What is social psychology?

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.

Social psychology: definition

The Social psychology is a branch within psychology that analyzes the processes of a psychological nature that influence the way a society functions, as well as the way social interactions are carried out. In short, it is the social processes that modulate the personality and the characteristics of each person.

Social psychology is also often described as the science that inquires about phenomena social, trying to unravel the laws and principles by which the coexistence between humans. Thus, this branch of psychology is in charge of investigating the different social organizations, trying to extract patterns of behavior of the people who make up the group, their roles and the set of situations that modulate their behaviour.

What exactly does social psychology study?

The object of study of social psychology are, as we have said, the influence ofSocial relations about people's behavior and mental states. To this end, one of the key theories in this discipline is that of symbolic interactionism. One of his predecessors, George H. Mead, developed an in-depth study on language, gestures and behavior, as products of relationships interpersonal relationships that allow life in community and, specifically, their personal interactions with expensive.

Obviously, in our societies there are organizations and institutions formed around certain sociocultural conditions that are a product of the interaction between people. This being the case, it is not difficult to imagine that there is 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 influence (bidirectional) with social thought.

And, of course, another element that social psychology takes into account is the historical context in which the events occur. psychological, since behavior always occurs on a series of material and symbolic precedents that influence what we make.

Representatives and researchers of social psychology

We are going to meet 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 various aspects that related the role of the subject in the self of a society and cultureIn addition to not abandoning his curiosity for 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 forerunner of a line of research that related cultural, institutional, religious, material and technical influences on the psychology of the individual.

Among the contributions of Karl Marx to the beginnings of Social Psychology we find the fact of highlighting that what we think and feel is historically constructed, it does not arise from within us in a isolated.

3. The American School: Mead, Allport and Lewin

To the two intellectuals mentioned above, 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 Y 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 the Gestalt Psychology. He is furthermore the author of the Field theory, which explains that individual variations of behavior in relation to the norm are strongly conditioned by the struggle between the subjective perceptions of the individual and the psychological environment in which they are find.

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

Being social psychology a very broad subdiscipline that addresses multiple interaction processes between the individual and society, It is not surprising that many psychological schools have based much 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

The psychoanalysis, whose highest representative is Sigmund Freud, is one of the most traditional schools. Psychoanalysis employs some principles of social psychology as the discipline that inquires about collective drives and repressions, which emerge from inside the unconscious of each person to later influence the collective and condition the social.

However, it must be borne in mind 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, the behaviorism conceives social psychology insofar as 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.

3. Postmodern psychology

The postmodern psychology tries to analyze through social psychology those elements that influence the diversification and fragmentation of society.

4. Group psychology

From the approach of the group psychology, every collective forms a unit of analysis with its own particular idiosyncrasy. Consequently, social psychology tries to carry out a weighted study between the social and depersonalized and between the subjective and the particular.

Famous experiments in social psychology

The best known experiments, research and studies in the field of social psychology are the following:

1) Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

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 assess the extent to which Exposure to violent content in the media influences the aggressive behavior of the viewers.

You can learn more about this experiment by accessing this post:

• "The Theory of Personality, by Albert Bandura"

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 the one that university students acquired for a few days the role of inmates and guards in a jail artificial. 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 on the power of the social situation.

Discover all the details of this experiment by reading this article:

• "The Stanford Prison Experiment, by Philip Zimbardo"

3) Asch, Sherif, Milgram ...

Other notable experiments such as the Solomon Asch experiment, the Thieves' Cave experiment Sherif's or Milgram's experiment are also of crucial importance in the field of psychology. Social.

In an article, we explain these (and other) experiments in detail. You can check it:

• "The 10 Most Disturbing Psychological Experiments in History"

Bibliographic references:

• Allport, G.W. (1968). The historical background of modern social psychology. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.) The handbook of social psychology. (2nd ed.) Vol. l.
• White, A (1988). Five traditions of Social Psychology. Madrid: Morata.
• Costa, M. & López, E. (1986). Community Health. Barcelona: Martínez Roca.
• Forsyth, D.R (2006). Group dynamics. Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadworth.
• Moscovici, S.; Markova, I. (2006). The Making of Modern Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
• Rueda, J. M. (1992). Psychosocial intervention. The community psychologist. Psychosocial intervention, 1, 27-41.
• Uchelen, C. (2000). Individualism, collectivism, and community psychology. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman, Handbook of Community Psychology, (65-78). New York: Kluwer Academic.