Major Perspectives in Social Psychology

As you can imagine, studying the ways that people interact with, are influenced by, and think about others includes many different concepts to study and many different ways to study. Most research in social psychology fits into one (or more) of the perspectives below. As we progress through the course, we will see different aspects of these perspectives come up again and again.

Sociocultural Perspective

While we often think of culture as the way we dress or food we eat, researchers have found that culture also affects many of the ways we interact with others. Thus, the sociocultural perspective of social psychology focuses on how culture influences psychological processes. For example, one widely studied sociocultural pattern in society is the dichotomy between  individualism and collectivism. In cultures high in individualism, people tend to define themselves as individuals. They seek personal freedom and prefer to voice their own opinions and make their own decisions. People in cultures higher in collectivism are more likely to emphasize their connectedness to others. They are more likely to sacrifice their personal preferences if those preferences come in conflict with the preferences of the larger group (Triandis, 1995).

The cultural patterns of individualism and collectivism are linked to an important psychological phenomenon: the way that people understand themselves. Known as self-construal, this is the way people define the way they “fit” in relation to others. Individualists are more likely to define themselves in terms of an independent self. This means that people see themselves as A) being a unique individual with a stable collection of personal traits, and B) that these traits drive behavior. By contrast, people from collectivist cultures are more likely to identify with the interdependent self. This means that people see themselves as A) defined differently in each new social context and B) social context, rather than internal traits, are the primary drivers of behavior (Markus & Kitiyama, 1991).

See these two videos for more on individualism and collectivism:

Evolutionary Perspective

Evolution- change over time- occurs through the processes of natural and sexual selection. In response to problems in our environment, we- as a species- adapt both physically and psychologically to ensure our survival and reproduction. Sexual selection theory describes how evolution has shaped us to provide a mating advantage rather than just a survival advantage and occurs through two distinct pathways: intrasexual competition and intersexual selection. Gene selection theory, the modern explanation behind evolutionary biology, occurs through the desire for gene replication. Evolutionary psychology connects evolutionary principles with modern psychology and focuses primarily on psychological adaptations: changes in the way we think in order to improve our survival.

Our evolutionary past may provide keys about why we help, for example (Buss, 2004). Our very survival was helped by the prosocial relations with clan and family members, and, as a hereditary consequence, we may now be especially likely to help those closest to us—blood-related relatives with whom we share a genetic heritage. According to evolutionary psychology, we are helpful in ways that increase the chances that our DNA will be passed along to future generations (Burnstein, Crandall, & Kitayama, 1994)—the goal of the “selfish gene” (Dawkins, 1976). Our personal DNA may not always move on, but we can still be successful in getting some portion of our DNA transmitted if our daughters, sons, nephews, nieces, and cousins survive to produce offspring. The favoritism shown for helping our blood relatives is called kin selection (Hamilton, 1964).

See this video for an example of how people coming from an evolutionary perspective may interpret social psychological behavior (3:37). If the video below doesn't load, you can access it on Youtube.

Social Learning Perspective

People have many memories about their experiences with other people, and they use this information to make predictions about what people will do in the future. This knowledge is gained through learning- the relatively permanent change in knowledge that is acquired through experience. There are three main types of learning that social psychologists study: operant, associative, and observational. 

In operant learning, the person learns from the consequences of his or her own actions. For example, if someone misses their flight because they are late to the airport, they are more likely to be on time the next time. 

In associative learning, an object or event comes to be associated with a natural response, such as an automatic behavior or a positive or negative emotion. Associative learning in social psychology is often used in advertisements and marketing. For example, watch the following ads from US states and take note of what kind of associations they are trying to invoke.

In observational learning, people learn by observing the behavior of others. Albert Bandura, a leading social learning theorist, considered observational learning to be a fundamental determinant of all social behavior and argued that it is most likely to lead to learning when people pay attention to the behavior of models and are highly motivated to imitate the models. For example, imagine you are boarding a train in a place where you don’t speak the language. You will likely watch other passengers for things like: where to put your bags, how to show your ticket, and whether to make conversation with the people next to you. 

Social Cognitive Perspective

The social cognitive perspective focuses on how people make sense of themselves and others to make judgments, form attitudes, and make predictions about the future. Much of the research in social cognition has demonstrated that humans are skilled at organizing large amounts of information into smaller, more usable chunks, and that we possess many cognitive tools that allow us to efficiently navigate our environments. This research has also illuminated many social factors that can influence these judgments and predictions. Not only can our past experiences, expectations, motivations, and moods impact our reasoning, but many of our decisions and behaviors are driven by unconscious processes and implicit attitudes we are unaware of having.  For example, are there airlines you avoid? Are there areas of your town that you avoid because there are too many tourists? These are all decisions you’re making based on past experiences (or others’ past experience that you’ve heard of). 

Social Neuroscience Perspective

The overall approach in social neuroscience is to understand the psychological processes that underlie our social behavior. Because those psychological processes are intrapsychic phenomena that cannot be directly observed, social neuroscientists rely on a combination of measurable or observable neural and physiological responses as well as actual overt behavior to make inferences about psychological states. Using this approach, social neuroscientists have been able to pursue three different types of questions, including:

• What more can we learn about social behavior when we consider neural and physiological responses? 

• What are the actual biological systems that implement social behavior (e.g., what specific brain areas are associated with specific social tasks)?

• How are biological systems impacted by social processes?

For example, there have been many studies on how travel affects the brain. We will revisit these again, but for a brief summary, please see this article: 

• This Is Your Brain On Travel (2019, Forbes).