Social Psychology
Social Psychology Concepts
April 16, 2013
Psychology 300
Professor Ian Rosen, PhD
Social Psychology Concepts This paper will focus on various social psychology concepts. It will discuss bystander and aggressive behavior and the context in which they occur. Using social psychology concepts an analysis of possible precursors and consequences will be provided of the behaviors specified. It will also identify any associated phenomenon related to these behaviors. Social psychology is the “scientific discipline that attempts to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” (Franzoi, 2009). It is important to learn how people react in social situations. The first concept picked for this paper is the bystander effect, which is a form of altruism involving helping a person in need. Experimenters have found that the presence of another bystander tends to inhibit action.
Daley and Latane found this true during their experiment in which they had participants separated in different rooms only contact was through microphones. During this experiment they simulated an epileptic attack: “They played a tape recording of a supposed epileptic seizure on the part of one of the participants. In experimental condition, each person was led to believe that he or she was the only one whose intercom was tuned in during the seizure; in other conditions, each person was led to believe that one or more people were also tuned in” (Aronson, 2008). They concluded that when the conditions changed and more people were tuned in to the attack it was less likely that any bystander would try to help. Through their experiments Darley and Latane “developed a multistage model of the decision-making process that underlies bystander interventions: Bystanders must notice emergency, interpret it as one, assume personal responsibility to intervene, decide how to intervene, and then actually
April 16, 2013
Psychology 300
Professor Ian Rosen, PhD
Social Psychology Concepts This paper will focus on various social psychology concepts. It will discuss bystander and aggressive behavior and the context in which they occur. Using social psychology concepts an analysis of possible precursors and consequences will be provided of the behaviors specified. It will also identify any associated phenomenon related to these behaviors. Social psychology is the “scientific discipline that attempts to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” (Franzoi, 2009). It is important to learn how people react in social situations. The first concept picked for this paper is the bystander effect, which is a form of altruism involving helping a person in need. Experimenters have found that the presence of another bystander tends to inhibit action.
Daley and Latane found this true during their experiment in which they had participants separated in different rooms only contact was through microphones. During this experiment they simulated an epileptic attack: “They played a tape recording of a supposed epileptic seizure on the part of one of the participants. In experimental condition, each person was led to believe that he or she was the only one whose intercom was tuned in during the seizure; in other conditions, each person was led to believe that one or more people were also tuned in” (Aronson, 2008). They concluded that when the conditions changed and more people were tuned in to the attack it was less likely that any bystander would try to help. Through their experiments Darley and Latane “developed a multistage model of the decision-making process that underlies bystander interventions: Bystanders must notice emergency, interpret it as one, assume personal responsibility to intervene, decide how to intervene, and then actually
References: Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &Sons Aronson, E. (2009). The Social Animal (11th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Stephen , L. (2009). Social Psychology (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Co..