Differences between Social Psychology and Other Disciplines - Essay Example

Social psychology is a young discipline that emerged in the larger discipline of psychology that had its first research findings tested in late 1898. Therefore, from that time onwards the subject has experienced a steady trajectory as many researchers have appreciated it in trying to find the relationship between the manner in which people behave and their immediate social environment (Myers, 2012).

Definition of Social Psychology

Social psychology is precisely the scientific study of how the behavior, thoughts and feelings of individuals are influenced by an implied or actual presence of people around their social environment. The term scientific in this definition is of great importance since it signifies that, social psychology is based on empirical techniques of research findings rather than just on assumptions (In Fiske et al., 2010). Thoughts, feelings and behavior are among the few psychological variables in human beings that can be quantified and thus, ideal to restructure the findings of empirical methods that are applied. People are prone to be influenced socially provided there are people in their surroundings. However, in some instances they can be affected by an implied presence since they are used to persons in the environment; thus, even in their absence, their minds tend to regenerate a social bond or feeling that usually exist (Myers, 2012).

Differences between Social Psychology and Other Disciplines

Unlike sociology, personality psychology tends to rely majorly on mere observation to come up with assumptions. On the other hand, social psychology employs the use of scientific and empirical research techniques to study social phenomena and thus come up with research findings that are binding. Over years the findings from the other disciplines tend to be general and dynamic over time as opposed to the findings of social psychology which are distinct in nature without many changes exhibited over time (Myers, 2012). Personality psychology is more interested in thoughts, training and characteristics that people adopt over time while social psychology tends to be focused on the influence that the immediate surrounding has on individuals especially on their behavior and attitudes. In essence, social psychology is a comparative study that bases its finding on empirical results right from the environmental setting of human beings. In sociology, experts are more interested in things to do with culture and institution and how they impact the lives of people in terms of behaviour. On the other hand, psychologist specializes on how social situations within the environmental setting of people influence the manner in which people behave socially (In Fiske et al., 2010).