Let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to find out the natural bent - PLATO (346 BC)
我的心以放在妳手中陪妳到永久
Social Psychology is defined as 'an attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts. feelings, and behaviours of indivduals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others'. This is widely accepted and a commonly quoted defination of social psychology.
Social life is characterised by arguments, conflicts and controversy in which individual or group try to change the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of others by persuasion, argument, example, command. propaganda or force. People can be quite aware of the influence and attempts and can form impressions of how affected they and the others are, by the different types of influence.
Social life is also characterised by norms. this is, by attitudinal and behavioural uniformities between people, or 'normative social similarities and difference between people'
Social influence can produce surface compliance with requests, obedience of commands and internalised conformity to group norm. People tend to be more readily influenced by reference group, because theyare psychologically significant for our attitudes and behaviours, then by membership groups, as they are simply groups to which we belong by external criterion.
Compliance as superficial, public and transitory change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure. Given the right circumstances, we all have the potential to obey commands blindly, even if the consequences of such obedience include harm to others. Obedience is affected by the proximity and legitimacy of authority, by the proximity of the victim, and by the degree of social support for obedience or disobedience.
Group norms are enormously potent sources of confirmity, in that we all tend to yield to the majority. Confirmity can be reduced if the task is unambiguous and we are not under surveillance, although even under these circumstances there is often residual conformity. Lack of unanimity among the majority is particularly effective in reducing conformity.
People may conform in order to feel sure about the objective validity of their perception and opimions, to obtain social approval and avoid social disapproval, or to express or validate their social identity as memeber of specfic group.
Active minorities can sometimes influence majority: this may be the very essence of social change. To be effective, minorities should be consistent but not rigid, should be seen to be making personal sacrifices and acting out of principle, and should be perceived as being part of the ingroup.
Minorities may be effective because, unlike majority infulence, which is based on 'mind-less' compliance, they cause latent cognitve change as a consequence of thought produced by the cognitive challenge posed by the novel minority position.
Haha i am too bored already so juz post up some notes for the coming assignment. formed as a backup also. for ur info there's more to come
