Relativity in Social Cognition: Antecedents and Consequences of Comparative Thinking

Verantwortlich

Herr Christian Unkelbach christian.unkelbach[uk]uni-koeln.de

Weiter verantwortlich

Zeitraum

01.01.2018-31.12.2020

Förderung

Beschreibung

A key challenge for social psychology is to identify unifying principles that account for the complex dynamics of social behaviour. We propose psychological relativity, along with its core mechanism of comparison, as one such unifying principle. Social cognition is essentially relative in nature, in that it is strongly shaped by comparative thinking. The goal of this Research Unit is to demonstrate that this fundamental element of cognition explains a wide variety of behaviour. The Research Unit brings together seven projects to investigate psychological relativity. The specific project contents are explained in detail on the Unit's homepage (see above).

Description

A key challenge for social psychology is to identify unifying principles that account for the complex dynamics of social behaviour. We propose psychological relativity, along with its core mechanism of comparison, as one such unifying principle. Social cognition is essentially relative in nature, in that it is strongly shaped by comparative thinking. The goal of this Research Unit is to demonstrate that this fundamental element of cognition explains a wide variety of behaviour. The Research Unit brings together seven projects to investigate psychological relativity. The specific project contents are explained in detail on the Unit's homepage (see above).