SOC 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Santa Barbara City College, Scientific Method, Al-Farabi
Document Summary
Social psychology is the scientific study of how the real, perceived, or inferred existence of others affects people"s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. In this context, sociology refers to empirical investigation using the scientific method. The terms emotions, feelings, and actions apply to psychological factors observable in humans. The argument that the existence of others may be perceived or inferred implies that even when alone, humans are malleable to social influences, such as watching videos, sitting on the toilet or silently appreciating art. Individuals can be conditioned in such cases to obey the internalized cultural norms. Usually, social psychologists explain human behavior by the interaction. Social psychologists analyze causes in the presence of others that trigger behaviors to between mental states and social situations occur in a given way. We are researching circumstances under which those attitudes, acts, and feelings take place.
