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Social Psychology is usually considered a subfield of either Psychology or Sociology , though there are differences depending on which discipline we are referring to. Some of these differences are organizational in nature. Psychological and sociological social psychologists tend to publish in different journals. Other differences include the type of processes emphasized by the respective disciplines. Psychological social psychologists tend take an interactional approach to human social behavior which emphasizes factors both within the person ( Cognition , affect, Motives , Neurophysiology , and Personality traits) and the immediate Social Situation . Sociological social psychologists tend to emphasize processes outside of the person at a more distant Macro -level, such as social structure and a more immediate Micro -level, such as social interaction. Both include the use of the individual and the group as units of analysis in their research. HISTORY The discipline of social psychology began at the dawn of the twentieth century. Landmark moments include the publication of Charles Horton Cooley 's "Human Nature and Social Order" in 1902, which sought to explain the social order by use of the concept of a Looking-glass Self . The first textbooks in social psychology would be published six years later by E. A. Ross and William McDougall . John Stuart Mill , Comte and others laid the foundation for social psychology by asserting that human Social Cognition and behavior could and should be studied scientifically like any other Natural Science . Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon 's Crowd Psychologies were also fundamental. RELEVANT ACADEMIC FIELDS Subfields of social psychology Social psychological work can be approached with the interests and the emphases of both psychology and sociology in mind. As a result, the discipline can be split into at least two general subfields, which concentrate on the relative importance of some subjects over others. (House, 1977)
Relation to other fields Social psychology has close ties with the other social sciences, especially Sociology and Psychology . It also has very strong ties to the field of Social Philosophy .
THE CONCERNS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY General research interests Social psychology attempts to understand the relationship between minds, groups, and behaviors in three general ways. First, it tries to see how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are ''influenced'' by the '''actual, imagined, or implied presence of other(s)''' (Allport 3). This includes social perception, social interaction, and the many kinds of social influence (like trust, power, and persuasion). Gaining insight into the social psychology of persons involves looking at the influences that individuals have on the ''beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors'' of other individuals, as well as the influence that ''groups'' have on individuals. This aspect of social psychology asks questions like:
Second, it tries to understand the influence that individual perceptions and behaviors have upon the behavior of groups. This includes looking at things like ''group productivity in the workplace'' and ''group decision making''. It looks at questions like:
Third, and finally, social psychology tries to understand groups themselves as behavioral entities, and the relationships and influences that one group has upon another group (Michener 5). It asks questions like:
In European textbooks there is also fourth level called the "ideological" level. It studies the societal forces that influence the human psyche. Specific research interests Some of the basic topics of interest in social psychology are:
RESEARCH METHODS AND THEORETICAL ISSUES Social psychologists rely foremost on Experimentation , usually by performing tests upon a Sample of persons from a wider Population . Social psychologists make use of both Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies. ''Quantitative methods'' include Surveys , controlled Experiment s, and Mathematical Modeling , with some emphasis upon Correlational Research . Controlled experimentation requires the manipulation of one or more Independent Variable s in order to examine its effect on a Dependent Variable . Also required is the experimental control of potential confounding influences, known as Extraneous Variable s. Social psychologists typically use random assignment of participants and a control group that resembles the experimental groups in all respects other than the independent variable. When experiments take this form, it tends to mitigate the effects of potential confounds. Controlled experiments are attractive for use in social psychology because they are high in Internal Validity , meaning that they are free from the influence of extraneous variables, and so are more likely to accurately indicate a causal relationship. However, the small samples used in controlled experiments are low in External Validity , or the degree to which the results can be generalized the larger population. Social psychologists utilize Survey research when they are interested in results that are high in external validity. Surveys use different forms of Random Sampling (simple, stratified, clustered) to obtain a sample or respondents that are representative of a population. This method of subject selection increases the chances that the results from a survey study are generalizable to the population in question. On the other hand, surveys are low in internal validity because they rely on correlational analysis, or the strength and direction of the relationship between variables. Because surveys do not systematically manipulate variables or control for confounds, the nature or direction of a potential causal relationship is unknown. However, new statistical methods like Structural Equation Modeling are being used to test for potential causal relationships in correlational data. ''Qualitative methods'' include Naturalistic Observation and field research, Participant Observation , Content Analysis , Discourse Analysis , Ethnomethodology , and Etogenia . Also available to the social psychologist is the close examination of existing scientific literature, which is called a Meta-analysis . Observational methods like Participant Observation are sometimes employed by social psychologists. These methods have very little internal or external validity and are used mainly to generate theory and hypotheses for later testing through experimental or survey research. Many researchers emphasize the importance of a Multimethodological approach to social research, drawing from both qualitative and quantitative approaches. (Roth, 1987) Underlying issues In social psychology, as in any other discipline, there will be a number of underlying philosophical predispositions in the projects of scientists. Some of these predispositions involve the nature of social knowledge itself, the nature of social reality, and the locus of human control in action (Cote and Levine, 2002; Slife and Gantt, 1999). One main and lasting crisis has been the debate over , which makes use of axiomatic presuppositions in order to explain social reality. One underlying problem for the social psychologists is whether or not their studies can or should ultimately be understood in terms of the meaning and consciousness behind social action, as with Folk Psychology , or whether or not more objective materialist and behavioral facts are to be given exclusive study. This problem is especially important for those within social psychology who study meaning and language, and for those in the sociological social psychology tradition who favor symbolic interactionism, because a rejection of the study of meanings would lead to the reclassification of such research as unempirical. Three persistent themes in the philosophy of the social sciences, and which directly affect social psychology, have been the structure-agency debate, and the related arguments over Determinism and Free Will . First, especially important among sociological social psychologists, the structure-agency debate (sometimes referred to by the terms "individualism" and "holism") involves questions about the nature of social behavior: whether it is ultimately predictable in terms of the creative volition of the individual, or is largely a product of socialization, interaction, and greater social structures. (Bunnin and Tsui-James, 2003) The concern over free will has often been posed as philosophical and methodological, and not empirical, usually in the tradition of Incompatibilism . However, some Compatibilists see the issue as itself being something which can be investigated empirically by social psychologists. The work of Benjamin Libet is one example of research that has been taken to be an empirical refutation of the notion of free will. Research ethics Social psychologists are concerned with ethical issues, and there are certain ethical controversies that are especially apparent in this area. The goal of social psychology is to understand naturally occurring cognition and behavior in a social context, but the very act of observing people in social contexts tends to influence and alter their behavior. For this reason, many social psychology experiments utilize deception to conceal or distort certain aspects of the study. Deception may include false cover stories, false participants (known as confederates or stooges), false feedback given to the participants, and so on. This practice has been challenged by some psychologists who maintain that deception under any circumstances is not ethically correct, and that other research strategies (e.g. role-playing) should be used instead. Unfortunately, research has shown that role-playing studies do not produce the same results as deception studies and this has cast doubt on their validity. In addition to deception, experimenters have at times put people into potentially uncomfortable or embarrassing situations (e.g. the Milgram Experiment ), and this has also been criticized for ethical reasons. To protect the rights and wellbeing of research participants, and at the same time discover meaningful results and insights into human behavior, virtually all social psychology research must pass an ethical review process. At most colleges and universities, this is conducted by an ethics committee or institutional review board. This group examines the proposed research to make sure that no harm is done to the participants, and that the benefits of the study outweigh any possible risks or discomforts to people taking part in the study. Furthermore, a process of informed consent is often used to make sure that volunteers know what will happen in the experiment and understand that they are allowed to quit the experiment at any time. A '''debriefing''' is typically done at the conclusion of the experiment in order to reveal any deceptions used and generally make sure that the participants are unharmed by the procedures. Today, most research in social psychology involves no more risk of harm than can be expected as by routine psychological testing or normal daily activities. IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS Heuristics Heuristics - Broadly, a Heuristic is the art and science of discovery and invention. The word comes from the same Greek root as " Eureka ". In psychology heuristics seen to be are simple, efficient rules of thumb which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic Cognitive Bias es.
Persuasion Persuasion is a form of influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an Idea , Attitude , or Action by Rational and Symbolic (though not only Logical ) means. It is a Problem-solving Strategy , and relies on "appeals" rather than Force . There are four basic aspects: #The Communicator , a person whose Credibility , Expertise , Trustworthiness and Attractiveness all play a role. #The Message , possessed of varying degrees of Reason or Emotion , is either one-sided or two sided, and is emphasized by Primacy or Recency . #The Channel , whither it be Interpersonal or Media based, passive or active in nature. #The Audience , possessed of a wide variety of Demographics and Preferences .
Group dynamics Group Dynamics is the study of how individual Behavior s differs depending on individuals' current or prospective connections to a Sociological group. Social Facilitation was traditionally seen to be the tendency for people to be aroused into better performance of simple tasks when under the eye of others rather than while they are alone. Complex tasks are often performed in an inferior manner in such situations however. Social facilitation has been redefined as the increased likelihood of the individual performing already likely tasks when in the company of others. This affect has been shown to be strongest among those who are most concerned about the opinions of others, and when the individual is being watched by someone they do not know, and/or cannot see well. Social Loafing is the tendency of individuals to Slack when work is pooled and individual performance is not being evaluated. A good example of social facilitation is a foot race (where the individual runs faster when not alone) as opposed to a group tug-of-war (where the work is pooled, and an individuals lack of performance is hard to notice). Deindividuation is the phenomenon of relinquishing one's sense of Self-awareness or Identity . This can happen as a result of becoming part of a Group , such as an Army or Mob , but also as a result of Meditation . It can have quite destructive effects, sometimes making people more likely to commit a crime, like stealing (Diener, 1976) or even over-enforce the law, such as police in riot situations. or Liberal position, thus leading to a " Consensus " that is totally false. The risky shift occurs when the group collectively agrees on a course of action that is likewise more extreme than they would have made if asked individually. Risky shift is one side of a more general phenomenon called Group Polarization . Groupthink - In a groupthink situation, each member of the group attempts to conform his or her opinions to what they believe to be the Consensus of the group. In a general sense this seems to be a rational way to approach the situation. However this results in a situation in which the group ultimately agrees upon an action which each member might individually consider to be unwise (the Risky Shift ). , and Social Leadership . Task leadership focuses on organization, standards and goals. Social leadership offers support and help to others, fosters teamwork and mediates conflict. Most Organization s include aspects of both leadership styles within the Hierarchy of their Management . Cognitive bias Cognitive Bias includes any of a wide range of Observer Effect s identified in Cognitive Science and social psychology including very basic Statistics , social Attribution , and memory errors that are common to all Human beings. Biases drastically skew the reliability of Anecdotal and Legal Evidence . Social biases, usually called Attributional Bias es affect our everyday social interactions. And biases related to Probability and decision making significantly affect the Scientific Method which is deliberately designed to minimize such Bias from any one observer. See Cognitive Psychology and List Of Cognitive Biases for more information.
Other cognitions and internal influences
MAJOR THEORIES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Attribution theory Attribution Theory - Attribution theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain (or attribute) the behavior of others. The theory divides the way people attribute causes to events into two types.
According to (does the person behave in a manner unique to the situation, or do they often act this way?), Consensus (would others behave this way in such a situation?), and Consistency (does the person generally behave this way given this situation?). Behaviorism Reinforcement Theory understands social behavior to be caused by Classical and Operant Conditioning (reinforcement). In radical form, it presumes that all social cognition starts out blank and is created by conditioning. Evolutionary theory Evolutionary Theory attempts to explain the actions of persons in the context of ''gene transmission'' across generations. Evolutionary Psychology may take the cognitive perspective and form hypotheses about function and design by acknowledging the evolutionary causal process that built these cognitive mechanisms. Social psychologists who use an evolutionary perspective, such as Douglas Kenrick and Jeffry Simpson , address many of the same topics as scientists who identify as evolutionary psychologists, but tend to give more attention to more traditional social psychology topics, such as social influence, person perception, and intergroup relations. Symbolic interactionism and views social interactions to be constant flux and study it without reference to a larger social structure. Process SI researchers tend to use qualitative and ethnographic methods. Cognitive psychology Cognitive Psychology is the Psychological Science that studies Cognition , the Mental Process es that underlie Behavior , including Thinking , Reasoning , Decision Making , and to some extent Motivation and Emotion . Cognitive psychology covers a broad range of research domains, examining questions about the workings of Memory , Attention , Perception , Knowledge Representation , Reasoning , Creativity and Problem Solving . Other theories in social psychology
WELL-KNOWN CASES, STUDIES, AND RELATED WORKS Famous experiments in social psychology include:
SEE ALSO
Further reading #http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Social_Psychology References
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