In sociology, social psychology (also known as sociological social psychology) studies the relationship between the individual and society. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of psychology, sociological social psychology places more emphasis on society, rather than the individual; the influence of social structure and culture on individual outcomes, such as personality, behavior, and one's position in social hierarchies. Researchers broadly focus on higher levels of analysis, directing attention mainly to groups and the arrangement of relationships among people. This subfield of sociology is broadly recognized as having three major perspectives: Symbolic interactionism, social structure and personality, and structural social psychology. Some of the major topics in this field include social status, structural power, sociocultural change, social inequality and prejudice, leadership and intra-group behavior, social exchange, group conflict, impression formation and management, conversation structures, socialization, social constructionism, social norms and deviance, identity and roles, and emotional labor. The primary methods of data collection are sample surveys, field observations, vignette studies, field experiments, and controlled experiments.
History Sociological social psychology is understood to have emerged in 1902 with a landmark study by sociologist Charles Cooley, entitled Human Nature and the Social Order, in which he introduces the concept of the looking-glass self. Sociologist Edward Alsworth Ross would subsequently publish the first sociological textbook in social psychology, known as Social Psychology, in 1908. Following a few decades later, Jacob L. Moreno would go on to found the field's major academic journal in 1937, entitled Sociometry—though its name would change in 1978 to Social Psychology and to its current title, Social Psychology Quarterly, the year after.
Foundational concepts
Symbolic interactionism In the 1920s, William and Dorothy Thomas introduced what would become not only a basic tenet of sociological social psychology, but of sociology in general. In 1923, the two proposed the concept of definition of the situation, followed in 1928 by the Thomas theorem (or Thomas axiom):
If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. This subjective definition of situation by social actors, groups, or subcultures would be interpreted by Robert K. Merton as a self-fulfilling prophecy (i.e., mind over matter), becoming a core concept of what would form the theory of symbolic interactionism. Generally credited as the founder of symbolic interactionism is University of Chicago philosopher and sociologist George Herbert Mead, whose work greatly influences the area of social psychology in general. However, it would be sociologist Herbert Blumer, Mead's colleague and disciple at Chicago, who coined the name of the framework in 1937.
Action theory At Harvard University, sociologist Talcott Parsons began developing a cybernetic theory of action in 1927, which would subsequently be adapted to small group research by Parsons' student and colleague, Robert Freed Bales. Using Bales' behavior coding scheme, interaction process analysis, would result in a body of observational studies in social interactions in groups. During his 41-year tenure at Harvard, Bales mentored a distinguished group of sociological social psychologists concerned with group processes and other topics in sociological social psychology.
Major frameworks
Symbolic interactionism
The contemporary notion of symbolic interactionism originates from the work of George Herbert Mead and Max Weber. In this circular framework, social interactions are considered to be the basis from which meanings are constructed; meanings that then influence the process of social interaction itself. Many symbolic interactionists see the self as a core meaning that is both constructed through and influential in social relations. The structural school of symbolic interactionism uses shared social knowledge from a macro-level culture, natural language, social institution, or organization to explain relatively enduring patterns of social interaction and psychology at the micro-level, typically investigating these matters with quantitative methods. The Iowa School, along with identity theory and affect control theory, are major programs of research in this tradition. The latter two theories, in particular, focus on the ways in which actions control mental states, which demonstrates the underlying cybernetic nature of the approach that is also evident in Mead's writings. Moreover, affect control theory provides a mathematical model of role theory and of labeling theory. Stemming from the Chicago School, process symbolic interactionism considers the meanings that underlie social interactions to be situated, creative, fluid, and often contested. As such, researchers in this tradition frequently use qualitative and ethnographic methods. Symbolic Interaction, an academic journal founded by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, emerged in 1977 as a central outlet for the empirical research and conceptual studies produced by scholars in this area. Postmodern symbolic interactionism, which understands the notion of self and identity as increasingly fragmented and illusory, considers attempts at theory to be metanarrative with no more authority than other conversations. The approach is presented in detail by The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research.
Social structure and personality This research perspective deals with relationships between large-scale social systems and individual behaviors and mental states including feelings, attitudes and values, and mental faculties. Some researchers focus on issues of health and how social networks bring useful social support to the ill. Another line of research deals with how education, occupation, and other components of social class impact values. Some studies assess emotional variations, especially in happiness versus alienation and anger, among individuals in different structural positions.
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