Read the title of the text and try to guess the subject of this kind of psychology

TEXT 5

Social psychology

Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior and mental processes, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. Social psychology aims to understand how we make sense of social situations. For example, social psychologists study the influence of others on an individual's behavior (e.g., conformity or persuasion), the perception and understanding of social cues, or the formation of attitudes or stereotypes about other people. Social cognition is a common approach and involves a mostly cognitive and scientific approach to understanding social behavior.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all of the psychological variables that are measurable in a human being. The statement that others may be imagined or implied suggests that we are prone to social influence even when no other people are present, such as when watching television, or following internalized cultural norms.

Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the interaction of mental states and immediate, social situations. In general, social psychologists have a preference for laboratory based, empirical findings. Their theories tend to be specific and focused, rather than global and general.

Social psychology is an interdisciplinary domain that bridges the gap between psychology and sociology. During the years immediately following World War II, there was frequent collaboration between psychologists and sociologists. However, the two disciplines have become increasingly specialized and isolated from each other in recent years, with sociologists focusing on "macro variables" (e.g. social structure) to a much greater extent. Nevertheless, sociological approaches to social psychology remain an important counterpart to psychological research in this area.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What is social psychology?

2. What do the social psychologists study?

3. We are prone to social influence even when no other people are present, are not we?

4. Is social psychology an interdisciplinary domain that bridges the gap between psychology and sociology?

5. During the years immediately following World War II, there was frequent collaboration between psychologists and sociologists, was not it?

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