SOCIAL APPROACH

Question 1

State the 2 main assumptions in this approach

Answer 1

• emotions, cognition and behaviour are influenced by the actual or implied presence of others
• Our behaviour, cognitions and emotions are influenced by the social contexts, social environment and groups

Question 2

Explain one finding from Milgram that supports one assumption from the social approach

Answer 2

• 26 Participants reached the full 450V and were not defiant to the researcher, showing destructive obedience.
• Their behaviour and cognition must’ve been influenced by the actual presence of the authority figure in the room.
  OR
• Their behaviour, cognitions and emotions may have been influenced by the social environment and context (were in a lab) conducted in Yale, making the research look sophisticated

Question 3

Explain one finding from Perry that supports one assumption from the social approach

Answer 3

• large difference between stranger and ball as well as friend and authority when it comes to the CID paradigm.
• Their behaviour may have been influenced by the implied presence of others, in this case the presence of a friend influenced them to have a closer IPD than with an authority

Question 4

Explain one finding from Pilliavin that supports one assumption from the social approach

Answer 4

• Both the black and white cane victim received 100% help compared to the drunk that had 73% and 67% help
• Their behaviour may have been a result of the social context. Drunk people are likely to pose more threat than an ill person
  OR
• 90% of the men were likely to help than women
• Their behaviour was a result of the social context, social environment and groups. Because all victims were male, and due to social expectations, women may have interpreted this situation as a situational condition for mens strength

Question 5

Strengths for the approach

Answer 5

+ Can be seen as a useful approach such as Milgram in reducing blind obedience
+considered a Holistic approach
+ High ecological validity e.g Piliavin took place in a natural environment, showing natural behaviour that can be generalised too.

Question 6

Weaknesses of the approach

Answer 6

• Deterministic (Environmental Determinism) Refers to the belief that all behaviour is determined by our surroundings
• Some of these experiments were unethical. Some participants were deceived and were not aware of being watched
• some experiments were hard to investigate under natural environments when investigating social behaviour so hard to control variables
• social behaviour tends to be influenced by culture, so a lot of these studies may not have generalisable results
• People are prone to people pleasing resulting into demand characteristics, producing unusual behaviour as a result