Social Psychology - Essay Example

Social Psychology Social Psychology Introduction Social psychology is mainly concerned with understanding the behavior ofindividuals in a social context. Social psychology can therefore be defined as the scientific study of individual behavior, feelings, attitudes and thoughts are influenced by their social environments. Based on this definition is clear that the social environment or the social context has a lot of influence on the human behavior and attitudes of an individual. Social psychologists therefore focus on trying to understand the concept of the self, social contexts, social influence and how individual behavior is shaped through interactions with other people in the environment (Dora & Rupert, 2000). Social psychologists focus on the belief, feelings, goals, intentions and thoughts within various social contexts in an attempt to determine how these elements influence an individual’s interactions with others within their environment (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 2013). Social context, also known as the social environment or milieu, is defined as the immediate social and physical setting in which an individual lives. The social context includes various elements such as social groups, culture, social institutions, the wider community members and the physical environment within which people interact with each other. The interaction can either be personal interaction or through other communication media such as the internet, and telecommunication devices. Social context is therefore a more broad term encompassing everything that surrounds an individual (Crisp & Turner, 2007). One’s social context or environment is very significant for psychologists in trying to understand the behavior of individuals through understanding the relationships and interactions that one has with others within the environment (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 2013). This essay aims at discussing the influence that the social context has on the ‘self’. Contemporary studies in social psychology have revolved around studying how social contexts and interactions among people in a particular environment influence individual behavior and how this also influences their own perceptions of themselves. This paper will attempt to examine the findings of various studies regarding how the self-concept is influenced by external influences in the environment. This will be achieved through examining in depth the meaning of the self-concept in social psychology and then proceeding to look at how the social context influences the self. The concept of the self The concept of the self in social psychology refers to the image that one has about oneself. Such an image is formed in various ways and is mostly influenced through an individual’s interactions with other people in various social contexts. The self-concept is also referred to as self-perspective, self-identity of self-construction. The concept of the self therefore has to do with how an individual views themselves with regard to their abilities, qualities and uniqueness. As individuals grow, their concept of self develops from a general and changeable view of themselves towards a more detailed, organized and specific image of themselves when they reach adulthood (Dora & Rupert, 2000). The concept of the self can also be described as a collection of an individual’s beliefs about his or her own nature, behavior and unique qualities that the individual has. The self concept is all about self- perceptions or one’s mental picture of themselves and is basically how one can describe themselves through statements such as ‘I am outgoing, or I am beautiful’. Generally, the concept of self aims at answering to the question, ‘Who am I?’ and is made up of one’s past, present and future aspirations as well as their own self-schemas (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer, 2012). The concept of the self consists of personality traits and attributes that make one unique and different from other individuals around them. The concept of the self can be understood in two different ways namely the relational self and collective self. Relational self refers to an individual’s opinion of himself or herself as determined by their significant others such as their close family and friends. Collective self on the other hand refers to how one is influenced by social groups that they belong to in forming an opinion of themselves based on their interactions with other members of the groups, such as political organizations, nationalities among others. It is important to distinguish the self-concept from other terms such as self-awareness and self-esteem. Even though all the terms refer to how one would describe oneself, the terms have different psychological implications and meanings. Self-awareness refers to the extent to which one has knowledge of themselves and how they apply such knowledge on their dispositions and attitudes. Self-esteem on the other hand is only and evaluative opinion of an individual about themselves. The self-concept differs from these terms because it refers to more of a descriptive or cognitive component of an individual. How the self is influenced by social contexts Over the years, social psychologists have been able to link individual behavior and the self-concept to the surrounding of the individual, which is the social context. One’s social context influences how the individual perceives himself and therefore the image they have of themselves. Theories such as the social identity theory, the social facilitation theory, the cognitive dissonance theory, and the self-categorization theory have all been fundamental in unearthing relaxant information over the years that have enriched the understanding of psychologists on the concept of the self (Crisp & Turner, 2007). These theories try to relate an individual and his or her environment to determine how the individual is influenced by the environment and how the environment in turn affects how the individual perceives himself or herself. Henri Tajfel introduced the social identity theory in psychology in the late 1970s to explain the impact that social groups have on the behavior of individuals and their own identity (Henri, 2010). The theory states that social groups have a great influence on the identity of individuals. According to Tajfel (2010), social groups such as social class, the family, or political groups act as significant sources of self-esteem and pride to their members (Baron, & Branscombe, 2012). He identified two classifications of the social groups namely in-groups and out-groups which create a situation of us and them respectively. The in-groups will often seek to discriminate against the out-groups so as to boost their own self image and present their group as the best. The members of in-groups will look for the negatives in outsiders or other groups so as to boost their own self image and that of their group. These groups influence individual behavior by requiring the group members to cat in certain ways in order to conform to the group laws and regulations that bind the group together. Individuals derive their self-image or identity from belonging to groups. Members of in-groups may look at themselves as being better than others are and will have a high self-esteem and a positive self-image. This theory is very instrumental in showing the influence that social groups within ones social context can influence their self-concept. The social facilitation theory tries to relate how individuals perform in relation to other people in their environment. Norman Triplett put the theory forward in 1898 to explain how one’s social context influences how one behaves. The theory examines the impact of the presence of other people, either in reality or from imagination, on the behavior of the individual. Triplett found out that there was a co-action effect, where the mere presence of other people around an individual (William, and Jane, 2012). In this regard, an individual is likely to behave better, or perform better at a given task in the presence of other people around him or her, thereby improving on their self-esteem and general self-image. The presence of other people in the environment, or one’s social context is likely to influence how they behave, perform and perceive themselves, thereby shaping their self-image and their concept of self. The theory of cognitive dissonance on the other hand states that each individual has their own inner drive of holding all their beliefs and attitudes in harmony thereby avoiding dissonance or disharmony. When an individual comes in contact with other people in their social context with different beliefs and attitudes from them, they are bound to feel discomfort and rebel and may look for options to restore balance by reducing such discomfort. An individual acquires his or her belies from their culture, religion and from their socialization process. This implies that social institutions and the people around an individual play an important role in giving the individual a set of beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that they are willing to hold on to when such beliefs and attitudes conflict with those of other people from other cultures and social contexts (Baron, & Branscombe, 2012). This theory shows that the wider environment has a major role in constructing and shaping these attitudes through the socialization process, which is done by various social institutions. The social categorization theory can also be used to explain how the social context influences the self. The theory, put forward by John Turner, describes the circumstances under which an individual can perceive the people around them as a group (Crisp & Turner, 2007). The theory was initially formed to explain group formation, but has been expanded to include explanations of the influence of the group on individuals and along with the social identity theory, the social categorization theory has been used extensively to explain the social influence of groups on individuals. The theory seeks to answer the question as to what makes people feel part of a larger group. In this way, psychologists are able to understand individual behavior. The theory also enables psychologists to understand how people perceive themselves and those around them. According to this theory, one’s concept of the self comes as a result of a cognitive process that relates to one’s awareness of his or her surroundings. Conclusion The theories discussed above all point to the conclusion that the social context has a lot of influence on the self. Various psychological theories explain the link between personal identity and the concept of the self, and the social environment in which one lives. References Baron, R. A., & Branscombe, N. R. (2012). Social Psychology (13th ed.). England: Pearson Education Ltd. Crisp, R. J. & Turner R. N. (2007). Essential Social Psychology. London: Sage Publications. Dora C., Rupert B. (2000). Social Identity Processes: Trends in Theory and Research. SAGE. Henri T. (2010). Social Identity and Intergroup Relations Volume 7 of European Studies in Social Psychology. Cambridge University Press Pastorino E. E. & Doyle-Portillo, S. M. (2013). What s Psychology? Essentials. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Weiten, W., Dunn, D. S., & Hammer, E. Y. (2012). Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustments in the 21st Century. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. William T. O., Jane E. F. (2012). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Core Principles for Practice. John Wiley & Sons. Read More