1. Social Psychology Chapter 1: Introduction

2. Definition  Social psychology is the scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.

3. Social Science “Cousins”  Sociology – more emphasis on the group as a unit and the function of larger groups and organizations  Personality psychology – more emphasis on personal, individual differences to explain differences in behavior  Social psychology – looks at the person in the situation.

4. What is a construal?  - the way in which people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world  - “Well, that’s just the way that I see it.”  Originated in the Gestalt theories of psychological perception.  Naïve realism (Lee Ross) – the conviction that we perceive things as they really are

5. Construals – our interpretation of the world -and human motives  Many times we need to see the world the way that we do  We need to feel good about ourselves  We need to justify our behavior  We need to be accurate  Example: the Rosenthal effect