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Social psychology, made clear.
Social Lens.

Study desk · Concepts and questions

Tools for reading, thinking, and discussing

Keep the key terms close, ask what the evidence supports, and give yourself time to revise an interpretation. Use these resources alongside the guides or as a starting point for a study session.

A working glossary

These short definitions are starting points. When reading a study, check how its authors define and measure each concept.

Attitude
An evaluation of a person, object, group, or issue. What someone reports feeling may not predict every action in every setting.
Stereotype
A generalized belief about members of a group. Even a seemingly positive stereotype can flatten individual differences or create restrictive expectations.
Prejudice
An evaluation of people based on their group membership. It is often discussed in relation to negative attitudes and unequal social relations.
Discrimination
Unequal treatment connected to group membership. It can occur in individual interactions and in the operation of rules or institutions.
Social identity
The part of someone’s understanding of themselves that relates to group membership and its meaning.
Norm
An expectation about typical or approved behaviour within a setting. What people commonly do and what they approve of can differ.
Conformity
A change in judgment or behaviour in line with group influence. It may reflect a wish to belong, a search for accurate information, or both.
Attribution
An explanation for behaviour or events. Attributions can emphasize the person, the situation, or their interaction.

Reading research

Five questions before accepting a claim

  1. What was the question? Distinguish the study’s specific question from the broader topic suggested by a headline.
  2. Who took part? Consider the sample, recruitment, setting, and whose experiences may be missing.
  3. What was measured? A questionnaire response, a reaction time, and an observed decision are different kinds of evidence.
  4. What can the design establish? An association alone does not identify a cause. For an experiment, examine what was manipulated and what alternative explanations remain.
  5. How far does the finding travel? Consider uncertainty, other studies, and differences between the research setting and everyday life.

When taking notes, separate a source’s reported result from your interpretation. Record enough publication information to locate the original study again. A confident summary is less useful than a traceable, appropriately limited claim.

For a study session

Three ways to use the guides

Choose one route, then write a short explanation in your own words before looking back at the page.

Learn the distinctions

Read the prejudice guide and invent one example each of a belief, an evaluation, and an action. Explain why they are different.

Read the guide

Discuss a situation

Use the two-team scenario to compare explanations of the same behaviour. Identify the information each group could access.

Read the guide

Make something concrete

Choose one project and produce a comparison table, a norm map, or a decision rubric. Include a paragraph about its limits.

Choose a project

A final prompt for discussion

What observation would make you revise your first explanation? Naming that observation helps turn a persuasive story into a question that can be examined. Leave room for uncertainty and disagreement without requiring anyone to speak for an entire group.