Social Psychology Definition Paper
Jamie Rodriguez
PSY/400
January 12, 2015
Norris Edwards
Social Psychology Definition Paper
Social psychology is the art in which peoples actions are studied while in group and public settings. Social psychology is exhibited in everyday behavior. There are many factors that contribute to a person’s behavior such as the task that is at hand, the level of knowledge in trying to complete the task, the other people that are around, the location and level of comfort. Social psychology tries to study and explain the feelings that a person is experiencing in different social environments. Social psychology is basically explaining why people act certain ways in public. (MacLeod, 2007)
Social psychology differs from other branches of psychology. Clinical psychology is geared more towards the person’s heritage and race and the issues and hardships that one may face based on their culture. Cultural issues are sometimes hard to avoid. (Nordqvist, 2004-2015) General psychology focuses more on the behavior and mental processes of humans and animals. Sociology is very similar to psychology and human services department. It is often in consideration of students when they are trying to find the degree program that fits best. Sociology is nothing more that the study of development, structure, and functioning of human society.
Research is very important in social psychology. There are many types of research that can be conducted. Research can provide many different points of view and show results based on different conditions, opinions, and environments. If you conducted a survey of people coming out of the grocery store in a certain part of town that is not as fortunate as other parts, it would be very misleading to state that they method of payment such as EBT would be adequate for a whole city based on the shoppers of one store. To gather a more accurate result, it would be safer to conduct a survey to collect the type of payment that is used from a grocery trip by visiting several different stores, in different neighborhoods on different sides of town.
When research is done correctly, it leaves no room for stereotypes or misleading information. Many theories of the past have been argued due to the fact that some of their results have not included all types of factors that contribute to the study, or the researcher has failed to acknowledge there are other factors.
Social psychology is very vital in understanding other people and the reactions they have to current situations. If social psychology was integrated more in the earlier years of school there would be a better understanding of children who have trouble with social environments and people would develop a little empathy for those who lack the skills to interact in a socially healthy way. Society doesn’t seem to
