Towards a Critical Assessment of the Discipline of Social Psychology

A wealth of literature points to the fact that the term ‘social psychology’ was first conceptualized in the 1860s, but the fundamental issues surrounding the discipline have progressed over a much longer period of time (Jahoda, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Towards a Critical Assessment of the Discipline of Social Psychology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This not withstanding, the discipline has over the years courted both interest and controversy, prompting scholars and researchers to assume a deep interest in attempting to examine its most basic tenets as well as its discourse (Greenwood, 2004). This paper specifically aims to examine the discipline of social psychology, including offering a working definition of the discipline, discussing how it differs from other related disciplines, and, finally, explaining the role of research in social psychology. Social psychology may be defined a s the scientific discipline that attempts to understand and explain how individuals think about, feel about, relate to, and influence each other within the social environment, and how a myriad of social factors found within the environment influences our situations, including our behavior (Greenwood, 2004). Specifically, the discipline uses scientific techniques to understand and explain a wide range of social dimensions, including cognition, group behavior, emotion, social perception, leadership characteristics, conformity, social beliefs and prejudice, among others (Potter Wetherell, 2005). In its most basic nature, social psychology attempts to understand our thinking, influence, and relationships by looking for answers to questions that have over the years’ intrigued mankind (Myers, 2010). Social psychology differs from other related disciplines in diverse yet subtle ways. It is imperative to mention some of the related disciplines, which includes sociology, personality psychology, clinical psychology, general psychology, abnormal psychology, and cognitive psychology, among others. According to Myers (2010), social psychology is at the core of both psychology and sociology disciplines. While sociology interests itself with the study of individuals in groups and societies, social psychology is deeply interested in understanding individuals, not mentioning that it uses more experimentation than sociology. Although sociology is also interested in assessing and understanding social behavior and influences, its focus is broad-based and its scope is not necessarily interested in attempting to understand how individuals relate to, and influences one another (Greenwood, 2004). On the contrary, attempting to assess and understand how individuals think about, feel about, relate to, and influence each other is a core critical area in social psychology.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, it can be argued that while both social psychology and sociology study somewhat congruent topics in individual, group and social life, they inarguably look at these topics using totally different lens and from totally different perspectives In comparing personality psychology with social psychology, Myers (2010) notes that while the former focuses more on individual differences and less on how individuals view and affect one another, the latter is intrinsically focused on attempting to understand how people relate to, and affect one another within the social environment. Eliasz et al (2005) argues that although there exist an overlap between social and personality psychology, the former to a larger extent deals with issues of social cognition, prejudice and stereotyping, self and social identity, emotion, aggression, and social behavior, while the latter to a larger extent deals with issues of identity, motivation, and power. Moving on, clinica l psychology mainly focuses on the study, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individual mental health disorders, while social psychology is chiefly concerned with assessing how an individual’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior are influenced by others around him, thus the difference (Zaka, 2007). As such, it can be argued that, while clinical psychologists aims to solve a passive problem, hence his role is reactive in nature, a social psychologist functions in a proactive trajectory by virtue of attempting to search for solutions to practical challenges affecting and influencing individuals as they interact with others. Abnormal psychology, the study and assessment of abnormal behavior and psychopathology, is therefore more closely linked to clinical psychology than to social psychology. The contention over what causes behavior facilitated the split that saw social psychology disengage from general psychology. While general psychology assumes a behaviorist perspective tha t suggests external stimuli influence individual behavior and denies any involvement of thoughts, feelings, and emotions in influencing behavior, social psychology, on the other hand, maintain an emphasis on the fundamental importance of thoughts and emotions in influencing behavior (Potter Wetherell, 2005). This contentious issue about causation of behavior has severed the marriage between the two fundamental fields of psychology, though they still remain closely related.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Towards a Critical Assessment of the Discipline of Social Psychology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The role of research in social psychology can never be underestimated since the two goes hand in hand. Indeed, research in social psychology attempts to understand and explain thought, feelings, and behavior since we all behave differently based on the individuals we are relating to, and the circumstances of th e relationship or influence (Thomas, 2005). It is a well known fact that social psychologists work on theoretical challenges, and apply the knowledge learnt to practical problems affecting individuals within the social setup. To be able to function properly, they must carry out studies on a consistent basis aimed at discerning phenomena and social constructs, thus the importance of research. Additionally, it is imperative to note that social psychology is investigative in nature and, therefore, research comes in handy when dealing with issues in social cognition, attitudes, violence and aggression, personal behavior, prejudice and discrimination, self and social identity, and group behavior, among others. All in All, it can be concluded that although social psychology is still a young discipline, it has managed to secure a niche among other heavyweights within the broad field of psychology. Reference List Eliasz, A., Hampson, S.E., Raad, B. (2005). Advances in personality psycholog y. East Sussex: Psychology Press. Greenwood, J.D. (2004). What happened to the â€Å"social† in social psychology? Journal of Theory of Social Behavior, 34(1), 19-34. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database. Jahoda, G. (2007). A history of social psychology: From the eighteenth-century enlightenment to the Second World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Myers, D. (2010). Social psychology, 10th Ed. New York: McGraw Hill.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Potter, J., Wetherell, M. (2005). Discourse social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behavior. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. Thomas, S. (2005). Exploring the role of psychological research in social psychology. Web. Zaka, H. (2007). The difference between clinical and social psychology. Web. This essay on Towards a Critical Assessment of the Discipline of Social Psychology was written and submitted by user Guillermo Larson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.