Outline the Four Domains of Analysis Found in Social Psychology. Illustrate These with Examples from the Course. Should These Different Modes of Explanation for Psychological Phenomena Be Treated as Complementary, as

Outline the four domains of analysis found in social psychology. Illustrate these with examples from the course. Should these different modes of explanation for psychological phenomena be treated as complementary, as incommensurable, or through a reductionist strategy?

Social psychology utilises four domains of analysis. Each of these domains locate the various perspectives found in social psychology, however, some of the perspectives can be located in more than one domain. The societal domain employs sociological emphasis for investigating and trying to understand the person, this is achieved by focusing on wider society or social relations. The societal domain is the home of the social construction perspective, but as mentioned above can also accommodate other perspectives. The group domain focuses solely on the group and its power over the individual to shape behaviour and how groups create their own emotional climates and collective pathology. The cognitive-experimental perspective is often associated with the group domain. The interpersonal/personal domain concentrates on the holistic person and although social influences are not ignored, the individual 's ability to construct themselves through conscious analytical processes are the focus of explanation. The fourth domain is the intrapersonal domain concerned with what goes on inside the individual. Psychodynamic and biological perspectives are contained within this domain (Sapsford, 1996, p.68-72). Although these four domains appear to be distinct from each other, the boundaries between them are often blurred and due to some of the perspectives being located in more than one domain, makes the distinction between them blurred (Sapsford, 1996, p.67). I will begin the essay by continuing to outline the four domains of analysis using examples from the D317 course and the family. Then come to a conclusion about the complementary, incommensurable or reductionist prospects of these disparate domains of

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