Social Psychology: Why Do We Interact The Way We Do?

The Stanford Prison Experiment was one of the most criticized human nature experiments in history. In the experiment Dr. Zimbardo wanted to see if people would think for themselves, or fall into predefined roles that they were given. Before the experiment took place, Dr. Zimbardo picked 24 male subjects he thought were mentally and emotionally stable. He also built a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. During this process all the subjects were divided in half making 12 guards and the other 12 prisoners. To help define the roles even further he dressed the guards in police type uniforms with wooden clubs. The individuals that were used as the prisoners were stripped searched and given smocks as their uniforms. Once the experiment started everyone seemed to fall right into the roles they were given. Even Dr. Zimbardo fell into his role as the prison

Zimbardo's experiment on prison life exhibited how quickly individuals can break from their own characteristics to fit into the social parts expected of them. The guards felt that they had to create the harsh conditions of the American prisons or what they felt right to do to control the situation. They wanted to show their powers over the prisoners. Because the guards lost their individuality and were playing the role that they were given. It resulted in them mistreating and violently assaulting the prisoners. It also, expressed how the prisoners were powerless and their dignity was stripped away from a human, and their life was completely controlled. Zimbardo, noticed the prisoner’s dehumanization and loosening of social and moral values

In 1971, Zimbardo conducted an experiment in order to determine how an environment can affect behavior. He converted the Stanford University psychology department into the so called Stanford County Prison. The participants flipped a coin to determine whether they would be a guard or a prisoner. The guards were restricted with little rules and immediately began to degrade and humiliate the prisoners. The experiment was intended to last for two weeks, but due to extreme and unforeseen outcomes, it was shut out after six days. This unethical experiment indicated that if normal people are given too much power, they can become ruthless oppressors. The heavily manipulated environment in which the participants lived for those six days encouraged extreme behavior; guards became tyrannical and prisoners became violent (Konnikova). From this experiment, Zimbardo was able to conclude that there are “specific situations so powerful

This experiment was conducted essentially by showing individual’s two pictures; one with three different sized lines, and another with one line that matched one of the lines in the other picture. Asch had individuals pick which line the lone one matched; A, B. or C. What Asch was doing was looking to see whether or not people would go with their own judgment and choose the correct line or if they would begin to doubt themselves, cave in, and go along with the group. His experiment is now considered a classic experiment and is by far one of the most well known social psychology experiments. The fact that all of the participants in the experiment had been told to select the same, wrong choice except one participant gave him fairly reliable results in demonstrating how conformity works. He found that 32% of the participants went along with the majority, despite what they thought to be right (Mann,

The belief that conformity is nonexistent in humans is an impractical concept that is illogical. In fact, this idea was disproved by a psychologist, Solomon Asch, in his experiment commonly referred to as the Asch Paradigm in which he hired a group, consisting of five to ten people, and a person to ask questions regarding four lines. Only one person, who went last in answering, in the group did not have any previous knowledge of the experiment and was not a payed actor. The experiment itself consisted of these four

In 1951, Solomon Asch's conformity experiment is now regarded as a classic experiment in social psychology, where the participants would conform to the behaviour of others in an unambiguous situation. Asch told naive participants were told they were participating in a simple ‘vision test’. The original experiment was conducted with 123 American male participants.

Seventy-five people applied for the job but the selected group was college-level males. The study was supposed to be two weeks long, but in the end, it only lasted six days. A scientist with the name of Zimbardo split the college students into two groups: the prisoners and the guards. Zimbardo made a deal with the prisoners and guards that he would pay them fifteen dollars an hour to role play. Police officers would show up at the subject’s house and took them down to the police station where they would continue to book, fingerprint, and test them. Afterwards, officers would blindfold them and transfer them down in the basement of Stanford University where there was a set built looking like a prison (Stanford Prison

Conformity is a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people (Feldman, 2015). A study on social influence, specifically on conformity, by Solomon Asch is a popular one. This study shows how an individual’s thought, opinion, or view can be changed by social influence and demonstrates the sociocultural perspective of social psychology. In the study there were seven participants, six of which were paid employees, but the seventh participant was not aware of that. The participants were told that it was a test for perceptual skills. They were all shown a paper with three lines on it, all of different lengths. They were then shown another paper with a line on it; this line matched one of the lines, in length, that was shown on the first paper. They were asked to match the line on the second paper to one of the lines on the first paper. The participant who genuinely thought they were doing a test for perceptual skills answered last. For the first few trials the six paid participants gave the correct answer. Then for the next few trials, the six participants all started to give the wrong answer. This was to see if the seventh participant would answer with the correct answer or conform to the group and give the answer the other six participants gave. In about one-third of the trials, the participants conformed to the wrong answer that the rest of the group answered with; about 75%

Although it’s hard to predict an individual’s exact actions, social psychology helps us by putting guidelines and general principles to understanding human behavior in everyday life. The main topics that social psychology studies to help us understand how others affect us are: social influence, helping and harming others, attitudes and

Social psychology is a broad concept which has underlying elements of studying on how we behave, foresee and feel. Myers (2011) agrees that social psychologist investigates these connections by studying on how we persuade others and how we relate to other humans. Miller (2004) stated that majority of social psychologist would acknowledge that the perspective of social psychology is one that emphasises the social changes in the environment from the influence of individual. Kassin, Fein and Markus (2013) argues that humans are really fascinated about social interaction and personal relationships, which the social context can have an immense influence on our lives.

When studying social psychology, it is essential for one to understand social groups, how they work, and how relationships with others can influence an individual’s thoughts and behaviors. For this reason, a full understanding of cooperation is necessary for social psychologists.

Social psychology is a young science, barely a century old (Myers, 2010). Yet already its scientific explorations have shed light on love and hate, conformity and independence - social behaviors that we encounter each day (Myers, 2010). Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. (Myers, 2010). As we mature in life, our social world molds us as we interact in social thinking, social influences, and social relations. Social psychology had the potential to illuminate our lives, making it visible to the subtle influences that guide our thinking and acting. (Myers, 2010). Social psychology has open many avenues for psychologist of the present to understand how our

Social psychology is the scientific field that focuses on the individual within society. Due to this individualistic focus, people are often studied experimentally within or in relation to social environments. “Social psychology studies the effects of social processes and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence, and relate to others, in a systematic way, using scientific methods” (Smith & Mackie, 2007). Due to the complexity of the human body and mind, social psychology is a vast field that has been explored by many experts. As social creatures, people interact constantly within an environment that requires complex cognitive and perceptual processes. As a result, the

The history of social psychology goes far back in time. “Aristotle believed that humans were naturally sociable, a necessity which allows us to live together.” (McLeod) Plato was also another influencer in social psychology by saying that “the state controlled by the individual and encouraged social responsibility through social context. (McLeod) Social psychology is the section of psychology that studies individuals in a social environment. It studies how people think and how they feel, and why they do the things they do. This field of psychology studies aggression, attitudes, group dynamics, discrimination, and perception. Being able to understand why social psychology is important and useful for many reasons. “First, we can better understand how groups impact our choices and actions.” (Cherry) Social psychology depends on scientific research to find theories of behavior. Through understanding this field of psychology, “we can better understand how groups impact our choices and actions.” (Cherry) In many cases, people behave and react differently based on the type of situation. A major factor of the reaction outcome are the “environmental and situational variables.” (Cherry) Some outside variables may include aggression, attraction, love, or altruism. Social psychology can be defined as connecting mental states alongside of human behavior in their social surroundings. Unlike a few fields of psychology, social theories are specific and centered on one topic rather than

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples”, said Philip G. Zimbardo, a prominent researcher of the field of social psychology. What is social psychology, you might ask? In short, it represents and defines an individual’s actions when the said individual is placed in a social situation. It also defines how you choose to act, often subconsciously, in the face of others. The science of social psychology is a youthful one, it’s existence barely a century old. However, it is with it’s existence that we are able to decipher topics such as conformity, independence, and identity on a logical basis. We use it, to a degree, to study how every group has an impact on a singular entity, as well as how those impacts end up