Psychology studies human behavior. Our behavior is related to three dimensions: the genetic traits that we inherit, the personal circumstances of our direct environment and, finally, the social context in which each individual lives. Social psychology is the branch of psychology that studies the links between individuals and society.
Our emotions, ideas and behaviors cannot be separated from the society in which we live. Human beings form communities and our individual mental schemes can only be explained within a general framework, society. Social psychology as a discipline has links with other areas of knowledge, such as sociology or anthropology.
Social psychology has several applications and among them the workplace, the educational system and the world of sport stand out.
In most work activities, workers perform functions with other individuals. In this sense, there is occupational psychology. In this specific area, issues such as group cohesion, leadership, communication, the role of workers within their group, etc. are analyzed.
In the school environment, children are integrated into a level of socialization. Because of this there is a specific area, educational psychology. In this area, all kinds of variables are studied: the relationship between the student and their school environment, group analysis, verbal and non-verbal communication between teachers and students, leadership, the climate that is generated in the classroom, etc.
Sport is more than just a set of physical activities. In fact, many sports are social phenomena that mobilize millions of people. It must be remembered that sport is part of the educational process of socialization of individuals and, on the other hand, many sports fulfill social functions of all kinds (in some countries football plays an important role in daily social relations).
Social agents can transform reality
At the individual level, it is possible to change habits or attitudes to better adapt to our environment. Something similar happens on the collective level. If a large group of individuals disagree with a reality, their joint action can alter the course of what seems undesirable or unfair to them.
Gandhi supporters who protested British colonialism managed to get their country to independence, and people affected by mortgage conditions have succeeded in getting laws changed in some countries.
These two examples remind us of an obvious fact: there is a collective behavior with which it is possible to promote social change.
Meanwhile, there are different approaches within Social Psychology such as: Psychoanalysis, behaviorism, postmodern psychology and the perspective of groups
On the side of psychoanalysisThis includes Social Psychology as the study of both collective drives and repressions that originate within the individual unconscious and then influence the collective and the social.
On the other hand, the behaviorism understands Social Psychology as the study of social influence, therefore, it will focus its efforts on the behavior of the individual with respect to the influence of the environment or others.
On the other hand, from the perspective of Postmodern Psychology Social Psychology consists of the analysis of the components that make up social diversity and fragmentation.
And finally according to the perspective proposed by the groups, each group of people will be a unit of analysis with its own identity. For this reason, Social Psychology will study human groups as an intermediate point between the social-depersonalized and the individual-particular.
