What is Social Psychology
Social Psychology and the Understanding of Social Behavior
The events that occurred on September 11 in general, and Rick Rescorlaʼs actions in particular, raise many questions about why things happened the way they did. In the aftermath of 9/11, many questioned the motives of the hijackers (offi cially and unoffi cially). It puzzles us when we try to fi gure out why 19 young men would sacrifi ce themselves to murder 3,000 total strangers. What internal and social forces can possibly explain such behavior? We also marvel at the behavior of people like Rick Rescorla.
Why did he run back into the burning south tower to save people in need? It causes us to question whether we ourselves would have the courage to do such a thing.
Most of us are content with coming up with so-called commonsense explanations for events such as 9/11. For example, we label the hijackers as “evil,” or “disturbed,” or just plain “nuts.” We conclude that Rick Rescorla was a special person imbued with qualities that allowed him to do what he did in the face of death. However, as is often the case, such simple, commonsense explanations do not give us the fi nal answers to our questions.
Behavior is simply much too complex to be explained in overly simplistic terms. This is why we turn to science to help us better understand and explain events such as 9/11.
One science that can help us make sense out of the things that happen to us and around us is psychology, which is the study of behavior and the motives and cognitions that underlie that behavior. By studying “abnormal psychology,” “personality psychology,” and other areas of psychology, we can begin to piece together rational explanations for events such as 9/11. One branch of psychology can give us a unique perspective on behavior and perhaps help us best understand events that occur to us and around us: social psychology. Social psychology is the scientifi c study of how individuals think and feel about, interact with,
The events that occurred on September 11 in general, and Rick Rescorlaʼs actions in particular, raise many questions about why things happened the way they did. In the aftermath of 9/11, many questioned the motives of the hijackers (offi cially and unoffi cially). It puzzles us when we try to fi gure out why 19 young men would sacrifi ce themselves to murder 3,000 total strangers. What internal and social forces can possibly explain such behavior? We also marvel at the behavior of people like Rick Rescorla.
Why did he run back into the burning south tower to save people in need? It causes us to question whether we ourselves would have the courage to do such a thing.
Most of us are content with coming up with so-called commonsense explanations for events such as 9/11. For example, we label the hijackers as “evil,” or “disturbed,” or just plain “nuts.” We conclude that Rick Rescorla was a special person imbued with qualities that allowed him to do what he did in the face of death. However, as is often the case, such simple, commonsense explanations do not give us the fi nal answers to our questions.
Behavior is simply much too complex to be explained in overly simplistic terms. This is why we turn to science to help us better understand and explain events such as 9/11.
One science that can help us make sense out of the things that happen to us and around us is psychology, which is the study of behavior and the motives and cognitions that underlie that behavior. By studying “abnormal psychology,” “personality psychology,” and other areas of psychology, we can begin to piece together rational explanations for events such as 9/11. One branch of psychology can give us a unique perspective on behavior and perhaps help us best understand events that occur to us and around us: social psychology. Social psychology is the scientifi c study of how individuals think and feel about, interact with,