Social_Psychology_Definition

Social Psychology Definition PSY/400 July 29, 2013 Social Psychology Definition Paper With all of the different areas of psychology it may be difficult to understand what exactly social psychology is. Social psychology lies between psychology and sociology; however social psychology uses concepts like organization, and social structure. It is a science using experimentations as a means to answer questions by studying thinking, influence and relation. Through this type of psychology social psychologist are able to find solutions to problems, discover what motivates specific social behaviors, and study groups as well as individuals in a social context. Social psychology is a way to focus on groups or individuals behave in certain situations. The main idea of social psychology is to answer questions in relation to social thinking, social influence, and social relations. Social thinking involves attitude, judgment, beliefs, and the perception of one’s self as well as others. Social influence is molded by culture, the pressure to conform to others, persuasion, and groups. While social relations include attraction, intimacy, aggression, prejudice, and help. An example of social psychology is teenagers. When a teen is with their parents their behavior reflects this fact. They do not typically behave in the same manner as they do with their peers. Most teens curse and engage in risky behavior that they would not dare engage in when around their parents. Social psychology has three main avenues in which psychologist are able to clarify a person’s social interactions. These avenues are correlation research, experimental research, and survey research. Correlation research studies the relationships between variables, these relationships are naturally occurring (Myers, 2010). However this type of research does not allow for differentiation of causation and variables. Experimental research attempts to find clues to the cause and effect relationship. This is done by manipulating independent variables while controlling others (Myers, 2010). Keeping the dependent variable consistent and changing the independent variable the isolation of the exact effect or effects are visible. Therefore the relationship between the first and the second are clear through this manipulation. Survey research involves taking random samples from a group insuring that all individuals in the group have an equal change of inclusion. These random samples are to explain the results of a group onto a population. This type of research is meant to take variables and opinions that are present at the time of the sample rather than to predict future variables or opinions. In conclusion the field of social psychology uses scientific methods through experimental, correlational and survey research to prove hypotheses involving social situations and behavior. It will remain important to find out how a situation influences behavior in both groups and individuals. Social psychology is different from other related fields because of the emphasis on interaction with variables rather than individual differences. Reference Myers, D. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.