IB Psychology
Mr. Detjen
Student Responses to SLoA Learning Outcomes
I. General Learning Outcomes
LO1: Outline principles that define the sociocultural level of analysis
Hannah
The sociocultural level of analysis focuses on how social and cultural factors influence an individual’s behavior. The authors of our psychology textbook, IB Diploma Programme: Psychology Course Companion, ascribe four principles to the sociocultural level of analysis (SLoA). First, human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to “belong.” Second, culture influences behavior. Third, because humans are social animals, they have a social self. Lastly, people’s views of the world are resistant to change.
The human need to belong motivates individuals to pursue and develop relationships with other people in order to create or strengthen a social connection. When an individual belongs to a group, they have the ability to influence other group members are well as be influenced by those group members; this relationship is then classified as bidirectional. The second principle, culture influences behavior, speaks to cultural norms established by a group. In order to fit into these cultural norms, an individual may have to change their behavior so they are able to relate and fit in with the other group members. Thirdly, humans develop social selves from being included in a group. People who are part of a group consider themselves the “in-group” and everyone else would be part of an “out-group.” Being part of the in-group reflects the individual’s membership in such a group. This distinction may eventually lead to biases, stereotyping, and discrimination. Finally, worldviews are very resistant to change. An individual’s beliefs of how the world is supposed to work exhibits how hard a change in ideas may be. If an individual thinks the world functions one way, then another way is proposed, that person’s entire system is then disrupted and unbelievable.
Hunter
The first principle that defines the sociocultural level of analysis is: Human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to belong. Humans are naturally motivated to have important relations with other humans. Relationships between humans can be seen as "bidirectional". One person can be affected by a group and that one person can also effect the group (Crane-Hannibal, 101). The second principle of the SLoA is culture influencing behavior. Culture provides general norms among groups of people. Culture actually is a set of norms that define a society or large group of people. The third principle states that human beings have social selves/social identities. Social identities define who people are and once again, behaviors can be defined by being in a certain group. Which leads to in groups and out groups. An in group is a group in which you belong, the "cool kids". An out group may be a group of people or person that you feel does not belong or fit in with what you feel is the norm. Lastly, the fourth principle says: world views are very resistant to change. World views are easily effected by culture. A cultural group instills their values in its people and they are passed down from generation to generation (Crane-Hannibal, 102). DIfferent groups of people may view the world in different ways and believe different things about how the world works.
Charles
There are four principles that define the SLoA. The first principle is that human beings are social animals and we all have a basic need to belong. As humans, we are all motivated to form bidirectional relationships with others. These relations give rise to social identities. The second principle of the SLoA is that culture influences behavior. This means that our culture influences us to act within said cultures norms. The third principle of SLoA is that humans have a social self. Social selves arise in a human when they become a part of a group or “family”. Social interaction gives rise to social selves. The fourth and finally principle is that people’s views of the world are resistant to change. A worldview is an idea of how the world should work or be. These views are shaped by our cultures. And as culture if hard to change, so are worldviews.
Megan
There are four principles that define the sociocultural level of analysis: Human beings are social animals with a basic need to belong; Culture influences behavior; Humans are social animals and therefore have a “social self”; People’s views of the world are resistant to change. The first principle explains that the cognitive and biological systems are two parts of an even larger system of interrelationships with other people. The relationship between the individual and group is bidirectional, meaning the individual and the group both effect each other. The second principle focuses on culture and its influence. Culture is defined here as the norms and values that define a society. Because societies are becoming vastly multicultural, there is a pressing issue to study the effect of culture on behavior because understanding how culture effects behavior can help us to understand and appreciate cultural differences.
The third principle examines the idea of a “social self”. This principle claims that each individual has an individual identity, but they also have a collective or group identity. For example, my social self would be a thespian because I am heavily involved in theatre. The final principle is that people’s views of the world are resistant to change. The reason for this hypothesis is that people develop their “selves” within social and cultural contexts, so once a self has been developed in those contexts, people are going to be resistant to changing social contexts because they developed themselves within certain contexts, and having to redefine their person is not something people do willingly.
Taylor
The four principles that define the sociocultural level of analysis are: human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to belong to a surrounding group or environment; culture influences behavior; human beings have (i.e. construct) social selves or social identities; world views are greatly resistant to change.
The first principle of the SLoa is that humans feel they must be a part of a social group. In simplistic terms this means that people are motivated to have relations with one another. This occurs as a bidirectional process—this process is when a group influences an individual and an individual influences a group. The second principle states that culture influences behavior. Because of this, psychologist must study culture to understand behavior. It is also important to distinguish a culture’s norms because it is an essential part of understanding their society and values. Thirdly, humans have social selves or social identities. Construct identity reflect group membership. A person can either be a part of an in-group or out0group. These groupings may change upon situations. Social identities are considered in-groups and those who do not qualify or are considered a part of the in-group are members of the out-group. However, there is the possibility of bias due to stereotypes and discrimination that could occur over time. The fourth and final principle states that world views are resistant to change. Our world views are affected by culture. Values and views differ amongst in-groups and out-groups.
Psychology over time has evolved the idea that psychology has three core components. These psychologists proposed that there is a biological level to psychology at the core of its field, followed by a cognitive level, and then a sociocultural level. During this time, World War II had a great impact on the sociocultural field of psychology.
Emily
The socio-cultural level of analysis has four defining principles: human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to belong; culture influences behavior; human beings have social selves or social identities; and world views are very resistant to change. Smith and Mackey studied the pervasiveness of social influences and concluded that social and cultural environments influence individual human behavior.
The first principle, human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to belong, states that we are motivated to have relationships with others. Individuals and groups are bidirectional meaning that they influence each other. The second principle, we have a basic need to belong, states that there is a set of norms and values that define a society or a group within a society. We create and shape culture but we are also influenced by it. The third principle, culture influences behavior, states that our social self reflects group memberships (in-group). Group memberships compared with other groups are known as out-groups. We have a social process that helps to define our social self. There are some biases of stereotyping and discriminating in defining in-groups and out-groups. The fourth principle, world views are very resistant to change, states that our establishments of world views are created within our social selves. How it works, why it works the way it does, and how it’s used in the social world are all effected by culture. These world views can be formal and informal, temporary and persistent, and direct and indirect. When others exert influence on us it is either directly or indirectly. Our personalities are set aside by the influences of others.
There are several research methods used in the socio-cultural level of analysis. These methods include experiments, correlational studies, and case studies. The experiments are scientific with causal hypotheses that use the experimental method. When conducted in a lab there is a higher level of internal validity but artificiality is compromised. Field experiments use the same hypothesis but are more real than a lab experiment. Correlational studies use large scale surveys and are difficult to replicate. They use complex math models and individuality is crushed. Case studies use either interviews or archival research and are hard to generalize findings. With these research methods for the socio-cultural level of analysis there are some ethics issues. There is a certain degree of deception used in these research methods but it must be an initial component of the study. The level of deception depends on one’s morals system. There is also a great deal of stereotyping which can evoke a stereotype threat and compliance.
Princess
There are five principles that define the sociocultural level of analysis. One is that human beings are social animals and have a basic need to belong. This is basically that we as humans are motivated to have special relationships with other people. The basic relation is bidirectional, meaning that both influence each other. The next principle is that cultural influences behavior. There is a set of norms and values that define a society or a group within a society. People mold culture and are in return, influenced by them. The third principle is that human beings have social selves, or identities. Individuality is what defines a person's social self. Group memberships produce "in groups" and "out groups." These groups lead to both bias and judgement. Lastly, world views are very resistant to change. This principle basically states that world views encompass how social the social world operates. It is about what values are accepted for example. It is an important part of our identity and is influenced by culture. Our sense if self is dependent upon which groups we identify with.
Jolie
The sociocultural level of analysis proposes that human beings are social animals with the basic need to belong. The relationship between an individual and society is bidirectional in that the individual can affect society and society can also affect the individual. Once an individual satisfies his need to belong, he often develops a social identity of himself, an identity that reflects his membership. A social identity is often formed when an individual in an in-group (people with whom he shares a common identity) compares himself to those in an out-group (people who do not belong in his in-group).
Another principle suggests that culture influences behavior. Culture, or a set of norms and values that define a society or a group within society, can have an effect on one’s behavior. The level of conformity in a person, for example, varies depending on whether that person is living in an individualistic or collective culture. Individualism allows the members of such society to have more freedom in individual choices whereas collectivism promotes cohesiveness in its society. Individualistic society, therefore, leads its members to have low level of conformity and collectivism results in high level of conformity. Culture also helps shape an individual’s view of the world and its values. According to the principles of the sociocultural level of analysis, this view is rather stable and resistant to change.
Jarren
The sociocultural level of analysis looks at how personality, attitudes, behavior, etc. of an individual influence and are influenced by society (bidirectional interaction). Within this level of analysis, there are four primary principles. The first is the idea that human beings are social animals that have a basic need to belong. Secondly, culture influences behavior. The norms and values that define society lead to expectations and many times, people yearn to be accepted; therefore, they react by meeting such expectations built by society. Thirdly, because humans are inherently social, they have a social self. This means on a personal level, each individual has an identity created by themselves; however, each individual also has a collective/social identity as well which is influenced by the groups one belongs to. It is determined through the membership of groups such as family, community, nationality, etc. Finally, the fourth principal states that people’s views of the world are resistant to change. This is largely due to society and culture in that ideas are generally passed down from generation to generation and therefore are in a way stuck and unlikely to change overnight.