Social psychology (sociology)

About: Social psychology (sociology) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 18151 publications have been published within this topic receiving 907731 citations. The topic is also known as: Social psychology & sociological social psychology.

On the Perception of Social Consensus

Abstract: Publisher Summary Humans, as social creatures continually perceive others and predict what others think, feel, and, most importantly, what they will do. Various branches of social psychology have addressed questions posed by this basic need for prediction and in specific about impression formation, interpersonal relations, and group stereotypes. It is noted that social perceptions and predictions must be reasonably accurate to be effective. Perceptions of the social world can become destructive if they are grossly distorted. Perceiver's own behavior, values, or their visual perspective uniquely affect their judgments. Such egocentric variations underscore the subjectivity of social perception. This chapter aims to examine these egocentric distortions in perceptions of social consensus. The perception of social consensus is the idea that the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others are similar to one's own. The chapter provides a brief review of the history of projection research, which establishes that the interest in this phenomenon is old and has intrigued investigators of differing theoretical persuasions.

Connectionism, Parallel Constraint Satisfaction Processes, and Gestalt Principles: (Re)Introducing Cognitive Dynamics to Social Psychology

Abstract: We argue that recent work in connectionist modeling, in particular the parallel constraint satisfaction processes that are central to many of these models, has great importance for understanding issues of both historical and current concern for social psychologists. We first provide a brief description of connectionist modeling, with particular emphasis on parallel constraint satisfaction processes. Second, we examine the tremendous similarities between parallel constraint satisfaction processes and the Gestalt principles that were the foundation for much of modern social psychology. We propose that parallel constraint satisfaction processes provide a computational implementation of the principles of Gestalt psychology that were central to the work of such seminal social psychologists as Asch, Festinger, Heider, and Lewin. Third, we then describe how parallel constraint satisfaction processes have been applied to three areas that were key to the beginnings of modern social psychology and remain central to...

Social Control: A Survey of the Foundations of Order

Abstract: Social Control falls within social psychology, which is the branch of knowledge that deals with the psychic interplay between man and his environment. In Ross' terms, one of these branches, social ascendency, deals with the domination of society over the individual. Another, individual ascendency, embraces such topics as invention, leadership, the role of great men, and deals with the domination of the individual over society.