Social area

• principles


  • the main influence on our behaviour is other people (either immediately present, or whose presence is implied believed)
• concepts 


  • conformity
  • diffusion of responsibility
  • bystander apathy
  • responses to authority
  • responses to people in need
  • simpatia culture
  • whistle-blowing
  • the arousal-cost reward model
• strengths


  • can help us understand the causes of historical events
  • has practical applications
  • research is often high in ecological validity when field experiments are used
• weaknesses


  • research can lack controls on extraneous variables
  • research can be ethnocentric
  • research can get out of date as social behaviours change
• applications


  • using CCTV to deter crime
  • managers/teachers to wear formal clothing and act sternly to get obedience
  • firms to have an app or website to make anonymous