Psychology · Contexts
HREL — Human relationships
Psychology · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes
Social learning and acculturation
How people join and adopt the norms of a group: Bandura's social learning theory and Berry's acculturation strategies, read through the three approaches.
Conformity and compliance techniques
Two forms of social influence: yielding to group pressure (Asch) and the techniques that gain agreement (foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face), with their biological and cognitive bases.
Social identity theory
Tajfel and Turner's account of why group membership drives in-group favouritism and out-group bias, plus how it is used to reduce intergroup conflict.
Cultural dimensions
Hofstede's dimensions, especially individualism-collectivism, and how they help explain cross-cultural variation in group behaviour.
Chemical messengers and cognitive explanations of relationships
Why interpersonal relationships form and endure: the role of oxytocin, dopamine and testosterone, and cognitive models such as attribution and social exchange.
Communication and strategies for improving relationships
The role of communication in relationships (Gottman's corrosive patterns) and evidence-based strategies used to strengthen or repair them.