Under Social Pressure...

Few events in life can be as horrid as the Holocaust.  Millions of Hitler supporters were brainwashed into believing irrational thoughts. Governed with fear, his supporters became merely puppets for Hitler’s rage.  

These are some of the detrimental effects of a herd mentality when everyone begins to think or act in a certain way, bowing to societal pressure and you naturally also begin to think and act in the same way. Did Hitler choose to act this way consciously or did he not? 

We will never know. However, social psychologists over the years have researched these aspects of human behaviour.

Have you ever wondered why you behave in a certain way when alone in a room? Or, maybe, wondered why you behave differently in a social set-up surrounded by friends or people who you didn't even know? You are the same person – but your behaviour DRASTICALLY changes!

Psychology has had a fascinating journey, since the time it was introduced very little is known about who the founding figures of modern psychology were. Initially a physician and a well-known German scientist & neurophysiologist, 

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832-1920) explored sensory psychophysics and physiology. He is also known as the father of experimental psychology.

He had founded the notion that experimental psychology was a discipline and became a pioneer of cultural psychology. Under his leadership, he created a great number of research programs in empirical psychology and even developed a system of ethics and philosophy from the basics of his psychology.

This was the beginning of psychology – the late 19^th century and it even marked it as a scientific enterprise. William Wundt had even founded the very first laboratory that was exclusively dedicated to research in Leipzig!         

While some have, many haven't heard of these contributors to Psychology. These include S.F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud, Albert Bandura, Leon Festinger, William James, Ivan Pavlov, Carl Rogers, Eric Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky.

However, have you ever really thought about those historical figures that specialised in social psychology: such as  Floyd Allport, Gordon Allport, Solomon Asch, Roger Brown, Donald T. Campbell, Kenneth Clark, Mamie Clark, Leon Festinger, Fritz Heider, Evelyn Hooker and Carl Hovland? 

These historical figures and their works have helped to shape the way psychology (or sociology) has developed over the years.

Thoughts, feelings and behaviours are governed by the actual presence of other people around us and can even control the way we behave, think and act. Social Psychology is concerned with group behaviour, social perception, leadership, non verbal behaviour, conformity, aggression and prejudice- everything that entails what our sociaty invoolves.

In addition to this, social cognition which is a sub-topic of social psychology focuses on how people process information, store and even apply information that they receive about other people and situations. This is very important especially during times that cognitive processes play in social interactions.

However, at the crux of this is not the future of social psychology or any other aspect about its growth. In today’s ideological and divided world, the race for power, is tremendous and nothing right now seems to be able to heal the inhuman qualities that have taken over the world. 

What happens next?

• Which issues should psychology basically be concerned with?

• Which research methods have to be used while studying psychology?

• Do psychologists have to use research to influence education, public policy and other aspects of human behaviour?

• Should psychology focus on observable behaviours, or on internal mental processes?

• What’ do you think can be a Social Psychologist’s role in Re-shaping a better world?

•   How can we get people a lot more interested in social psychology?