Social Psychology Is the Branch of Psychology Essay

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Social psychology is the branch of psychology that involves the scientific study of how individuals think about, relate to, and influence each other (Myers, 2012). Social psychology emphasizes several different aspects of behavior: (a) the situational influences that affect how people interact for relate to each other; (b) how cognitions interact with relationships and behavior; and (c) how and how the individual or group relates to or influences others (Myers, 2012). To put it simply social psychology studies people in the social context.

General psychology can be generally described as the study of mental functions and behavior (American Psychological Association, 2013). All disciplines of psychology study behavior in a specific context. The context of behavior that social psychology specializes in is the social context or as stated above how people think about, relate to, and affect other people. This is one aspect of general psychology. Another aspect of psychology would be the study of abnormal behavior as in clinical psychology. Social psychology is a specialized area of general psychology that studies people in the social context.

Clinical psychology is involved in the assessment, treatment and study of abnormal behavior and mental illness. Clinical psychologists are involved in providing services regarding the diagnosis, assessment, evaluation, treatment, and prevention of psychological, emotional, behavioral, and psychophysiological disorders and issues in individuals at all areas of the lifecycle (Trull & Prinstein, 2012). These services include understanding, predicting, and reducing emotional, physical, psychological, intellectual, and social maladjustment associated with mental disorders and problems of daily living.

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Social psychologists are not involved in the direct treatment of individuals with maladjustment or mental illness; however, social psychologists may study how these groups relate to others or how other people relate to individuals with mental illness. However, social psychologists are more interested in studying "normal behavior" than mental illness (although they may study aspects of mental illness). Social psychologists are not qualified to diagnose or treat individuals in the same way the clinical psychologists are. Instead social psychologists concentrate on studying how people relate to and affect one another. Many social psychological principles can be applied to clinical psychology and many clinical psychological theories can be applied to social psychological principles, but the two fields are entirely different.

Social psychology is also confused with sociology. Social psychologists share a keen interest in the study of group behavior with sociologists; however, for the most part sociologists concentrate on group behavior, whereas most social psychologists concentrate more in individual behavior (Myers, 2012). Social psychologists are interested in how the individual is affected by or affects the group; sociologists are more interested in studying how the group behaves. Sociologists would study a phenomenon such as how political attitudes differ between middle -- class income groups and lowered -- income groups. A social psychologist would be more interested in studying how political attitudes develop in the individual. Sometimes there is a thin….....

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