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Summary Critical Psychology: The Crisis Continues Chapter Notes
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This is a detailed summary of chapter 10 focusing on Social Psychology: The Crisis Continues.
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S. Mark PancerINTRODUCTION
• Many critical psychologists in the field of social psychology believe that mainstream social
psychology has become increasingly asocial, despite the discipline's focus on understanding
human behaviour in a social context.
• The field of social psychology, particularly in North America, has shifted away from its reform-
oriented aspirations and has become more individual-focused, limiting its potential to address
social issues.
• The influence of the "cognitive revolution" has contributed to the narrowing of
methodologies and excessive focus on the psychology of the individual in social psychology.
• Critical social psychology, emerging in Europe and using more qualitative and value-explicit
approaches, holds promise in addressing social issues and promoting social change.
• The commonly accepted definition of social psychology emphasizes the influence of others
on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of individuals.
• The field of social psychology covers various topics, such as social perception and
cognition, attitudes, prejudice, aggression, altruism, social influence, and group
behaviour, with applications in health, environment, law, and politics.
• The chapter reviews the history of social psychology, its connection to social and political
issues, and significant critiques during the discipline's "crisis of confidence" in the 1960s and
1970s.
• The chapter suggests that social psychology should reaffirm its role in promoting social
change and human welfare to address these issues.
WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?
"an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behaviour of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others“ (Allport, 1985, p. 3)
⇒ SOCIAL PERCEPTION AND COGNITION- The mental processes that help us to collect and remember
information about others, and to form beliefs and attitudes and make judgments based on that
information. In our social world, we do not respond to objective reality. Rather, we respond to our
subjective interpretations of reality.
⇒ ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE- An attitude is a general and long-lasting positive/negative opinion
or feeling about a person, object, or problem. Attitudes are developed through direct experiences, social
influence, or media exposure. Built on 3 pillars: emotions, behaviour, and cognition. Evidence suggests
that attitudes develop because of psychological needs, social interactions, and genetics.
⇒ PREJUDICE- refers to biased thinking, discrimination consists of actions against a group of people.
⇒ DISCRIMINATION- can be based on age, religion, health, and other indicators; race-based laws against
discrimination strive to address this set of social problems.
⇒ AGGRESSION- refers to behaviour that is intended to harm another individual.
⇒ ALTRUISM- describes behaviour motivated by the goal of increasing someone else's welfare.
⇒ ATTRACTION AND RELATIONSHIPS- the desire to interact and affiliate with another person. It involves
feelings of interest, desire, and attachment, and can be based on a wide range of factors, such as
relationship primitives like proximity, familiarity, similarity, and positive affect.
⇒ SOCIAL INFLUENCE- the ways in which individuals adjust their behaviour to meet the demands of a
social environment.
⇒ GROUP BEHAVIOUR- defines the way individuals are influenced by the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
of others in a group. Groups can also influence people's social behaviour to fit in a particular group.
TJW NOTES
, A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
• Modern social psychology began around the turn of the century, with Triplett conducting the
first social psychology experiments in 1898, examining the impact of the presence of others on
task performance → social facilitation.
• The first books titled "Social Psychology" were
written in 1908 but lacked a research base and did
not define the emerging field.
• Floyd Allport's 1924 text titled "Social
Psychology" helped define and establish social
psychology as a discipline in American psychology
departments.
• The period from 1920 to 1940 saw a significant
boom in social psychological research driven by social issues of the time, such as immigration
and the rise of authoritarian regimes.
• Research during this period explored attitudes toward national and ethnic groups,
stereotypes, leadership styles, the influence of group norms on behaviour, and the causes
of human aggression.
• The Great Depression had a significant influence on social psychology, as psychologists
faced dwindling employment opportunities.
• This led to the formation of groups advocating an expanded role for psychologists in the
community, including the Psychologists League and the Society for the Psychological
Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
• The Second World War and political turmoil in Europe before the war were also important
influences on social psychology.
• The emigration of scholars and scientists from Europe, including Kurt Lewin, had a profound
impact on the field.
• Kurt Lewin, known as the "practical theorist," championed an approach to social psychology
that combined science with humanitarian values.
• His ideas about "action research" and "field experiments" linked research to social action
aimed at improving the lives of marginalized groups.
• He also coined the term "group dynamics" and founded the Research Center for Group
Dynamics, which conducted pioneering work on behaviour within groups.
• During World War II, social psychologists were recruited by the army to conduct research on
various topics related to the war effort and morale, leading to a newfound recognition of social
psychology's applied potential.
• After the war, there was a reaction against the applied orientation of social psychology, with
critics advocating for a more scientific and theoretical approach, tested under rigorous
laboratory conditions.
• 1920-1940: Establishment of the discipline
→ Driven by “burning social issues”
→ Two world wars
→ Mass migration
→ Fascism
→ Depression
• The death of Kurt Lewin in 1947 contributed to a split in the
field, with a growing divide between academic social
psychology, focused on laboratory research, and practitioners
emphasizing social action.
• In the decades following the war, the academic laboratory approach became dominant in
social psychology, with a concentration of research on attitudes, communication processes,
group processes, and leadership in laboratory settings.
TJW NOTES
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