Social psychology is an interesting subdiscipline of psychology; there are many aspects to this science and the process it must follow for researching new theories. To begin with, this paper will define social psychology, the differences between social psychology and other disciplines such as sociology, general psychology, and clinical psychology. This paper will conclude with the process of research in social psychology.
Social Psychology is the study of how people think about influences and how they relate to one another (Myers, Chapter 1, 2010). Social psychology studies how people think, their influences, and relationships with others. The central themes in this science are: how we construe our social world, which explores our need to explain ones behavior; how our social intuitions guide and sometimes deceive us, this explores how what we think about ourselves is usually not obvious to other people; how our social behavior is shaped by other people, this discusses what people will do to believe that he or she belongs, connect and are liked by others; by our attitudes, personality, and by our biology, this explores ones family history to see if one is more likely to behave a certain way (Myers, Chapter 1, 2010). This is a young field of science; it was not explored until the late 1800s and the first text was written until shortly after the turn of the century. It was not until the 1930s that social psychology took the form of what it is today (Myers, Chapter 1, 2010).
Social psychology is different from other forms of psychology; however, it does share a few similar aspects with other disciplines. Sociology is similar to social psychology because both sciences study the general behavior of people; however, sociology focuses on people in groups and societies, and social psychology focuses on the individual. According to "Society of Clinical Psychology" (n.d), "Clinical psychology focuses on intellectual, emotional,
References: Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Society of Clinical Psychology. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/divisions/div12/aboutcp.html