is psychology a social science

is psychology a social science

The Interdisciplinary Nature of Psychology: Bridging Social Science and Natural Science

1. Introduction: Defining Psychology as a Social Science

This chapter helps to introduce the concept of psychology by asking the question, what is psychology? Is it a natural science or social science, and what difference does this distinction make? The issue of determining the classification of psychology continues to be a dilemma for psychologists. Instead of the relationship being either-or, we argue that psychology is better viewed as both-and. By allowing for the multi-faceted disciplines of psychology, we better understand its methods, its breadth, and its social significance. This multi-faceted approach will allow students of psychology to appreciate more fully the many avenues for studying the human mind.

Is psychology a social science or a natural science, or both? Are both sides of psychology important for understanding its nature? Does the definition of psychology affect how you think of experimental research, statistical analysis, or the value of therapy? These sometimes controversial questions remind us that the discipline of psychology has many voices and faces, and this diversity is a major strength of our field. By opening our minds to all aspects of psychological study, encompassing the emotional, the mental, the social, and the natural elements, we help to realize this inherent strength. But just because these different foci exist within this discipline, it’s difficult to rise above the sometimes adversarial or contentious viewpoints of psychologists who think of things differently.

2. Historical Evolution of Psychology as a Social Science

Also, Wundt’s disciple Oswald Külpe, who set up an introspective method of psychology, derived his research approach as following both philosophy and natural science. It is well known that introspective psychology is controversial. It is seen as going beyond experimental study in order to clarify private internal states, which I will discuss more later. Later, Wundt and other disciples who built psychology in places other than Leipzig studied more experiments based on stimuli. Later, when William James, who established the other basic theories of the principles of psychology, filed a dispute with Wundt’s work, he criticized the intro instruction method rather than experimentalism. Wundt was criticized for classifying the principles of psychology because of his strong philosophical nature, especially.

In the mid-19th century, psychology began as a discipline located between the praxis of philosophy and the theory of natural science. Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig. He is regarded as a founding figure in psychology, whose approach to the subject was both philosophical and experimental. For Wundt, psychology should use the philosophical approach in grasping the essence of mental events, but the method should be like one in the natural science using experiments in cognitive measurements. In this sense, his works emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of psychology. Wundt was largely influenced by philosophers, both materialists and transcendentalists such as von Helmholtz and Kant, and it was customarily believed that psychology is a science located between a natural science and philosophy.

3. Key Theories and Concepts in Social Psychology

In conclusion, attitudes guide perception and aid learning. They are also instrumental in problem-solving because they help us identify alternative responses. Moreover, growing up in a group, attitudes allow us to gain peer approval, to adapt our behavior, and thus to promote our own social development.

A science that can provide insights into the relationship between attitudes on one side and behavior on the other is a powerful science indeed. To begin, then, let’s take a look at the nature and implications of the most important of personal social attitudes. For our attitude to a concept, such as Picasso paintings, can determine whether we visit a gallery exhibition or not or appreciate a Picasso biography in a library. For example, let’s consider a popular modern concept that can have profound effects on our daily lives: the opinion of your lecturer about the value of behavioral research. It can determine whether he will take a periodical, such as Pulbcom, or a daily newspaper. His evaluation can also affect his personal demeanor on Monday morning, the day that popular newspapers tend to be more factual and entertaining! We form attitudes for a purpose. This is, in fact, one of the consistently timed significant findings of attitude-experimental research. Animal peasants and neurotics attempt, as far as possible, to extinguish all attitudes and thus simplify their own universe. The fewer we have, the easier our life, so to speak. However, most normal human beings have a wide range of attitudes. Indeed, attitudes are involved in all cognitive, emotional, and primordial-ecahorical thinking processes. They provide a working model tailored to suit each specific life situation. Our attitudes help us to distinguish among the vast number of stimuli that daily bombard our senses. Thanks to attitudes, for example, we can distinguish a simple noise from a meaningful word, a smoke signal as a serious alarm or lose our car. For example, why do we listen to birds in a forest?

First of all, a definition is needed. What is the main difference between social psychology and the various related areas of scientific inquiry? In a single word, attitude experiments psychologists study the “socialization” of the individual.

The above sections give an overview of the complete field of social psychology with all its diversity. This chapter, however, will go into more detail about some of the most important concepts, discussing them in more specific and revealing terms. All the following explanations will take an applied perspective, relating the relevant research findings and theories to everyday experiences, providing a meaningful foundation for our understanding of social behavior. After all, social psychological theory is not only a valuable tool for examination, but with application, its knowledge gives a deep insight into our personal development and the natural development of our social world.

4. Research Methods in Social Psychology

A unique feature of research in social psychology is its utilization of the experimental method. The experimental method has been traditionally associated with the natural sciences rather than the social or human sciences. Experimental psychologists seek to determine the universal laws which describe how people and animals generally act, think and interact. Fundamentally, experimental psychologists are concerned with the general. They focus their attention on a limited case, emphasizing the particular. Social psychologists, on the other hand, are generally seeking to make inductive rather than deductive conclusions.

The experimental method is generally considered to be the most powerful and important form of research used by social psychologists. In the previous section, we learned that the essence of the scientific attitude is open-minded skepticism, based on the assumption that empirical knowledge, based on observation or experiment, is the only valid knowledge. The attitudes characterizing the scientific method are a set of attitudes and skills used to engage the natural world. It is a highly specific way of using observation and thought to learn about the world in which we live. Scientists use empirical procedures to make observations or perform experiments aimed at decisions between rival theories. They test the validity of a particular explanation of a particular event, phenomenon or relationship.

5. Applications of Social Psychology in Various Fields

Although subtle methodological implications of moral acceptability can be detected with regard to much operational social psychology secondary data analyses, committed social interventionists or the multiple disciplines evolving criteria for acceptable uses of generated knowledge regarding intrusiveness tend to slip away from involved moral philosophy and include all social psychology in ethical educational curricula. Then the chip on a ‘statistical survey’ researcher’s shoulder might assume the shape of a log. Equally, it is only intelligent applied psychologists who can logically bridge social science and applied natural science while maintaining their unique perspective. To whom else should they pass the theoretical and public policy information that practice and application generate? Theirs is the unique perspective that comes from being the chosen bridge builder. Theirs is the intrinsic reward of being intermediary in the reduction of ignorance. Theirs is the next social knowledge generating.

Beauty in elements of day-to-day living. In trying to understand the enhanced application of technology developed in the lab/applied psychology in industry, or the apparent usefulness of these findings in the technetronic industrial task and organization, it is important to distinguish between the development or generation of new social knowledge regarding humans and the transmission or application (use) of the knowledge. The findings inducted from the empirical constructionist generation of knowledge about people or organizations are welcomed within operationally sustainable or exploitative fields if they simplify and thus reduce the cost of device design and use, or modify human performance in a manner that engineers, system designers, social work managers, therapists, or various administrative and health professionals judge as culturally adaptive or acceptable. For the interpersonal and agency social psychologists who do substantial primary research in these areas, it is important to maintain a perspective of understatement and skepticism regarding use of the findings. Don’t cry until you are hurt.