PSYC 110 Lecture Notes - Cultural Psychology, Social Cognition
29 Jun 2018
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TEXTBOOK NOTES CH 1 PSYCHOLOGY 110 AUDIOBOOK (jotted down)
Social-psychological explanations are often phrased in terms of people’s con-
scious or unconscious beliefs about the potential social consequences of acting in
a particular way. This means that many social-psychological explanations are
also cognitive explanations. Indeed, many modern social psychologists refer to
their specialty as social cognition . A social psychologist interested in physical fit-
ness, for example, might attempt to explain how people’s willingness to exercise
is influenced by their beliefs about the degree to which other people exercise and
their beliefs about how others will react to them if they do or do not exercise.
A social psychologist interested in jealousy might focus on the norms and be-
liefs concerning romance, mating, and jealousy that surround and influence the
jealous person. How do others react in similar situations? Are the beloved’s fl irta-
tions with a third person within or outside the realm of what is considered accept-
able by other dating or married couples? Would violent revenge be approved of or
disapproved of by others who are important to the jealous person? Implicitly or
explicitly, the answers to such questions influence the way the jealous person feels
and behaves. An understanding of such influences constitutes a social-psychological
explanation of the person’s feelings and behavior.
We can predict some aspects of a person’s behavior by
knowing about the culture in which that person grew up. Cultures vary in language or
dialect, in the values and attitudes they foster, and in the kinds of behav-
iors and emotions they encourage or discourage. Researchers have found consistent
cultural differences even in the ways that people perceive and remember aspects
of their physical environment. The psychological
specialty that explains mental experiences and behavior in terms of the culture in
which the person developed is called cultural psychology.
Cultural and social psychology are very closely related but differ in emphasis.
While social psychologists emphasize the immediate social influences that act on
individuals, cultural psychologists strive to characterize entire cultures in terms of
the typical ways that people within them feel, think, and act. While social psychol-
ogists use concepts such as conformity and obedience to explain an individual’s
behavior, cultural psychologists more often refer to the unique history, economy,
and religious or philosophical traditions of a culture to explain the values, norms,
and habits of its people. For example, a cultural psychologist might contend that the
frontier history of North America, in which individuals and families often had to
struggle on their own with little established social support, helps explain why
North Americans value independence and individuality so strongly.
Concerning jealousy, a cultural psychologist would point to significant cultural
differences in romantic and sexual mores. For example, some cultures are more
tolerant of extramarital affairs than are others, and this difference affects the de-
gree and quality of jealousy that is experienced. Some cultures have a strong
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