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Social Psychology Defined

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Social Psychology Defined
Jackeline Rodriguez
PSY/400
June 18th, 2014
Jacqueline Burnett-Brown

Social Psychology Defined
There are many different forms of psychology that have been discovered and have made their mark in the world of psychology and in science. In this paper, social psychology will be defined and further explain how social psychology is different from other forms of psychology, and provide insight into how and why research is needed in social psychology.
Social psychology is the scientific study of the way that people think about one another and how people influence and relate to each other in a society (Myers, 2010). There are other factors that play a significant role in social psychology such as; how human behavior is impacted by other peoples’ thoughts, attitudes, personalities, cultural differences and our own human biology. Social psychology is more than how people interact and influence each other; it focuses on social thinking, social influence and social relations. The three subcategories cover self-perception, beliefs, judgment, culture, conformity, prejudice and aggression. Social psychology also studies how social intuitions can be misleading, deceive people and tamper with social worlds (Myers, 2010). There are many other forms of psychology that it can be quite easy to confuse one for another. For example social psychology and clinical psychology can easily be confused due to the fact that they both assess behavior. Thankfully there are distinct differences between the two in order to avoid confusion. Social psychology focuses on behavior and social aspects; how people think, feel and how an individual is affected by other peoples’ behavior, opinions and cultural upbringing (Ashton, 2008). If a social psychologist were presented with a case where a patient is suffering from depression, the psychologist would be more focused on

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