What is social psychology and how is it useful

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Society can influence our beliefs and actions.

Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the patterns of human behavior when interacting with each other. Namely, the processes of communication, personality development, the activities of large and small social groups, as well as their characteristics.

The direction appeared in the middle of the 19th century. However, it received a special impetus in development after the Second World War. Then psychologists tried to understand what prompted the masses of people to this terrible catastrophe. To achieve more objective results, social psychologists paid great attention to experiments. Many of them became common knowledge, and their results began to be taken into account in business and propaganda.

The experiences of social psychologists have allowed us to learn a lot about how we relate to other people and define ourselves among them. Let's deal with some of the observations.

We are often biased in our assessments of other people

The way a person sees people, and the way they, in his opinion, see him, largely determines the behavior and decisions made. For example, when we find ourselves in a competitive environment, we may begin to treat our rivals with disdain, although this would not have happened outside of competition.

We also easily extend one positive quality to the entire personality of a person. Thus, attractive people often seem to us to be kind, smart and funny. This is called the halo effect.

It also works in the opposite direction. An interesting experiment was carried out by Carlsberg as part of an advertising campaign. Couples were asked to enter a crowded cinema, in which 148 out of 150 seats were occupied by bikers of a very stern appearance. Most did not dare to stay for the session because of stereotypes: those sitting in the hall seemed to them to be criminals and rowdy.

What to do about it

Communication with people outside the usual circle of acquaintances helps to get rid of prejudices. For example, to reconcile with rivals, it is enough to work together on a task. A common goal helps to see a person in a “friend”.

We can consider ourselves to be right, even if we are not

Few are able to easily say that he is wrong. This is because we tend to take our beliefs as universally accepted. If you put a person with a choice, and then ask how others will do in this situation, he will most likely answer that most would do the same. This bias is called the false consensus effect. This phenomenon was also discovered by social psychologists.

What to do about it

In order not to project your opinion onto strangers, the main thing is to remember that they do not necessarily agree with you. Every person has their own views, and that's okay. And to convince someone is most often useless.

Sometimes the opinions of others are too important for us

People need to be aware of a sense of identity - belonging to a group. The opinion of the environment can be so important that we are ready to change our behavior and outlook. Therefore, for example, teenagers may start drinking alcohol or smoking to become part of a certain company.

However, adults are also subject to this phenomenon, called conformity. It is not uncommon for people in general to trust "the opinion of the crowd." In addition, we are often under pressure from social norms in society. For example, a magnificent wedding may not be a dream of the newlyweds, but a tribute to tradition and a showy ritual for relatives. Conformity not only influences our actions, but also makes us vulnerable to manipulation.

What to do about it

Try to develop the ability to say no. Try not to respond to other people's requests and exhortations right away. First, think about whose interests they concern. Answer yourself if this business is worth your time and effort, and if you really need it.

We have enough formal reason to do terrible things

The experiments of the American social psychologist Stanley Milgram make one think about how quickly a person is ready to turn into a monster. In them, the subjects were asked to shock a person for incorrect answers to questions and gradually increase the voltage. In fact, the tortured was a dummy actor and did not receive electricity, which the subjects did not know.

As a result, 65% of the participants reached the highest stress level. If the current were real, it could cause serious harm to health. At the same time, people more willingly agreed to shock another person in the presence of an experimenter who introduced himself as a professor. The trust in the assistants was much lower. That is, the higher the formal authority of the ordering person, the more willingly they will carry out his commands, even if they contradict the norms of ethics and morality.

In situations like this, people often excuse themselves by simply following the instructions, thus transferring responsibility for what was done to others.

What to do about it

Following orders or instructions does not justify risky behavior at all. For example, Nazi criminals are still being searched for and tried. Therefore, before doing something that is expected of you, think about J. Shaw. Psychology of evil, you would do so of your own free will. Accept the fact that responsibility for all your actions lies with you and no one else.

We often ignore people who need our help

The influence of society can also manifest itself in non-obvious things. For example, the more people see that someone needs help, the less each of them will feel their own personal responsibility for helping. This is called the bystander effect. Most often, as an example, they cite cases when many people became eyewitnesses of a crime, but none of them went to the police and did not try to help the victim.

What to do about it

The knowledge of the existence of the effect in itself largely helps to overcome it. It is also important to understand that you are really capable of helping someone. And for this it is not at all necessary to be able to save drowning people or to do heart massage.