Overview of Social Psychology
An Overview of Social Psychology
We have all been involved in a situation, at some point, that has left us scratching our heads as to what the hell just happened. Maybe it was someone else’s behavior or maybe it was our own behavior that was outside the norm of acceptable social behavior. Social psychology is the school of psychology that studies the way people behave in social settings. Social psychologists deal with the factors that lead us to behave in a given way in the presence of others, and look at the conditions under which certain behavior/actions and feelings occur (McLeod, 2007). It aims to identify the mental image that people have of themselves. Do some people have limited social abilities, and if so, what in their past can this be attributed to? How much of our thoughts and opinions are influenced by what others think? Is it normal to act one way in private and a totally different way when you’re in a group environment? These are just some of the questions that can be explained with social psychology. In this paper, I will cover the way social psychology came to be its own area of study, the doctors that are considered the “founding fathers” of social psychology, and some of the basic observations that brought about the questions that laid the foundation for what social psychology is today.
The roots of psychology can be dated back to Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle believed that people were naturally sociable, which made it easier to live together, stating that, “Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.” While Plato felt that people were only sociable based on their own personal knowledge and what is common practice in society. One of his quotes states, “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” Social psychology is one of many branches that grew from these roots. Webster’s
We have all been involved in a situation, at some point, that has left us scratching our heads as to what the hell just happened. Maybe it was someone else’s behavior or maybe it was our own behavior that was outside the norm of acceptable social behavior. Social psychology is the school of psychology that studies the way people behave in social settings. Social psychologists deal with the factors that lead us to behave in a given way in the presence of others, and look at the conditions under which certain behavior/actions and feelings occur (McLeod, 2007). It aims to identify the mental image that people have of themselves. Do some people have limited social abilities, and if so, what in their past can this be attributed to? How much of our thoughts and opinions are influenced by what others think? Is it normal to act one way in private and a totally different way when you’re in a group environment? These are just some of the questions that can be explained with social psychology. In this paper, I will cover the way social psychology came to be its own area of study, the doctors that are considered the “founding fathers” of social psychology, and some of the basic observations that brought about the questions that laid the foundation for what social psychology is today.
The roots of psychology can be dated back to Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle believed that people were naturally sociable, which made it easier to live together, stating that, “Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.” While Plato felt that people were only sociable based on their own personal knowledge and what is common practice in society. One of his quotes states, “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” Social psychology is one of many branches that grew from these roots. Webster’s
References: McLeod, Saul. "Social Psychology." - Simply Psychology. Simply Psychology, 2007. Web. 04 Aug. 2013 Farr, Robert M. "The Roots of Modern Social Psychology." Pins.org. Psychology in Society (PINS), 1996. Web. 08 Aug. 2013 Jahoda, Gustav. A History of Social Psychology: From the Eighteenth-century Enlightenment to the Second World War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Cherry, Kendra. "Kurt Lewin Biography." About.com Psychology. About.com Inc., n.d. 2013. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. "Social Psychology/Introduction." - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2013