Social Psychology

Social Psychology

According to Myers (2008, p. xv) social psychology is "the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another, and the application of the principles of social psychology in everyday life." This branch of psychology is relatively new but is different from other branches of psychology such as sociology or personality psychology. However, this science is firmly rooted as an empirical science because research is done through observation.

One of the biggest parts of social psychology is how we view and what ideas we have about ourselves. Our perception of ourselves has a great influence on our behavior. In some cases, people have a low opinion of themselves and their ability. This inhibits desire to challenge and succeed. Other people have fantasy type images of themselves that may not be realistic and may cause a loss of how to act in society. Still have others have tremendous belief in their own ability and are very competitive.

Another part of social psychology is the study of how outside societal influences affect people. These influences include cultural influences and group influences. Often these forces are strong enough to control the behavior of individuals.

Social psychology also attempts to examine how undesirable negative aspects of environment and society work influencing individuals to want to help or want to destroy. Also conversely how positive influences affect behavioral attitudes and actions.

Finally, social psychology examines how to implement what is know about social behavior in society to bring about changes that result in good or beneficial behavior.

The Big Ideas in Social Psychology

Myers (2008) writes that one idea in social psychology is human beings build their own social reality from their thinking or perception. This thinking or perception is greatly influenced by our social institutions. This influence causes a group-think mentality and can be dangerous. In addition, behavior forms from the disposition of individuals. Biological needs and wants are another part of what determines behavior. Although social psychology is a young field, the basic mission in the research is a practical application of the results of experimentation.

Differences with Other Branches of Psychology

According to Myers (2008), Social Psychology is different from the field of Sociology because social psychology uses experiments on individuals to acquire information rather than on groups as sociology does. Social psychology also differs from personality psychology because personality psychology emphasizes what is different from individual to individual whereas social psychology looks at how individuals interact with each other and the effect that produces.

Research Methods

Myers (2008) reports that social psychology as any empirical science starts with theories about behavior that organize what is observed into testable hypotheses. The predicted outcomes of these tests are realistic predictions. Social scientists often use correlation studies in real settings in their research. Each person observing people and behavior functions as an amateur social research psychologist. The difference between a layperson and a true social research psychologist is that professionals are much more systematic about acquiring data and facts. This research is in small detail to determine the cause and effects in behavior.

Social psychology studies topics like behavior of girls and boys based on the context of performance because of gender stereotyping in test models. This study evaluates the difference in performance between males and females in relation to the context of the work situations. The study shows that men do not suffer the same problems as men in a given minority situation like policewomen or male nurses. Another current topic of research is the relation of social influence and social justice.

Social psychology according to Myers (2008) may be thought of as common sense because we are all amateur social psychologists. However, professional social psychologists study in small detail to get the root cause and effect relationship of behavior. They also study individual social behavior and group effect on individuals rather than group behavior. This focus differentiates this science from other branches like personality or sociology sciences. Certainly, social psychology is intricate because behavior is also intricate in the many influences both externally and internally that result in behavior.

References

Crisp (2008). Current research in social psychology: an electronic journal. [ISSN1088-7423], Retrieved September 10, 2008 from http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.html

Myers, D. G. (2008). Social psychology. 9th edition, McGraw-Hill