Social Psychology - Assignment Example

According to, Baron. & Bryne, Social Psychology can be defined as the study of people’s feelings, behaviors, and thoughts as influenced by the imagined, implied, or actual presence of others. It is an empirical scientific kind of investigation. Individual behaviors, thoughts, and feelings include the psychological variables that can be measured in any human being. Variables such as social interactions, cognitive processes, environmental variables, cultural context, and biological factors shape what social Psychology is all about. This statement is true in the case that human beings are prone to social interactions around them. For example, listening to the radio, watching television, and reading newspapers influence our cultural norms in terms of cognitive processes of knowing which include, remembering, reasoning, and attending. Social psychology is all about studying human beings' high mental processes, which include memory, language, abstract thinking, problem-solving, and perception. Also, Social psychology is all about studying the environmental variables which include the external influences that affect the behavior of a human being. To add to this, there are biological factors that shape what the subject is all about, identifying some of the causes of conduct, in terms of the brain, endocrine, and nervous systems.

However, the significance of the issues discussed in “cutting edge” about social cognition and behavior is significant in the area of social psychology because it helps individuals understand how people think about, remember information, and think about others. Additionally, it helps us understand why and how people behave in certain ways in social institutions.  On the other hand, Social Neuroscience, as the “cutting edge” suggests, is the result of certain activities that take part in one’s brain. For example, having different feelings like being sad, happy, and crying among others. This kind of activity comes from one’s brain, in addition to other biological reactions or events.

From reading advice columns in several magazines and newspapers, some of the issues I found interesting are sex, fashion, and health columns. Sex columns are written by sexologists who are willing to give their own opinions on their relationships, bedroom antics, and sexuality. In such columns, details of the writers are openly displayed on the page. There are also fashion columns that try to advise people on the way they dress up as well as advice them on what and not to wear on different occasions. Lastly, is the health column that most people love to read. Such a column talks about how to eat and live healthily, mostly written by individuals practicing medicine. Therefore, Social Psychology’s main aim is to study human behaviors, in terms of social activities, and immediate and mental states. It also tries to answer questions about an individual feelings, behaviors, and thoughts that are influenced by other persons.