What is psychology?

Definition: Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes of human or animal.

Psychologists try to explain why people have thoughts and feelings and why they behave in a certain way organizational psychology focuses specifically on the social behaviour of people within organizations. Social psychology focuses on a variety of social contexts, including (for example) the impact of media and cultural norms on human behaviour.

The characteristic of social psychology and organizational psychology is that in general, human behavior is not defined from a human point of view, but from a social perspective and organizational context. People are greatly influenced by friends and family, peers, established cultural norms and the behavior of the media.

Based on their expertise and research, many psychologists are involved in solving social problems such as gender inequality, financial debt, aggression and obesity.

Differences between psychology and other disciplines:

Sociology places more emphasis on relationships and social structures (such as social networks, institutions), while social psychology focuses more on the behaviour of individuals when others are more or less explicit.

Personality theory emphasizes lasting differences between people (differences in personality and character), while social psychology examines how social factors will affect most people.

Clinical psychology deals with barriers or abnormalities, while social psychologists focus on the specific way in which ("normal") individuals think, feel, behave, and communicate with each other.

Cognitive psychology, such as social psychology, is interested in mental processes (thinking, learning, remembering), but social psychologists are concerned with the relevance of these processes to social behavior.



Why Psychology is Science?

People's behavior is a favorite topic at the cocktail table, but psychology is not like exchanging opinions. Social psychologists and organizational psychologists conduct research using systematic methods such as control group experiments and objective measurements of physiology or behavior. Surveys or questionnaires are also often used as research tools. They take into account reliable, internal and external authenticity. Experiments are often carried out in laboratories so that researchers can control the context and measure variables accurately. But more and more lab experiments are being expanded with field research, so that researchers can test whether their results are practical.


The importance of good theory:

"Ideology" is designed to describe how people have certain thoughts and feelings and behave in a certain way. In the case of psychology, a theory is a description of the (possible communication) attitudes, thoughts, and / or emotions of people that have been experimented with by scientific methods. Social psychologists and organizational psychologists always approach scientific and social questions from a theoretical point of view. This method helps to generalize results from specific studies to other situations and to better predict future events.

Kurt Levin, one of the founders of modern psychology, said: "There is nothing more practical than good theory."

Examples of theoretical methods commonly used in social psychology and organizational psychology:

Socio-cultural: Preferences and behaviors are determined by a person's cultural background (such as religion, social class, economic opportunities, political beliefs).

Evolutionary Perspectives: Certain patterns of behavior are embedded in pre-programmed patterns because of their survival value. A.o. Emotions, herd behavior.

Social studies: Our behavior is the result of a history of learning rewards and punishments (classical and operating conditioning).

Social Perception: People can't see rationally, they make their interpretations based on expectations and prejudices. The scientific processes of observation, thinking, judging and remembering play a role in this.

These contradictions are not contradictory but complement each other. Take smoking for example. Some people start smoking because they got this example from their parents (social and cultural), or because they feel it will make them feel "tough" (social perception). People continue smoking because it is calmer and they feel better (social education) or because they are more naturally addicted than others (evolutionary). So for most people, it's a combination of factors that play a role in determining their behavior, and not just the cause.


Why does a psychologist understand everything?

The idea in psychology is that if you understand how behavior is done in general, you can explain a lot of different types of behavior. The above style applies not only to a single theme, but can be used to analyze all kinds of behaviors. Social psychologists and organizational psychologists therefore apply their knowledge to all aspects of their behavior.


Social topics in psychology:

  • Although psychologists nowadays have a wide selection of research topics, certain topics seem particularly popular. Here are some of the most frequently asked topics:
  • Racism and bigotry
  • Gender inequality
  • Fundamentalism
  • Smoking, alcoholism and other unhealthy behaviors
  • Economic decisions and consumer behavior
  • Advertising, information and political campaigns
  • Behavior change
  • Goodness and happiness
  • Lasting love





    Writer Zaheer Ul Islam Shaheen