Social psychology is associated with the following branches of science. Section w

The relationship of social psychology with other scientific disciplines is due to two circumstances. The first is the logic of the development of science in general through the differentiation of its individual branches. At the same time, each of the branches of scientific knowledge reflected the specifics of “its own” vision and explanation of the surrounding world. The second is the ever-increasing need of society for the need to use the integrated knowledge of many branches of science. Thus, the closeness of the connection of social psychology with other sciences can be traced taking into account such aspects as:

The presence of a common object of study;

Use of general methods in solving theoretical and practical problems;

Mutual use of certain explanatory principles in understanding the nature of socio-psychological phenomena;

Involvement of facts "obtained" by other scientific disciplines, which help to better understand the factors and specifics of the development and manifestations of human social psychology.

So, relationship between social psychology and history takes place when each of them turns to the other to solve their own problems in order to use its data. The analysis of history for a person is a source for understanding his current state, including the psychology of his behavior and relationships with other people. A historian, for example, may be interested in the psychological characteristics of people who lived in a particular era. The psychologist, in turn, can turn to history to solve his problems, considering the psychology of people as a historical fact. The historian can study the personality of a statesman or the psychology of a people, using the methods of social psychology to explain historical events that took place. A psychologist can apply the method of historical analysis to penetrate into the psychology and behavior of long-lived generations.

In the works of outstanding psychologists and historians, we find the most interesting examples of the mutual influence of social psychology on the actions and deeds of individuals, and vice versa. For example, a certain relationship has been established between the dictatorial regimes that existed at different times and the psychological characteristics of people who lived under these regimes. Between the socio-economic achievements of the country and the strength of achievement motivation among people representing this country. In the real interstate coexistence of peoples in the course of historical development, the so-called ethnic stereotypes, acting today as relatively stable ideas about the moral, physical characteristics inherent in representatives of various ethnic communities.

Social psychology and philosophy

The complexity and unusualness of the problems they faced led to the need to turn to the philosophy of psychologists. Many questions of social psychology lend themselves with great difficulty to experimental analysis and study with the help of natural scientific methods. In many respects they are solved philosophically and speculatively. Yes, and man himself is not a completely biological being - he "lives" between nature and society and at the same time belongs to these two realities. For this reason, in his knowledge, he cannot be completely covered only by the methods of any one science.

Many problems of the psychology of modern man, such as the personal meaning and purpose of life, worldview, political preferences and moral values, are common to both social psychology and philosophy.

Social psychology and sociology

Sociology and social psychology find many common interests in the development of problems related to society and the individual, social groups and intergroup relations. Sociology borrows from social psychology methods of studying personality and human relations. In turn, psychologists widely use the traditional sociological methods of collecting primary scientific data - questionnaires and surveys. For example, sociometry, which originally arose as a psychological theory of society (J. Moreno), is simultaneously used as a socio-psychological test for assessing interpersonal emotional ties in a group.

Developed predominantly by sociologists social learning theory accepted in social psychology. This theory claims that human behavior is the result of his communication, interaction and joint activities with different people in different social situations, the result of imitation, observation of other people, learning and education on their examples. Any forms of human social behavior, even if they are based on known genetic factors, are transformed as a result of applying a system of various socio-cultural rewards and punishments to a person.

On the contrary, the theories of personality and small group proposed by psychologists find application in sociological research. And if sociologists use psychological data primarily in solving problems affecting society as a whole; then psychologists turn to sociological theories and facts when they need to better understand the mechanisms of society's influence on the individual, as well as the general patterns of human behavior in society. At the same time, one of the most important objects of study, a kind of "sphere of interest" of social psychologists is not society as a whole, but small group- a small number of people, including from 2-3 to 20-30 people engaged in a common cause and having direct personal contacts with each other.

There are quite a few problems that, in principle, cannot be solved without the participation of representatives of both sciences. These are the problems of relations between people, national psychology, the psychology of economics, politics, interstate relations and a number of others. This also includes the problems of socialization and social attitudes, their formation and transformation. All this is done in psychology by representatives of social psychology, and it is noteworthy that the direction of scientific research with a similar name, but with a different problematic and research methodology, exists in sociology as well.

Social psychology and pedagogy

Practically any of the issues of education and upbringing requires the joint participation of teachers and psychologists and cannot be successfully resolved without their coordinated work. Socially oriented pedagogy invariably uses the data of social psychology, which helps to correctly resolve the issues of organizing effective educational interaction between students and teachers, take into account socio-psychological phenomena and processes occurring in pedagogical and educational teams.

Thus, social Psychology- this is a branch of psychology that studies the structural and dynamic features and patterns of psychological phenomena that arise in the process of social interaction, that is, in situations of communication and joint activities of people, as well as reasonable ways to control these phenomena (Goncharov A.I.).

The main features of scientific socio-psychological knowledge is its ability to reflect the essential, stable and repetitive in socio-psychological phenomena, the combination of methodological, theoretical and experimental knowledge, in which the main thing is a conscious, reflective research orientation, testability of theoretical positions in the experiment.

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Social psychology as a branch of psychology arose in the twenties of the twentieth century, although socio-psychological knowledge accumulated and formed into coherent theories over many centuries long before that.

Social psychology, although it is a branch of the science of psychology, includes not only psychological knowledge. It is located at the intersection of psychology with sociology, philosophy, pedagogy, political science and other sciences.

From sociology to social psychology is different by the fact that it studies not society, but a person in society, but from general psychology by the fact that it studies not individual mental phenomena and the personality as such, but a person in the system of social relations.

Subject of study social psychology are the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their involvement in social groups and the psychological characteristics of these same groups.

Communication and joint activities- these are the two forms of human involvement in the social system, which are studied and researched by various methods within the framework of social psychology.

Simplifying, we can say that social Psychology is a branch of psychology that explains exactly how a person’s thoughts, feelings and behavior are influenced by the real or perceived presence of other people nearby.

Hence the two main problematic issues social psychology:

What is the relationship between the consciousness of the individual and the consciousness of the group?
What are the driving forces of human social behavior?

However, social psychology studies not only the personality in the group, but also the psychology of the social groups themselves.

social group is a community of people with common goals, values, norms of behavior and interests. But in order for the group to be formed, one unifying factor, for example, a common goal, is enough.

Leadership, leadership, team cohesion, aggressiveness, conformism, adaptation, socialization, prejudices, stereotypes and many other group processes and phenomena are studied by social psychology.

Methods and branches of social psychology

Methods of socio-psychological research usually divided into two classes:

research methods,
influence methods.

To research methods include:

In its relatively short period of existence, social psychology has managed to turn into the most extensive and sought after branch of psychology. It featured a lot of big sub-sectors, which are applied:

conflictology,
ethnic psychology,
political psychology,
psychology of religion,
psychology of management,
communication psychology,
psychology of interpersonal relationships,
family psychology,
mass psychology,
social psychology of personality and a number of other sections.

area practical application social psychology and its sub-sectors is absolutely the entire system of social relations.

Development of social psychology

Social psychology began very actively develop in the post-war, 50s of the twentieth century, due to the fact that the Second World War left a lot of acute social questions unanswered. These were questions about the social nature of man, about why people behave one way or another, finding themselves under the yoke of unbearable circumstances, to which one would not want to adapt, but is necessary in order to survive.

Since the second half of the twentieth century abroad and in the Soviet Union, often held experiments aimed at studying various socio-psychological phenomena.

We can recall a series of experiments about submission to authority American psychologist S. Milgram (1933-1984), who showed that an adult and reasonable person is ready to go to great lengths (in the experiment - to cause severe pain to another person), blindly following the instructions of an authoritative person. The subordination and conciliation of the majority of people knows no bounds.

Interestingly, S. Milgram also experimentally substantiated theory of "six handshakes". It was this psychologist who proved that any two people on Earth are separated by no more than five levels of common acquaintances, that is, each person is indirectly familiar with any other inhabitant of the Earth (whether he is a TV star or a beggar on the other side of the world) on average through five common acquaintances.

People in the literal and figurative sense are not so far from each other, as it seems, but, nevertheless, they are ready to harm their neighbor, at the very first “instruction from above”. All people are connected and close to each other. Every time, forgetting about it, humanity threatens the very fact of its existence.

V.S. Mukhina demonstrated that readiness of a person to agree with the opinion of the crowd or an authoritative statement, which sometimes comes to the ridiculous. Her experiments were repeated in 2010, but the results are still the same: people are more likely to believe what others say than their own eyes.

In the twentieth and at the beginning of our century, many other various experiments were carried out, during which they studied:

the influence of the media on personal attitudes - K. Hovland;
how the pressure of the group forms the same behavior among its members - S. Ash;
learning without awareness - J. Grinspoon;
diffusion of responsibility - B. Latane and J. Darley;
communication as a unity of three processes (social perception, communication, interaction) - G.M. Andreeva, A.A. Bodalev, A.A. Leontiev;
intergroup relations - V.S. Ageev, T.G. Stefanenko;
interpersonal and intergroup conflict - A.I. Dontsov, N.V. Grishin, Yu.M. Borodkin and others;
and so on, the list can be long.

All these numerous and interesting socio-psychological experiments formed a scientific and practical basis for understanding the social nature of man and contributed to development of society.

Unfortunately, there are negative aspect popularity of social psychology. Valuable knowledge obtained as a result of social studies is used in politics, economics and advertising, often with the aim of manipulating the consciousness of the masses with further programming of their behavior.

Today, those in power cannot do without image makers, PR managers and other specialists with psychological knowledge, and also sponsor socio-psychological research, as they know that the data obtained helps to manipulate the minds of citizens even more skillfully.

Have you ever taken part in a socio-psychological study before?

The science that studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the fact of their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves. Over a long period, socio-psychological ideas ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

The science that studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their inclusion in social groups, as well as psychological. characteristics of these groups. S. p. arose in the middle. 19th century at the intersection of psychology and sociology. To the 2nd ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY- SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. A section of psychology that lies at the intersection of psychology and sociology. It studies the phenomena of the psyche that exist only in a group of people or in a person in a group (for example, communication skills, collectivism, psychological ... ... A new dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of teaching languages)

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The branch of psychology that studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the fact of their belonging to social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups. As an independent discipline arose in the beginning. 20th century… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

A branch of psychology that studies the patterns of people's activities in terms of interaction in social groups. The main problems of social psychology are as follows: the patterns of communication and interaction of people, the activities of large (nations, ... ... Psychological Dictionary

Social Psychology- SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the fact of their belonging to social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups. As an independent discipline arose at the beginning of the 20th century ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY- a branch of psychology that studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves. Initially, social psychological views were developed within the framework of various ... ... Russian Pedagogical Encyclopedia

A science that studies the mechanisms of consciousness and behavior of social communities, groups and individuals, as well as the role of these mechanisms in societies. life. Unlike the study of ideology, S. p. studies less clearly formulated, systematized and ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY- (social psychology) a subsection of psychology and sociology, which, according to Allport, deals with the ways in which the thinking, feelings and behavior of the individual are influenced by social interactions, groups, etc. Social Psychology… … Big explanatory sociological dictionary

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Social Psychology
Social psychology, V. G. Krysko. The textbook reveals the main content and features of socio-psychological phenomena and processes, shows the specifics of their manifestation in the life and activities of people, characterizes the main ...

Accompany us all our lives. These include perception, imitation, understanding, suggestion, leadership, persuasion, relationships, and more. All this is usually manifested in the process of communication, which, in turn, is considered to be the central phenomenon in psychology. However, about everything - in order.

Specificity

First of all, it should be noted that socio-psychological phenomena are usually considered at several levels - at the officially formalized, personal-institutional, and interpersonal levels. And in general, all communication, in principle, is perceived as a means of improving the quality of training and work, as a special phenomenon. After all, it is in its process that the psychological and social structure of an individual, small groups and entire collectives is formed.

So, what is the specificity of the given topic? In the fact that all socio-psychological phenomena that seem familiar to us are usually considered from several points of view. To be more precise - they are "layed out" into levels.

At the first, something social only acts as a corrector of the biological and natural. On the second, the universal human factor is manifested. Differences in age, gender are taken into account, the continuity of generations is taken into account.

And finally, the third level. In short, it includes economic and political conditions, which are important reasons for the socialization of the individual.

And the central link in all this is the conceptual apparatus. That is, the basic concepts that express the structure of small groups, individuals, as well as mass phenomena.

Classification

Socio-psychological phenomena of social psychology and their manifestations depend on many things. From communities, small and large groups in which they arise.

Also on their type. Communities are both organized and unorganized. The phenomena arising in them are called mass-like (this will be discussed below), and the behavior is called spontaneous.

The class of psychological phenomena also matters. Phenomena can be rationally meaningful (opinion, belief, values), emotionally ordered (mood, social feelings), functioning under certain conditions (for example, in extreme or conflict situations). And of course, they are both conscious and unconscious.

About public opinion: definition

Theoretical knowledge is useful, but it is worth moving to practice and considering socio-psychological phenomena directly. One of them is a form of mass consciousness. That is public opinion. It is in it that the attitude of people (sometimes even entire groups) to certain processes is manifested. The definition clarifies - what to those that affect their needs or interests. But reality shows that modern people express their opinion in relation to everything, even if it does not concern them.

Characteristics of the phenomenon

Public opinion can be formed in different ways - either consciously or spontaneously. In the second case, the judgment is based on certain information that is transmitted from one mouth to another. Take, for example, the political sphere. It is unlikely that people in modern society are all experts in topics related to it. However, most of them are happy to talk about politics, and many of their judgments seem intelligent. Why? Because the opinion expressed by them is based on the information provided by the media, politicians themselves, authoritative people. This is at best. Usually there are still rumors, misconceptions, gossip, ideologies, beliefs.

In fact, people absorb everything they hear into their consciousness, after which they simply reinforce it with their guesses. And so "their" opinion is formed.

About the conscious approach

It can be separated into a separate short topic. Because the conscious approach in our time is not as “popular” as the one mentioned above. Because the very way of life is spontaneous. In order for an opinion to be conscious, people (all or most) must approach the perception of reality subjectively. And this implies the ability to think independently, rarely focusing on something generally accepted and already established in society. Which, again, is not for everyone.

scale

There is one feature of public opinion - it has an impact. Even if it happened in a small team.

Example: There is a relatively small enterprise that employs 50 people. As elsewhere, there works the one who is called an outcast. Why is there such an opinion about him? Perhaps he was not as sociable as everyone else, or he always behaved quietly, did not mind anyone. If normal people work in the team, then this person will not cause any discussion. But it often happens that personalities of this type become "outcasts", "scapegoats" for dumping unpleasant work on them. They speculate about their unsociableness, weave around intrigues. And so, at one moment such a person acquires the final image invented by his "well-wishers".

And this is just one example. Needless to say about the influence of public opinion, which covers the problems of international life and economic issues.

Interaction types

Joint activity is also commonly perceived as a socio-psychological phenomenon. Why? Because it is a relationship with other people, carried out for some purpose.

It cannot be translated into reality if nothing binds its participants. Compatibility is in all cases. Its first variant is called psychophysiological. It manifests itself in cases where joint activities are carried out by similar people. They are united by a similar character, identical behavioral reactions, similar attitudes, perhaps even a worldview. All this leads to consistency between them. And its presence is necessary to achieve the goals.

The second compatibility option is socio-psychological. It is considered to be the most optimal. Since it implies a combination in a certain group and the commonality of their attitudes, interests and values.

Cohesion and achievement of results

This is what collaborative activity implies. Cohesion is a process during which a specific connection is formed between people, due to which they are united into a “single organism”. Everything, again, is done in order to achieve certain goals and results. Each member of the group is interested in this.

It is customary to distinguish levels of cohesion. And at the first, the development of emotional contacts usually occurs - a manifestation of sympathy and disposition of people towards each other, for example. The second level involves the process of convincing each person that his value system is the same as others. And on the third, the division of the common goal is carried out.

All this affects the formation of the so-called contributing to the maintenance of general mood, a decent level of performance and well-being.

Phenomena in the masses

Society is Accordingly, such a concept as a mass psyche directly concerns the topic under discussion. Other terms follow from it. Mass consciousness, for example. It is one of the most common. Or mass mood. We have all heard these terms at one time or another.

Here, for example, are the mass phenomena of the psyche. This is the name of certain phenomena that arise, exist and develop in rather large social groups. Such are the mass sentiments. These are mental states that affect a large number of people. The prerequisites for their occurrence are usually events of a political, social, economic and even spiritual nature. Naturally, negative mass moods are most often manifested most clearly. Which are capable of destroying the socio-political systems that are well-established in society and disgusted with it. The tumultuous events of the 1990s showed how influential sentiments can be.

Individuality

It also has a place to be in the topic of socio-psychological phenomena. Because often they do not belong to society, but to a single individual. This refers to those phenomena that are due to the characteristics, behavior and actions of a particular person. It can be social status, the role of the individual, her position, values, attitudes. It often happens that because of only one person in any group (in the same work team) such phenomena occur that without him there is no place to be. If, for example, an office is run by an evil boss who constantly and for any reason breaks down on employees, then every time he is present there, most employees will have a tense state. Because everyone will anticipate the "storm", and perceive themselves as a potential victim. And again, this is just one example.

What is the law of imitation?

The answer to this question was once given by a French sociologist. More precisely, he formulated it.

Tarde argued that imitation is the main driving force of social development - it is imitation. And all the similarities that can only be in our world are due to ordinary repetition.

The sociologist identified the logical laws of imitation - those based on the means of disseminating a certain innovation or the calculation of the goal. Innovations were designated as a separate category.

But the most important thing in the law is that imitation goes to the external from the internal. In other words, the mind is always ahead of the feelings. Ideas come before meaning. And the ends come before the means. And of course, the desire to imitate in people causes only the most prestigious. Because hierarchy is important.

Functions of social groups and division into them

It has always been. Socio-psychological groups have existed as long as humanity has. Over time, only their names have changed. But in general, there have always been associations of people who have some kind of common social attribute.

There are a variety of approaches regarding the definition of the classification of the functions of such groups. It is customary to single out a few as the main ones.

The first function is socialization. It is believed that a person can ensure his full existence and survival only in a group.

The second function is instrumental. It implies the joint implementation by a group of a particular activity (the interaction has already been mentioned above).

The third function is expressive. This includes everything related to psychology. This is the mutual approval of people, respect, trust, friendship, feelings, emotions and much more.

And, finally, the fourth function is supporting. Its essence lies in the fact that all people strive to unite in difficult situations. These are their socio-psychological features. It is easier to cope with something together (both physically and mentally) than alone.

About problems

The topic related to them should also be noted with attention. concerns everyone today.

Take, for example, such a small group as a family. Nowadays, not every union ends its existence in a natural way - that is, the departure of one of the spouses to another world. Increasingly, marriages are breaking up. About 80%, according to statistics! And almost always the causes are emerging and unresolved psychological problems.

Or, for example, the elderly. They also have a lot of problems of a socio-psychological nature. One of the few is a sharp decline in their status in society. They cease to function as successfully as individuals, which often leads to breakdowns.

And the youth? It seems to many that this is who, and they certainly should not have problems. But this is nothing more than bias and stereotypes. The search for one's place in life, attempts to “join” society and certain groups, competition in all its manifestations. Yes, all problems are different. But they always accompany us, at any age. And some, perhaps, more often, others less often. Can they be completely avoided? Yes, definitely. If you live outside of society. Which, however, is difficult to achieve.