Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Psychology - Essay Example behaviours in three general ways as follows (Social Psychology, 2005): Primarily, it perceives the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of people that are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others, which includes social perception, social interaction and many other types of influencing factors like trust and persuasion. Second, social psychology attempts to understand the influence that individual perceptions and behaviours have on a group. It involves viewing aspects like group productivity and group decision making. Third, it tries to understand groups as behavioural entities, along with the relationships and influences that one group may have on another. In relevance to the preceding paragraphs, the understanding of the following sociological social psychological processes is essential in order to realize the value of attitudes and behaviours in group settings (Social Psychology, 2005): 1. Group Cohesion and Conformity; 2) Consensus, Groups Structure, Work Performance and Decision Making; 3) Collective Behaviour Social Movements and Aggregate Behaviour; 4) Intergroup Behaviour; 5) Social Structure, Population Density and Personality; 6) Dissent, Deviance and Reactions to Deviance, and 7) Intergroup Conflict. This social psychological process tackles the degree of change that members in the group will undergo regarding behaviours, views and attitudes in order to fit in with the view of the group. The group can influence its members by the exertion of overt social pressure on individuals and this is usually done through the three subtypes of conformity which are: a) compliance – where the member conforms only in public but asserts one own views in private; b) identification – conformity is done publicly and privately while the individual is a member of the group, but not after leaving the group; c) internalization – conforming to the groups view publicly and privately during and after group membership. Moreover, when a group of