Social influence refers to the power of a social situation to alter an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This phenomenon, driven by real or imagined pressure from others, is demonstrated through key topics such as conformity, obedience, and group processes.

Social Influence

Prosocial behavior is defined as any voluntary action performed with the specific intention of benefiting another person or group. It raises the question of whether such acts are motivated solely by personal benefits, like feeling good, or if other reasons, such as altruism, are at play.

Prosocial Behavior

Discrimination is defined as an action or behavior towards an individual that results from their membership in a particular group. While typically discussed as a negative and oppressive act, such as exclusion, discrimination can also manifest positively through preferential treatment for individuals who are part of one's own group.

Discrimination in Social Psychology

Social networks are social structures consisting of interconnected patterns of relationships among different individuals.

Social Network 

In social psychology, prejudice refers to the attitudes and feelings held toward an individual based solely on their membership in a particular social group. While these attitudes are often negative and problematic, they can also be positive, such as having favorable feelings for people who belong to a group one identifies with.

Prejudice in Social Psychology

While social psychology often examines negative behaviors, it also delves into positive social interactions such as what draws people together. The study of love and attraction explores the key questions of relationship formation, including the situational factors that make relationships more likely, the universal traits people find appealing, the different classifications of love, and theories that explain how relationships are initiated, sustained, and sometimes ended.

Love and Attraction

Physical proximity is the single most influential factor in determining the formation of friendships and romantic relationships. People are significantly more likely to build relationships with individuals they encounter frequently simply because regular contact provides more opportunities for interaction and getting to know one another.

Proximity in Relationship Formation

Aggression is defined as any behavior intended to cause harm or pain to another person. It is a core topic in social psychology, encompassing a range of actions with different underlying motivations.

Aggression

Interpersonal topics in social psychology pertain to the interactions and relationships involving dyads and groups. Key areas of study include helping behaviors, aggression, prejudice and discrimination, attraction and close relationships, as well as group and intergroup processes.

Arizona State University

Google

New York University

New Mexico Highlands University

Columbia University

Davidson College

In social psychology, interpersonal topics are those that pertain to interactions and relationships between people, including dyads (pairs) and groups.

Interpersonal

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (2018). Revel Social Psychology (10th ed.). Pearson.

Revel Social Psychology

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/ 

APA Dictionary of Psychology

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Interpersonal Topics in Social Psychology

A social psychologist is interested in studying phenomena that arise from the interactions and relationships between people. Which of the following research questions best exemplifies this focus?

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