What is Social Psychology?

Social psychology is a branch of psychology researching the behavior of groups and the influence of social factors on the individual. Note that, unlike in sociology, the focus is on the individual and not on the group.

Getting Started

Before beginning your research, spend some time thinking about the topic at hand and how to develop a search strategy. Consider the following:

• Are you providing an historical or cultural perspective?
• Is psychology the only discipline that deals with your topic? Think, for example, about the importance of nonverbal communication in business, self-esteem in education, or motivation in sport.
• Will research from other social sciences interested in groups be helpful?

Finding General or Background Information on Social Psychology

Use both general and subject reference sources to find background information on psychology. You can explore broad concepts such as theories, big names in the field, controversies, as well as specific terminology. General sources include:

• The New Encyclopaedia Britannica - R AE 5 .E363 2002
• Encyclopaedia Britannica

Search ROSIE by keyword for psychology handbooks or encyclopedias. Remember that topics in which you might be interested, for example, motivation, self-esteem, nonverbal communication, are likely to be included in books dealing with general psychology, as well as those focusing on development or personality. If you started by looking for a very specific reference source – and found none or very few - be sure to turn to sources with a broader coverage. For example, if the search for keywords “social and psychology and encyclopedia” found only one or two titles, continue with “psychology and encyclopedia” - and then browse the books you found for broad and specific topics related to social psychology.

Consider these comprehensive resources of information about social psychology topics:

• The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Vol. 1-4 [electronic book]
• Handbook of Social Psychology - R HM 251 .H224 1998
• Annual Review of Psychology - BF30 .A56 (this online title contains in-depth reviews of primary research in psychology)

  Note that electronic books - encyclopedias, handbooks and dictionaries - from databases like XreferPlus, Oxford Reference Online and Gale Virtual Reference Library are also available through ROSIE.
  
  

Finding Information in Books

Searching ROSIE Using Keywords

Search by keyword using terms related to your topic of interest – you may have found these looking through the background sources. Remember that you are searching book titles, subjects assigned to books, and (in some cases only) tables of contents – and not the contents of books per se. Leave the very specific, detailed search for periodical databases; in ROSIE, search for a single term or combination of two, and consider adding the word "psycholog*" whenever the term has general or commonplace uses, for example "violence and psycholog*". The asterisk (*) allows you to search for words with different endings.

Searching ROSIE by Subject

The following examples of Library of Congress Subject Headings might be useful in your research:

• Interpersonal relations
• Social interaction
• Interpersonal communication
• Social groups
• Emotions (Social or Sociological aspects)
• Attitude (psychology, change, etc.)
• Social influence
• Persuasion (Psychology)
• Prejudice
• Stereotype (Psychology)

   

Browsing Call Numbers

Because books are arranged on the Library’s shelves by subject, browsing the library stacks in the call number areas suggested below can also be useful. You can get additional ideas from a book's table of contents or index. You can browse book records online through ROSIE, but remember that only records of recently published books list tables of contents and none lists an index.

BF 500 - BF 794 (the majority of psychology books on topics particularly relevant to social psychology – emotions, motivation, control, personality and development - are in this area)
HM 503 - HM 1075 (this section contains materials on family life aspects and the life stages)

Finding Articles About Social Psychology Using Research Databases

Bowman Library subscribes to many Web-based databases where you will find newspaper, magazine and scholarly journal articles. Ones that are particularly useful for researching topics in psychology are listed below. See Searching Electronic Resources Effectively for guidelines on making the most of your search.

ProQuest
Search ProQuest for psychology articles published in scholarly, popular and general interest periodicals. Explore the drop-down menus and “More Search Options” to broaden or narrow your search. Note, in particular, the limit to “Full text documents only.” Wait to limit your search to scholarly journals from the results page; some quality magazines, like Scientific American, The New Yorker or The New York Times Magazine, often publish well-researched articles you do not want to exclude from your search.

PsycArticles
PsycARTICLES© is a database of full-text articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe Publishing Group. It currently contains 61 journals. Coverage for some of them extends back to XIX c. Note the Thesarus (link at the bottom of the screen) for help in finding synonyms, and broader, narrower and related concepts.

Wilson Select Plus
Search Wilson for psychology articles published in academic and professional publications. The best strategy is to use search capabilities from the Advanced Search: use the top menu tab to get there and then explore the drop-down menus. Limit your search to full text.

Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQ Researcher)
You will find here reports about issues widely discussed in the media, for example, family, teen sex, violence in sports, cults, prejudice, etc. While these topics are not discussed from a strictly psychological perspective, the reports can provide context and background for your research.
Each 20+ page report contains background information on the topic, pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions, analysis of the current and future (outlook) situation, a bibliography and list of readings for further research.

Contemporary Women's Issues (CWI)
This database focuses on contemporary issues affecting the lives of women around the world. Its broad range of topics includes law, health, human rights, education, culture, customs, demographics, family life and more. The articles’ perspective might be unique, as CWI's content includes mainstream periodicals as well as reports from NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), non-profit organizations, special interest groups, government and international agencies, and research institutes.

 

Selected Free Web Sites

The following Web sites have been selected by Bowman Librarians as examples of sites appropriate for college research. Keep in mind, however, that free Web resources are rarely filtered, often making it difficult to determine the content's accuracy. Use our guide Evaluating Web Resources to help you review the authority, currency, and objectivity or bias of every site you use.

Social Psychology Network
http://www.socialpsychology.org/
This well organized portal to social psychology on the Internet is hosted by Wesleyan University. Follow the “Social Psychology Topics” link to find resources on prejudice, gender, interpersonal relations, group influence, violence and other social psychology concepts. Or, in “Other Psychology Options” explore links to other psychology areas: cognition, developmental, personality.

The Mead Project – Foundational Documents in Social Psychology
http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/%7Elward/
This site offers links to Web sites with full-text materials written by Mead, Baldwin, James, Dewey and other social psychologists. From Brock University, Canada.

Social Psychology Basics
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/socpsy.html
An online textbook by Dr. C. George Boeree at Shippensburg University.

The Personality Project
http://www.personality-project.org/personality.html
A well organized listing of overviews of online articles, bibliographies and links to scholarly information on personality. By W. Revelle from Northwestern University.

Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.prisonexp.org/
This site features an extensive slide show and detailed information about this classic psychology experiment conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.

Implicit Association Test
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Test your attitudes with the Implicit Association Test ( IAT). IAT is a tool for gaining greater awareness about your own unconscious preferences and beliefs about diversity. Choose "Demonstration" to take the tests or "Research" to participate in the project.

BBC, Science and Nature
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/
This page contains links to BBC-hosted interactive surveys related to social behavior, for example, “Spot the Fake Smile,” “Morals,” “Perfectionism,” “Reading Faces” and more.

Citing Your Sources

Be sure to check with your professor on which citation style is required. Bowman Library provides the following resources to assist with citation format:

For online resources, see How to Cite Your Research for links to MLA, APA and Chicago citation styles.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers - LB2369 .G53 2003 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association - BF76.7 .P83 2001 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).

The Chicago Manual of Style - Z253 .U69 2003 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).

Have Questions?

• Explore WOODIE for help with Research.
• The following guides include related information that may assist your research:
  • Developmental Psychology Research Guide
  • Psychology of Learning Research Guide
• Ask a Librarian. We are here to help!