INTRODUCTION AND THE SELF

Part I. Introduction to Social Psychology

Social Psychology is a science that studies the influences of our situations, with special
attention to how we view and affect one another. More precisely, it is the scientific study
of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Social psychology studies our thinking, influences, and relationships by asking questions that
have intrigued us all.
Ponder on the following questions:

 How does our perspective and personality affect our behavior?

 How much of who we become is shaped by the people around us?
 Why are some people willing to hurt others while some go out of their way to help?
These are only some of the questions we will tackle in this course!
Let’s start with some BIG IDEAS in Social Psychology.
We Construct Our Social Reality
You and I may react differently to a situation because we think differently.
A person who has a very strict religious mindset will view the Reproductive Health Law
differently than someone who is more liberated. Your beliefs about yourself also matter. If
you are an optimistic person or a perfectionist, then you will likely react to situations in a
corresponding way. One’s perspective of themselves is also a big factor. For example
someone with low self esteem may react to criticism in a completely different way than with
someone who has very high self esteem.
How we construe the world, and ourselves, matters.
Our Social Intuitions Are Often Powerful but Sometimes Perilous Social Influences Shape
Our Behavior
What is intuition?
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without proof, evidence, or conscious
reasoning, or without understanding how the knowledge was acquired. It may be a gut
feeling based on experience.
Ponder on this: We know more than we know we know
On a regular basis, we are mostly on automatic pilot, we intuitively judge how likely
something will happen based on how easily the mental image of those situations come to
mind, may they be imagined or experienced in the past.
For example, a person who has watched a number of Aircraft
Investigation episodes will likely have available mental images
of plane crashes stored in their mind. Should that person be
pessimistic and anxious in nature, he/she could likely develop
the thought that flying is more dangerous than driving. When
in fact statistically, we are many times safer (per mile
traveled) in a commercial plane than in a motor vehicle.
Social Influences Shape Our Behavior
Aristotle has identified humans to be social animals. We speak and think in words we
learned from others. We long to connect, to belong, and to be well thought of.
However, sometimes the power of a social situation leads us to act
contrary to our expressed attitudes. Take for example Cady Heron of
the movie, Mean Girls. Growing up homeschooled and in parts of
Africa made her a good hearted and laidback type of person.
However, when she needed to fit in with the popular girls at school,
she had to act in a manner contrary to her usual personality.
Our culture also helps define our situations. For example, our
standards regarding promptness, frankness, and clothing vary with our culture. Touching for
example is a normal part of being a Filipino national but if a Filipino went to Japan and
eagerly hugged a Japanese national, it may be frowned upon.

Social psychologist Hazel Markus (2005) sums it up: “People are, above all, malleable.”
Thus, we adapt to our social context. Our attitudes and behavior are shaped by external
social forces.
Personal Attitudes and Dispositions Also Shape Behavior
Internal forces also matter. Our inner attitudes affect our outer behavior.
Our political attitudes influence who we would likely vote for or if we’re even going to vote
at all. How we feel about smoking can influence how susceptible we could be to peer
pressure to smoke. Whether we view beggars are those who are too lazy to work or those
who were dealt a bad hand at life can affect how willing we are to extend help.
Personality dispositions also affect behavior. Facing the same situation, different people
may react differently. If two different people hear vicious rumors about them, one person
can become angry and resentful while another can be completely forgiving and unaffected.

Social Behavior Is Biologically Rooted

As evolutionary psychologists remind us, our inherited human nature predisposes us to
behave in ways that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce. We carry the genes of
those whose traits enabled them to survive and reproduce. Our behavior, too, aims to send
our DNA into the future.
Thus, evolutionary psychologists ask how natural selection might predispose our actions
when dating and mating, hating and hurting, caring and sharing. Nature also endows us with
an enormous capacity to learn and to adapt to varied environments.
To understand social behavior, we must consider both under-the skin (biological) and
between-skins (social) influences. Mind and body are one grand system. Studies have shown
that stress hormones affect how we feel and act: A dose of testosterone decreases trust,
and a dose of oxytocin increases it (Bos et al., 2010). Social support strengthens the
disease-fighting immune system.
We are biopsychosocial organisms. We reflect the interplay of our biological, psychological,
and social influences.
Part II. Sense of Self

The most important aspect of yourself is your self.

The elements of your self-concept, the specific beliefs by which you define yourself, are
your self-schemas.
Think back to the activity on “Exploring One’s Self Concept”. When you enumerated ways to
describe yourself, you are identifying your self-schema.
Schemas are mental templates by which we organize our worlds.
Our self-schemas, our perceiving ourselves as athletic, overweight,
smart, or anything else powerfully affect how we perceive,
remember, and evaluate other people and ourselves.
For example, if you are very involved with health and fitness, then
you’re more likely to notice people’s bodies or the type of food
they eat. You will quickly recall the personal lifestyle practices that
you have and may even judge other people’s habits in comparison
to it.
Social Comparisons
How do we decide if we are rich, smart, or short? One way is through social comparisons
(Festinger, 1954). Others help define the standard by which we define ourselves as rich or
poor, smart or dumb, tall or short: we compare ourselves with them and consider how we
differ.
Take a moment to ponder, how does this affect our self image when considering things such
as media saturated beauty standards?
Some people even unknowingly restrict themselves to smaller work places, cities or
institutions so that they are less likely to compare themselves to more superior people. They
prefer to be the “big fish” in a small pond.
Sometimes social comparison is based on incomplete information. In today’s social media
age, people often fall victim to comparing themselves to the carefully curated timelines of
their peers.
A survey from Utah University showed that those who
spent more time on Facebook were more likely to believe
that other people were happier and had better lives than
they did (Chou & Edge, 2012). More than likely, Facebook
users are choosing to feature the more exciting and
positive aspects of their lives because who would really
post about life’s sad or disappointing moments? This
biased social comparison might be one reason young adults who used Facebook more often
were more anxious, more lonely, and less satisfied with their lives (Kross et al., 2013)