SP History
McDougall himself did not have a grand vision for social psychology, and by default regarded it as a subfield of psychology (albeit an eminently useful one).[5] For a period during the early- to mid-twentieth century, social psychology was conceived as an interdisciplinary effort, capable of addressing those issues which psychologists and sociologists had in common. However, the tide turned sharply against these interdisciplinarians, as many of those research bodies which had attempted to find common intellectual ground broke down under the strain of various academic pressures. As a result, social psychology was bifurcated into two traditions: those allied with psychology who sought to explain how the minds of individuals are influenced by social factors, and those allied with sociology who understood human action as being embedded in (and determined largely by) a rich network of human relationships.
Today, for better or worse, the sociological and psychological traditions of social psychology maintain relatively little contact with one another. Sociological social psychologists tend to publish in Social Psychology Quarterly (formerly Sociometry), while psychological social psychologists publish elsewhere. Also, sociological social psychologists usually are members of the social psychology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), while psychological social psychologists belong to other organizations.
A fair body of fruitful research exists in sociological social psychology. The great emphasis many American psychological social psychologists have placed on intraindividual processes has distinguished them from many non-U.S. social psychologists. In many areas, sociological social psychologists have demonstrated greater collaboration and complementary theoretical interests with psychological social psychologists in other English speaking countries.
In subject matter, sociological social psychology continues to draw upon neighboring social sciences like psychological social psychology and micro-economics, as well as upon social philosophy, while maintaining its own approaches to investigation.
The discipline of social psychology began at the start of the twentieth century. A list of landmark moments would have to include the publication of Charles Horton Cooley's "Human Nature and Social Order" in 1902. Cooley's effort sought to explain the social order by use of the concept of a looking glass self, and to explain the notion of the self as essentially the same as the notion of "society".[3]
The first textbooks in social psychology would be published six years later by E. A. Ross and William McDougall.[4] The former approached the topic from a sociological standpoint, and the latter from a psychological one. The first major journal in social psychology would be the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology in 1922 (later Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).[3]
McDougall himself did not have a grand vision for social psychology, and by default regarded it as a subfield of psychology (albeit an eminently useful one).[5] For a period during the early- to mid-twentieth century, social psychology was conceived as an interdisciplinary effort, capable of addressing those issues which psychologists and sociologists had in common. However, the tide turned sharply against these interdisciplinarians, as many of those research bodies which had attempted to find common intellectual ground broke down under the strain of various academic pressures. As a result, social psychology was bifurcated into two traditions: those allied with psychology who sought to explain how the minds of individuals are influenced by social factors, and those allied with sociology who understood human action as being embedded in (and determined largely by) a rich network of human relationships.
Today, for better or worse, the sociological and psychological traditions of social psychology maintain relatively little contact with one another. Sociological social psychologists tend to publish in Social Psychology Quarterly (formerly Sociometry), while psychological social psychologists publish elsewhere. Also, sociological social psychologists usually are members of the social psychology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), while psychological social psychologists belong to other organizations.
A fair body of fruitful research exists in sociological social psychology. The great emphasis many American psychological social psychologists have placed on intraindividual processes has distinguished them from many non-U.S. social psychologists. In many areas, sociological social psychologists have demonstrated greater collaboration and complementary theoretical interests with psychological social psychologists in other English speaking countries.
In subject matter, sociological social psychology continues to draw upon neighboring social sciences like psychological social psychology and micro-economics, as well as upon social philosophy, while maintaining its own approaches to investigation.
