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Social psychology is a relatively new interdisciplinary science which came into existence at the end of the nineteenth century. It is often associated with the names of such scholars as Emile Durkheim, Kurt Lewin, Leon Festinger, Joseph Berger and many others. Even now sociologists and psychologists have not come to the agreement on its definition, key objectives, principles and research methods. In this paper we intend to discuss opposing approaches to this problem. Moreover, it is necessary to identify the distinguishing features of social psychology especially in comparison with related disciplines like sociology, general or clinical psychology. Most importantly, we need to examine strategies of collecting and analyzing data and how they contribute to our understanding of society and individuality. Yet, prior to doing it, it is essential for us to define this field of study and compare different interpretations of this question.
On the one hand, social psychology can be regarded as the discipline, which examines the impact of external environment (family, friends, peers, relatives, institutions, community and society in general) on attitudes, beliefs, stereotypes and respective behavior of a person (Brehm et al, 2002). According to psychologists, the focus of the research should be on the formation of an individuals identity and his or her relations with others. Provided that someone plans to carry out a study in this area the dependent variable will be personality, whereas the independent one will be social factors (Myers, 2008). In addition to that, the techniques, employed by the scholars may be of several types: 1) empirical methods which are based on observation and experiment, 2) longitudinal or chronological studies, 3) questionnaires.
In sharp contrast, sociologists claim that this discipline should investigate the behavior of a human being within the bounds of a group or class. At first glance, one may say that these opposing ideas are very similar to one another. However, in this case social scientists try to understand and describe the functioning of a larger community by analyzing the conduct of a separate person (Myers, 2008; Murchison, 2007). Hence, social psychology is the discipline that studies the impact of the society on an individual, and shows how his or her actions and attitudes represent the society, itself.
This science is closely related to such disciplines as general and clinical psychology, sociology, criminology, etc. The similarities and distinctions among them can be identified according to such parameters like the object and purpose of study, and research techniques. For example, if we compare SP with general or clinical psychology we can say that there are immense differences in the scope of the investigation, the variety of applicable techniques, the validity of collected data and so forth (Brehm et al, 2002). General psychology is mostly involved with mental functions irrespective of external influence. Nonetheless, we can draw parallels between SP and clinical treatment because the latter aims to promote mental health of an individual and occasionally, disorders can be caused by other people, institutions, social calamities etc. Under such circumstances, these disciplines can effectively collaborate with each other.
Subsequently, we should juxtapose SP and other sociological disciplines, which pay more attention to groups of people, mass behavior, and criminality. As a rule, they regard a person only as a part of a larger system (family, class, company). They rely on the assumption that people are only social creatures and their motives are formed through interactions with others. On the whole, SP may be extremely helpful to sociological sciences because it helps to reconstruct a model of society by studying only one or perhaps several individuals and this may be more time-efficient and cost-effective. Sociologists find it rather difficult to examine opinions, stereotypes, convictions of a larger community, while the analysis of personality can provide more accurate findings.
Social psychology resembles a borderline between two conflicting disciplines; to some extent it reconciles them. This can be done only by combining similar research techniques (Brehm et al, 2002). In this respect, it should be mentioned that sociology and psychology often resort to similar methods: observation, experiment, structured and unstructured interviews, surveys, case studies etc. The exact use of the method will mostly depend on the specific question or problem under discussion. Yet, the major role or task that the scholar should do is to investigate the relations between the part (individual) and the whole (society). The main error that some scientists can commit is that they analyze these notions separately and establish no connections between them. If the link between the two variables has not been found, such research no longer belongs to the domain of social psychology.
The importance of this discipline should not be underestimated, because the scope of its application is vast: deviational conduct and criminology, treatment of mental disorders, prediction and correction of potentially dangerous behavior of an individual or group of people. The theoretical aspects of social psychology are also of great interest to scholars: it assists to reconstruct the model of a community by looking at one of several individuals. Sociologists and psychologists can assess the accuracy and efficiency of their research techniques and cooperate more productively.
Reference List
- Brehm S.S, Kassin S.M, and Fein S. (2002). Social psychology (9th ed ). Boston, Houghton Mifflin.
- Myers. D. (2008). Social Psychology (9th ed.). New York, McGraw-Hill.
- Murchison C (2007). Social Psychology. London. Old Bailey Press.
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