Social psychology is the branch of psychology that studies social interactions, their causes, and effects on the individual. Try to know how people are influenced by their social environment. The main premise of social psychology is that part of human behavior is regulated by certain social norms, which can be present even when we are alone.
Therefore, our way of acting would arise from the mixture of our mental states with the social situations in which we find ourselves immersed. This discipline is responsible for studying many different phenomena, such as the influence of the group on the individual, the factors that influence persuasion, altruism, friendships and even love. What does social psychology study?
Object of study Social psychology is a discipline that uses scientific methods to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of each individual are influenced by the presence of other people. This discipline tries to understand how our individual behaviors are modified by the environment in which they take place. We behave in one way or another depending on who we are with, what our role is in a group or how we perceive ourselves in relation to others.
Social psychology also tries to understand the way we see other people, and how this can change our behavior. The idea is not to understand our way of acting at an academic level, but to learn to modify behaviors and mitigate the negative effects of groups on us. For example, one of the areas in which social psychology has focused most in recent years is on understanding why young people start smoking or drinking despite being aware of the dangers of these behaviors.
If it is possible to understand how the reference group influences these situations, it will be possible to reduce the appearance of this problem. Areas of Social Psychology Social psychology potentially encompasses the study of any field in which the influence of another person or group may exist. Therefore , the number of subjects that can be examined from this discipline are almost infinite.
However, in practice there are a certain number of areas on which research in this discipline has focused. Next we will briefly see what the most important of them consist of. Conformity What leads us to act in the same way as our friends or relatives?
Why do some individuals tend to follow social norms all the time, while others rebel against them? What factors influence our decisions about whether we will behave according to what the group expects of us or not? Conformity is a type of social influence that implies a change of belief or behavior in such a way that it fits better with a reference group.
Its study is one of the most important areas of all social psychology. Obedience Obedience is a form of social influence in which an individual acts in response to an order given to him by another person, who is usually an authority figure for him. It is assumed that, for there to really be obedience, the subject would not have acted in the same way if the order had not existed.
This field of study had its main boom after the Second World War, when an attempt was made to understand how the horrors perpetrated in Nazi Germany could have occurred at the hands of people who in other contexts would have been able to lead a completely normal life. Self-concept Although it may seem strange at first glance , social psychology also studies our self-concept. It is about the way we perceive ourselves, our beliefs about how we really are.
The key is that this view of who we are is heavily influenced by our peer groups. Discrimination Another of the fields most studied by social psychology is that of discrimination, based on factors such as sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or country of origin. Almost all forms of discrimination are based on stereotypes and prejudices, which stem from the way we perceive different groups of people.
Biases include cognitive (thought), emotional, and behavioral components. Its study is essential to learn to alleviate its worst effects and to understand why they are formed. Personal Relationships What makes us form a lasting friendship with one person rather than another?
Why do we fall in love, and how does this feeling develop? How is the relationship with our parents different from the one we have, for example, with our boss? Social psychology tries to answer all these questions and many more.
The type of relationships we develop and the way they evolve is greatly influenced by the social context in which we live. Therefore, understanding this influence is essential to understand one of the most important aspects of our lives. Social behaviors Why do some people help strangers even at the risk of their own lives, while others assault and attack others without provocation?
Understanding why we behave in a certain way with other people is one of the most important fields of study in all of social psychology. Representatives of social psychology Many have been the scientists and researchers who have contributed to the development of social psychology as a science. Below we will look at some of the most important.
Floyd Allport Allport is considered one of the founders of experimental social psychology. This is due, in part, to its theoretical rigor and its emphasis on measuring all variables as best as possible. He is also known for writing the book "Social Psychology", which went on to get 13 reissues over the next 50 years after its publication.
Solomon Asch This social psychologist is especially known for his experiments on conformity. In a laboratory setting, he showed that most people would be able to change their opinion to one they know to be wrong in order to agree with a reference group. It also inspired some research on obedience.
Leon Festinger The most important contribution of this psychologist was the theory of cognitive dissonance. It would be a discomfort caused by an inconsistency between our behavior and our beliefs. According to this author, much of what we do is aimed at reducing our cognitive dissonances.
Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin was an early proponent of dynamic inquiry and is considered by many to be one of the founders of modern social psychology. His main theory was that our behavior is determined by both internal and social factors, which we must learn to separate in order to understand people. Stanley Milgram Milgram He is especially known for his experiments on obedience to authority, which have even been represented in several films and documentaries and made him become one of the most famous social psychologists in history.
However, he also made other contributions to the field such as the small world theory.
