The Theories of Social Psychology
Introduction
Social psychology is a field of study of relations that exist between individuals
and groups. Scholars in this area employ groups and individuals as units of
analysis. They do this in an attempt to identify and explain how others influence
behaviors, thoughts and feelings of a person. Social psychologists use various
theories of cognitive and social phenomena. This paper will focus on the
theories of social psychology that explain social interactions and individual
behavior.
Attribution theory
The first theory is the attribution theory. Heider Fritz, Lee Ross, Kelly Harold
and Jones Edward developed this theory. The theory posits that individuals
associate cause to behavior and events. This association can be explained by the
elements of the theory. The first element is known as locus. It refers to the cause
location- the location is either external also called situational or internal also
known as dispositional. This means that a person’s self-esteem is a reflection of
their feelings. For instance, when a person succeeds or fails and they attribute
this to the internal location. If they succeed, they feel very proud which leads to
increased self-esteem but failure decreases self esteem. Some people also
attribute their failure or inconsistencies in behavior to external influences rather
than their personality traits (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.113).
Stability is the other element of attribution theory. In this case, it refers to
whether a cause will remain the same or change in the future. This element is
associated with an individual’s expectations for the future. This expectation
often leads to results that are in line with the expectation. For example if a
person gets into marriage and think they will not succeed in it because of the
difficult challenges therein will end up failing and end up in a divorce and vice
versa. This often makes an individual feel responsible for the actions.
Controllability –can a person control cause? People often feel that they are
responsible for their turn of events in their lives. When a person succeeds, one
feels responsible for the success and thus very proud. On the contrary, if one
fails they may feel responsible for it and feel guilty about not doing enough to
avoid the failure. This kind of feeling can be observed in abusive marriage. In
most cases, the woman may choose to stay in an abusive marriage because they
believe they are the cause of the abuse. She may be consumed by guilt and fail
to leave the marriage to avoid exposing failure to the society.
Self-concept theory
Self-concept theory refers to the understanding of one self. It is further divided
into two- self-scheme and self esteem. Human beings have a need to preserve
their self-esteem. Therefore actions that violate one’s self concept brings about
feelings of dissonance. This motivates the individual to change their behavior to
restore their self-esteem. This is because a high self-esteem is desirable because
it gives happiness. Thus, it is very important for people to have self-esteem and
understand self. Self-knowledge is very important “in directing and regulating
our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors” (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p. 103). When a
person knows one self then one has the courage to venture into situations that
they feel are at the level of their capabilities. This is the reason why people get
into different fields such as acting, football, music, racing and so forth. Due to
self-knowledge, people often excel in the fields they venture into and that are
why today many people are notable for their accomplishments in different
fields.
Self-concept is formed through interaction with other people and from various
types of information. To begin with, an individual forms self-concept through
observation of ones behavior. For example, a person who often gives out his
money and time to help others will conclude that he or she is philanthropic. The
behavior is voluntary and internally motivated. In this case, a person does what
they want and do it for the sake of doing it. The resultant behavior feels so good
because one feels a sense of accomplishment. This behavior reveals a person’s
inner qualities as well as their self. On the other hand, behavior that is externally
motivated does not reveal about ones inner qualities. In this case, a person
behaves in a certain way because they have to or feel obligated. Such actions
are not fulfilling and often people lose joy of performing them. For example, in
a workplace people will work overtime if they are paid a bonus but when it is
withdrawn many if not all will stop working overtime. This means that external
rewards influences intrinsic motivation (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p. 100).
One can also identify self through their feelings and thoughts. This happens
when the feelings are strong and a person becomes aware of them. Such a
person is able at make an accurate assessment of self because feelings reveal
more about a person than behavior. More importantly, feelings are private and
only an individual can tell honestly, what their feelings are. A person can only
know feelings such as empathy, envy even though they may mask their feelings
through their behavior (Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.106).
The behavior of other people affects our how a person sees him or herself. How
people react towards a person serves as a mirror through which that person
looks at him or herself. This means that we tend to act in response to the
comments of other people to keep up with their perception about ourselves.
Self-identity theory
Self-identity theory explains how people view themselves in relation to a group.
It seeks to identify why and when people identify with a certain group. Why do
they choose to behave according to the norms of the groups and how they
behave when they encounter people from a different group? Through self-
identity theory, people categorize others and put them into categories (Meyers,
2009, p. 357). For instance, liberals, republicans, Christians, Muslims and so
forth, such categories are a way of saying what one thinks of a person. Through
this theory, one identifies with a certain group, which leads to a sense of
belonging. People who belong to a group have a higher self-esteem because
they feel the comfort and assurance the group provides. Furthermore, a person
can bask in the accomplishment of group members and feel very good about it
due to their similarity ((Smith & Mackie, 2000, p.204; Suls, Martin & Wheeler,
2002, p. 159). On the contrary, belonging to a group also has negative effects.
This is often so because we tend to prefer our groups to others. People in an in-
group often have a dislike for different groups or out-groups. The dislike may
start as a prejudice and develop into hatred when belittling of out-groups
continues. This negative effect of in-groups was seen clearly during the
annihilation of Jews by the Nazi in Germany.
In addition to a sense of belong people in one group compare themselves with
different groups. People are often biased towards their own groups. In
contemporary society, younger put identify themselves according to social
groups such as Goths. It is also interesting to note that when a person
encounters a person whom they consider outstanding they tend to rate them
selves lower and higher when they encounter a person they consider lacking in
personality and character. People in a group like to be unique and thus pride
themselves in the things that make them distinct and be rated positively in
comparison with other groups (Festinger, 1954, p. 117-135).
There are two types of social comparison-upward and down social comparison.
In upward social comparison takes place when an individual compares
themselves to people who are considered socially superior or above. People
deliberately compare themselves to such people so improve their self-concept.
They believe they are part of such a group and do so to show similarities
between them and the elite (Suls et al, 2002, p. 160). On the other hand,
downward social comparison is opposite to upward social comparison in that in
this one people compare themselves with people who seem to be in more
troubles or situation than they are. Human beings use this defensive mechanism
when they are in unfortunate situations. A person will look at the troubles of
others and conclude that his problems are lesser and thus can have a reason to
smile. For example, a person who looses hearing in one ear feels better than the
one who looses in both (Suls et al, 2002, p. 162).
Social exchange theory
Social exchange theory explains the how stability and social change are used to
negotiate exchanges between in groups or relations. The theory posits that for
human beings to form relationships they first do a cost-benefit analysis just as
people in business do. They look at the alternatives available in a certain
relationship. The theory is related to rational choice theory, which explains how
a person uses rationality in making choices. Therefore, a human being will do a
cost benefit analysis before doing any action. This means that all actions that
human beings take are because of reasoning be they good or bad. In most cases,
human beings will choose the action they consider better through preference.
This theory can be used to explain the patterns of behavior in communities as it
reflects the choices people make to increase their benefits and decrease cost
(Hindess, 1988, p. 20).
A human being has many needs and wants and it is impossible to fulfill or of
them. This necessitates a person to act within given constraints according to the
information they have about a certain action. Thus, a person engages in
“deliberate strategies. This theory shows that human behavior is shaped by
punishment and rewards. People will do things that will get them a reward and
avoid anything that might lead to punishment. Thus, it is possible to study
human behavior using external factors. This reasoning has it roots in BF
Skinner’s behaviorism theory in which he used conditionings to study the
behavior of animals. However, it is important to note that the behavior of
human beings is determined by a variety of goals. In-group interaction,
individuals have mutual reinforcement this means that the behavior of one
member in a certain social interaction either benefits or punishes another
person. This may lead to one kind of behavior reinforcing another person’s
behavior. In this human interactions approval is very crucial. This is because it
is a basic human goal. Thus, behavior that is approved becomes reinforced and
vice versa. For example, if a child eats all the food in his plate and the parents
praise him and probably clap at him he is likely to continue the same behavior
to continue receiving approval. However, at one point he may find the approval
not rewarding any more and may try to get it through another behavior. This
example shows that a reward has utility or value. As long as person feels that a
reward has high utility they will continue to perform it but when the utility
reduces, the behavior may stop altogether (Hindess, 1988, 57-67).
Homans argues, “no exchange continues unless both parties are making a
profit” (1961, p. 61). This means that human beings will only stay in an
interaction if it is profitable. The individual who experiences the greater cost or
loss in the interaction will feel the urge to withdraw. This means that for
interactions to be maintained the individuals must have a mutual profitability.
This is because participants in social interactions deliberately seek out
interactions that have profits and therefore for the interaction to be stable the
participants must be making a profit. When one experiences a loss in one
interaction, one leaves to look for interactions where one is likely to profit. This
is seen in interactions such as marriage, relationships, business deals and so
forth. A partner who feels a loss in the relation will most certainly leave. This is
also witnessed in the political scenario. People will often align themselves with
political affiliations that they feel serve their best interests well and as soon
those affiliations stop serving that purpose they are abandoned and new ones
sought. This cut across nations and interactions are formed between nations on
mutual profitability. When a nation feels that its association with a particular
nation does not serve its better interest ties are severed. This is the reason why
we have ally and enemy nations.
Power plays a major role in social interactions. This is because people bring
unequal resources into the interactions and the outcome of the interactions will
therefore depended on the relative power of parties involved. The participant
with power has a higher bargaining power than the dependent participant who
has less power. The extent of dependence is determined by the availability of
other alternatives. If one cannot get the goal, they are looking for in any other
way they will stick in that interaction even if they are exploited. For, example a
married woman who depends wholly on her husband for financial support will
persevere in that relation even if the benefits she gets from it are negligent. She
may not be able to change things in her home because she does not have the
power and must put up with her husband’s behavior. If she opposes the
husband, he can punish her by withholding the financial support. Another
example is in economic interactions. If a supplier has monopoly, they use it to
demand for high prices and the consumers can do nothing about it. They have to
buy the commodity or service at the exorbitant prices (Health, 1976, p. 24).
Conclusion
The theories in social psychology explain human behavior and interactions in
society. Through this theory, explanation for human behavior is possible thus
bringing a better understanding of human beings. This understanding is
important because it enables people to understand their behavior and gives them
tools to change their behavior for the better.
The theories are useful because they help people in a society to understand one
another by understanding human behavior, which may lead to tolerance in the
society. This helps to remove bias by expanding knowledge about the different
behaviors that human beings engage in.
The theories are informative and expose how human behavior is influenced.
People in society do not always know what to do in some situations. In such
cases they look at the behavior of others and get a clue of how to behave
accordingly by evaluating that behavior and choose what action to take in light
of the knowledge they gain through observation.
Through rewarding and punishing behavior in society, order is maintained.
People often choose to behave in a way that rewards. This may have been due to
the influence of other people who have been rewarded for behaving in a similar
manner. Thus, people who do actions that are rewarded become role models to
the others in the society. On the other hand, punishment serves to deter bad
behavior. When one does an action that leads to punishment next time they will
do anything to avoid being punished and in this way try to do the right thing.
Theories of social psychology are dynamic and so is human behavior.
Reference
Festinger, L., (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human
Relations, 7(2), 117-140.
Heath, A., (1976). Rational Choice and Social Exchange. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Hindess, B., (1988). Choice, Rationality and Social Theory. London: Unwin
Hyman.
Homans, G., (1961).Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. London:
Routledge.
Meyers, G.D., (2009).Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Smith, R., & Mackie, D., (2000).Social psychology. Philadelphia: Psychology
Press.
Suls, J., Martin, R., & Wheeler, L., (2002). Social Comparison: Why, with
whom and with what effect?Current Directions in Psychological Science,
11(5), 159-163.
