A Broad Explanation about Social Psychology

This assignment aims to give a broad explanation about social psychology; establishing what the topic covers, its contribution to psychological research, what questions social psychologists set out to answer and how it is different to other psychological fields. The history of social psychology will be explored with reference to the social psychological ‘crises”. In the later part of this assignment influential research into obedience will be explored and evaluated with reference to its impact on social psychology.

Social psychology is about defining human behaviour through scientific methods, Gordon Allport (1985) claimed we use scientific methods like imperial data to “understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings”.

Social psychologists are ultimately interested in the effect of other’s on our own behaviour producing a lot of research on the nature vs. nurture debate. The research which it provides helps us understand human behaviour in an array of scenarios. For example, the effects of groups or in explaining why we conform or why we may obey. The psychological approach asks and aims to answer questions such as ‘how do you perceive yourself to the rest of the world? How does this perception change the way you think, act and respond to the world? And how do the opinions of others impact the way you think, act and respond to the world?’ Hancock. H (2011)The question I am interested in is; are individuals affected by stereotyping and how does this affect behaviour?

The social psychological approach contributes a lot to our perception of ‘ourselves’ as individuals or in groups and has provided a lot of fascinating studie...

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...he study was more of a ‘game’. However this study was a great example of deindividuation, showing a loss of self awareness and how the participants formed a group rather than staying individuals. One advantage of the study was that it produced influential research on human behaviour which shaped ‘US congress to change the law so that juveniles accused of federal crimes would no longer be housed with adult prisoners before trial (to prevent them from being abused)’.

‘The major lesson from both Milgram and Zimardo’s research was that people underestimate the power of a situation to influence and shape their behaviour’. Both Milgrams and Zimbardos study explains individuals behaviours through ‘situational rather than dispositional factors’ and although both studies have methodological issues, they have contributed hugely and determined how we seen human behaviour.