Social Psychology - 1267 Words

Social psychology tells us that daily behaviors and attitudes stem from the influences of social factors on the individual. In other words, all of our daily actions are fueled from social influences in our daily lives. Social psychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how social phenomena influence us and how people interact with others. There are some basic aspects of social behavior that play a large role in our actions and how we see ourselves. There have been many different theorists who have attempted to explain and understand this idea. After studying and learning about most the theories and ideas, I have come to the conclusion along with the author Kenneth Allan that George Herbert Mead is the only true social†¦show more content†¦Allan includes a quote in his book about Marx saying, â€Å"Marx’s philosophy is one of protest imbued with faith in man, in his capacity to liberate himself, and to realize his potentialities† ((Fromm, 1961, p. vi) A llan pg 75). Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist is considered to be one of the most significant classical theorists because his methods that are still being implemented into modern sociological research. Weber believed that sociologists can learn to understand the actions of individuals and groups. Weber categorizes four types of social action: instrumental-rational, value-rational, affective, and traditional. Instrumental-rational action is the pursuit of goals where the goal and the means to obtaining the goal are calculated to identify the positive and negative aspects associated with the completion of the goal. Rational means justify a rational end in this type of action. Value-rational action is Weber’s second type of social action. This action is also characterized by the pursuit of a goal, but the goal is an end to itself. The goal may not be rational, but it is pursued by rational action using value judgment to do what is right in accordance to one’s moral code. T he third type is affective action, which occurs instinctively without any prior thought process. This type describes natural reactions that people have based on human emotion. Weber’s fourth type is traditional action. This is theShow MoreRelatedSocial Psychology And Social Influence1600 Words   |  7 PagesIn social psychology, social influence is a process where someone’s beliefs, thoughts and behaviour change by being exposed to beliefs, thoughts and opinions of others. It manifests in several forms, such as obedience, compliance and conformity. All these types of social influence have been studied by numerous researchers who investigated the reasons why people conform to social norms and obey to authorities, such as Milgram’s classic studies on obedience. His experiments support the popular ideaRead MoreSocial Psychology2623 Words   |  11 Pagesourselves (Friedkin, 1998). Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, throu gh various forms of social influence, groups can change their members thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of the way the changed person perceives themselves in relationship to the influencer, other people and society in general (Hogg amp; Vaughan, 2008). Hogg and Vaughan (2008) stated that the three areas of social influence are obedienceRead MoreThe Domain Of Psychology Which Will Be Social Psychology1295 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The research study will look at the domain of Psychology which will be Social Psychology. In psychology, social psychology is the methodical study of how people s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are subjective to change by presence of others. Social psychologists study how an individual’s or a group’s viewpoint is changed by the social influence and communication of other individuals and social groups. 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The history of the psychology dates back in 387 BC when Plato had inferred that the human brain is a device comprising of mental structures. Charles Darwin coined the theory of evolution called â€Å"Survival of the Fittest† when he disseminated his On the Origin of Species in 1859. Many other names have made major contributions in the field of psychology. However, it was Leon Festinger, in 1957, who propositioned his postulation of â€Å" Cognitive