Explain how psychology can be used for social change - Assignment Example

How Psychology can be used for Social Change Psychology has been used to explain social change which happens as a resultof a person’s interaction with the society. Psychology influences social change based on the assumption that social change results from mobilisation of many people who can be termed as a society since they share several social identities as opposed to when a person acts alone to represent his/her own identity. Social change results from relative deprivation of individual or collective interests of a society and the outcomes which emanate from such deprivation (Crosby, 1976).

Deprivation is a psychological attribute which causes changes in the perception of an individual resulting into varied outcomes of behavior which include; violence against self, violence against the society, non-violent person and social change. Social change thus depends on the external environment of an individual and personality factors. These factors moderate the association between collective action resulting from deprivation and the relative deprivation in order to prevent the violence.

Crosby employed two personality moderators which explain the emergence of social change. She argued that when an individual experiences relative deprivation, they develop much anger inside them such that they need to purge out the anger. Social change is directly related to personal control. High personal control in attributed to social change as the individual is able to understand the systematic explanations of social change and moderate the anger pushing it inside (intropunitive). Furthermore, a person with high personal control is likely to identify the opportunities of social change and make it happen instead as opposed to a person with low personal control who blocks the opportunities resulting into violence.

Works CitedAgronick, G. S., & Duncan, L. E. Personality and social change: Individual differences, life path, and importance attributed to the women’s movement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1545-1555. 1998. Print. Crosby, F. J. A model of egoistical relative deprivation. Psychological Review, 83, 85-113. 1976. Print.