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    "Psychology Has A Long Past, But Only A Short History.": PSYCHOLOGY 305 / 305G Social Psychology

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    This document provides an overview of the history of social psychology. It discusses early influences from social Darwinism and "group mind" theories in the late 19th century. Some key developments it outlines include Gustave Le Bon's 1895 book on crowd psychology, Norman Triplett's 1898 experiment considered the first social psychology study, the rise of attitude scaling in the 1930s, research on group processes in the 1930s-1950s, and later cognitive and social identity approaches from the 1960s onward.

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    "Psychology Has A Long Past, But Only A Short History.": PSYCHOLOGY 305 / 305G Social Psychology

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    jassel baron
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    This document provides an overview of the history of social psychology. It discusses early influences from social Darwinism and "group mind" theories in the late 19th century. Some key developments it outlines include Gustave Le Bon's 1895 book on crowd psychology, Norman Triplett's 1898 experiment considered the first social psychology study, the rise of attitude scaling in the 1930s, research on group processes in the 1930s-1950s, and later cognitive and social identity approaches from the 1960s onward.

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    This document provides an overview of the history of social psychology. It discusses early influences from social Darwinism and "group mind" theories in the late 19th century. Some key developments it outlines include Gustave Le Bon's 1895 book on crowd psychology, Norman Triplett's 1898 experiment considered the first social psychology study, the rise of attitude scaling in the 1930s, research on group processes in the 1930s-1950s, and later cognitive and social identity approaches from the 1960s onward.

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    101 views7 pages

    "Psychology Has A Long Past, But Only A Short History.": PSYCHOLOGY 305 / 305G Social Psychology

    Uploaded by

    jassel baron
    This document provides an overview of the history of social psychology. It discusses early influences from social Darwinism and "group mind" theories in the late 19th century. Some key developments it outlines include Gustave Le Bon's 1895 book on crowd psychology, Norman Triplett's 1898 experiment considered the first social psychology study, the rise of attitude scaling in the 1930s, research on group processes in the 1930s-1950s, and later cognitive and social identity approaches from the 1960s onward.

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    of 7

    PSYCHOLOGY 305 / 305G

    Social Psychology

    History of Social Psychology


    2005

    Lecturer: James Neill

    Overview
    • Long past, short history
    • Social Darwinianism
    • ‘Group mind’ – late 19th century
    • Volkerpsychologie – ‘folk psychology’
    • Le Bon (1895) ‘crowd psychology’
    • Triplett’s first experiment (1897)
    • Post WWI & Attitude Scaling
    • Group Processes & WWII: 1930’s – 1950’s
    • Cognitive, Crisis, Social Identity Theory &
    Social Constructionism: 1960’s - present

    Long past, Short history

    “Psychology has a long


    past, but only a short
    history.”
    - Herman Ebbinghaus,
    Summary of Psychology

    1
    Long past, Short history

    “People have probably been asking social


    psychological questions for as long as
    humans could think about each other.
    Certainly, Plato offered keen insights into
    many social psychological issues. But no
    systematic and scientific study of social
    psychological issues developed until the end
    of the nineteenth century.”
    - Brehm, Kassin, & Fein (2005, p.12)

    Long past, Short history

    90% of social
    psychologists who had
    ever lived were still
    alive in 1979
    - Dorwin Cartright (Brehm, et al, 2005)

    Long past, Short history

    ‘Social psychology’ as a
    term came into
    common usage around
    the turn of the 20th
    century.

    2
    Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory
    mid-late 1800’s - 1
    • “Origin of Species” (1859) didn’t
    contain social psychological
    theory, but it laid a vital academic
    platform for scientific study of
    human behavior and for
    understanding humans socially
    and psychologically.
    • “The Descent of Man” (1879) was
    more psychological, essentially
    proposing that modern humans
    had stone age brains. This
    furthered evolutionary theory as
    a significant platform for the
    development of scientific
    psychology.

    Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory


    mid-late 1800’s - 2

    Darwin prophesized
    that psychology
    would one day be
    based on a new
    foundation, an
    evolutionary
    foundation.

    Herbert Spencer
    • Leading Social Darwinian
    (1820-1903) and 19th century
    self-taught academic.
    • Coined the term “survival of
    the fittest”
    • Viewed evolution as
    occurring at inorganic levels,
    including in groups, societies
    and cultures.
    • Layed important academic
    foundations for psychology,
    sociology, and economics.

    3
    “Group Mind” - Late 19th Century
    ‘Emerging academic
    consciousness’ of
    ‘group mind
    phenomena can be
    found in Europe &
    North America, late
    19th - early 20th
    century.
    e.g.,
    – Volkerpsychologie
    – Le Bon’s “The Crowd”

    Volkerpsychologie - 1
    • ‘Folk psychology’ or
    ‘cultural psychology’
    • Study of the “collective
    mind” in Germany mid-late
    1800’s
    • Wilhelm Wundt named
    volkerpsychologie to
    distinguish it from
    individual psychology

    Volkerpsychologie - 2
    • Examined social psychological
    (communal) phenomenon, including
    – Language
    – Myth
    – Religion
    – culture &
    – "higher" mental functions.
    • Wundt believed volkerpsychologie was
    to be pursued through comparative &
    historical analysis, not experimentally as
    was the case of individual psychology.

    4
    The Crowd (Le Bon, 1895) - 1

    • “La Foule”, an early, well-


    received, landmark social
    psychology book
    • “The Crowd: A Study of
    the Popular Mind”
    • 1st major study of crowd
    psychology

    The Crowd (Le Bon, 1895) - 2

    • Focused on pathology of crowd behavior


    • Why do people sometimes lose their
    rationality when in groups?
    • Believed in the lack of intelligence in
    group action and the organic, powerful
    nature of a ‘group mind’

    The Crowd (Le Bon, 1895) - 3

    “Crowds can never


    accomplish acts
    demanding a high degree
    of intelligence and are
    always intellectually
    inferior to the isolated
    individual.”

    5
    The Crowd (Le Bon, 1895) - 4
    • Influenced Freud & inspired modern
    theories of group dynamics
    • Influenced Göbbels, Mussolini, & Hitler

    Triplett (1898)
    1st Social Psychological Study
    • Classically attributed as the first experimental
    social psychology study (see Research)
    • Demonstrated effects of ‘social influence’
    • At the time Triplett’s study wasn’t considered a
    social psychological study (it is only in retrospect
    that the study has been redefined as the 1st
    social psychological study)
    • The overemphasis on this as the first empirical
    social psychological study may be an “origin
    myth” (Danziger, 2000)

    Post WW1 & Attitude Scaling


    • rise of individual behaviourism &
    experimentation
    • social psychology splits off
    e.g., by studying attitudes
    (Thurstone, 1930s)
    • social psychologists were interested in
    studying mental constructs, like attitudes,
    and not simply behaviour.

    6
    Group Processes & Post-WWII:
    1930’s – 1950’s
    • Increasing interest in studying group
    phenomenon after the Great Depression
    • Gestalt theorists (e.g., Asch, Sherif, Lewin)
    studied group processes & dynamics
    • Post WW2 - motivation to explain atrocities
    committed e.g.,
    – authoritarian personality (Allport),
    – obedience (Milgram),
    – roles (Zimbardo).

    Cognitive, Crisis, Social Identity &


    Social Constructionism:
    1960’s – present
    • 1960’s - rise of attribution theory, cognitive
    dissonance (Festinger)
    • Developments in European social psychology
    - Tajfel (social identity theory), Moscovici
    (minority influence)
    • 1970’s crisis over limits of scientific method in
    social psychology
    • 1970s to now - rise of social cognition,
    information processing and alternative
    approaches via social constructionism and
    discourse analysis

    References
    • Brehm, S. S., Kassin, S., & Fein, S. (2005). Social psychology
    (6th ed.) Houghton Mifflin: Boston.
    • Danziger, K. (2000). Making social psychology experimental: A
    conceptual history, 1930 - 1970. Journal of the History of the
    Behavioral Sciences, 36, 329 - 347.
    • Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (2001). A 100 years of certitude?
    Social psychology, the experimental method and the
    management of scientific uncertainty. British Journal of Social
    Psychology, 40, 1-21.
    • Richard, F. D., Bond, C. F., Jr., & Stokes-Zoota, J. J. (2003).
    One hundred years of social psychology quantitatively
    described. Review of General Psychology, 7, 331-336.
    • Ellwood, C. A. (1900). Prolegomena to social psychology III:
    The Nature and Task of Social Psychology. American Journal
    of Sociology, 98-109.

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