How Social Events Influence Inviduals in Social Psychology

Social psychology is a type of psychology that studies how social events influence individuals and how individuals interact with others. Understanding social psychology can be very useful for several reasons. We can gain a better understanding of how groups impact our choices and actions. How certain environmental factors play apart in a person’s aggression and behaviors. We also gain a better understanding of self, how others perceive you and how you perceive yourself. It allows us to gain a greater appreciation for how our social perceptions affect our interactions with other people. In this paper I will examine several components that are included in social psychology which consist of self-concept, social cognition, attribution, social influences, group dynamics, persuasion, prejudice and discrimination, along with aggression, attitudes and stereotypes.

From early childhood we were always told how cute, pretty or beautiful we were. We were automatically placed with an image we didn’t know about. As we continue to grow we begin to question ourselves “who am I?” “How do I really feel about myself?” Self-concept is an overall cognitive understanding one has about his or herself. It’s learned belief, attitudes, and opinions about one’s self. A collection of things you know about yourself. For example I know I am tall, I know that where I come from, my race, and my weight this is considered self-concept. Self-concept is the image of ourselves we form in our mind. It's similar to self-image. It's how we perceive ourselves in terms of our strengths and weaknesses. We are not born with a self-concept. The values and opinions of others influence the formation our self-concept, especially in our early childhood. When I start to descri...

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...l perceptions in many ways. “The research presented in this particular article examined a previously unexplored possibility that activation of a stereotype can validate thoughts about other people when the thoughts are stereotype consistent for example stereotype activation can increase people’s confidence in their previous stereotype consistent thoughts. When processing capacity was high, confidence in thoughts was greater when the initial information produced thoughts consistent, rather than inconsistent. With the stereotype that was later activated the higher confidence in thoughts was associated with stronger perception consistent recommendations related to the target. When processing capacity was low, the activated stereotype served its familiar heuristic role in judgment, and thought confidence played no role in judgment related recommendations” (Clark, 2009).