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      Figure 1.1 Muzafer Sherif on Why He Studied Social Psychology

      Source: Aron & Aron (1989). The Heart of Social Psychology).

      Fourth, social psychology is fun. Not only do we learn the sometimes-surprising reasons people do what they do, but also we often get to concoct funny experiments to figure out why. For instance, one prominent social psychologist convinced research participants to suck on a pacifier while waiting to begin an experiment on Freud (Sarnoff & Zimbardo, 1961). I surely wish I had seen that one!

      Social Psychology: Scientific study of the social experiences and behaviors of individuals

      Think Again!

      Social Psychology Is Unique

      Social psychology is a diverse, dynamic discipline that investigates a wide range of topics, issues, and aspects of human social behavior. Although all of the social sciences study people, social psychology stands apart in the way that we examine the person in the group, take into account multiple levels of analysis, and focus primarily on laboratory research. Let’s briefly contrast social psychology with several other social sciences and psychology subdisciplines.

      Sociology overlaps with social psychology, because it also emphasizes social aspects of human existence. However, sociology examines group-level phenomena—such as societal trends, cultural norms, the effects of race or social class, and so forth—without examining the internal processes occurring at the individual level that are affected by those phenomena. Anthropology is similar to social psychology in that both examine the relationship between culture and social behavior. Anthropology seeks culture-level explanations for human behavior by exploring a specific culture in-depth utilizing observational research, whereas social psychologists study cultural and noncultural explanations, primarily using laboratory experimentation, and also typically compare social behavior in multiple cultures.

      Biological/physiological psychology inquires about the influence of genes, hormones, brain functioning and structure, and other elements of the nervous system on all kinds of human behavior. As we’ve seen, social psychology takes biology into account, but it focuses exclusively on social behavior and considers other, nonbiological levels of explanation for it.

      Cognitive psychology seeks to explain mental processes such as memory, problem solving, decision-making, language, and the nature of consciousness. Although social psychologists examine some of these same processes, we limit ourselves to their social aspects, such as person memory, judgments of persons, and so forth.

      Clinical psychology examines the nature, causes, and consequences of mental disorders and dysfunction of individuals who deviate from the norm and seeks ways to treat them. Social psychology emphasizes normal psychological functioning; how most people act, feel, or think.

      Personality psychologists investigate the development and nature of personality traits over the lifespan. Social psychologists often examine personality characteristics but are more interested in how social situations affect most people, regardless of their personalities. Both clinical and personality psychologists are primarily concerned with individual-level causes, whereas social psychologists balance individual- and group-level explanations for social behavior.

      Sociology: Examines group-level phenomena—such as societal trends, cultural norms, the effects of race or social class, and so forth

      Anthropology: Seeks culture-level explanations for human behavior by exploring a specific culture in depth, utilizing primarily observational research

      Biological/Physiological Psychology: Examines the influence of genes, hormones, brain functioning and structure and other elements of the nervous system on all kinds of human behavior

      Cognitive Psychology: Seeks to explain mental processes such as memory, problem solving, decision-making, language, and the nature of consciousness

      Clinical Psychology: Examines the nature, causes, and consequences of mental disorders and dysfunction of individuals who deviate from the norm and seeks ways to treat them

      Personality Psychology: Investigates the development and nature of personality traits over the lifespan

      Think Again!

      Social Psychology And The Quest For Human Nature

      What is human nature? If you had to list the fundamental topics that get to the very heart of what it means to be human, what would they be? When I ask my students, friends, or dead philosophers, several common themes emerge: Do humans have free will? Are people mostly independent or conformist? Are we rational? What is the self? Do we really need other people? Are people inherently good? These issues go a long way toward capturing the essence of humanity. (See Table 1.1.) Questions like these often come to the fore during late adolescence and early adulthood and are most salient during our college years (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997). They have been pondered across thousands of years of human history and in cultures all around the globe, in part because their answers have profound implications for how we understand ourselves. The fact that we can and do contemplate these questions in part defines the very essence of who we—as intelligent, self-aware beings—are as well as how we are different from other animals. The French sculptor Auguste Rodin captured the human propensity for wonder in his famous work, The Thinker (see photo).