Social psychology and other sciences
If we consider how social psychology is related to other sciences, then our evaluation of the field and problems of social psychology will become more clear. From birth there are two worlds in front of every human being: the physical world and the social world. He has to know the world around him so that he can maintain his existence and contribute as much as he can for the survival of mankind. His life begins as a psycho-physical being and has biological means for survival. But he is such a helpless person that unless he is protected during his long infancy, there is little hope of his survival.
In this way, social influences have a special importance in the growth of an individual. Even now in general psychology the study of the individual is not done in the context of his social environment. The difference that occurs in an individual due to the influence of the social environment is only considered to be a subsidiary of his variability. These are only disturbing effects that need to be deeply understood to find out the rules behind behavior and experience. The aim of social psychology is to establish those rules of behavior which are not affected by the variation of upbringing.
The basic laws of motivation, perception, learning, memory, contemplation, etc. are common to all human beings, irrespective of the culture in which they are brought up. Thus in general psychology the study of the individual is done in an absolute form. On the other hand, since social psychology studies the experiences and behavior of individuals related to socially motivational situations, we see that what is incompatible with general psychology becomes important for social psychology.
In social psychology, man is studied from his real, social and cultural perspective. As we have seen above that there is practically no situation which is not of social importance. Hunger is a biological need. But how a person eats, what he eats, when he eats it all is determined by the group in which he lives and especially by the group in which he is brought up.
The study of the effect of species differences on intelligence shows that it is difficult to determine whether these differences are due to biological needs and to what extent they are due to good or bad social motivation. Considering from this point of view, it becomes clear that social psychology is an essential complement to general psychology. The full importance of the laws of behavior cannot be understood unless general psychology is studied along with social psychology. But it should not be understood that the laws of social psychology are different from the laws of general psychology. They are one. ‘Social cognition’ and ‘social learning’ are not different from perception or learning in antisocial situations. From this point of view it can be said that in socio-psychology general principles are applied to social interactions.
Now we can briefly discuss the relation of social psychology with social science. In sociology, the study of the development and principles of social organization and in general the behavior of the group is studied which is different from the behavior of the individual in the group. It is concerned with the composition and organization of the group.
The unit of its study is the group. In this, the origin and development of groups, the means by which the group maintains itself, and how the group disciplines its members and makes them follow it, is studied. It also studies how groups and social institutions change. For example, in this, not only the family as a group is studied, but it is also studied how the family has changed from time to time.
Social psychology, on the other hand, is concerned with the individual and how he treats other individuals and their group. Its area is more limited. In this, only those forbidden scientific factors are studied on the basis of which groups are formed. From another point of view, social psychology is a fundamental subject for social science.
Psychological facts play an important role in the formation, development and change of social institutions. Suggestion – Acceptance, imitation, loyalty, fear, ideal etc. explain the stability of social customs as well as their change. MacIver and Page put it this way – “When we study the nature of the behavior of individuals, the structure of the individual’s consciousness, which is expressed in social relationships, we take a psychological approach. When we study only relationships So social scientists take the approach. Both the sciences are concerned with different aspects of indivisible reality. Individuals cannot be understood in isolation from their relationships with each other; Relationships cannot be understood in isolation from the units (or terms) of the relation. can . ” . We can say that social scientists and anthropologists study the fabric of social interactions.