Looking around the world today, we have to wonder what's plaguing society. All of the political polarisation, disinformation on social media... Even the phenomenon of social media - the selfies, the telling of one's story; the conformity is remarkable. Never have humans lived in a time of such relentless self-promotion.
What drives this behaviour? And why are we growing more comfortable at our keyboards than mingling with others?
These are the types of questions that social psychologists try to answer. Their job is to figure out how human thoughts and behaviours change depending on their perception of their environment. But they don't just study human thoughts and feelings. They also examine the conditions that provoke such changes. In these times, they have their work cut out for them; they could use your help.
Let's learn all we can about social psychology and how you could make it your life's work.
The Roots of Social Psychology
In a sense, this type of psychology is the root of this science. But until about 150 years ago, this study was called philosophy. Throughout the course of history, people (usually men) pondered the human mind. They focused on issues like 'right' and 'wrong' behaviours and moral reasoning. It wasn't until 1879 that a German physiologist and philosopher cleaved psychology from the broader field of philosophy.
Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological research lab and he was the first to call himself a psychologist.
The science of psychological study didn't exactly become a free-for-all but it certainly lacked organisation. Wundt's students were postulating theories about everything psyche-related.
There was little to no distinction of premise or outcome. Slowly, discrete concepts and courses of study emerged. Social psychology was established as a formal discipline early in the 20th Century.
Social psychologists had a lot to work with. War propaganda was a new development. Social psychologists studied the effects of psychological warfare on both domestic and enemy combatants. Joseph Goebbels is probably the most infamous propaganda minister of all time. He spurred German troops to power through the terror of the Second World War by elevating his master to god-like status. And he projected German might onto other nations' fighting forces to bring about their early capitulation.
After the war, social psychologists turned to cultural concerns such as racism and gender prejudice. Mid-century, in the US, the field of social psychology came into its own. The Civil Rights movement dovetailed nicely with rock music's growing popularity and the British Invasion. These social upheavals gave social psychologists a range of phenomena to study.
To an extent, that proved to be an era of cognitive dissonance and social aggression. The development of resistance to social conformity gave psychology professionals many courses to study. However, human behaviour changes depending on the situation.
Today's social backdrops are not the same as they were 50 years ago. Thus, it takes all types of psychological study to understand human behaviour.
What Is Social Psychology?
As mentioned in this article's introduction, social psychologists concern themselves with studying patterns of human behaviour in a given social condition. Or across social conditions. Sometimes, the conditions are organic, such as when studying attitudes towards other social groups. Other times, they are contrived. Such is the case when social psychologists design and conduct experiments.
Even if you're only mildly interested in psychology, you may have read or heard about the Bobo Doll experiment. Canadian-American social psychologist Albert Bandura attempted to demonstrate that aggression is a learned behaviour. He set up a playroom with two sets of toys, a Bobo doll among them. One at a time, young children were invited to play with designated toys while an assistant played with the other pile, which included the doll. In some instances, the assistant played 'normally'. In others, he violently attacked the Bobo doll.
And then, each child was invited to play with the toys on their own. Those who had witnessed the violence generally also behaved violently. When the results were published, Dr Bandura faced heavy backlash.
Ethical concerns form the foundation of social psychology study. Observing and interpreting attitudes and behaviours in a natural setting is this discipline's goal. Other psychologists criticised him, too. The perception was that he led the children to his desired conclusion. They further asserted that he had exposed them to unnecessary violence.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was another dramatic example of individuals having a negative influence on a group of test subjects. This experiment involved university student volunteers who were separated into two groups. One group represented prisoners and the other, their wardens. The warden group was encouraged to push the limits of acceptable behaviour to see how the other group would react. The experiment ended up being an exercise in sadism.
Almost immediately after the results were published, psychologists condemned Dr Phillip Zimbardo's experiment as flawed. The primary criticism revolved around the participants agreeing to take part. Their volunteering for the study was seen as a factor that would have influenced their behaviour.
The experiment was meant to show people's inclination toward conformity in a role-playing game. Facing backlash, Dr Zimbardo later argued he meant to show that immediate circumstances would overwhelm a person's normal personality.
In the end, organisational psychology played a role. The warden group completely dominated the inmate group, as often happens in a work setting.
Work as a Social Psychologist
In your psychology courses, you might attend a lecture on American psychologist Norman Triplett. He published a seminal paper on social facilitation which revealed that people tended to perform better in groups than alone.
His findings applied to practically every condition across society, from cyclist teams riding more competitively to children reeling in fish faster together. His theories formed the bedrock of many early social experiments. To some extent, they inform today's, as well.
To work as a social psychologist, you will have to become familiar with some of this discipline's core concepts and theories. Attitude is a particularly broad avenue of study. Often, people say they have no biases against any group. However, upon examination, unconscious biases invariably surface. It's not that people are naturally bad or mean-spirited, but these biases become ingrained at some point. Social psychologists are still learning when and how such conditioning happens.
Back to selfie culture, now. It seems that individuals' definition of self-concept is in flux. Psychology's self-perception theory informs us about people developing their attitudes by observing their own behaviours. So what is the cultural phenomenon of an individual constantly uploading heavily filtered self-images? Do they believe that image is their real self?
Is it for conformity's sake - everyone does it? Or is that person trying to disprove the social comparison theory? It states that people determine their status by comparing themselves to others. A developmental psychologist might have some insight into what drives people to post endless selfies.
Studying Social Psychology
Having read this far, you might have gathered that social psychologists' work is not public-facing like forensic psychology is. However, the study trajectory is the same for both fields. In high school, students should take courses that will enhance their communication skills and analytical thinking abilities.
Once at university, students' undergraduate courses will comprise general psychological learning. As they work towards their degree, they should set their sights on a graduate program specialising in social psychology, either online or in lecture format. With that degree in hand, they may end their university studies but only if they're prepared for limited career opportunities.
Social psychologists work in the public, private and academic sectors, with most of their work focused on research. If you plan to work for a corporation, you'll study workplace conditions and situations and propose solutions. Such might include improving the workplace environment and proposing alternative work arrangements to reduce employee stress. You may also work in marketing, conducting focus groups and giving input on product design.
Social psychologists work in government, too. Finding solutions to cultural and social problems such as racism, poverty and homelessness begin by studying their causes. Social psychologists help government agencies understand public health crises such as obesity and drug use. With a better understanding of those issues, governments can formulate policies to reduce the conditions that cause those behaviours.
The important takeaway is that social psychologists study individual behaviour within groups. They examine individuals' thoughts, feelings and perceptions in a cultural and social context. They measure the impacts of group activity on an individual to assess conformity. Considering the social, political and economic flashpoints we've seen over the past few years, social psychologists have much to work on.
How much a person with a social psychology degree can earn depends on how much education they have and what environment they work in. For example, if you work in a school, devising strategies against bullying and other bad behaviours, you likely won't earn as much as working in the private sector. You might team up with a group of cognitive psychologists to study antisocial behaviour on a government grant. Cognition mechanics is another area where social psychologists find familiar ground.
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