Social psychology (sociology)

About: Social psychology (sociology) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 18151 publications have been published within this topic receiving 907731 citations. The topic is also known as: Social psychology & sociological social psychology.

Measuring social judgments : the factorial survey approach

Abstract: 'Assign this book in a graduate social psychology methods course. It deserves to be read by social psychologists, and the factorial survey technique should be fully integrated into the tool kit of those who go on to practice policy-relevant research...The Rossi-Nock volume is a quite important work as it stands, and future developments will make it even more important.' -- Contemporary Psychology, Vol 28 No 6, 1983 'Measuring Social Judgments provides ready access to a highly adaptable technique for measuring complex perceptions of social objects, situations, and actions that is systematic and capable of considerable accuracy. Anyone with an interest in the state of this useful art should take a look.' -- Contemporary Sociology, Vol 12 No 6, November 1983

Machiavellianism : a synthesis of the evolutionary and psychological literatures

Abstract: Manipulative strategies of social conduct (Machiavellianism) have been studied by both psychologists and evolutionary biologists. The authors use the psychological literature as a database to test evolutionary hypotheses about the adaptive advantages of manipulative social behavior. Machiavellianism does not correlate with general intelligence and does not consistently lead to real-world success. It is best regarded as 1 of several social strategies, broadly similar to the "defect" strategy of evolutionary game theory, which is successful in some situations but not others. In general, human evolutionary psychology and evolutionary game theory provide useful frameworks for thinking about behavioral strategies, such as Machiavellian ism, and identify a large number of specific hypotheses that have not yet been tested by personality and social psychologists. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a Florentine diplomat who visited the courts of Europe and observed firsthand the rise and fall of their leaders. His own fall came with the overthrow of the regime that he served. He wrote The Prince (Machiavelli, 1513 /1966) to ingratiate himself with the new ruler. The Prince is a book of advice on how to acquire and stay in power. It is based entirely on expediency and is devoid of the traditional virtues of trust, honor, and decency. A typical passage is, "Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions" (p. 63). Machiavelli failed to gain favor with the new prince, but his name has come to represent a strategy of social conduct in which others are regarded entirely as means toward personal ends. As a historical aside, Machiavelli himself was not very Machiavellian, displaying an uncommon devotion to his city. Some of his other works, such as Discourses (Machiavelli, 1513/1950), also stress nonmanipulative themes. Christie and Geis (1968, 1970a, 1970b) were the first psychologists to study Machiavellianism as an important axis of human behavioral variation. They developed a series ofMach tests that measure a participant's agreement with statements such as "Never tell anyone the real reason you did something unless it is useful to do so." High and low scorers on the test, often referred to as high-Machs and low-Machs, respectively, differ in many other aspects of their behavior, from vocational choice to success at games that involve forming alliances. The

The Return of the Repressed: Dissonance Theory Makes a Comeback

Abstract: In 1957, Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance burst on the scene and revitalized social psychology with its deft blend of cognition and motivation. For the next two decades, the theory inspired an extraordinary amount of exciting research leading to a burgeoning of knowledge about human social behavior. The theory has been referred to as "the most important single development in social psychology to date" (Jones, 1976, p. x). But, by the mid-1970s the allure of the theory began to wane as interest in the entire topic of motivation faded and the journals were all but overwhelmed by the incredible popularity of purely cognitive approaches to social psychology. Recently, social psychologists seem to have rediscovered motivation and several mini- theories have emerged blending cognition with motivation-in much the same way that Festinger did some 35 years ago. This article traces the history of these developments and attempts a synthesis of some of the newer theories with the dissonance research of...

At the Margins: A Distinctiveness Approach to the Social Identity and Social Networks of Underrepresented Groups

Abstract: Using distinctiveness theory, this research showed that the relative rarity of a group in a social context tended to promote members' use of that group as a basis for shared identity and social interaction. Relative to majority group members, racial minorities and women in a master of business administration cohort were more likely to make identity and friendship choices within-group. The marginalization of racial minorities in the friendship network resulted both from exclusionary pressures and from minority individuals' own preferences for same-race friends. By contrast, the marginalization of women resulted more from exclusionary pressures than from their preferences for woman friends.

When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion.

Abstract: Identity fusion is a relatively unexplored form of alignment with groups that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling is associated with unusually porous, highly permeable borders between the personal and social self. These porous borders encourage people to channel their personal agency into group behavior, raising the possibility that the personal and social self will combine synergistically to motivate pro-group behavior. Furthermore, the strong personal as well as social identities possessed by highly fused persons cause them to recognize other group members not merely as members of the group but also as unique individuals, prompting the development of strong relational as well as collective ties within the group. In local fusion, people develop relational ties to members of relatively small groups (e.g., families or work teams) with whom they have personal relationships. In extended fusion, people project relational ties onto relatively large collectives composed of many individuals with whom they may have no personal relationships. The research literature indicates that measures of fusion are exceptionally strong predictors of extreme pro-group behavior. Moreover, fusion effects are amplified by augmenting individual agency, either directly (by increasing physiological arousal) or indirectly (by activating personal or social identities). The effects of fusion on pro-group actions are mediated by perceptions of arousal and invulnerability. Possible causes of identity fusion—ranging from relatively distal, evolutionary, and cultural influences to more proximal, contextual influences—are discussed. Finally, implications and future directions are considered.