The French philosophernovelist Jean-Paul Sartre (1946) believed that we humans are , first of all beings in a situation.

We cannot be distinguished

from our situations, for they form us and decided our possibilities.

Social Psychology is a science that studies the influences of our situations, with special attention to how we view and affect one another.

Is a discipline that uses scientific methods in an attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined and implied presence of others.

Social Psychology aims to illuminate those threads. It does so by asking questions that are quite intriguing, like: 1. How and what do people think of one another?

2. How reasonable are the ideas we form of ourselves? Of our friends? Of strangers? 3. How and how much do people influence one another? How strong are the invisible threads that pull us? 4. Are we creatures of our gender roles? Our groups? Our cultures?

5. What shapes the way we relate to one another? What leads people sometimes to hurt and sometimes to help? What kindles social conflict? And how might we transform the closed fists of aggression into the open arms of compassion?

A common thread runs through these questions: They all deal with how people view and affect one another.

This is what social psychology is all about: attitudes and beliefs, conformity and independence, love and hate. To put it formally, social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another.

The Four Core Concerns of Social Psychology

1. The impact of one person on another persons thoughts, feelings, attitudes, etc.

2. The impact of a group on a member or individual members thoughts, feelings, attitudes, etc. 3. The impact of a member on a groups activities and structure and to other members.

4. The impact of one group on another groups activities and structure.

Theories in Social Psychology

1. Motivational Theories Focuses on the individuals own needs and motives. 2. Learning Theories Its central idea is that a persons current behavior is determined by prior experience.

3. Cognitive Theories Emphasizes that a person s behavior depends on the way he perceives the social situation.

4. Decision- making Theories Assume that individuals evaluate the costs and benefits of various actions and pick the best alternative in a family logical , reasoned manner.

5. Expectancy- value Theory Extends the notions of costs and benefits by adding an assessment of the likelihood that each alternative will happen.

6. Interdependence Theories These shifted the focus of analysis from the behavior of one individual to the behavior of two or more individuals who interact with each other.

7. Socio-cultural Theories Focuses on how peoples diverse social backgrounds influence their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

8. Evolutionary Social Psychology Theories Applies to the principles of evolution and natural selection to the understanding of behavior and human social life.

Organizing Principles of Explanation in Social Psychology

1.The Self is shaped by and shapes the Social environment

- self is a symbol-using social being who can reflect on his/her own behavior

2. Social cognition involves multiple cognitive strategies shaped by peoples motives and desires
- social cognition is the way in which we interpret, analyze, remember, and use information about out social world.

3. Culture shapes Social Behavior

- culture is the total lifestyle of a people, including all the ideas, symbols, preferences and material objects that they share.

4. Evolution shapes Universal Patterns of Social Behavior

- naturally humans share certain social behavioral patterns that make the species survive and thrive

5. Brain activity affects and is affected by social behavior

- it covers for the relationship between neural processes of the brain and social processes.

Social Psychology continues to expand its areas of inquiry, developing more sophisticated methods and theories that will provide greater insights into the social process and the social world.