Social Psychology Definition Paper Tony D. Roberson PSY 400 January 3, 2014 Dawn Oliwa Social Psychology Definition Paper Social psychology is a descendent of sociology although it is easy to get the two terms confused they approach the world of socialism in different perspectives. Sociology studies the effects of a culture on human behavior. Social psychology focuses on the individual and the certain variables placed around him or her that contribute to his or her attitude and behavior. There have been many enthusiast who have studied social psychology such as Allport’s social facilitation, Bandura’s social learning theory, Festinger’s cognitive dissonance, Tajfel’s social identity theory, and Weiner’s attribution theory all played instrumental roles in developing the science of social psychology. This science has allowed for collected data and theories to be tested and proven on the effects of exterior motives that implement individual behavior.
Social psychologists have developed the definition of social psychology by many years of scientific research. Social psychology is a mixture of many sciences. “Sometimes the context lies in the traditions of academic psychology, often in sociology or anthropology, sometimes in philosophy or theology, occasionally in history or in economics, frequently in the political life of our day.” (Cherry, 1995) Social psychology is a scientific study of human behavior with social influence, biological and other sciences may be pursued to accumulate correct data when forming social theories. Social psychologists study groups, such as work, religious, cultural and other organized groups to determine how the group may influence members as individuals. Humans usually choose the group to which they would like to belong based on personal comfort levels.
There are two major aspects in regards to the sociological perspective, the first being interaction between social structure and an individual and the idea of two levels of analysis. When it comes to the interaction of social structure and the individual, sociologists tend to concentrate not so much on the characteristics of an individuals behavior but rather on the precedents that are collective amongst individuals in regards to society and groups around them. The key to grasping sociology comes from the inevitability and repetition, which are seen in customary social behaviors throughout society and individuals. Social structures are socially embodied in the actions, thoughts, beliefs, and long-lasting temperaments of individual human beings. The typical being often has a
Allport, in an attempt to define social psychology said it scientifically tried to explain the cognitions of the individual (for example behaviours) and how they are “influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of human beings” (Allport, 1954). In this essay I intend to start with writing about a few different social psychologists and a couple of famous studies to give a bit of background, before the crisis in social psychology. I then aim to develop this into showing what brought about the crisis - its contributions; I will address the various critiques of early experimental social psychology. After the contributions I will write about what happen after the “crisis” and assess if it had a big outcome on the discipline of social psychology. Social psychology has in roots in the beginning of the 20th century in America.
Social Psychology Definition Paper 1 Social Psychology Definition Paper September 11, 2012 Social Psychology Definition Paper 2 Social interaction plays a major role in defining social psychology because social psychology includes areas that include: psychology, evolutionary theories, and physiology. These areas according to Harold, (2000) are components of uncultivated areas of the social sciences. The principles of natural selection and adaptation can explain the biological theories that explain human hair color to choices for reproducing. At the same time sociology explains the choices of social structuring and how humans organize socially. However, social psychology has the job of explaining what people think about, how the thought affect people, and how the thoughts will interact with each other on the biological, psychological, and social levels (Myers, 2008).
Social Psychology Definition Paper February 3rd, 2013 Psy/400 Adrian Fletcher Axia Campus University of Phoenix Social Psychology Definition Paper Social psychology is a study in which a researcher or psychologist studies individuals in their social context and is also a discipline that uses scientific methods. Social psychologist’s look at or study many social topics, some of these topics include; social perception, group behavior, conformity, leadership, prejudice, and aggression. Social psychology is not only about looking at social influences, it is also about social perception and social interaction which needs to be understood first before one is able to understand social psychology completely. Social psychology is very important to us because it allows us to study how individuals will act in different social situations. For instance; we are able to learn how stereotypes are formed, why there is racism, and also how a person’s behavior changes in different types of situations.
Explain what is meant by social influence Social influence is the term given to the way in which an individual’s behaviour, attitudes or beliefs are changed in some way due to the presence or actions of other people. It refers to the effect one person or a group of people has on another person or group of people. Since early history humans have attempted to define and refine the principles of successful influence. The science of social influence, however, can trace its roots to the Second World War, when a social psychologist named Carl Hovland was contracted by the US Armed Forces to bolster morale. Since then social influence has become a field of study devoted to discovering the principles that determine our beliefs, create attitudes, and move us to action.
By understanding the concepts of the each theories a person can see how they can affect the social institution, such as the family, differently and can present a more much better understanding of the concepts as they apply to reality. What are the Sociological theories? Functionalism, the Conflict Theory, and Interactionism comprise the three main sociological theories. These theories affect the way people think and perceive the world around them. As a result, the development, nature and understanding of different social institutions, including the family, health-care systems, religion, education, media, politics and economy, are determined or affected by these three social theories.
Definition of social psychology Social psychology is a scientific method that is used to understand how individual’s thoughts and behaviors are influenced by the very presence of another human being. Social psychology studies a vast amount of social topics such as social perception, group behavior, leadership, aggression, prejudice, nonverbal behavior, and conformity. When dealing and trying to understand social behavior it is vital to also have an understanding of the social perception and interaction. Social psychology just like any other kind of psychologies wasn’t really acknowledged until the late 1800’s early 1900’s. For social psychology it really got its boost around World War 2 because researches wanted to study the social influence, obedience, and conformity.
McDougall (1919) argued strongly for the separation of social psychology from sociology and anthropology, while also arguing that social processes should be studied experimentally. Arguably, however, social psychology was first established as a distinct discipline at the beginning of the 20th century with the publication of Floyd Allport’s (1924) book Social Psychology – an influential book that was subsequently adopted by teachers of psychology for many years. Inspired by the growth of experimental psychology in the USA, Allport argued that social psychology would develop as a discipline if it approached its questions as an experimental science. Others followed this perspective (e.g., Murphy and Murphy, 1931) and this North American approach to social psychology rapidly replaced the German tradition. Early work in social psychology was also strongly influenced by behaviourism.