Social Psychology - Essay Example

? Social Psychology Social Psychology also known as Sociology is a sub field of Psychology. Sociological social psychology and psychological sociology are some of the other names which are used to define this sub field of Psychology. The subject’s main focus is on social actions of a human being and it also concentrates on the interrelations of the personality of the human being, the values that he has developed as a child and as a person living in a society. It also focuses on the workings of his mind and how he behaves, reacts and adopts the culture of the society he is living in. The sub fields or the major topics that form a part of Social Psychology include conversational structures, impression formation, roles and identity, social exchange etc. Sample surveys, vignette studies, controlled experiments and field observations are some of the methods that are employed as a means to conduct research and gain patterns and answers to some of the social phenomenon. Some of the major frameworks that form the whole concept of Social Psychology are: Symbolic internationalism: It is a social theory whose main focus is on the analysis of the patterns that are formed or developed due to the communication, adjustments and interpretation between two or more individuals living in a society. The theory of Symbolic internationalism provides a framework which helps in the understanding of how different individuals living in different societies, cultures and backgrounds interact with people living in their own society and with individuals living in different society, it also thrown light on the subject of how individuals react to the norms of the society. It also studies how the use of symbols is employed by individuals to communicate with each other. The research method that is used in this case is the quantitative method. Social Exchange Theory: The concept of social exchange theory is based on the concept that the people make the choice regarding the people they want to interact with. If they do not see any kind of advantage or benefit in a relation with certain people then they will not pursue the relation or the interaction. People look to establish connections that will maximize their gains and reduce their chances of loss. This whole concept is built upon the idea that people always opt for the best possible alternative. The “comparison of the alternatives” is main postulate in this theory. The belief that is developed from this theory is that people form relationships by conducting a cost benefit analysis of the relation and then establish it. A major part of clinical psychology is based on Evidence based practice; the same concept is also used in Social Psychology. Evidence based practice is a practice that has been gaining a lot fame and importance throughout the medical history since its start. This practice was formally introduced in 1992. This practice formally started with the field of medicine then it moved on to other fields also, fields like nursing, psychology, education and dentistry. The whole idea is centered around two things, the whole study is based on the factor such as that the decisions should be made after the research related to the current study has been made from various other studies. The interpretation of the study has to be done using various tools and predefined set of instructions and procedures. This will give a definite sound to the whole research and will make the research more concrete (Baumeister and Vohs, 2007). The sets of rules that are defined in Evidence based practice include those that do not take the effect of the derivative based results from studies that are qualitative and theoretical based. The results that are achieved based on the studies that are quantitative based are taken into consideration in evidence based practice. Results achieved through the use of quantitative based studies are referred to as evidence based behavioral practice (EBBP). Evidence based behavioral practice or EBBP encircles decision making regarding health promotion by combining together the best possible forms of proof or evidence by the help of the doctor’s research and with the help of other necessary sources. However, EBPP is carried out in such a way that it is in compliance with organizational context in general, and environmental context in particular when considering a broader view. Evidence for EBPP is collected through the help of proper research, observations done in a systematic manner and through designing and testing of hypotheses based on the concerned case (McDougall, 2001). Evidence based practice has helped eliminate the quacks that are there and were faltering the whole concepts and studies related to medicine and various practices. The major reason why evidence based practice came out in the open was that a lot of studies and other researches were being carried out, but most of them were not relevant to the concreteness of the study. Once the concept of evidence based practice came out into the open, professionals were sort of bound to only use the best available proof and this therefore increased the chances of getting better results on projects. However, evidence based practice involves a lot of decision making since every patient has different features and characteristics and therefore this involves a lot of thinking and intuition based conclusion on the part of the physician (Fiske, Gilbert, Lindzey and Jongsma, 2010). Social psychology is quite often compared and contrasted with the other disciplines which are directly or indirectly related or connected with it, e.g. sociology, personality psychology, or organizational psychology. The other quite different field of psychology is the clinical psychology, in which the mental illness and their treatments are under focus. If we compare the concepts of sociology and social psychology, we will see that the main difference is that the methods of experimentation are involved on the individuals. On the other hand sociology is the study in the focus is on the study of people who live in groups and exist in the society. Social psychology’s main emphasis remains on how individuals and small groups interact with each other. On the other hand the larger sizes of population and their interaction in larger societies are not a part of the study under social psychology. In the study of personality psychology, the whole idea revolves around the idea how people who have different backgrounds and different ideas relate together with the difference in their personality behaviors. Social psychology’s main focus is on the situational differences and how different people with different personalities react to the situation. Social psychology focuses on what kind of impact the different individuals have on each other and not on what kind of differences they have as individuals (McDougall, 2001). Organizational psychology studies the behavior of the employees. It also discusses and identifies the methods and ways that can be employed to motivate the employees and make them more effective and efficient. This study helps gain insight into what methods should the employer employee to make the employees network together in a better way. Asch Experiment This experiment is a series of experiment that was conducted by Solomon Asch and it was basically conducted so as to identify the extent to which the people can change their own opinions just so that they feel that they belong to a group and they are liked. This simply shows that people prefer that they have an opinion that is much similar to the one that is owned by the majority group of people. The experiments are known as the Asch conformity experiments or the Asch paradigm. These experiments are also used so as to identify how people belonging to different culture, age, religion or different country have the tendency to react to the conformity situation. Methodology: In this experiment, a group of people who were basically planted by the experimenter were used. The experimenter placed 7 people who were planted or known as confederates along with one person who was the real participant. They were presented with the cards displayed above. The real participant was asked about which line from the line A, B and C matched the reference line. The confederates were told to answer unanimously either the correct answer or the wrong answer. The whole idea was to observe whether the real participant was willing to conform to the group pressure or he was going to stand out by answering as he felt right. It was usually found that the groups had the same answer ready at the end of the experiment. After the experiment ended the real participant was taken aside and asked whether the answer that he gave was the one he felt right or was it different to the one he thought. Many of the times the real participant simply stated that he had thought of something else but he was then “convinced” by the others present in the group that his answer was wrong. Some also said that they still felt that the answer that they had thought was the right one but since no one had the same answer they did not give it because they felt they would stand out. This experiment has helped explained many behaviors that are prevalent in the society today. Like the behavior of teenagers or the other behavior that people adopt when they are in groups. This experiment has helped establish the fact that people change their behaviors so that they do not feel rejected. Many a times just to feel the sense of belonging people adopt wrong habits or habits that they would never adopt if it was not a regular habit in the group. Social Psychology basically helps experimenters establish the patterns in behavior of the people. It also helps understand some of the way people behave or the change on behavior that occurs. It shows the impact and effect of social influence that exists. It is a science and science needs theories to establish different factors. The theories require experiments and hence the experiments that are conducted involve humans as the subject. It is conducted repeatedly and frequently over a range of individuals so as to establish facts that are sound. Research is also done so as to establish results that will have long term impacts on the field of social psychology. Field research is defined as the “research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory” (McKinlay and McVittie, 2008). References McDougall, W. (2001). An Introduction to social psychology. Kitchener, Ont: Batoche. Top of Form McKinlay, A., & McVittie, C. (2008). Social psychology and discourse. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell Pub. Bottom of Form Top of Form Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., Lindzey, G., & Jongsma, A. E. (2010). Handbook of social psychology. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Bottom of Form Top of Form Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. Bottom of Form Read More