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Writer's pictureJuliana Eljach

Functions of Social Psychologists

Updated: Nov 27, 2023

There are group activities everywhere, such as in education, in justice, in sports, in municipal organizations or even in neighborhood organizations (Rodríguez, n.d.). In correspondence with Rodríguez (n.d.), more and more organizations ask social psychologists to integrate interdisciplinary teams to solve their specific activities or to solve disadvantaged areas, but even so, it is difficult to establish a recognition of the specific tasks of the social psychologist in society.

In general terms, social psychologists work at the research level of the group and are based on three basic principles (Muñoz, 2018). The first is with regard to thoughts, since people are constantly thinking and that thought is conscious. Now, there is a more primitive part of thinking that is unconscious, that is, it is done automatically and helps people to make room for conscious ideas. In short, according to Muñoz (2018), social psychologists focus on finding the unconscious thoughts that are common in human beings and that cause similar behaviors.

The second principle is about personal traits, as the environment in which people live affects the way in which individuals behave when they are alone and when they are surrounded by other subjects (Muñoz, 2018). At the same time, according to Muñoz (2018), the way of being of each person also affects social behavior.

The last principle, in correspondence with Muñoz (2018), is the influence on others, that is, social psychologists study how each person influences and affects other people, thus generating a conscience and a team feeling, in others words, a sense of belonging.

In specific terms, within the functions of the social psychologist is the evaluation, planning and management of social programs, that is, thesocial psychologist is in charge of evaluating the environment in which they will intervene, including the people with whom they are going to intervene (Castro, 2019). For this, it is necessary to establish evaluation goals based on the group's needs, evaluate the group's capacities, estimate the prevention and promotion plan, consider what resources people have to work with and establish objectives based on those resources. Therefore, according to Castro (2019), the social psychologist can detect the needs of the group or individual needs and, from there, establish goals.

In the same way, in correspondence with Castro (2019), the social psychologist is in charge of generating projects to address the needs that they find and conducting evaluations to evaluate the real changes that the interventions that are being implemented are producing.

Likewise, social psychologists are responsible for training, that is, for carrying out training actions for groups and for professionals in social action (Eguzquiza, 2011). Through education, the social psychologist can provide different tools for communities or individuals to face the situation that is affecting them (Castro, 2019). Therefore, whether it is a community or an individual, people learn to manage their emotions, their thoughts and their behaviors for their well-being. In this way, according to Castro (2019), they can help improve the quality of life of the people they work with.

Another function of social psychologists is to investigate (Castro, 2019), that is, to create new knowledge based on research and survey results (Eguzquiza, 2011). In other words, this professional acquires new knowledge from the analysis of social interactions between individuals and communities (Castro, 2019). To do this, they study the behaviors, thoughts and emotions of people (Castro, 2019). Research in social psychology is multiple, such as the Milgram experiment, the Bobo doll experiment, the Stanford prison experiment, the Asch experiment, the Sherif experiment, the Leon Festinger experiment, among others.

In the same vein, social psychologists can intervene in different ways (Castro, 2019). Either individually or in a group, they will intervene in the target population when evaluating, positioning and solving their needs (Eguzquiza, 2011). On the one hand, they focus on group participation through self-help groups, the parents' school, the training class in specific skills, group psychotherapy, health promotion and prevention, among others (Castro, 2019). On the other hand, according to Castro (2019), social psychologists can help, through psychotherapy or psychoeducation.

Finally, the social psychologist can intervene at the family level through psychotherapy or activities such as workshops or seminars (Castro, 2019). In the same way, it can help the parties to a conflict to reach a satisfactory agreement. Finally, the social psychologist can intervene in the environment, through the ecological model. For interventions, according to Castro (2019), social psychologists can conduct surveys, create structured groups, assess resources and needs, and use different tools and techniques to benefit the target group, that is, those groups affected by the intervention of one way or another.


References

  1. Castro, M. (2019). Psicólogo social: roles y funciones - La Mente es Maravillosa. Obtenido 8 Noviembre 2020, de https://lamenteesmaravillosa.com/psicologo-social-roles-y-funciones/

  2. Eguzquiza, I. (2011). Roles y Funciones del Psicologo Social - Octubre, 2011. Obtenido 8 Noviembre 2020, de https://www.academia.edu/7023781/Roles_y_Funciones_del_Psicologo_Social_Octubre_2011

  3. Muñoz, E. (2018). Psicólogo social: ¿cuál es su trabajo? - MundoPsicologos.com. Obtenido 8 Noviembre 2020, de https://www.mundopsicologos.com/articulos/psicologo-social-cual-es-su-trabajo

  4. Rodríguez, F. (s.f.). Soy Psicóloga Social… y ahora qué?. Obtenido 8 Noviembre 2020, de https://www.educintercambio.com.ar/blog/soy-psicologa-social-y-ahora-que.htm

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