Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Importance of social psychology
Psychology under social science
Importance of social psychology
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Psychology is a social science study that covers diverse subject topics and carries out different forms of research in order to understand the development and function of human beings. A scientific study focuses on people's mind and its functions especially those affecting behavior in a particular context. Psychology is divided into different branches, and each branch addresses its own form of content in relation to mental processes and behavior. Social psychology is one of the psychology branches. This subdiscipline focuses on individuals and their thoughts. Experts in this field of study focus on why an individual acts as well as reacts the way he/she does. It studies the interaction between people, but the focus is on one human being rather than many individuals. Scientists as well as psychologists study it in order to understand how individuals influence and communicate with each other. This research paper seeks to address this branch of psychology in detail by explaining its meaning, the relationship between it and other fields of psychology and the differences as well as the similarities it has with these other fields. Further, the paper will also discuss the diverse research methods that are applicable with social psychology to determine how a person affects groups of people and how these groups affect an individual.
Definition of Social Psychology
Social psychology is an in-depth study of socialization. Gordon Allport (1985) defined it a discipline that utilizes scientific methods to understand as well as explain how thoughts, feelings and behaviors of human beings are influenced by the actual, implied or imagined presence of other people (Smith & Mackie, 2000). Cantril (1934) regards it as being the scientific learning o...
... middle of paper ...
..., 31(5), 297-330.
Chadee, D. (2011). Theories in social psychology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hergenhahn, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014). An introduction to the history of psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Lubek, I., & Apfelbaum, E. (2000). A critical gaze and wistful glance at Handbook histories of social psychology: Did the successive accounts by Gordon Allport and successors historiographically succeed? Journal of The History Of The Behavioral Sciences, 36(4), 405-428.
Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Olson, M. H. & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2013). An introduction to theories of learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Smith, E. R., & Mackie, D. M. (2000). Social psychology. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Stainton, R. W. (2003). Social psychology: Experimental and critical approaches. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
D. Brett King, Wayne Viney, & William Douglas Woody, (2013). A History of Psychology, Ideas & Context. 3rd ed. United States: Pearson.
Social psychology is an empirical science that studies how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This field focuses on how individuals view and affect each other. Social psychology also produces the idea of construals which represent how a person perceives, comprehends or interprets the environment. Construals introduce the idea that people want to make themselves look good to others and they want to be seen as right. It is also said that the social setting in which people interact impacts behavior, which brings up the idea of behaviorism. Behaviorism is the idea that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.
Taylor, S. E., Peplau, L. A., & Sears, D. O. (2006). Social Psychology. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
...st century psychology : a reference handbook / 1.. Los Angeles, CA [etc]: Sage cop. 2008.ISBN/ISSN: 9781412949682 1412949688OCLC:774927767.
Myers, David G. “Chapter 14: Social Psychology.” Psychology. 10th ed. New York, NY US: Worth
Thorndike, E. L. The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler , 1905. Print
Coon, Dennis, and John O. Mitterer. Psychology: A Journey. 5th ed. Toronto: Thomson/Nelson, 2011. Print.
The central concepts following social psychology is that which dares to explain what makes people do what they do. Social psychology is the scientific analysis of how someone influences another’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Though considered to be a fairly young science, social psychology has endeavored to examine particular theories, concepts, and phenomenon that has shaped our society. As the centuries roll on, technology alongside social media, has evolved into something more sophisticated and has developed into a mechanism in which to entice and challenge social norms.
Buchanan, R. D. (2011). Research report: Doing a biography of Hans J. Eysenck. History Of Psychology, 14(2), 210-213. doi:10.1037/a0023481b
Social psychology is an empirical science that studies how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This field focuses on how individuals view and affect one another. Social psychology also produces the idea of construals which represent how a person perceives, comprehends or interprets the environment. Construals introduce the idea that people want to make themselves look good to others and they want to be seen as right. It is also said that the social setting in which people interact impacts behavior, which brings up the idea of behaviorism. Behaviorism is the idea that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.
century. In G. A. Kimble & K. Schlesinger (Eds.), Topics in the history of psychology (Vol. 2,
Crisp, R, J. Turner, R, N. (2007). Essential Social Psychology. Sage Publications Limited. London. (UK). First Edition.
Hergenhahn, B.R. (2009). Social and Theoretical Psychology: Conceptual and Historical Issues 1. An introduction to the History of Psychology. 1 (1), p1-28.
Boneau, C. A., Kimble, G. A., and Wertheimer, M. (1996) Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, Volume II. Washington D.C. and Mahwah, NJ: American Psychological Association & Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
This essay will study what social psychology actually is and the debates within the field as well as the history and origins of social psychology. In addition to this it will then continue and look at what they study within this field and what types of questions to ask and what results they gain from this.