Social psychology is a valuable tool for understanding both ourselves and others. It shows us the value of positive influences and the dangers of negative influences. By knowing how others try to manipulate our thoughts, feelings and behaviors — from advertising to political exterminism — we can make adjustments to gain better control and clarity. We can also see how disruptions to our social groups cause long-term mental health issues, and find ways to heal those wounds.
The History of Social Psychology
The Positive Effects of Social Psychology
As we know, social groups can influence our behavior in negative ways, whether it’s violence or influencing us to buy stuff we don’t need. However, this doesn’t mean that we should isolate ourselves to avoid social pressures. In fact, we gain a lot of value from our interactions with others, we just need to be mindful of the ways in which our behavior is impacted to ensure that the influence is mostly positive. There’s a lot ofevidencethat people with high-quality social relationships have better mental health and lower rates of mortality. These folks also recover from negative events faster and report satisfaction in moving forward through life with purpose.
A common goal of psychotherapy is the strengthening of social relationships to improve overall well-being. This objective can involve repairing or processing negative experiences in the past and present. A history ofbullying, for example, could beblockingsomeone’s ability to connect with social groups in adulthood.Researchers foundthat being excluded from a social group causes more distress to individuals than physical pain. They also found that we tend to “relive” social pain and dwell on those memories — far more than happy memories. These experiences can lead to distrust of others or socially awkward behaviors that keep us away from the very thing that can help us most: social interaction.
Finding our Place in a Social World
It’s important to note that our identity intersects with our social environment in many ways. Race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status are just some of the factors that impact our relationships with others. We might feel comfortable with one social group, and then uncomfortable with another, at various times in a single day. Additionally,we might find that we switch our behavior in order to fit in with different groups. It is interesting to note that those who are skilled at adapting might find that they eventually end up sacrificing their own well-being. Those who switch social roles frequentlyreport higher levels of stress and physical health problems.
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