Social Psychology Archives

Passionate Love and Companionate Love

March 26, 2013 3 Comments

Define and elaborate passionate love and companionate love. Also make a comparison between these two types of love. Yes we’ve all experienced it. It is the most universal emotion and the most powerful. It shapes, gives meaning to, and destroys lives. How much of us do we give when we love? Can one define and measure love? We have ways to measure aggression, prejudice, and attraction – but how do we measure love? Passionate Love Elizabeth Barrett Browning posed a similar question: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Psychologist Robert Sternberg (1998) views love as a triangle, whose sides of varying lengths are passion, intimacy, and commitment. Sociologist John Alan Lee (1988) and psychologists Clyde and Susan Hendrick (1993) identify three primary love styles – eros (self-disclosing passion), ludus (uncommitted game playing), and storge (friendship) – which like primary colors, combine to form secondary love styles. […]

Social Psychology

Concept of Aggression & Aversive Incidents That Influence Aggression

March 22, 2013 No Comments

Define and explain the concept of aggression. What are the aversive incidents that influence aggression? Discuss. What is Aggression? “Textbook defines it as ‘behaviour that is intended to harm another individual” HOWEVER, there are numerous examples of behaviours that exhibit aggression: murdering for money, verbally and physically assaulting someone, accidentally injuring someone, working persistently to sell a product, and many, many more Almost every definition that psychologists have tried to come up with for ‘aggression’ can contradict a perfect example of something that is aggressive. Important words to know… Violence – extreme acts of aggression Anger – strong feelings of displeasure in response to a perceived injury Hostility – a negative, antagonistic attitude toward another person or group Instrumental Aggression – inflicting harm, in order to obtain something of value (i.e. hiring a hit man) Emotional Aggression – inflicting harm for its own sake (i.e. a fight at a hockey […]

Social Psychology

Prejudice and Social Sources of Prejudice

March 19, 2013 1 Comment

What is prejudice? Elaborate social sources of prejudice with examples from Pakistani Society. Prejudice: Prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a group. Common features of prejudice include negative feelings, stereotyped beliefs, and a tendency to discriminate against members of the group. While specific definitions of prejudice given by social scientists often differ, most agree that it involves prejudgments (usually negative) about members of a group. Types of Prejudice Prejudice can be based upon a number of factors including sex, race, age, sexual orientations, nationality, socioeconomic status and religion. Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include: Racism Sexism Classicism Homophobia Nationalism Religious prejudice Agism Prejudice and Stereotyping When prejudice occurs, stereotyping and discrimination may also result. In many cases, prejudices are based upon stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplified assumption about a group based on prior assumptions. Stereotypes can be both positive (“women are […]

Social Psychology

Social Facilitation and why are we aroused in the presence of others?

March 18, 2013 No Comments

Q.No.3 What do you know about Social Facilitation? Also briefly explain why are we aroused in the presence of others? Social Facilitation: Studies on social facilitation concern the extent to which a given piece of an individual’s behavior is affected by the real, imagined or implied presence of others. Perhaps the first social psychology laboratory experiment was undertaken in this area by Norman Triplett in 1898. In his research on the speed records of cyclists, he noticed that racing against each other rather than against the clock alone increased the cyclists’ speeds. He attempted to duplicate this under laboratory conditions using children and fishing reels. There were two conditions: the child alone and children in pairs but working alone. Their task was to wind in a given amount of fishing line and Triplett reports that many children worked faster in the presence of a partner doing the same task. Triplett’s […]

Social Psychology

Persuasion, Elements of Persuasion and Resisting Persuasion: Attitude inoculation

March 16, 2013 2 Comments

What is persuasion? What are the essential elements of Persuasion? Give summary of the case study “Resisting Persuasion: Attitude inoculation”. Persuasion : Persuasion refers to the process by which a person’s attitudes or behaviour are, without duress, influenced by communication. Persuasion pervades over almost all human activities and it is geared to information transmission in such a way as to get people to revise old pictures (Predisposition) in their minds, or form new ones, and thus change their behaviour. To some others persuasion is seen as “Communication to influence choices”. Still to others it is “a process that changes attitude, belief, opinion or behaviour”. Actually, we try to sell ideas, concepts, products etc. through the art of persuasion. Persuasion may be carried out in offices, workplaces, homes, etc. by fellow workers or neighbours. Persuasion has been treated as an art, a craft and a science since ancient times and classical […]

Social Psychology

Influence of Group Size, Unanimity, Cohesion and Status on Conformity

March 15, 2013 4 Comments

Describe the influence of group size, unanimity, cohesion and status on conformity. Social psychologists wondered: If even Asch’s noncoercive, unambiguous situation could elicit a conformity rate of 37 percent, would other settings produce even more? Researchers soon discovered that conformity did grow if the judgments were difficult or if the subjects felt incompetent. The more insecure we are about our judgments, the more influenced we are by others. Researchers have also found that the nature of the group has an important influence. Conformity is highest when the group has three or more people and is cohesive, unanimous, and high in status. Conformity is also highest when the response is public and made without prior commitment. GROUP SIZE In laboratory experiments a group need not be large to have a large effect. Asch and other researchers found that three to five people will elicit much more conformity than just one or […]

Social Psychology

Basic Concept and Research Techniques of Social Psychology

February 26, 2013 No Comments

Describe the basic concept of Social Psychology? Also elaborate Social Psychology’s research techniques and their application in everyday life. Basic Concept of Social Psychology: The way we perceive ourselves in relation to the rest of the world plays an important role in our choices, behaviors and beliefs. Conversely, the opinions of others also impact our behavior and the way we view ourselves. Social psychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how social phenomena influence us and how people interact with others Understanding social psychology can be useful for many reasons. First, we can better understand how groups impact our choices and actions. Additionally, it also allows us to gain a greater appreciation for how our social perceptions affect our interactions with other people. There are some basic aspects of social behavior that play a large role in our actions and how we see ourselves. Social behavior is […]