Subject of research in social psychology. Social psychology

Social psychology

psychology and sociology

Item

Object

main sections:

- psychology of communication

- group psychology

- practical applications.

Ticket 5. Question 1. Methodology, method and technique in socio-psychological research. Methods social psychology.

Social psychological research- a type of scientific research with the aim of establishing psychological patterns in the behavior and activities of people, determined by the fact of inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves.

METHODOLOGY is a system of principles and methods of organizing and constructing theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. The methodology determines the initial principles of research, norms and requirements for the use of methods, and rules for providing impact.

Crowd classification

- on the basis controllability:

spontaneous crowd. It is formed and manifested without any organizing principle on the part of a specific individual.

Driven crowd. It is formed and manifested under the influence, influence from the very beginning or subsequently of a specific individual who is its leader in a given crowd.

Organized crowd. This variety is introduced by G. Le Bon, considering as a crowd both a collection of individuals who have embarked on the path of organization and an organized crowd.

- by the nature of people’s behavior:

Occasional crowd. Formed on the basis of curiosity about an unexpected incident (road accident, fire, fight, etc.).

Conventional crowd. Formed on the basis of interest in any pre-announced mass entertainment, spectacle or other socially significant specific occasion.

Expressive crowd. It is forming - just like a conventional crowd. It jointly expresses general attitude to any event (joy, enthusiasm, indignation, protest, etc.)

Ecstatic crowd. Represents an extreme form of expressive crowd. It is characterized by a state of general ecstasy based on mutual rhythmically increasing infection (mass religious rituals, carnivals, rock concerts, etc.).

Acting crowd. It is formed - just like the conventional one; carries out actions regarding a specific object. The current crowd includes the following subspecies.

1. Aggressive crowd united by blind hatred of a specific object (any religious or political movement, structure). Usually accompanied by beatings, pogroms, arson, etc.

2. Panic crowd escaping from a real or imagined source of danger.

3. Money-grubbing crowd. Enters into a disorderly direct conflict for the possession of any values. It is provoked by authorities who ignore the vital interests of citizens.

4. Rebel crowd. It is formed on the basis of general fair indignation at the actions of the authorities.

G. Le Bon distinguishes between types of crowds based on homogeneity. Heterogeneous: anonymous (street, for example), not anonymous (parliamentary assembly). Homogeneous: sects; castes; classes.

Factors of socialization.

Socialization takes place in the interaction of children, adolescents, and young men with a huge number of different conditions that more or less actively influence their development. These conditions affecting a person are usually called factors. More or less studied conditions or socialization factors can be roughly divided into four groups.

First – megafactors– space, planet, world, which to one degree or another through other groups of factors influence the socialization of all inhabitants of the Earth.

Second – macro factors- a country, ethnic group, society, state that influence the socialization of everyone living in certain countries.

Third – mesofactors, conditions for the socialization of large groups of people, distinguished: by the area and type of settlement in which they live (region, village, town, town); by belonging to the audience of certain mass communication networks (radio, television, etc.); according to belonging to certain subcultures. Mesofactors influence human socialization both directly and indirectly through fourth group – microfactors. These include factors that directly influence specific people who interact with them - family and home, neighborhood, peer groups, educational organizations, various public state, religious, private organizations, microsociety.

Stages of team development

- (lowest)- disunited, this is a collective that has either begun to form or is already “decaying”. It includes people who know each other little or, on the contrary, have clearly seen only each other’s negative qualities. The main means of influence of the team and the leader on the individual are more related to negative assessments various deviations from official norms, regulations, orders, etc.

- II- (medium)- a dismembered team. Its value goals and norms are already recognized by many members, but are still perceived and interpreted differently, depending on the groups to which individuals belong. In such a team there are usually several leaders who can be at enmity with each other, and after them the members of the groups are unfriendly to each other. The formal and informal structure are similar in some elements. Both positive and negative assessments are used to influence the individual.

- III - (highest)- a cohesive team - it has established goals that are understandable and recognized by everyone, clear and firm norms and principles of interaction that correspond to universal morality. Moreover, official norms are supplemented and reinforced by unofficial regulations and traditions. Due to these characteristics, each individual highly values the team and values it.

Psychologist L. Umansky proposed a figurative classification of the stages of development of a team. In his opinion, these stages can be interpreted as follows:

1. sand placer (people are not yet connected by bonds of communication);

2. soft clay (team members establish contacts, unite into something whole);

3. a flickering beacon (the distribution of social roles between members begins, the goals and values of the team are accepted);

4. scarlet sail (leaders and the core of the team are highlighted, which are capable of leading individual members);

5. flaming torch (all team members live by common goals and values, actively and energetically participate in joint activities);

6. spiders in a jar (this is the stage of the collapse of a team, when nothing unites its members except “boring” work).

Ticket 1. Question 1. Social psychology as a science. Subject, object and tasks and structure of social psychology.

Social psychology- a branch of psychology that studies the patterns, features of behavior and activities of people determined by their social interaction.

Social psychology arose in the second half of the 19th century. at the junction psychology and sociology. Its emergence was preceded by a long period of accumulation of knowledge about man and society. Initially, socio-psychological ideas were formed within the framework of philosophy, sociology, anthropology, ethnography and linguistics.

In the middle of the 19th century. social psychology emerged as an independent, but still descriptive science.

Item social psychology – mental phenomena that arise during interactions between people in social groups.

Object– personality in a group, interpersonal interaction, small group, intergroup interaction, large group. Those. The object of psychology is what social psychology is aimed at.

She studies the following phenomena:

1 . Psychological processes, states and properties of an individual, which manifest themselves as a result of his inclusion in relationships with other people, in various social groups (family, educational and work groups, etc.) and in general in the system of social relations (economic, political, managerial , legal, etc.).

2. The phenomenon of interaction between people, in particular, the phenomenon of communication. For example - marital, child-parent, pedagogical, managerial, psychotherapeutic and many other types. Interaction can be not only interpersonal, but also between an individual and a group, as well as intergroup.

3 . Psychological processes, states and properties of various social groups, as integral entities, different from each other, and not reducible to any individual.

4 . Mass psychic phenomena. For example: crowd behavior, panic, rumors, fashion, mass enthusiasm, jubilation, fears.

Social psychology as a science includes the following main sections:

- psychology of communication, studying the patterns of communication and interaction between people - in particular, the role of communication in the system of social and interpersonal relations;

- group psychology, which studies the psychological characteristics of social groups - both large (classes, nations) and small. Here phenomena such as cohesion, leadership, group decision-making process, etc. are studied;

- psychology social personality , studying, in particular, the problems of social attitudes, socialization, etc.;

- practical applications.

1. A LITTLE HISTORY

Social psychology as an independent branch scientific knowledge began to take shape at the end of the 19th century, although the concept itself began to be widely used only at the beginning of the 20th century.

Some questions of social psychology were posed long ago within the framework of philosophy and were in the nature of understanding the characteristics of the relationship between man and society.

However, the study of socio-psychological scientific problems proper began in the 19th century, when sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, literary critics, ethnographers, and doctors began to analyze the psychological phenomena of large social groups and the characteristics mental processes and human behavior depending on the influence of surrounding people.

The problems posed were difficult to study only within the framework of the then existing sciences. The integration of sociology and psychology was necessary, since psychology studies the human psyche, and sociology studies society.

The main stages in the development of social psychology as a science.

First stage– the formation of social psychology as a science (from the mid-19th century to the beginning of the 20th). The subject of study and the main problems are determined.

The first fundamental works on basic issues of social psychology are published.

At this stage the decision and theoretical analysis socio-psychological problems attract the attention of specialists in various fields: psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, literary scholars, ethnographers, etc.

Most of the works on social psychology were published in the first period of development of this science.

Second stage(until the mid-40s of the 20th century) is characterized by the emergence of scientific socio-psychological schools, focused both on the development of fundamental theory and on applied aspects of research.

One of the most influential social psychologists of this period is K. Lewin, the creator of the theory of group dynamics. He researched the problems social factors will as purposeful behavior; social psychology of small groups, leadership, personality in a group, etc.

Was held large number experimental work and at the same time, fundamental theories were developed that have not lost their relevance in our time.

Third stage(from the mid-1940s to the present day). It is associated with solving practical problems and working for a social order. Experimental psychology continues its development, fundamental theoretical developments recede into the background.

Social psychology is gaining wide popularity, is being introduced into general education university programs and is one of the compulsory subjects of study for specialists in various fields.

Such close attention to socio-psychological issues is caused by the needs of improvement and stabilization public relations at all levels of social stratification.

So-called small theories are being developed that have specific applied significance: socio-psychological characteristics of managing a children's group, business psychology, advertising psychology, psychology of public opinion formation, etc.

2. OBJECT AND SUBJECT

Having emerged at the intersection of the sciences of psychology and sociology, social psychology still retains a special status. This leads to the fact that each of the “parent” disciplines includes it as an integral part. this creates difficulties both in defining the subject of social psychology and in identifying the range of its problems.

On the issue about the subject social psychology has developed three approaches.

1) became predominantly widespread among sociologists: he understood social psychology as the science of "mass phenomena of the psyche." Within this approach, different researchers have identified different phenomena that fit this definition; sometimes greater emphasis was placed on the study of the psychology of classes, other large social communities and, in this regard, on such individual elements, aspects of the social psychology of groups as traditions, mores, customs, etc. In other cases, greater attention was paid to the formation of public opinion, such specific mass phenomena like fashion etc.

2) The second approach, on the contrary, sees the main subject of research in social psychology personality. Shades here appeared only in the context in which the study of personality was intended. On the one hand, greater emphasis was placed on psychological traits, personality traits, and typology of personalities. On the other hand, the position of the individual in the group, interpersonal relationships, and the entire system of communication were highlighted.

3) Third approach. In a sense, with its help they tried to synthesize the two previous ones. Social psychology has been discussed here as the science that studies and mass mental processes, and the position of the individual in the group. In this case, naturally, the problems of social psychology seemed quite broad; almost the entire range of issues considered in various schools of social psychology were thereby included in its subject. Attempts have been made to provide a complete outline of the problems being studied within this approach.

Total: Social psychology studies psychological phenomena (processes, states and properties) that characterize the individual and group as subjects of social interaction.

As main object Research in social psychology is the personality in the system of social connections and relationships.

Item social psychology: patterns of behavior, activity and communication of people, determined by their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves. (G. Andreeva)

As a well-known compromise, the situation has developed that practically now there are two social psychologies: one associated primarily with more “sociological” issues, the other – primarily with “psychological” issues. For example, in the USA, social psychology officially exists “twice”: its section is within the American Sociological Association and within the American Psychological Association; Prefaces to textbooks usually indicate whether the author is a sociologist or psychologist by training. In 1954, in the USA, at the suggestion of the famous social psychologist T. Newcome, a curious experiment was carried out at one of the universities: a course of social psychology was taught to half of the students of one course in the first semester by a sociologist lecturer, and the other half in the second semester by a psychologist lecturer. After completing the courses, the students were asked to hold a discussion on the problems of social psychology, but it did not work out, since the students were fully confident that they had attended completely different courses in completely different disciplines (see: Becker G., Boskov A., 1961). The textbook by K. Stefan and V. Stefan, published in the USA in 1985, is called “Two Social Psychologies”. Of course, such duality causes a number of inconveniences. It can only be acceptable at some stage in the development of science; the benefit of discussions about its subject should lie, among other things, in facilitating an unambiguous solution to the issue.

Within the framework of social psychology, several psychological schools can be distinguished. These are: functionalism, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, cognitivism and interactionism.

Functionalism(or functional psychology) arose under the influence evolutionary theory in the biology of Charles Darwin and the evolutionary theory of social Darwinism of G. Spencer.

G. Spencer believed that the basic law of social development is the law of survival of the fittest societies and social groups.

Representatives of functionalism (D. Dewey, D. Angell, G. Carr, etc.) studied people and social groups from the point of view of their social adaptation - adaptation to difficult living conditions. The main socio-psychological problem of functionalism is the problem of the most optimal conditions for the social adaptation of subjects public life.

Behaviorism(later neo-behaviourism) - behavioral psychology that studies the problems of patterns of human and animal behavior (I.V. Pavlov, V.M. Bekhterev, D. Watson, B. Skinner, etc.).

Behavior was viewed as an objective, observable reality that could be studied under experimental conditions. The central problem of behaviorism is the problem of learning, that is, the acquisition of individual experience through trial and error.

Four laws of learning have been identified: the law of effect, the law of exercise, the law of readiness and the law of associative shift.

Psychoanalytic direction is associated with the name of S. Freud. He investigated the problems of unconscious, irrational processes in personality and in its behavior.

He believed that the central driving force a person is a set of drives.

Some of the aspects of this direction were developed in the works of K. Jung and A. Adler. Social and psychological problems of the direction: the conflict between man and society, manifested in the clash of human drives with social prohibitions; the problem of sources of social activity of the individual.

Humanistic psychology(G. Allport, A. Maslow, K. Rogers, etc.) studied a person as a fully developing personality who strives to realize his potential and achieve self-actualization and personal growth.

Every normal person has a tendency towards self-expression and self-realization.

Cognitivism interprets human social behavior as a set of predominantly cognitive processes and focuses on the process of human cognition of the world, his comprehension of the essence of phenomena through basic cognitive mental processes (memory, attention, etc.).

The problem of cognitivism is human decision making. Representatives of the cognitive school (J. Piaget, J. Bruner, R. Atkinson, etc.) addressed special attention on knowledge of man and ways of its formation.

Interactionism(later symbolic interactionism) explored the problems social aspect interactions between people in the process of activity and communication.

The main idea of interactionism: personality is always social and cannot be formed outside of society. Special significance communication was regarded as the exchange of symbols and the development of common meanings and meanings.

Most psychological schools can be distinguished only with a certain degree of convention, since they all study a person in a group, society, and the world.

Requests for social and psychological research in the conditions of the current stage of development of society come from all spheres of public life, especially due to the fact that radical changes are taking place in each of them today.

Such requests follow from the region industrial production, various fields education, systems mass media, areas of demographic policy, sports, service sector etc.

All this stimulates the intensive development of social psychology at the present stage. Social psychology is essentially a science that is very close to social and political problems, and therefore it is possible use of its results by various social forces.

For social psychology it is important to simultaneously solving two problems: output practical recommendations, obtained in the course of applied research, necessary for practice; “completing” your own building as whole system scientific knowledge with clarification of its subject, development of special theories and special research methodology.

The French social psychologist S. Muscovy rightly noted that it is society that sets the tasks for social psychology, it dictates its problems (Moscovy, 1984).

Theoretical tasks of social psychology:

Tribute to Andreeva:

-- a correct attitude towards foreign social psychology, primarily towards the content of its theoretical concepts, as well as methods and research results. (apparently, this refers to criticism of Soviet nihilism, which denies any achievements of Western science)

-- the task of carefully working out the problem of applied research in social psychology (high professionalism, professional ethics, civic and social position of the scientist)

1. Continuation of in-depth research into problems related to the subject of social psychology in interaction with other sciences;

2. A meaningful revision of socio-psychological problems in connection with changed social conditions in our country;

3. Research of new socio-psychological phenomena (ethnic, economic, class, political, ideological, etc.);

4. Social and psychological studies of changes in mass consciousness, public sentiment and public opinion;

5. Analysis of the increasing role of social psychology in the conditions of reforming society;

6 .Interaction of social psychology with applied and practical psychology;

7. Ensuring the relationship between domestic social psychology and various areas of foreign social psychology.

Applications:

1) understanding the place and role of man in a changing world; identification of types of socio-psychological characters;

2) study of the diversity of relationships and communication, their changes in modern society;

3) development of a socio-psychological attitude towards the nature of the state, politics, economy and society;

4) development of theories of social conflicts (political, interstate, ethnic);

5) production theoretical foundations socio-psychological diagnostics, counseling and provision of various types assistance to those in need of this assistance.

Social psychology should help understand mechanisms of criminal behavior, the phenomena of mass strikes and public protests, negotiate for the release of hostages, take part in solving the problems of a particular society.

5. FUNCTIONS

Functions of social psychology:

1) integration and transmission of social experience, on the basis of which a unified direction of thoughts, will and feelings is formed in a given social group;

2) social adaptation– bringing individual consciousness into conformity with the principles and norms prevailing in a given social group;

3) social correlation – bringing an individual’s behavior into conformity with the norms accepted in this society;

4) social control– regulation of individual behavior by the system informal sanctions society;

5) psychological relief– liberation from socio-psychological stress, without violating generally accepted norms;

6) social activation – strengthening of human activity due to the activation of mass emotions.

Related information.

Preface

Social psychology is a rather complex and multidisciplinary branch of psychological science. Her focus is on almost any area of life and activity of people in society: social communication and relationships between people in society, psychological patterns social behavior individuals and the motives for uniting them into groups, conflicts and public sentiment. Social and psychological knowledge is needed by any person, since everyone communicates, interacts with other people, and faces interpersonal problems.

Theoretical knowledge about socio-psychological processes was developed in the classical works of domestic and foreign authors (G. M. Andreeva, A. A. Bodalev, A. L. Zhuravlev, E. S. Kuzmin, B. D. Parygin, D. Myers, T. Shibutani and others). The proposed textbook reflects the results modern research in the field of social psychology, while the material is adapted for the understanding of students.

The textbook consists of four sections: “Introduction to Social Psychology”, “Group as a Social-Psychological Phenomenon”, “Psychology of Communication”, “Phenomena of Personality in Social Psychology”, and fourteen chapters. At the end of each chapter, conclusions are drawn - given test questions and a list of references for in-depth study. There is a glossary at the end of the textbook.

The application offers workshops on the topics “Team Formation”, “Psychology of Communication”, “Leader”, “The Path to a Successful Career”. The teacher can include the proposed material in the course being studied or use it in psychological and pedagogical practice.

The authors hope for the reader to creatively comprehend the contents of this textbook in order to apply the acquired knowledge for their personal and professional development, and improve the atmosphere of mutual understanding in their immediate environment.

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

OBJECT, SUBJECT, TASKS AND METHODS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

About the subject, object and tasks of social psychology

In 1908, “Introduction to Social Psychology” by the English psychologist W. McDougall and “Social Psychology” by the American sociologist E. Ross were published almost simultaneously. Social psychology as an independent branch of scientific knowledge arose in late XIX V. at the intersection of two sciences – psychology and sociology. The development of society has confronted scientists with various kinds of socio-psychological tasks, the solution of which has become necessary to improve such areas of public life as politics, relations of production and management, education, etc. But it turned out that the problems posed were very difficult to study only within the framework of the then existing sciences. First of all, the integration of sociology and psychology was necessary, since psychology studies the human psyche, and sociology studies society.

Psychology and sociology, in the figurative expression of G. M. Andreeva, have become “mother” disciplines in relation to social psychology. At the same time, one cannot assume that social psychology is only a part of sociology and psychology. The independence of this branch of scientific knowledge is due to the specifics of the subject of research, which cannot be studied within the framework of any one science.

There are different opinions regarding the specifics of the subject of social psychology. Firstly, social psychology is usually understood as the variety of manifestations of a person’s social psyche: the characteristics of his mental state and behavior in situations of group and mass interaction with other people. Secondly, the term "social psychology" is used to refer to scientific direction, studying the patterns of human mental activity in society, in communication and interaction with other people. We give a definition of this scientific field, the most common in domestic social psychology.

Social psychology – a science that studies the patterns of behavior and activity of people united in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups.

Social groups take shape within the framework of a historically defined society as a collection of people connected by a unity of interests, cultural, national values and norms of behavior.

Subject the study of social psychology are certain socio-psychological phenomena, such as:

psychological facts, patterns and mechanisms of communication and interaction between people during joint activities;
manifestation and formation of personality traits in various communities of people;
psychological relationships that are established between people in the process of their interaction;
psychological processes of emergence, functioning and development of various communities of people, etc. socio-psychological processes and phenomena.

Depending on one or another understanding of the subject of social psychology, there are main facilities its study, i.e. carriers of socio-psychological phenomena. These include:

– personality in a group (system of relations);
– interaction in the “person – personality” system (parent – child, manager – performer, doctor – patient, psychologist – client, etc.);
– small group (family, school class, work team, military crew, group of friends, etc.);
– interaction in the “person – group” system (leader – followers, manager – work collective, commander – platoon, student – school class, etc.);
– interaction in the “group-group” system (team competition, group negotiations, intergroup conflicts etc.);
– a large social group (ethnicity, party, social movement, social class, etc.).

IN recent years Many scientists, reflecting on current scientific problems, note that active social transformations in the world require a socio-psychological understanding of social processes from a specialist in any field of psychology. The practice of recent decades has shown how significant a problem is the psychological unpreparedness of people for changes - social, economic, political, ideological.

The well-known domestic social psychologist B. D. Parygin believes that many difficulties in the socio-economic, legal and political reform of society “are explained not only and not so much by the imperfection of certain private social projects, as much as their inconsistency with the spiritual, moral, socio-psychological state of a person." He emphasizes the need to develop and improve spiritual, moral and socio-psychological culture, and civil consciousness of a person. To successfully solve these problems, deep and versatile knowledge in the field of social psychology is needed.

Assessing the prospects for fundamental psychological research, D. I. Feldshtein considers various aspects of the influence of global social changes on humans. A huge amount of information, discrediting of many moral guidelines, manipulation of human consciousness through the media, instability of the ecological, social, political, economic situation - all this changes the consciousness, activity, motivational-need and emotional-volitional sphere of the individual.

D. I. Feldshtein considers one of the most important research tasks to be the study of the problem of human self-determination, as well as his identification with a certain group - a country, an ethnic group, the entire human community. It is necessary to explore little-studied facets of the problem of relationships, especially “vertically”: children - adults, young - elderly. Moreover, it is necessary to consider not just the relationship between adults and children, but specifically their interaction, including mutual influence.

G. M. Andreeva, emphasizing the importance of developing the psychology of social cognition, says: “Is there anything more important for a person in today’s complex world than to know what surrounds him, what experiences this environment causes in him and, finally, how in these conditions must be acted upon." The practical significance of social psychology is predetermined by the importance of the problems it solves related to human life in society.

The tasks of researching social and psychological phenomena are multifaceted, including:

1. Study of the content, forms of manifestation and patterns of functioning of socio-psychological phenomena and processes.
2. Establishing comprehensive connections with representatives of related sciences (sociology, philosophy and other social sciences) in a joint study of socio-psychological phenomena.
3. Forecasting political, economic, national and other processes in the development of states based on taking into account socio-psychological patterns and mechanisms.

Social psychology is designed to deal with issues of concern to a particular community. In some parts of our planet, the most pressing problems are interracial relations and discrimination against women. Others cover issues of intercultural population migration, education reform, labor motivation, environmental awareness, changes in the institution of family and marriage, etc. When studying personality, social psychology simultaneously takes into account the micro- and macro-society in which it is included. Considering social phenomena, it helps to understand the feelings, values, motives of the real people behind them.

1. Subject and tasks of social psychology. Branches of social psychology.

Social psychology is a branch of psychological science that studies the patterns of the emergence and functioning of socio-psychological phenomena 1, which are the result of the interaction of people (and their groups) as representatives of various communities.

Item– socio-psychological phenomena and processes that are the result of the interaction of people as representatives of various social communities.

Object– specific social communities (groups) or their individual representatives (people).

Objectives of social psychology as a science. Social psychology as a branch of scientific research has its own specific tasks, including:

studying: a) the specificity and originality of the phenomena that make up the social consciousness of people; b) relationships between its components; c) the influence of the latter on the development and life of society;

comprehensive understanding and generalization of data on: a) the sources and conditions of the emergence, formation, development and functioning of socio-psychological phenomena and processes: b) the impact of these factors on the behavior and actions of people in numerous communities;

research most significant features and the differences between socio-psychological phenomena and processes from other psychological and social phenomena that arise as a result of interaction, communication and relationships between people in various communities;

identifying patterns of functioning of socio-psychological phenomena and processes in various social conditions;

socio-psychological analysis of interaction, communication and relationships between people, as well as factors determining the specificity and effectiveness of their influence on joint activities;

a comprehensive study of the socio-psychological characteristics of the individual and the uniqueness of his socialization in various social conditions;

understanding the specifics of the functioning of socio-psychological phenomena and processes that arise in a small group, and their impact on the behavior, communication and interaction of people in it;

research into the uniqueness of the psychology of large social groups and the specific manifestations of motivational, intellectual-cognitive, emotional-volitional and communicative-behavioral characteristics of the people who are their members;

identifying the role and significance of religious psychology in the lives and activities of people, its socio-psychological content and forms of manifestation, as well as the specifics of its influence on the communication and interaction of individuals;

a comprehensive study of the socio-psychological characteristics of political life and political activity of people, the uniqueness of the transformation of the human psyche and groups of people who were directly influenced political processes, occurring in society;

study of mass socio-psychological phenomena and processes, their role and significance in public life, influence on the actions and behavior of people in extreme situations;

forecasting political, national and other processes in the development of the state (society) based on taking into account socio-psychological laws and mechanisms.

Branches of social psychology.

The tasks solved by social psychology as a science, as well as the great diversity and complexity of the socio-psychological phenomena that it studies and the communities in which they arise, determined the emergence and development of its specific industries.

Ethnic psychology studies the psychological characteristics of people as representatives of various ethnic communities.

Psychology of religion studies the psychology of people involved in various religious communities, as well as their religious activities.

Political psychology explores various aspects of psychological phenomena and processes related to the sphere of political life of society and political activity of people.

Psychology of management pays main attention to the analysis of problems associated with the impact on groups, society as a whole or its individual links with the aim of streamlining them, maintaining qualitative specificity, improvement and development.

Psychology of Social Impact, The branch of social psychology, which is still poorly developed, studies the characteristics, patterns and methods of influencing people and groups in various conditions of their life and activities.

Psychology of communication reveals the uniqueness of the processes of interaction and exchange of information between people and social groups.

Psychology of family (family relationships) sets itself the task of comprehensively studying the specifics of relations between members of the initial cell of human society.

Psychology of conflict relationships (conflictology), a rapidly progressing branch of social psychology, aimed at a thorough study of the psychological characteristics of various conflicts and identifying ways to most effectively resolve them.

2 . Psychology of communication. Contents, means, goals of communication. Forms, types, functions of communication. Interaction in the process of communication.

The concept and essence of communication.

Communication- a complex multifaceted process of establishing and developing contacts and connections between people, generated by the needs of joint activities and including the exchange of information and development of a unified interaction strategy.

Communication is included in the practical interaction of people (joint work, learning, collective play, etc.) and ensures planning, implementation and control of their activities.

During communication, its participants exchange not only their physical actions or products, the results of labor, but also thoughts, intentions, ideas, experiences, etc.

Communication in its content is the most complex psychological activity of partners.

Features and functions of communication.

Communication usually manifests itself in the unity of its five sides: interpersonal, cognitive, communicative-informational, emotive and conative.

Interpersonal side communication reflects the interaction of a person with his immediate environment.

Cognitive side communication allows you to answer questions about who the interlocutor is, what kind of person he is, what can be expected from him, and many others related to the personality of the partner.

Communication and information side represents an exchange between people of various ideas, ideas, interests, moods, feelings, attitudes, etc.

Emotive side communication is associated with the functioning of emotions and feelings, mood in personal contacts of partners.

Conative (behavioural) one hundred rona communication serves the purpose of reconciling internal and external contradictions in the positions of partners.

Communication performs certain functions:

Pragmatic function communication reflects its need-motivational reasons and is realized through the interaction of people in the process of joint activity.

Formation function and times orbit reflects the ability of communication to influence partners, developing and improving them in all respects. Communicating with other people, a person assimilates universal human experience, historically established social norms, values, knowledge and methods of activity, and is also formed as a person.

Confirmation function provides people with the opportunity to know, affirm and confirm themselves.

Merge-unlink function people.

Organization and maintenance function relations serves the interests of establishing and maintaining fairly stable and productive connections, contacts and relationships between people in the interests of their joint activities.

Intrapersonal function communication is realized in a person’s communication with himself (through internal or external speech, built according to the type of dialogue).

Types of communication:

Interpersonal generaltionassociated with directtacts of people in groups or pairs, constant in the composition of participants.

Mass communication- this is a lot of direct contactsstrangers, as well asnication mediated by varioustypes of media.

interpersonal communication. Participants in communication are specific individuals who have specific individual qualities that are revealed during the course of communication and the organization of joint actions.

In case role-playing communication, its participants act as bearers of certain roles (buyer-seller, teacher-student, boss-subordinate). In role-based communication, a person is deprived of a certain spontaneity of his behavior, since certain of his steps and actions are dictated by the role he plays.

trustworthy. Particularly significant information is transmitted during the process.

Confidence - essential feature all types of communication, without it it is impossible to carry out negotiations or resolve intimate issues.

Conflict communicationcharacterized by mutual confrontation between people, expressions of displeasure and mistrust.

Personal communication- This is an exchange of informal information.

Business communication- the process of interaction between people performing joint responsibilities or involved in the same activity.

Direct(direct) communicationis historically the first form of communication between people.

Indirect communication- This is interaction using additional means (writing, audio and video technology).

Means of communication:

Verbal communication two types of speech: oral and written. Written speech is the one taught in school. Oral speech, independent speech with its own rules and grammar.

Nonverbal means of communication are needed in order to: regulate the flow of the communication process, create psychological contact between partners; enrich the meanings conveyed by words, guide the interpretation of the verbal text; express emotions and reflect the interpretation of a situation.

They are divided into:

1. Visual means of communication are (kinesics - movements of the arms, legs, head, torso; direction of gaze and visual contact; eye expression; facial expression; posture, skin reactions, etc.)

2. Acoustic(sound) means of communication are (paralinguistic, i.e. related to speech (intonation, volume, timbre, tone, rhythm, pitch, speech pauses and their localization in the text, extralinguistic, i.e. not related to speech ( laughter, crying, coughing, sighing, gnashing of teeth, sniffling, etc.).

3. Tactile-kinesthetic(associated with touch) means of communication are (physical impact (leading a blind person by the hand, contact dance, etc.); takeshika (shaking hands, clapping on the shoulder).

4. Olfactory means of communication are: pleasant and unpleasant smells environment; natural, artificial human odors, etc.

Object of social psychology– an individual from a group, a small, medium or large social group, interpersonal or intergroup interaction.

Tasks of social psychology

Below is a list of the main tasks of social psychology, but in reality the list is much wider; each individual task contains a number of additional tasks:

Studying the phenomenon of human interaction, information exchange;
Mass mental phenomena;
Socio-psychological characteristics of social groups as integral structures;
Mechanisms of social influence on a person and his involvement in society as a subject of social life and social interaction;
Creation of theoretical and practical recommendations for improving the interaction of people and social groups:
- Further development of social psychology as a multi-level knowledge system;
- Research and problem solving in small groups (hierarchy, leadership, manipulation, interpersonal relationships, conflicts, etc.);
- Research and problem solving in large groups(nations, classes, unions, etc.);
- Study of the socio-psychological activity of the individual in a team.

Problems of social psychology

A short list of the main problems of social psychology:

Intragroup fluctuations;
Stages of development of social groups;
Intragroup and intergroup leadership;
Psychological characteristics of social groups;
Communication and interpersonal relationships in a social group;
Intergroup social relations;
Psychology of large, medium and small social groups and mass media;
Mass socio-psychological phenomena (Mass mood, consciousness, mental infection, etc.);
Human adaptation and its features in social environments;
Management of socio-psychological processes.

More details in the article

Methods of social psychology

Social psychology uses methods of general psychology and sociology:

survey;
interviewing;
conversation;
group experiment;
studying documents;
observation (included and not included).

Social psychology also has its own specific methods, for example the method sociometry- measuring the private relationships of people in groups. The basis of sociometry is the statistical processing of test subjects’ answers to questions related to their desire to interact with members of a certain group. The data obtained as a result of sociometry is called sociogram(Fig. 1), which has specific symbolism (Fig. 2).

Rice. 1. Sociogram. Using this sociogram, it is possible to identify the central core of the group, that is, individuals with stable positive relationships (A, B, Y, I); presence of other groups (B-P, S-E); a person who enjoys the greatest authority in a certain respect (A); a person who does not enjoy sympathy (L); mutually negative relationships (M-N); lack of stable social connections (M).

Rice. 2. Sociogram symbols.

History of social psychology

Social psychology as a separate field of psychology took shape only by the middle of the 19th century, but the period of accumulation of knowledge about society and man in particular began long before that. In the philosophical works of Aristotle and Plato one can find socio-psychological ideas, French materialist philosophers and utopian socialists made significant contributions, and later the works of Hegel and Feuerbach. Until the 19th century, socio-psychological knowledge was formalized within the framework of sociology and philosophy.

The first stage in the formation of social psychology as an independent field of psychological science is considered to be the second half of the 19th century, but it was only a theoretical and empirical science, all activity consisted of describing observed processes. This transition period associated with the emergence of a journal on linguistics and ethnopsychology in 1899 in Germany, founded Lazarus Moritz(Lazarus Moritz, philosopher and writer, Germany) and Heyman Steinthal(Heymann Steinthal, philosopher and philologist, Germany).

The first outstanding personalities on the path of development of empirical social psychology are William McDougall(McDougall, psychologist, England), Gustave Le Bon(Gustave Le Bon, psychologist and sociologist, France) and Jean Gabriel Tarde(Gabriel Tarde, criminologist and sociologist, France). Each of these scientists put forward his own theories and justifications for the development of society by the properties of an individual personality: W. McDougall justified instinctive behavior, G. Lebon - from the point of view, G. Tarde - .

1908 is considered the starting point of Western social psychology, thanks to the publication of the book " Introduction to Social Psychology» W. McDougall.

In the 1920s, thanks to the published works of the researcher V. Mede(Walther Moede, psychologist, Germany), who first used mathematical methods analysis, a new stage began in the history of social psychology - experimental social psychology(Experimentelle Massenpsychologie). It was V. Mede who first recorded a significant difference in the abilities of people in groups and alone, for example, pain tolerance in a group, sustained attention, etc. The discovery of the influence of groups in the emotional and volitional spheres of a person is also important.

The next significant step in the development of social psychology was detailing the methodology of a mass socio-psychological experiment an outstanding psychologist Gordon Willard Allport(Gordon Willard Allport, USA). This technique entailed a lot of experimental work, which was based on the development of recommendations for the development of advertising, political propaganda, military affairs and much more.

W. Allport and V. Mede set a point of no return in the development of social psychology from theory to practice. In particular, in the USA, social psychology is closely related to the business sphere and is an applied science. Large-scale studies of professional diagnostics, management problems, manager-employee relations and much more.

A further significant event in the development of the methodological field of social psychology was the development and creation of the method sociometry Jacoba Levi Moreno(Jacob Levy Moreno, psychiatrist and sociologist, USA). According to Moreno's work, the framework of all social groups determines the syntony (like/dislike) of individual members of this group. Jacob Moreno argued that all social problems are solvable with the correct division and unification of individuals into microgroups according to their sympathies, values, behavior and inclinations (if an activity satisfies a person, he does it as well as possible).

In all areas of Western social psychology, the basic element is "cage" of society- microenvironment of society, a small group, that is, the average structure in the standard scheme “Society - Group - Personality”. A person is dependent on his social role in the group, on its standards, requirements, and norms.

In Western social psychology great value plays field theory Kurt Tzadek Lewin(Kurt Zadek Lewin, psychologist, Germany, USA), according to which the individual is constantly influenced by the field of attraction and the field of repulsion.

The concepts of Western social psychology are based on psychological determinism, unrelated to economic conditions. Human behavior is explained by psychological reasons: aggressiveness, sexuality, etc. All concepts of Western social psychology are divided into four areas:

Psychoanalytic;
Neo-behaviourist;
Cognitive;
Interactionist.

Areas of social psychology

Psychoanalytic direction of social psychology based on the concept and socio-psychological views of Sigmund Freud, on the basis of which modern followers have created several theories, one of which has been put forward Wilfred Ruprecht Bayon(Wilfred Ruprecht Bion, psychoanalyst, England), according to which a social group is a macrotype of an individual, that is, the characteristics and qualities of groups, like individual people. Interpersonal needs = biological needs. All people have a need to be liked by other people and desire to join a group (the need to belong). The group leader has the highest regulatory function.

Neo-Freudians of social psychology seek explanations for interpersonal relationships in the subconscious and human emotions.

Neo-behaviourist direction of social psychology based on observational facts, excluding specific properties human behavior, theoretical materials, spheres of values and motivations. In the concept of the neo-behavioristic direction, behavior directly depends on learning. According to non-behavioristic judgments, the organism adapts to conditions, but the principle of transforming these conditions as a result of human activity is rejected. The main neo-behaviouristic thesis: the genesis of an individual is determined by the random reinforcements of his reactions. One of the main representatives of the neo-behaviouristic direction is Burress Frederick Skinner(Burrhus Frederic Skinner, psychologist and writer, USA), according to his works, the composition of human behavior depends on the consequences of this behavior (operant conditioning).

One of the most famous theories of the neo-behaviorist direction is the theory of aggression, which is based on the “aggression-frustration” hypothesis (1930), according to which an aggressive state is the basis of the behavior of all people.

Neo-Freudians and neo-behaviorists have the same interpretation of human behavior, which is based on the desire for pleasure, and all the needs and environment of a person are not associated with historical conditions.

At the core cognitivist direction of social psychology(cognition) are the features of people’s cognitive processes, which are the basis of socially determined behavior, that is, behavior is based on human concepts (social attitudes, views, expectations, etc.). A person’s attitude towards an object is determined by its categorical meaning. The main cognitivist thesis: consciousness determines behavior.

Interactionist direction of social psychology is based on the problem of interaction between people in a social group - interactions, based on the social roles of group members. The very concept of " social role» entered George Herbert Mead(George Herbert Mead, sociologist and philosopher, USA) in the 1930s.

Representatives of interactionism Shibutani Tamotsu(Tamotsu Shibutani, sociologist, USA), Arnold Marshall Rose(Arnold Marshall Rose, sociologist and political scientist, USA), Munford Kuhn(Manford H. Kuhn, sociologist, leader of symbolic interactionism, USA) and others attached paramount importance to such socio-psychological problems as communication, reference groups, communication, social role, social norms, social status, etc. Developed by Herbert Mead and other representatives interactionism conceptual apparatus is widely widespread in socio-psychological science.

Interactionism recognizes the social conditioning of the human psyche as the basis of communication. A number of empirical studies conducted by representatives of interactionism have recorded similar behavioral manifestations in similar social situations. However, social interaction is considered by interactionists without specifics in the content of the process of this interaction.

The problem of social psychology of the USSR and Russia

Research in the field of social psychology in the 1920s was based on biopsychological positions, which was contrary to the ideology of the country. As a result, works in the field of social psychology and many other branches of psychology were prohibited, as they were perceived as an alternative to Marxism. In Russia, the development of social psychology began only in the late 1950s. As a result of this “freeze” in the development of social psychology, a single categorical specificity has not been formed, research is conducted at the level of empirics and description, but despite these difficulties, Russian social psychology has scientific data and applies them in various areas of human activity.