The Interrelationship among Self, Others, and Environment

Why do human beings behave the way they do? How do individuals form relationships with others? What components of an individual’s physiological makeup and the surrounding atmosphere affect the formation of judgments about themselves, others’, and every day events? Does one’s membership within a particular group affect his or her thoughts, emotions, and actions towards others? Is aggression the product of biology or environment? Questions such as this form the foundation of social psychology, a field with the primary focus being the systematic study of human cognition, emotion, and actions. Social psychologists seek to understand the way human beings develop thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, as well as, the effect our environment, mainly our interactions with others, has on the formation of these very things.

We can divide social psychology into three main categories: self, others, and environment. Each category consists of several additional topics all relating to the broad category under which the subject matter falls. The first category is the self and the primary focus is the exploration of the way individuals form impressions of themselves. Topics relating to the concept of self include self-schemas, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-awareness, and the acting self. The second category builds upon the foundation of the self and examines the methods individuals use to form impressions of others. Subjects relating to the way human beings think, perceive, and relate to others include attributions, attitudes, behavior, judgments, as well as, prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. The third category relates to the environment, particularly the relationship to and influence of others on an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and b...

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...es with taking into account the role of culture. Culture typically reflects the social norms and customs of the geographic location in which an individual resides; consequently, one’s culture has a profound influence on our conception of self. Human beings conception of self evolves throughout our life and culture provides a high degree of influence on the way we perceive others and ourselves. Independent cultures view the individual as a unique entity whose qualities develop apart from the social environment, while interdependent cultures view individuals as the collective product of his or her social connections and environment.

Works Cited

Feenstra, J. (2011). Introduction to social psychology. San Diego, California , United State: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. . Retrieved April 19, 2012, from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUPSY301.11.1/sections/fm