Social psychology - Research Paper Example

Under cultural orientation, research shows that social psychology mainly rotates around our culture and the culture of the persons who live around us. A person’s behaviour will be affected by the culture in which he or she resides. This explains why people change their mode of dressing, food and beliefs when they are in a different culture. Secondly, Social Psychology is broad in its scope and encompasses a wide range of ideas. Scholars assess that the topic not only looks into social influences but also social perceptions and interaction, leadership, aggression, and nonverbal behaviour.

Third characteristic is that social psychology applies scientific methods and concepts. In order to assess the behaviour of people more accurately, psychologists apply scientific methods such as research techniques and procedures. Hypothesis tests are also conducted on the basis of scientific standards. Finally, social psychology mainly involves the exploring of deep levels of wisdom and knowledge. It applies wisdom and knowledge to generate ideas and solve problems. Situationism is a concept in psychology which explains people’s behaviour as being influenced by their current situations.

Situations in this case are divided into two: external situations and internal situations. External situations refer to factors such as financial issues, friends and family, and the general environmental issues. Internal factors, on the other hand, refer to motivational factors and the general character of a person. Fiske emphasizes that the social situation will especially have a very big impact on a person’s behaviour. Most people will act according to the demands of the situation that is facing them currently.

Situationism plays a very significant role in the field of social psychology. Sociologists have relied on the results of situationism to evaluate the behavior and reactions of different individuals. With situationism also, social psychology obtains its root and foundation of asserting that people’s feelings, thoughts and behaviors are affected by their surrounding situations. Both psychologists and sociologists have therefore opted to use situationism in explaining the behaviour of individuals, rather than using personality traits of an individual (Fiske, 2009).

This is because, while situationism encompasses both external and internal factors, personality will only use the internal factors. In assessing the way in which a person fits in a situation, social psychologists have come up with the five core social motives. These include: belonging, understanding, controlling, self-enhancing and trusting others. Under the motive of belonging, Fiske explains that people are motivated by the sense of belonging that they obtain by relating and bonding with others.

In addition, research shows that every human being is happy to find that they can fit in when placed in a particular social class. In order to belong, an individual must be able to understand and comprehend his or her environments. This includes both the social and the physical environments. This is especially important in assisting the individual to understand the surrounding situations and consequently, be able to make the right decisions (Fiske, 2009). Controlling is a core social motive that mainly motivates people to participate in building of the society, both economically and socially.

Every individual needs to feel important