Difficulty: Introductory | Prerequisites: None (this is foundational material for the course).
Social psychology sits at the intersection of psychology and sociology, asking how people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours are shaped by the presence (real or imagined) of others. This opening block of the course lays the groundwork: Kurt Lewin's foundational formula, the scientific methods researchers use to test social behaviour, and the personality structures and developmental theories that explain why individuals respond differently to the same situation. If you understand these building blocks, everything that follows in the course (attitudes, persuasion, conformity, aggression) will make far more sense. You should be comfortable with basic psychology concepts such as nature vs. nurture and the scientific method before moving forward.
Behaviour is a product of both the person and the situation (Lewin's B = f(P, S)). Social psychologists use controlled experiments, surveys and observational methods to study this, paying careful attention to validity, reliability and ethics. Personality traits (the Big Five), developmental stages (Piaget), attachment styles and cultural norms all shape how individuals think, feel and act in social contexts.
Lewin's Formula: B = f(P, S)
Behaviour (B) is a function of the Person (P) and the Situation (S). In simple terms, what you do depends on both who you are and the context you find yourself in.
Affect
The emotional component of human psychology: what people feel. Think of it as the feeling layer of your experience.
Behaviour
What people actually do, the observable actions they take in response to situations.
Cognition
What people think. The mental processes involved in perception, reasoning and judgement.
Social Thinking
How we perceive and interpret ourselves and others. Covers attribution, attitudes and self-concept.
Social Influences
How other people shape our behaviour, whether through conformity, persuasion or group pressure.
Social Relations
How we relate to one another, including aggression, attraction and helping behaviour.
Kurt Lewin (1936) proposed that behaviour is never just about the person or just about the situation. Both interact.
This is the founding insight of social psychology: you cannot predict what someone will do from personality alone, nor from context alone.
The nature vs. nurture debate maps onto this: social psychology emphasises situation, evolutionary psychology emphasises nature, and the field lives in the tension between the two.
Affect – what people feel (emotions, moods)
Behaviour – what people do (observable actions)
Cognition – what people think (beliefs, judgements, memories)
This framework reappears throughout the course. When studying attitudes, for example, you will see that attitudes have affective, behavioural and cognitive components.
Social thinking – how we make sense of ourselves and others (e.g. attribution, self-concept)
Social influences – how others change our behaviour (e.g. conformity, obedience)
Social relations – how we interact (e.g. aggression, prejudice, attraction)
Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that you would have predicted it. In simple terms, the "I knew it all along" effect.
Availability Bias
Judging the likelihood of an event by how easily examples come to mind. If plane crashes are in the news, you overestimate the risk of flying.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret and remember information that confirms your existing beliefs.
Bias Blindspot
Recognising bias in others while failing to see it in yourself.
Independent Variable (IV)
The variable the researcher manipulates or changes in an experiment.
Dependent Variable (DV)
The variable the researcher measures, the outcome that may change in response to the IV.
Construct Validity
Whether the test or measure actually captures the concept it claims to measure. Think of it as: are we measuring what we say we are measuring?
Statistical Validity
Whether the statistical conclusions drawn from the data are justified.
Internal Validity
Whether the experiment truly demonstrates a causal relationship between the IV and DV, free from confounding variables.
External Validity
Whether the findings generalise beyond the specific study to other settings, populations or times.
Reliability
Consistency of a measure. If you run the same test twice, do you get the same result?
Validity
Accuracy of a measure. Is it measuring what it is supposed to measure?
Frequency/Observational Claims
Descriptive statements about how often something occurs or what was observed.
Associative Claims
Statements that two variables are related or correlated. They do not imply causation.
Causal Claims
Statements that one variable directly causes changes in another. These require experimental evidence with proper controls.
Hindsight bias – after an event, you feel you predicted it. This makes us overconfident in our judgement.
Availability bias – we judge frequency by how easily examples come to mind. Vivid events (plane crashes, shark attacks) feel more common than they are.
Confirmation bias – we seek out evidence that supports what we already believe and ignore contradictory evidence.
Bias blindspot – we see bias in others but rarely in ourselves.
Social psychologists use the scientific method to move beyond intuition. Good research questions are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Testable (SMART).
Construct validity – does the measure capture the right concept?
Statistical validity – are the statistical conclusions sound?
Internal validity – can we be confident the IV caused changes in the DV?
External validity – do the findings generalise to real-world settings?
Self-reports – participants describe their own thoughts, feelings or behaviours (e.g. surveys, questionnaires)
Observations – researchers directly watch and record behaviour
Implicit measures – tools that capture automatic or unconscious responses (e.g. the IAT)
Qualitative – rich, descriptive data (interviews, case studies)
Quantitative – numerical data that can be statistically analysed
Lab methods – high control, potential artificiality
Field methods – real-world settings, less control but higher ecological validity
Frequency/observational – how often does something occur?
Associative – are two things related? (Correlation, not causation.)
Causal – does one thing cause another? (Requires a true experiment with random assignment.)
Ethical research requires informed consent, debriefing, minimal harm and the right to withdraw. Institutional review boards (IRBs) oversee compliance.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
A five-level pyramid of human motivation, from basic survival (physiological needs, safety) up to self-actualisation. You must satisfy lower levels before higher ones become the focus.
Piaget's Developmental Stages
Four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor (birth to ~2), preoperational (~2 to 7), concrete operational (~7 to 11), and formal operational (~12+). Each stage marks a qualitatively different way of thinking.
Theory of Mind
The ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts, beliefs and intentions that may differ from yours. In simple terms, knowing that other people have minds.
Metacognition
Thinking about your own thinking. Being aware of your cognitive processes and able to monitor or regulate them.
Dispositions
Stable, enduring characteristics that influence how a person behaves across different situations.
Attachment Styles
Patterns of relating to others formed in early childhood. The four styles are secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganised. These carry into adult relationships.
OCEAN Model (Big Five Personality Traits)
The five broad dimensions of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability (sometimes labelled Neuroticism, inverted), Agreeableness and Extraversion.
Cultural Norms
Shared expectations within a culture about what constitutes appropriate behaviour. These shape personality expression and social interaction.
From bottom to top:
Physiological needs – food, water, sleep
Safety needs – security, stability
Love and belonging – friendships, family, intimacy
Esteem – respect, recognition, self-worth
Self-actualisation – realising one's full potential
The idea is that unmet lower-level needs dominate attention. A person worried about safety is not focused on self-actualisation.
Sensorimotor (0–2 years) – learning through senses and movement; developing object permanence
Preoperational (2–7 years) – symbolic thinking (language, pretend play), but egocentric and not yet logical
Concrete operational (7–11 years) – logical thought about concrete objects; understanding conservation
Formal operational (12+ years) – abstract and hypothetical reasoning; systematic problem-solving
Developed from early caregiver relationships, these shape adult social behaviour:
Secure – comfortable with closeness, trusting
Anxious – fears abandonment, needs reassurance
Avoidant – uncomfortable with intimacy, values independence
Disorganised – inconsistent, often linked to early trauma or unpredictable caregiving
Openness – curiosity, creativity, willingness to try new things
Conscientiousness – organisation, dependability, self-discipline
Emotional Stability – calmness and resilience (low scores = high neuroticism)
Agreeableness – cooperation, trust, warmth toward others
Extraversion – sociability, assertiveness, positive emotionality
These traits are relatively stable across time but can be expressed differently depending on cultural norms and situational context.
Students often think correlation and causation are the same thing. An associative claim ("X and Y are related") does not tell you that X causes Y. Only a properly controlled experiment can support a causal claim.
Students frequently confuse reliability with validity. A measure can be perfectly reliable (consistent) but completely invalid (measuring the wrong thing). A broken scale that always reads 5 kg is reliable but not valid.
Students tend to assume that personality is fixed. The Big Five are relatively stable, but cultural context, life events and situational factors all modulate their expression.
Students sometimes think Maslow's hierarchy is a rigid ladder. In reality, people can pursue higher-level needs even when lower-level needs are not fully met. The model is a useful heuristic, not a strict rule.
⚠️ Be able to state Lewin's formula (B = f(P, S)) and explain it in plain English. This is a foundation-level concept that could appear in any format.
⚠️ Know the difference between the four types of validity (construct, statistical, internal, external). Exams often present a study scenario and ask which type of validity is threatened.
⚠️ Be able to distinguish frequency, associative and causal claims. A common exam question describes a research finding and asks what type of claim can be made.
⚠️ Know all five Big Five traits and be able to describe each in a sentence. Expect matching or short-answer questions.
⚠️ Be prepared to list Piaget's four stages in order with approximate ages and a key feature of each.
⚠️ Understand the difference between reliability and validity, and be able to give an example of each.
True or False: A study with high internal validity always has high external validity. (False.)
Fill in the blank: B = f(___, ___). (Person, Situation.)
True or False: Confirmation bias means you seek out information that contradicts your beliefs. (False, it is the opposite.)
Name the four attachment styles. (Secure, anxious, avoidant, disorganised.)
True or False: The OCEAN model includes a trait called "Dominance." (False. The five are Openness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Extraversion.)
Q: According to Lewin, what two factors determine behaviour?
A: The person and the situation. Lewin's formula B = f(P, S) states that behaviour is a function of both personal characteristics and situational context.
Q: A researcher finds that students who eat breakfast score higher on exams. What type of claim is this, and why?
A: This is an associative claim. It shows a relationship between breakfast and exam scores but does not prove that eating breakfast causes better performance. There could be confounding variables (e.g. students who eat breakfast may also sleep more).
Q: What is the difference between internal validity and external validity?
A: Internal validity is about whether the study can demonstrate causation (the IV truly caused changes in the DV). External validity is about whether the findings generalise to other populations, settings or times.
Q: Name Piaget's four stages of cognitive development in order.
A: Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
Q: A personality test gives the same results each time it is administered, but it does not measure what it claims to. Is this test reliable, valid, both, or neither?
A: It is reliable (consistent results) but not valid (it does not measure the intended construct).
The ABC model (Affect, Behaviour, Cognition) reappears in the Attitudes unit, where attitudes are broken into the same three components. Biases covered here (confirmation bias, availability bias) return in Social Belief and Judgments, where heuristics and attribution errors build on the same cognitive shortcuts. Attachment styles from this section connect directly to interpersonal attraction and relationship dynamics later in the course.
Social psychology, Kurt Lewin, B = f(P, S), interactionism, person-situation debate, ABC model, affect behaviour cognition, hindsight bias, availability heuristic, confirmation bias, bias blindspot, IV, DV, independent variable, dependent variable, construct validity, internal validity, external validity, statistical validity, reliability vs validity, self-report, implicit measures, IAT, qualitative vs quantitative, lab vs field, correlational study, causal claim, Maslow hierarchy of needs, Piaget developmental stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational, theory of mind, metacognition, Big Five, OCEAN model, openness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, attachment styles, secure attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, disorganised attachment, cultural norms, research ethics, informed consent