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Social Psychology

WHAT IS IT?

When we are social, it relates to how we interact with our environment and our

surroundings outside of internalized emotions and conflicts we are going through. Social

psychologists are interested in how we interact with our environment and help us with

any problems we might be going through with respect to that. They study how people

form attitudes towards people and how their mechanism with interacting with those

around them could be harmful, and provide insight to change them. According to

psychologist Gordon Allport, social psychologists study how the thoughts, feelings and

behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of

other human beings. Social psychology encompasses a wide range of social topics,

including: group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity,

aggression and prejudice.


WHAT DO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS DO?

Some social psychologists mainly focus on the science behind human behavior

and why people behave the way they do. Other social psychologists focus on the

practical aspect of social psychology by helping organizations hire and train employees,

so they can be a best fit for the environment that they would be working in. Social

psychologists who deal with education can sometimes evaluate these educational

programs to determine if intervention strategies are working and if they are effective, as

well as searching for ways to encourage people to take better care of their

surroundings. The way that we see other people as well as the way we think they see

us can play a powerful role in a wide variety of actions and decisions. The people

around us shape our thoughts, feelings, moods, attitudes, and perceptions.

Social psychologists have a very diverse place of work, because they are

supposed to be trained in combining their knowledge of human behavior with scientific

research, methods, job options, and work settings.


Many social psychologists prefer to work in educational environments such as schools, colleges, and universities where they can conduct their research, as well as run social psychology laboratories and teach classes. Other social psychologists work for government offices, various non profits, hospitals, and other private corporations. The range of jobs for social psychologists to have is so diverse, that they could work almost anywhere, from offices to schools.


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