ABSTRACT
Social psychology is about understanding individual behaviour and experiences in a social context. From an Islamic perspective, there are many examples of how the presence of others influences cognition and human behaviour. There is a general consensus among psychologists of the potential link between religious cognition and social cognition. Various forms of religious cognition are inherently social in nature: Afterlife beliefs, beliefs about the origins and apparent functions of living things and supernatural agent beliefs. For Muslims, afterlife beliefs are never far from their consciousness, and death is the return of the soul to its Creator, Allah. Islam addresses the reason of the what and why of human existence, and, for Muslims, the purpose of the creation of this world is to praise and worship of our Creator. Attitudes are important because they affect both our worldview and our behaviours. Attitudes can serve several functions for the individual: Knowledge, adaptive (instrumental), ego-defence and value-expression. Cognitive dissonance refers to the personal tension or stress experienced when an individual’s actions contradict or are inconsistent with his or her values or beliefs. Cognitive dissonance is part of the trials and tribulations of the believers. The three aspects of prejudice, discriminations and stereotypes are interconnected but they each can occur separately from the others. The Qur’an and Hadith inform us about the diversity of creation, race, colour and ethnicities, addressing them in light of the principles of equality, justice, appreciation of differences and eliminating biased assumptions, prejudice and discrimination. Social support can actually make you more able to cope with problems on your own, by improving your self-esteem and sense of autonomy.
