Essay Example on Social Psychology: Understanding Individual Behavior in Social Situations

Social psychology is one of the types of psychology studied, and it tries to comprehend on one person in the way of behavior a person behaves. It is also defined as the field of science that tries to stipulate on comprehending the causes and nature of individual behavior basing on social situations present. Social psychology majorly depends on the way of life people tend to live as per the value and ethics of their culture (Harre, 2012). It depends on the mindset of an individual with a basis made on depicting the most means a person might want to act in life. It, therefore, majors itself on looking at the behavior of human beings as they may get influenced by social context and the people surrounding.

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The history of social psychology began back when social psychologists started to formally and systematically measure the number of thoughts, behaviors, and feelings of human beings. The first social psychology books were written in 1908, while the experiments that were conducted on behavior were done before the 19th century. Notably, between the 1940s to 1940s, Leon Festinger and Lewin Kurt refined the approach on the experimental aspect as the study of vigorous scientific discipline, behavior, and social psychology. The father of social psychology at some times is given to Lewin. Lewin worked hard and developed disciplines on the ideas based on the interactions of different individuals. Festinger in 1954 edited a book that dealt with research methods and emphasized on the measurement of variables and use of the experiments in the laboratory. Social behavior needed to be measured systematically to get the correct hypothesis for evidence (Kitayama, & Cohen, 2010). The participants in the experiment ought to be cheated on the true facts of the study carried out. Researchers energized social psychology basing on how Adolf Hitler produced horrendous behaviors with extreme obedience during World War II. The followers of Hitler remained arrogant and adamant to the say of their commander, and this made many researchers put more studies on the source of obedience and behavior change that was abundant. The study yielded the result that people tend to be based on the social groups and the pressures that were created that made people follow suit. Therefore, the obedience that is created by individuals with power reaches a point in which people tend to harm others with no consequences (Keith, 2019). The people mindset is moved to base on the obedience they give to their leader and accept all forms of social aspects that occur. The prison study also proves that the interactions of the college students that are male in prison and left to be prisoners and guards tend to behave violently. It remains challenging to control either male guard or prisoner since they tend to be hostile with time. There are also studies that bases on the people that may not want o help others in need and research on human aggression.

In the late 20th century, there were expansions of social psychology for more creation of fields of attitudes with emphasis on processes of cognitive. The social psychologist at this period understood how models of persuading are used formally for the goal of comprehending how people and advertisers present their messages for effectiveness purposes. The approaches of attitudes improved on the connection between the behavior and attitude of a person. Social cognition also based on comprehension of knowledge on social world experience and knowledge structures of memory, attitudes, judgment, and information processing (Finkel, & Baumeister, 2019). Social neuroscience is studied in the 21st century basing on the study of social behavior on influenced and influences of activities that take place in the brain. There are also more studies underway for comprehending social behavior.

The perspectives on social psychology are changing since behavior lies in the attitude of a person. Some perspectives include the taking of social behavior as being goal-oriented. The outcome of social psychology depends on interactions made between an individual and the situation. Also, more people spend more time to consider the social situations that occur in their daily lives. The fourth aspect is on the explanation and analysis of behavior that surrounds our life. The last perspective is on the belief that a person's behavior is based on suitable indicators of personality. The social psychologists tend to deal with the issues that lead people to the behavior that is occurring presently by checking on the conditions. The conditions checked daily by the social psychologists are based on the way things occur and the way a person feels.

The reason for choosing this type of psychology on social psychology is on the influence impacts that are practical in life and happen to people I have interacted with. The social psychologists try to continue seeking new means for understanding and measuring of social behavior (Carrus, Pirchio, & Mastandrea, 2018). The interests of the expansion and development of more approaches and perspectives on social behavior give the field of psychology to be expanded. The field evolves continuously basing on social capacities and the difference in the way social groupings are changing.

Summarily, social psychology is unpredictable since the future is not specific to the changes experienced daily. The truth remains that social psychology will remain vibrant and alive to the norms and values of people in the community. Life unfolds based on the social psychology of an individual, and is, therefore, remains critical for social psychologists to conduct more research.

References

Carrus, G., Pirchio, S., & Mastandrea, S. (2018). Social-cultural processes and urban affordances for healthy and sustainable food consumption. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2407.

Finkel, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (Eds.). (2019). Advanced social psychology: The state of the science. Oxford university press.

Harre, R. (2012). Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology.

Keith, K. D. (Ed.). (2019). Cross-cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.Kitayama, S., & Cohen, D. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of cultural psychology. Guilford Press.