Role of Social Psychology - Essay Example

Running Head: Social Psychology Social Psychology [Institute’s SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Introduction Social psychology is a study of how the thoughts, feelings and perceptions of humans can be influenced and affected by actual and perceived presence of others. It also refers to the empirical method of investigation. Many social psychologists have explained human behavior because of impact of mental states and social situations that affect human beings in one way or the other. According to many psychologists, social psychology is a study that integrates the study of sociology and psychology. European Perception of Social Psychology It is obvious that the core principles of social psychology are almost similar from every perspective but there are a few minor differences among various schools of thoughts. The European school of social psychology does aim to improve the standard of individuals and develop sense of ethical and moral accountability. The European thought on social psychology focuses more on group dynamics and elucidates the fact that how collective behavior can correlate and differ depending on various social and environmental circumstances (Schacter, 2007). Various Theories and Perspectives on Social Psychology There have been various theories and researches on social psychology and these studies have certainly contributed heavily to the advancement and development of social psychology to a huge extent. Some of these theories and perceptions are as follows: History of Social Psychology The history of social psychology dates back to the 19th century when a social scientist named Norman Triplett in 1898 had published a study on the concept of social facilitation (Moscovici, 2000). His study was concerned with developing concrete experiences along with developing different aspects of human nature. They were able to focus on and discover the concrete cause and effect of relations, which are able to make an impact on the human behavior across the globe. This led to further development in other fields of psychology such as behavioral and moral psychology (Moscovici, 2000). Functionalism Although it does not have any direct link with social psychology, but functionalism does have a relationship with functionalism. The core themes of functionalism are: • Functional psychology is related with neurotic operations of a human brain through mental activity and it has a direct correlation with biological and evolutionary forces. • Neurotic processes can also help in the cooperation and coordination along with the needs of organism and the human environment. • The human mind and body can never be stated as different because functionalism is certainly concerned with research on mental activities and its direct relationship with human perception and behavior. The above factors prove that functionalism does interlink with certain aspects of social psychology and the subject matter of psychology was that psychology has consisted of all matters, which included biological, psychological and social processes. This also proves the mental processes of humans in a systematic and accurate manner. This study does not focus on mere consciousness rather it focuses on the purpose of consciousness and human behavior. There was no single form of functionalism. Functionalism had influenced the educational system and it was not only focused on educational psychology as it had integrated the functions of genetic and child’s psychology. Structuralism on the other hand was mainly concerned with experimental psychology. Dynamic Psychology This theory was an attempt to explain and elaborate the human behavior by interlinking various theories of motivation, perception, learning and thinking. It had a massive impact on the field of social psychology, had a rather functionalist approach towards human psychology, and was very different from the behaviorist approach to psychology. The views of some psychologists on introspection are very intriguing, as he has stated that introspection can provide privileged access to our mental state and is not dependent on other sources of human knowledge (Heider, 2007). Social Cultural Perspective According to Leonard (1989), the social cultural perspective stresses on the importance of social norms and cultures. It proposes that humans cannot directly imagine surviving and sustaining in an environment without engaging with each other. It proposes that human learns various norms and cultures of society by interacting with each other. Evolutionary Perspective This theory argues that social and cultural behaviors, which have been developed through genetic and inherent behaviors, do play a very important role in human behavior (Heidbreder, 1953). This concept emphasizes on the importance of biological and genetic transmission, which is spread across generations and explains human behavior and perception. Social Cognition It supports an information-processing model which is based on social and cultural behavior and which judges and interprets the behavior of others. This theory emphasizes on the fact that it is the task of the humans to understand and assess the importance of natural behavior and guide their fellow humans to follow those specific principles that can be assimilated and accommodated across their environment (Bem, 1972). Persuasion According to Sison (2008), persuasion is a method in psychology that focuses and guides people towards adoption of a specific attitude, behavior and idea from a rational and emotional means. It focuses on strong appeals rather than mere coercion or cohesiveness. Different variables have been proven to influence the importance of persuasion and can be presented in five specific categories, which are as follows: • The communicator • The message • The Audience • The Channel • The context Self-concept It is a concept, which relates to the specific sum of beliefs that people have regarding themselves. This concept is generally made up of a few cognitive molecules that are called “self-schemata” which proposes that people have different beliefs and perceptions regarding themselves that can guide them regarding the process of self-reliant information. Furthermore, the self-concept integrates the fields of social psychology and human behavior and it is due to this reason social psychologists have developed a specific interest in self-concept. Self-concept is further divided into a cognitive component, which is known as self-schemata, and an evaluative component that is known as self-esteem (Markus, 1977). Pro-social Behavior As stated by Moscovici (2006), pro-social behavior is a very important area in social psychology. They can be defined as specific behaviors that involve cooperating and coordinating with fellow human beings. Researchers and experts on social psychology have stated that it is very difficult to find out what influences human beings to help each other and what influences them to refuse to help each other. Pro-social behavior focuses on such ambiguity and tries to elaborate the reason that propels such behavior by other human beings. Crisis in Social Psychology In the 1960’s, social psychology had reached a point of crisis. The core reason for this was on the focus of laboratory experimentation and to focus on whether attitudes and perceptions ever predicted human behavior and how did social science had an impact on the study. It was during a period when a social and cultural phenomenon was indirectly provoking the relevance and reliability of self and personality in social psychology. Although the study of social psychology did reach to a specific level of maturity in the later years but this period of crisis and intervention did have a major impact on the study (Shields, 1975). Applicability of Social Psychology Research in the recent past by various scholars and researchers has indicated that Social psychology does play a highly significant role in the transformation and development of society anywhere across the globe. There is certainly a strong connection between human culture and the society we live in. It is certainly very important for us as human beings to develop certain traits and ideas, which can create a balance of thoughts. Due to the development and acceptability of social psychology at the mass level, various controversial issues such as Terrorism, Politics, Sex, religion and crime have been openly considered and discussed between humans around the world, which a few years back were quite rare. The freedom which social psychology has brought in the modern era has allowed a massive transition for various individuals in various capacities. Social scientists have strongly emphasized on a concrete fact that individuals in a particular society have to understand different social and cultural challenges and make them into practical plans that can help them to eliminate or at least mitigate the challenges, which have consistently affected the modern world. These viewpoints can certainly aid humans of various social and cultural backgrounds in the sociological process and it can also help them to decide what they stand for and how it can facilitate them in the long run. Integration of Social and Communal Thoughts The most important aspect about Social psychology is that this it tries to have a positive impact on the society, culture, environment and other members of the social community. By integrating the concept of sociology and psychology, it develops a sense of social and moral ethics, which has also been one of the key issues for the stereotypical threat that can be analyzed, viewed and the implantation and execution of such issues is vital (Reicher, 2006). Conclusion Social psychology does play a crucial role specifically when focusing on the facts of ethical and moral behavior. With close cooperation and analysis, individuals are easily able to evaluate the acceptability of their mutual needs and desires and are able to find a solution to their relationship. The issue of social psychology is not a matter, which could merely be solved by social and cultural differences but by reviewing and mitigating the differences among various cultures, norms and traditions. This would not only help to understand the crucial concept but this strategy would improve the relation among humans and also enhancing mutual commitment, enabling couples to evaluate and analyze and focus upon their needs. By eliminating the traditional way of social and cultural classification, society can find innovative, more thought provoking ways to nurture the relationship between humans and focus upon on how humans are able to communicate with each other, and it focuses on synergizing their roles and traits on a much bigger scale. References Bem, D. (1972). "Self-Perception Theory." Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 6: 1–62. Heidbreder, E. (1953). "Robert Sessions Woodworth 1869-1962." British Journal of Psychology. 54: 199–200. Leonard, Z. (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. Psychology Press. Heider, J. (2007). "Improving the Predictive Validity of the Implicit Association Test" North American Journal of Psychology, 9: 53–76. Moscovici, S. (2000). Social Representations: Explorations in social psychology. G. Duveen (Ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press. Markus, H. (1977). "Self-Schemata and Processing Information." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, (35): 63–78 Moscovici, S. (2006). The Making of Modern Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Reicher, S. (2006). "Rethinking the psychology of tyranny: The BBC prison study." British Journal of Social Psychology. 45 (1): 1–40. Sison, A. (2008). The Dynamics of Persuasion. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum. Schacter, D. (2007). Psychology. Worth Publishers, pp. 26–7. Shields, A. (1975). “Ms. Pilgrim’s Progress: The contributions of Leta Stetter Hollingworth to the psychology of women.” American Psychologist, 30, 852-858. Read More