Social Psychology and Self-Presentation: Learn It 1—Social Psychology

  • Describe situational versus dispositional influences on behavior
  • Give examples of the fundamental attribution error and other common biases
  • Describe social roles, social norms, and scripts and how they influence behavior

Social Psychology

Social psychologists emphasize that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are strongly shaped by the social situations we encounter. We adjust our actions based on the people around us, especially in new or unfamiliar settings where we look to others for cues about what is appropriate.

social psychology

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people influence one another. It focuses on the power of the situation—the idea that human behavior is often guided by social context. Essentially, individuals tend to shift their behavior to align with the expectations, norms, and dynamics of the groups and environments they are part of.

 

The field of social psychology studies topics at both the intra- and interpersonal levels:

  • Intrapersonal topics (those that pertain to the individual) include emotions and attitudes, the self, and social cognition (the ways in which we think about ourselves and others).
  • Interpersonal topics (those that pertain to dyads and groups) include helping behavior (Figure 1), aggression, prejudice and discrimination, attraction and close relationships, and group processes and intergroup relationships.
A photograph shows several people pushing a car up an incline.
Figure 1. Social psychology deals with all kinds of interactions between people, spanning a wide range of how we connect: from moments of confrontation to moments of working together and helping others, as shown here. (credit: Sgt. Derec Pierson, U.S. Army)

In this module, we discuss the intrapersonal processes of self-presentation, cognitive dissonance and attitude change, and the interpersonal processes of conformity and obedience, aggression and altruism, and, finally, love and attraction.

Situational and Dispositional Influences on Behavior

Human behavior is shaped by a combination of:

  • Situational (external) influences: the environment, social roles, cultural norms, or the presence of others
  • Dispositional (internal) influences: internal characteristics such as personality traits or temperament. Internal factors refer to attributes within a person—such as personality traits or temperament—that influence how they tend to think, feel, and behave across situations.

situational and dispositional influences on behavior

Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958). 

Historically, social psychologists favored the situationist perspective, while personality psychologists championed dispositionism. Modern social psychology, however, recognizes that both situation and individual characteristics interact to shape behavior (Fiske, Gilbert, & Lindzey, 2010). The field of social-personality psychology has emerged specifically to study this complex interaction (Mischel, 1977; Richard, Bond, & Stokes-Zoota, 2003).

In the United States, the dominant cultural attitudes favor a dispositional approach to explaining human behavior. Why do you think this is? The individualistic cultural values and ideals within the United States emphasize that people are in control of their own behaviors, and, therefore, any behavior change must be due to something internal, such as their personality, habits, or temperament. However, situational factors, often outside of conscious awareness, can have powerful influences on human behavior.