An Introduction
We must be aware of social psychology's historical roots in order to comprehend its significance and what makes it unique. In general, the formation of social psychology's foundations is similar to that of any other scientific field. The concepts of socio-psychology initially emerged in the field of philosophy and subsequently eventually split off from the body of psychological knowledge. Before discussing the second stage of the evolution of social psychology, which is regarded to be "more productive," we will first briefly review social thought prior to the establishment of social science.
Aristotelian and Platonic social thinking are two older schools of thought. In Platonic ideology, the state was prioritized over the individual, who needed education to become fully social. According to Aristotelian philosophy, people are social creatures by default, and nature can be relied upon to provide people with the means to coexist peacefully and form intimate bonds that would eventually lead to the formation of families, tribes, and, in the end, states.
Before the introduction of social science, there was social thought.
These two schools of social philosophy are today referred to as the socio-centered approach and the individual-centered approach. The socio-centered approach places an emphasis on the social structures (systems, institutions, and organisations) as deciding factors in one's experience and behaviour. The person-centered approach asserts that social systems can be understood in terms of the activities and functions of the individual. German philosopher Hegel (1970–1831) believes that the state is not only the pinnacle of society but also the embodiment of the objective social mind, in which individual minds play a significant role. Hegel's concept of supra-individuality is where the idea of group mind originated.
Since its inception, social psychology has been characterized as the discipline that studies people in their social contexts. The discipline has always been inherently individualistic. According to individualistic theory, all explanations of unique social phenomena should be disregarded unless they are presented in terms of the individual.
The self-centered denial of the other has been used to define and criticize individualism in psychology. Two manifestations of individualism have been noted in sociological thought:
- Hedonism: Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance or reduction of pain.
- The philosophy of utilitarianism encourages pursuing the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
The basic concepts of individual satisfaction (reinforcement, reward, decrease of stress, dissonance, and uncertainty) are versions of the utility or pleasure principle and are the basis for the majority of contemporary theories of conditioning and motivation. Numerous social psychology theories incorporate utility and satisfaction as significant components.
Social psychology has reintroduced the idea of power and its function in interpersonal relationships from Machiavelli (1513) and Thomas Hobbes (1651). The idea of social justice
Field theory and social exchange theory provided the proper context for power (social influence). Lewinian field theory redefined "power" as the capacity to affect others, as opposed to "control" and "influence," which refer to the ability to take action. Aggression, conformity to group pressure and obedience to authority, and power in language are among the research areas where power has been examined.
The advancements in sociology and the idea of evolution during the nineteenth century had a significant impact on modern social psychology. These effects will be covered later under the headings: social psychology and other fields, and the impact of evolutionary theory on current social psychology trends.
The emergence of social psychology as a discipline
Three key moments must be defined in the process of psychology's separation into a separate field (Galina Andreyeva 1990): the demand for solutions to socio-psychological issues that emerged in several connected sciences. the procedures used to divide socio-psychological issues into their two parent sciences, psychology and sociology. The first independent sociopsychological knowledge forms are finally described. Three of the earliest socio-psychological ideas that emerged in the middle of the 19th century had the most influence: the theory of social behavior instincts, mass psychology, and people's psychology. These theories were speculative and abstract in nature since they were formed against the backdrop of philosophical and descriptive heritage.
Psychology of People
In the mid-nineteenth century, people's psychology emerged as one of the first kinds of socio-psychological theory in Germany. Moritz Lazarus (1824–1903) and Heyman Steinthal (1823–1893) were pioneers in psychology. The journal People's Psychology and Linguistics was formed in 1859, and the essay "Introductory Thoughts on People's Psychology" by Lazarus and Steinthal was published in it. According to the article, the main force of history is the people, or the "spirit of the whole," which may be observed in art, religion, language, mythology, customs, and so on. Individual awareness is merely a byproduct, a link in a particular mental relationship.
Wilhem Wundt's (1832-1920) ideas contributed to the advancement of People's psychology. Wundt (1900) stated that psychology is divided into two categories: physiological psychology and people's psychology (Völkerpsychologie: German for people's psychology).
Popular Psychology
This theory first appeared in France in the later half of the nineteenth century. Italian lawyer Scipio Sighele (1868-1913) and French sociologist Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931) founded mass psychology on Gabrial Trade's (1843-1904) main views on the function of irrational movements in social behavior and the role of imitation. According to Le Bon, every gathering of individuals symbolized the concept of the mass, with depersonalization and the supremacy of emotions over intellect, as well as a general loss of intellect and a feeling of personal responsibility.
Events such as mass movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fast social and economic changes owing to industrialization and urbanization were conducive to mass psychology, but it did not evolve within the context of people's psychology.
Primary Social Psychology Textbooks
Social psychology is seen as finally emerging as a separate scientific field in the year 1908. An Introduction to Social Psychology by William McDougall and Social Psychology by sociologist Edward A. Ross are two works that were published this year with the title social psychology. James Mark Baldwin's Social and Ethical Interpretation in Mental Development, which can be regarded as one of the first systematic manuals in social psychology, was published in New York before these two works in 1897.
Social psychology, according to E. A. Ross, is concerned with consistency in feeling, belief, choice, and action. The ability for imitation and suggestion to operate among persons collectively was to be used to explain uniformities. According to McDougall's view, social behaviour is brought on by innate inclinations. According to him, imitation and suggestion inclinations are biological in origin.
Imitation was thought to be the result of a general intrinsic tendency, whereas suggestion was thought to result from an innate desire to yield to a highly respected individual or symbol.
The Initiation of Experimental Study
The start of social psychology's transformation into an experimental science. However, Norman Triplett's 1897 experiment on "the dynamogenic effects of pace making" is the most well-known of the early laboratory studies. It was the first investigation into how the presence of others affects a person's performance.
The experimental studies conducted by Floyd Allport in the US and Walter Moede in Europe were a turning point in this process. Allport contrasted the output of lone workers with that of those who worked in front of an audience or with other people doing the same thing. He discovered that the latter situation frequently led to better performance. The social facilitation effect is the name given to the occurrence. The first social psychology textbook that heavily incorporated experimental research was published by Allport in 1924. This research promoted the development of a social psychology with an experimental focus.
Systematic field investigations in topics including the creation of attitude measures, social norms, aggression, leadership, and social influence dominated the next two decades (after Allport's publication) (conformity). College students' social and political attitudes were evaluated by Theodore Newcomb in the late 1930s, and he showed how those sentiments were influenced by the ideas held at the institution (Peer influence). Muzafer Sherif (1935) investigated the nature and significance of social norms, or the guidelines for appropriate conduct. Dollard, Doob, and Miller (1939) illustrated how anger and violence are related. They came to the conclusion that anger leads to aggressiveness.
Research on the nature of leadership and associated group processes was conducted by Kurt Lewin, Lipitt, and White in 1939.
The dominant importance of the individual's cognition and knowledge was emphasized by social psychology theories at this time, which contrasted with prior ideas of group mind and depersonalization. A revolution in social psychology began in 1948. The founding of the Research Centre for Group Dynamics at MIT by renowned theorist Kurt Lewin served as a precursor to this development. Many people credit Kurt Lewin as founding the field of applied social psychology. Kurt Lewin's work on experimental studies has improved the standing of social psychology as a science. He thought that significant societal issues could be explored through experimentation in a scientific setting. He preferred interpretations that were based on how a person understood the circumstances in which they found themselves.
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