Interaction processes
The different verbal and nonverbal signals used in conversation have been studied, and the functions of such factors as gaze, gesture, and tone of voice are analyzed in social-interaction studies. Social interaction is thus seen to consist of closely related sequences of nonverbal signals and verbal utterances. Gaze has been found to perform several important functions. Laboratory and field studies have examined helping behaviour, imitation, friendship formation, and social interaction in psychotherapy.
Among the theoretical models developed to describe the nature of social behaviour, the stimulus–response model (in which every social act is seen as a response to the preceding act of another individual) has been generally found helpful but incomplete. Linguistic models that view social behaviour as being governed by principles analogous to the rules of a game or specifically to the grammar of a language have also attracted adherents. Others see social behaviour as a kind of motor skill that is goal-directed and modified by feedback (or learning), while other models have been based on the theory of games, which emphasizes the pursuit and exchange of rewards and has led to experiments based on laboratory games.
Small social groups
All small social groups do not function according to the same principles, and, indeed, modes of social activity vary for particular kinds of groups (e.g., for families, groups of friends, work groups, and committees).
Earlier research was concerned with whether small groups did better than individuals at various tasks (e.g., factory work), while later research has been directed more toward the study of interaction patterns among members of such groups. In the method known as sociometry, members nominate others (e.g., as best friends) to yield measures of preference and rejection in groups. Others have studied the effects of democratic and authoritarian leadership in groups and have greatly extended this work in industrial settings. In research on how people respond to group norms (e.g., of morality or of behaviour), most conformity has been found to the norms of reference groups (e.g., to such groups as families or close friends that are most important for people). The emergence and functioning of informal group hierarchies, the playing of social roles (e.g., leader, follower, scapegoat), and cohesiveness (the level of attraction of members to the group) have all been extensively studied. Experiments have been done on processes of group problem solving and decision making, the social conditions that produce the best results, and the tendency for groups to make risky decisions. Statistical field studies of industrial work groups have sought the conditions for greatest production effectiveness and job satisfaction.
Social organizations
Such organizations as businesses and armies have been studied by social surveys, statistical field studies, field experiments, and laboratory experiments on replicas of their social hierarchies and communication networks. Although they yield the most direct evidence, field experiments present difficulties, since the leaders and members of such organizations may effectively resist the intervention of experimenters. Clearly, efforts to try out democratic methods in a dictatorship are likely to be severely punished. Investigators can study the effects of role conflict resulting from conflicting demands (e.g., those from above and below) and topics such as communication patterns in social organizations. Researchers also have studied the sources of power and how it can be used and resisted. They consider the effectiveness of different organizational structures, studying variations in size, span of control, and the amount of power delegation and consultation. In factories, social psychologists study the effects of technology and the design of alternative work-flow systems. They investigate methods of bringing about organizational change (e.g., in the direction of improving the social skills of people and introducing industrial democracy).
20th-century approaches
Ways of looking at working organizations have changed considerably since 1900. Classical organization theory was criticized for its emphasis on social hierarchy, economic motivation, division of labour, and rigid and impersonal social relations. Later investigators emphasized the importance of flexibly organized groups, leadership skills, and job satisfaction based on less tangible rewards than salary alone. There has been a rather uneasy balance in the industrial social psychologist’s concern with production and concern with people.
Personality
It is evident that there are individual differences in social behaviour; thus, people traditionally have been distinguished in terms of such personality traits as extroversion or dominance (see personality). Some personality tests are used to predict how an individual is likely to behave in laboratory discussion groups, but usually the predictive efficiency is very small. Whether or not an individual becomes a leader of a group, for example, is found to depend very little on what such personality tests measure and more on his skills in handling the group task compared with the skills of others. Indeed, the same person may be a leader in some groups and a follower in others. Similar considerations apply to other aspects of social behaviour, such as conformity, persuasibility, and dependency. Although people usually perceive others as being consistent in exhibiting personality traits, the evidence indicates that each individual may behave very differently, depending on the social circumstances.
Socialization
The process by which personality is formed as the result of social influences is called socialization. Early research methods employed case studies of individuals and of individual societies (e.g., primitive tribes). Later research has made statistical comparisons of numbers of persons or of different societies; differences in child-rearing methods from one society to another, for example, have been shown to be related to the subsequent behaviour of the infants when they become adults. Such statistical approaches are limited, since they fail to discern whether both the personality of the child and the child-rearing methods used by the parents are the result of inherited factors or whether the parents are affected by the behaviour of their children.
Problems in the process of socialization that have been studied by experimental methods include the analysis of mother–child interaction in infancy; the effects of parental patterns of behaviour on the development of intelligence, moral behaviour, mental health, delinquency, self-image, and other aspects of the personality of the child; the effects of birth order (e.g., being the first-born or second-born child) on the individual; and changes of personality during adolescence. Investigators have also studied the origins and functioning of achievement motivation and other social drives (e.g., as measured with personality tests).
Several theories have stimulated research into socialization; Freudian theory led to some of the earliest studies on such activities as oral and anal behaviour (e.g., the effect of the toilet training of children on obsessional and other “anal” behaviour). Learning theory led to the study of the effects of rewards and punishments on simple social behaviour and was extended to more complex processes such as imitation and morality (e.g., the analysis of conscience).
The self
Such concepts as self-esteem, self-image, and ego-involvement have been regarded by some social psychologists as useful, while others have regarded them as superfluous. There is a considerable amount of research on such topics as embarrassment and behaviour in front of audiences, in which self-image and self-esteem have been assessed by various self-rating methods. The origin of awareness of self has been studied in relation to the reactions of others and to the child’s comparisons of himself with other children. Particular attention has been paid to the so-called identity crisis that is observed at various stages of life (e.g., in adolescence) as the person struggles to discern the social role that best fits his self-concept.
