologists use them as a guideline and tend to be swayed one. Five theories: role theory, reinforcement theory, cognitive theory, symbolic interaction theory, evolutionary theory.