When we collect information about the teachings and theories that the so-called Social psychology we can realize that this is a discipline that began to be recognized and developed as such at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States.
The Social psychology It is a branch within psychology that analyzes the psychological processes that influence the way a society functions, as well as the way in which social interactions are carried out In short, it is social processes that modulate the personality and characteristics of each person.
Social psychology is also often described as the science that inquires about social phenomena, trying to unravel the laws and principles by which coexistence between humans is governed. Thus, this branch of psychology is responsible for investigating the different social organizations, trying to extract behavioral patterns of the people who make up the group, their roles and the set of situations that modulate their behavior.
What exactly does social psychology study?
The object of study of social psychology is, as we have said, the influence of Social relations on the behavior and mental states of people. To this end, one of the key theories in this discipline is that of symbolic interactionism One of his predecessors, George H. Mead, developed a profound study of language, gestures and behavior, as products of the interpersonal relationships that allow community life and, specifically, their personal face-to-face interactions.
Obviously, in our societies there are organizations and institutions built around certain sociocultural conditions that are a product of the interaction between people. This being so, it is not difficult to imagine that there is a collective consciousness that makes it easier for us to understand these social articulations.
Social psychology, then, studies observable psychological and social processes, which helps us understand how individuals act when we are part of groups or societies Social psychology also encompasses the study of personal attitudes and the (bidirectional) influence with social thinking.
And, of course, another element that social psychology takes into account is the historical context in which psychological events occur, given that behavior always occurs based on a series of material and symbolic precedents that influence what we do.
Representatives and researchers of social psychology
Let’s get to know some of the most prominent representatives of this field of psychology.
1. August Comte
One of the main representatives of social psychology due to its relevance in the emergence of this discipline, is the French sociologist Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857). This researcher was the pioneer in proposing concepts such as positive morale and wonder about several aspects that related the role of the subject in the self of a society and culture in addition to not abandoning his curiosity about the psychobiological foundations that also influence human behavior.
2. Karl Marx
Another of the precursor authors of the discipline of social psychology was the German philosopher, economist and sociologist Karl Marx (1818 – 1883). This fruitful intellectual He began to suggest certain concepts and elements that would serve, after his death, to establish the foundations of social psychology For example, he was the precursor of a line of research that related cultural, institutional, religious, material and technical influences on the psychology of the individual.
Among Karl Marx’s contributions to the beginnings of Social Psychology we find the fact that he emphasized that what we think and feel is historically constructed, it does not emerge from within us in isolation.
To the two intellectuals mentioned before, we can add the enormous influence of those who, this time, consider themselves the founding fathers of social psychology Three American psychologists: George Mead, Floyd Allport and Kurt Lewin
The last of them, Kurt Lewin (in the image), is considered the architect of the so-called Modern Social Psychology, a school that ultimately built the foundations on which Gestalt Psychology would be built. He is also the author of the Field Theory which explains that individual variations in behavior in relation to the norm are strongly conditioned by the struggle between the individual’s subjective perceptions and the psychological environment in which they find themselves.
So Lewin concludes that human behavior can only be knowable within its own environment, in its environment Behavior, then, must be understood as a myriad of interdependent variables.
Psychological schools that draw on social psychology
Social psychology being a very broad subdiscipline that addresses multiple interaction processes between the individual and society, It is not surprising that many psychological schools have based a large part of their teachings and its developments to it.
For example. We can find different approaches in psychoanalysis, behaviorism, postmodern psychology and group psychology.
1. Psychoanalysis
He psychoanalysis, whose main representative is Sigmund Freud, is one of the most traditional schools. Psychoanalysis uses some principles of social psychology as the discipline that inquires about collective drives and repressions, which emerge from within the unconscious of each person to subsequently influence the collective and condition the social.
However, it must be taken into account that psychoanalysis is not part of social psychology nor is it based on the epistemology of scientific psychology in general.
2. Behaviorism
On the other hand, behaviorism conceives social psychology to the extent that it provides us with data on social influence. Behaviorism focuses on observe and analyze individual behavior taking into account the influence of the social and cultural environment
The postmodern psychology tries to analyze through social psychology those elements that influence the diversification and fragmentation of society
4. Psychology of groups
From the perspective of group psychology, every group forms a unit of analysis with its own particular idiosyncrasy. Consequently, social psychology tries to carry out a study balanced between the social and depersonalized and between the subjective and particular
Famous experiments in social psychology
The best-known experiments, investigations and studies in the field of social psychology are the following:
1) The Bobo Doll Experiment by Albert Bandura
In this studio It was shown that violence and aggression are learned through imitation It was one of the pioneering studies in this area, and has been repeated to evaluate the extent to which exposure to violent content in the media influences the aggressive behavior of viewers.
You can learn more about this experiment by accessing this post:
2) The Stanford Prison Experiment, by Philip Zimbardo
One of the most controversial and famous studies in social psychology consisted of a simulated exercise in which university students acquired the role of inmates and guards in an artificial prison for a few days. Zimbardo demonstrated that, under certain circumstances, people would assume their role to the point of acting in an unethical way It is a classic study in the power of the social situation.
Discover all the details of this experiment by reading this article:
3) Asch, Sherif, Milgram…
Other notable experiments such as Solomon Asch’s experiment, Sherif’s Thieves’ Cave experiment or Milgram’s experiment also have crucial importance in the field of social psychology.
In an article, we explain these (and other) experiments in detail. You can consult it:
