PSYC 241 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Implicit Memory, Nonverbal Communication, Social Psychology
9 Mar 2021
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Document Summary
Social psychology is a science that studies the influences of our situations, with special attention to how we view and affect one another. Scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another. Compared with sociology (the study of people in groups and societies), social psychology focuses more on individuals, employing methods that more often use experimentation. Compared with personality psychology, social psychology focuses less on the differences among individuals and more on how individuals, in general, view and affect one another. Social psychology still relatively young- not until the 1930s did social psychology assume its current form. Humans have an irresistible urge to explain behaviour, to attribute it to some cause, and therefore, to make it seem orderly, predictable and controllable. We may react differently to similar situations because we think differently. When someone"s behaviour is consistent and distinctive, we attribute their behaviour to their personality. Our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous.
