The Theories of Social Psychology

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Attribution theory
Self-concept theory
Self-identity theory
Social exchange theory
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Social psychology is a field of study of relations that exist between individuals and groups. Scholars in this area employ groups and individuals as units of analysis. They do this in an attempt to identify and explain how others influence behaviors, thoughts and feelings of a person. Social psychologists use various theories of cognitive and social phenomena. This paper will focus on the theories of social psychology that explain social interactions and individual behavior.

Attribution theory

The first theory is the attribution theory. Heider Fritz, Lee Ross, Kelly Harold and Jones Edward developed this theory. The theory posits that individuals associate cause to behavior and events. This association can be explained by the elements of the theory. The first element is known as locus. It refers to the cause location- the location is either external also called situational or internal also known as dispositional. This means that a person’s self-esteem is a reflection of their feelings. For instance, when a person succeeds or fails and they attribute this to the internal location. If they succeed, they feel very proud which leads to increased self-esteem but failure decreases self esteem. Some people also attribute their failure or inconsistencies in behavior to external influences rather than their personality traits (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.113).

Stability is the other element of attribution theory. In this case, it refers to whether a cause will remain the same or change in the future. This element is associated with an individual’s expectations for the future. This expectation often leads to results that are in line with the expectation. For example if a person gets into marriage and think they will not succeed in it because of the difficult challenges therein will end up failing and end up in a divorce and vice versa. This often makes an individual feel responsible for the actions.

Controllability –can a person control cause? People often feel that they are responsible for their turn of events in their lives. When a person succeeds, one feels responsible for the success and thus very proud. On the contrary, if one fails they may feel responsible for it and feel guilty about not doing enough to avoid the failure. This kind of feeling can be observed in abusive marriage. In most cases, the woman may choose to stay in an abusive marriage because they believe they are the cause of the abuse. She may be consumed by guilt and fail to leave the marriage to avoid exposing failure to the society.

Self-concept theory

Self-concept theory refers to the understanding of one self. It is further divided into two- self-scheme and self esteem. Human beings have a need to preserve their self-esteem. Therefore actions that violate one’s self concept brings about feelings of dissonance. This motivates the individual to change their behavior to restore their self-esteem. This is because a high self-esteem is desirable because it gives happiness. Thus, it is very important for people to have self-esteem and understand self. Self-knowledge is very important “in directing and regulating our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors” (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p. 103). When a person knows one self then one has the courage to venture into situations that they feel are at the level of their capabilities. This is the reason why people get into different fields such as acting, football, music, racing and so forth. Due to self-knowledge, people often excel in the fields they venture into and that are why today many people are notable for their accomplishments in different fields.

Self-concept is formed through interaction with other people and from various types of information. To begin with, an individual forms self-concept through observation of ones behavior. For example, a person who often gives out his money and time to help others will conclude that he or she is philanthropic. The behavior is voluntary and internally motivated. In this case, a person does what they want and do it for the sake of doing it. The resultant behavior feels so good because one feels a sense of accomplishment. This behavior reveals a person’s inner qualities as well as their self. On the other hand, behavior that is externally motivated does not reveal about ones inner qualities. In this case, a person behaves in a certain way because they have to or feel obligated. Such actions are not fulfilling and often people lose joy of performing them. For example, in a workplace people will work overtime if they are paid a bonus but when it is withdrawn many if not all will stop working overtime. This means that external rewards influences intrinsic motivation (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p. 100).

One can also identify self through their feelings and thoughts. This happens when the feelings are strong and a person becomes aware of them. Such a person is able at make an accurate assessment of self because feelings reveal more about a person than behavior. More importantly, feelings are private and only an individual can tell honestly, what their feelings are. A person can only know feelings such as empathy, envy even though they may mask their feelings through their behavior (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.106).

The behavior of other people affects our how a person sees him or herself. How people react towards a person serves as a mirror through which that person looks at him or herself. This means that we tend to act in response to the comments of other people to keep up with their perception about ourselves.

Self-identity theory

Self-identity theory explains how people view themselves in relation to a group. It seeks to identify why and when people identify with a certain group. Why do they choose to behave according to the norms of the groups and how they behave when they encounter people from a different group? Through self-identity theory, people categorize others and put them into categories (Meyers, 2009, p. 357). For instance, liberals, republicans, Christians, Muslims and so forth, such categories are a way of saying what one thinks of a person. Through this theory, one identifies with a certain group, which leads to a sense of belonging. People who belong to a group have a higher self-esteem because they feel the comfort and assurance the group provides. Furthermore, a person can bask in the accomplishment of group members and feel very good about it due to their similarity ((Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.204; Suls, Martin & Wheeler, 2002, p. 159). On the contrary, belonging to a group also has negative effects. This is often so because we tend to prefer our groups to others. People in an in-group often have a dislike for different groups or out-groups. The dislike may start as a prejudice and develop into hatred when belittling of out-groups continues. This negative effect of in-groups was seen clearly during the annihilation of Jews by the Nazi in Germany.

In addition to a sense of belong people in one group compare themselves with different groups. People are often biased towards their own groups. In contemporary society, younger put identify themselves according to social groups such as Goths. It is also interesting to note that when a person encounters a person whom they consider outstanding they tend to rate them selves lower and higher when they encounter a person they consider lacking in personality and character. People in a group like to be unique and thus pride themselves in the things that make them distinct and be rated positively in comparison with other groups (Festinger, 1954, p. 117-135).

There are two types of social comparison-upward and down social comparison. In upward social comparison takes place when an individual compares themselves to people who are considered socially superior or above. People deliberately compare themselves to such people so improve their self-concept. They believe they are part of such a group and do so to show similarities between them and the elite (Suls et al, 2002, p. 160). On the other hand, downward social comparison is opposite to upward social comparison in that in this one people compare themselves with people who seem to be in more troubles or situation than they are. Human beings use this defensive mechanism when they are in unfortunate situations. A person will look at the troubles of others and conclude that his problems are lesser and thus can have a reason to smile. For example, a person who looses hearing in one ear feels better than the one who looses in both (Suls et al, 2002, p. 162).

Social exchange theory explains the how stability and social change are used to negotiate exchanges between in groups or relations. The theory posits that for human beings to form relationships they first do a cost-benefit analysis just as people in business do. They look at the alternatives available in a certain relationship. The theory is related to rational choice theory, which explains how a person uses rationality in making choices. Therefore, a human being will do a cost benefit analysis before doing any action. This means that all actions that human beings take are because of reasoning be they good or bad. In most cases, human beings will choose the action they consider better through preference. This theory can be used to explain the patterns of behavior in communities as it reflects the choices people make to increase their benefits and decrease cost (Hindess, 1988, p. 20).

A human being has many needs and wants and it is impossible to fulfill or of them. This necessitates a person to act within given constraints according to the information they have about a certain action. Thus, a person engages in “deliberate strategies. This theory shows that human behavior is shaped by punishment and rewards. People will do things that will get them a reward and avoid anything that might lead to punishment. Thus, it is possible to study human behavior using external factors. This reasoning has it roots in BF Skinner’s behaviorism theory in which he used conditionings to study the behavior of animals. However, it is important to note that the behavior of human beings is determined by a variety of goals. In-group interaction, individuals have mutual reinforcement this means that the behavior of one member in a certain social interaction either benefits or punishes another person. This may lead to one kind of behavior reinforcing another person’s behavior. In this human interactions approval is very crucial. This is because it is a basic human goal. Thus, behavior that is approved becomes reinforced and vice versa. For example, if a child eats all the food in his plate and the parents praise him and probably clap at him he is likely to continue the same behavior to continue receiving approval. However, at one point he may find the approval not rewarding any more and may try to get it through another behavior. This example shows that a reward has utility or value. As long as person feels that a reward has high utility they will continue to perform it but when the utility reduces, the behavior may stop altogether (Hindess, 1988, 57-67).

Homans argues, “no exchange continues unless both parties are making a profit” (1961, p. 61). This means that human beings will only stay in an interaction if it is profitable. The individual who experiences the greater cost or loss in the interaction will feel the urge to withdraw. This means that for interactions to be maintained the individuals must have a mutual profitability. This is because participants in social interactions deliberately seek out interactions that have profits and therefore for the interaction to be stable the participants must be making a profit. When one experiences a loss in one interaction, one leaves to look for interactions where one is likely to profit. This is seen in interactions such as marriage, relationships, business deals and so forth. A partner who feels a loss in the relation will most certainly leave. This is also witnessed in the political scenario. People will often align themselves with political affiliations that they feel serve their best interests well and as soon those affiliations stop serving that purpose they are abandoned and new ones sought. This cut across nations and interactions are formed between nations on mutual profitability. When a nation feels that its association with a particular nation does not serve its better interest ties are severed. This is the reason why we have ally and enemy nations.

Power plays a major role in social interactions. This is because people bring unequal resources into the interactions and the outcome of the interactions will therefore depended on the relative power of parties involved. The participant with power has a higher bargaining power than the dependent participant who has less power. The extent of dependence is determined by the availability of other alternatives. If one cannot get the goal, they are looking for in any other way they will stick in that interaction even if they are exploited. For, example a married woman who depends wholly on her husband for financial support will persevere in that relation even if the benefits she gets from it are negligent. She may not be able to change things in her home because she does not have the power and must put up with her husband’s behavior. If she opposes the husband, he can punish her by withholding the financial support. Another example is in economic interactions. If a supplier has monopoly, they use it to demand for high prices and the consumers can do nothing about it. They have to buy the commodity or service at the exorbitant prices (Health, 1976, p. 24).

Conclusion

The theories in social psychology explain human behavior and interactions in society. Through this theory, explanation for human behavior is possible thus bringing a better understanding of human beings. This understanding is important because it enables people to understand their behavior and gives them tools to change their behavior for the better.

The theories are useful because they help people in a society to understand one another by understanding human behavior, which may lead to tolerance in the society. This helps to remove bias by expanding knowledge about the different behaviors that human beings engage in.

The theories are informative and expose how human behavior is influenced. People in society do not always know what to do in some situations. In such cases they look at the behavior of others and get a clue of how to behave accordingly by evaluating that behavior and choose what action to take in light of the knowledge they gain through observation.

Through rewarding and punishing behavior in society, order is maintained. People often choose to behave in a way that rewards. This may have been due to the influence of other people who have been rewarded for behaving in a similar manner. Thus, people who do actions that are rewarded become role models to the others in the society. On the other hand, punishment serves to deter bad behavior. When one does an action that leads to punishment next time they will do anything to avoid being punished and in this way try to do the right thing. Theories of social psychology are dynamic and so is human behavior.

Reference

Festinger, L., (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117-140.

Heath, A., (1976). Rational Choice and Social Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hindess, B., (1988). Choice, Rationality and Social Theory. London: Unwin Hyman.

Homans, G., (1961). Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. London: Routledge.

Meyers, G.D., (2009). Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Smith, R., & Mackie, D., (2000). Social psychology. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

Suls, J., Martin, R., & Wheeler, L., (2002). Social Comparison: Why, with whom and with what effect? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5), 159-163.

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