Sociology And Psychology: The

Possible Interlink
Sociology and psychology together form the core of the social sciences. Right from their
inception as separate academic disciplines, sociology and psychology have studied different
aspects of human life. Most of the other species, work on instincts in the physical
environment for their survival. While the survival of humans depends upon the learned
behaviour patterns. An instinct involves a genetically programmed directive which informs
behaviour in a particular way.

It also involves specific instruction to perform a particular action. For instance, birds have
instincts to build nests and members of particular species are programmed to build a nest
in a particular style and pattern. Unlike this, the human mind is influenced by the social
culture, customs, norms, and values. It through socialization that humans learn specific
behaviour patterns to suit them best in the physical environment. Humans process the
information provided by the social context to make sense of their living conditions.

Sociology’s basic unit of analysis is the social system such as family, social groups, cultures
etc. The main subject matter of psychology is to study human mind to analyses attitude,
behavior emotions, perceptions and values which lead to the formation of individual
personality living in the social environment. While sociology deals with the study of the
social environment, social collectives which include family, communities and other social
institutions psychology deals with the individual.

For instance, while studying group dynamism, sociologist and psychologist initially share
common interests in various types of groups, and their structures which are affected by
the degree of cooperation, cohesion, conflict, information flow, the power of decision
making and status hierarchies. This initial similarity of interest, takes on different focus,
both the disciplines use different theoretical positions to explain the group phenomena.
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Defining Social Psychology

There is constant interaction between the intra-individual and social context and both
influence each other mutually. Social psychology could be defined as the study of the
“interface between these two sets of phenomena, the nature and cause of human
social behaviour”.

G.W Allport defines social psychology with its emphasis on “the thought, feeling, and
behaviour of individual as shaped by actual, imagined, or implied the presence of others”.

Social Psychology is the discipline that explores in an in-depth manner the various
aspects of social interaction.

Baron and Byrne define social psychology as the scientific field that seeks to understand
the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations.

To sum up we can say that social psychology is the systematic study of people’s thoughts,
feelings, and behaviour in the social context.

Interdisciplinary Approach to Social Psychology

The definition given by Allport suggests that the roots of social psychology are embedded
in sociology as well as psychology. Scholars such as Cook, Fine, and House (1995),
Delamater (2006) are of the view that social psychology essentially includes analysis and
synthesis of major works in the field of sociology and psychology hence, it is
interdisciplinary in nature. The main subject matter of social psychology is the study of
the individual in the social context. In other words, the mind, self and society are the
subject matters of social psychology.

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There are many sociological and psychological perspectives used in social psychology to
explain and understand the constant influence of human and society on each other.
Depending upon the approach, purpose, and focus of the study social psychology could be is
further divided into sociological social psychology and psychological social psychology . It is
very difficult to make clear distinctions between the two, as social psychology tends to
draw from both the disciplines of sociology and psychology.

Sociological.social psychology concentrates on the mass psyche, the psychology of classes

Scope of Social Psychology

As said social psychology studies human behaviour in the social context. Social psychology
attempts to understand the relationship between individual’s mind and thought the
processes in a group as well as in isolation. Acquisition of knowledge about the springs of
human behaviour is one of the most important tasks of social psychology. This field of
relationships includes the study of humans in small as well as in large groups.

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According to Delamater (1995:11) the main concern of social psychology is:

● the impact of one individual on another

A reciprocal relation exists between the individual and the social environment. Hence, it
could be said the social psychology attempts to present an integrated picture of the social
and the psychological. For instance, the prevailing culture determines how individual
members of the society think and feel. There is a general level of similarity in the thought
process across all the individuals socialized in a particular society.

The central topics of the research under the domain of sociological social psychology
include life course analysis, socialization, social networks, group dynamics, stereotyping and
stigma and social stratification. In the life, individuals pass through a number of stages
such as childhood, adolescence, adult, and old age.

Each of the life phases is influenced by existing social norms, values, religion, and customs.
For instance, child rearing practices differ across the societies which in turn have
different effects on the personality of the individuals. More specifically the family and
family relationships influence individual personality development. At present given the
social diversity, social psychologist tends to adopt a multicultural perspective- which
recognizes the potential importance of class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation,
disability, religious beliefs and many other social and cultural dimensions.

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YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TOOL KIT

You can take a few essential tools with you on your journey to study social psychology.
These tools include concepts and terms which sociologists employ to develop and describe
their research and theories.

The Sociological Imagination

Our day today life is influenced by a variety of factors, which include the family values and
other norms which in turn are shaped by the larger social forces. An important tool to see
forces at work in our everyday life is sociological imagination. C. Wright Mills (1959)
defined sociological imagination as for how individuals understand their own and other’s
past in relation to history and social structure. Mills argued that sociologist must
understand the larger cultural, structural, and historical factors that influence individual
before arriving at any conclusion.

By observing individuals and societies and how they interact through this lens sociologist
are able to examine what influences attitudes, behaviour and culture. Sociological
imagination equips social psychologists with the vision essential to think about all the
possible social factors and conditions that may influence individual’s thought process,
feelings, and behaviour.

Social Norms and Values

Social norms are behavioural guidelines that regulate our behaviour. It is associated with
the rules of conduct which are ought to be followed by individuals. Values refer to some
deeply held ideals and beliefs. Values portray an ideal, the standard that society would like
to embrace and live upto.

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Culture

Culture refers to the unique patterns of behaviour and beliefs specific to a particular
society. Allsocieties have their own culture. The components of culture include-symbols,
language, values, beliefs, norms and material artifacts. Culture is shared.

Roles and Status

Roles are patterns of behaviour that we recognize in each other that are representative
of a person’s social status. For instance, while reading this text you play the role of the
students, besides this, you have many other roles such as ‘son/daughter’, ‘brother/sister’,
a ‘neighbour’ to name a few. The term status is used to describe the responsibilities,
benefits, and prestige person experiences depending upon his/her rank and role in the
society.

Socialisation

Socialisation is the process through which begins at birth and is a continuous process when
new born child acquires the social norms behavior pattern, beliefs, standards, and values
deemed significant and appropriate by his social group. Socialisation serves many functions
for the society, most important one to maintain the social order.