History of Social Psychology
Social psychology is a relatively young discipline. Although some work on it started at the
end of 19th century, most of the growth in social psychology occurred after 1950s. The
history of social psychology reveals its American roots
The Early Years: (1884-1934) Norman Triplett at Indiana University can be considered the
first empirical social scientist as he conducted the first social psychological experiment on
that how the performance of a person does change when other people are present. He noticed
that a bicycle racer’s speed was faster when he was paced by other cyclists than when he was
alone. Based on this observation, he devised the first exp. To learn what caused these
different racing times, he asked children to wind line on a finishing reel both in the presence
of other children and alone. The results showed that children did faster when with other
children. This experiment was published in 1897. This introduced the Experimental Method
in social psychology
one of the other most influential social psychologist was Kurt Lewin who was a Jewish
refugee from Germany. He stood as the most influential social psychologist of his time. He
talked about the debate of two faces of social psychology: pure and applied and indicated that
“No research without action, and no action without research”. By his death in 1947 he had
provided many of social psychology’s defining characteristics
In postwar period, prospects were bright for social psychologists; they had started enjoying
high stature in scientific community. Many of their mentors were European. They established
new research facilities, secured govt. grants, and most importantly started training graduate
students
With its infusion of European intellectuals and recently trained young American social
psychologists, the mature science of social psychology expanded its theoretical and research
base. A lot of research started on new dimensions. For example, Theodore Adorno and his
colleagues (1950) wanted to know how a civilized society like Germany could fall under the
influence of a dictator like Hitler. They studied the psychological parameters of the
authoritarian personality. Some years later, Stanley Milgram (1963) extended this line of
research in his now famous obedience experiments, which examined the conditions that make
people more likely to obey destructive authority figures. Solomon Asch 1956 focused on the
influence that group had on the individual. Arguably, the most significant line of research and
theorizing during this time was Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance (1957),
which maintains that people’s thoughts and actions are motivated by a desire to maintain
cognitive consistency.
Contemporary social psychology continues the legacy of Kurt Lewin by applying knowledge
to a wide arena of everyday life, such as law, health, education, sports and business.
Following a criticism on concentrating too much on negative social behavior and flaws in
human nature (Krueger & Funder, 2004), current research is focusing on both constructive
and destructive social behavior. In Pakistan, some work is also being conducted on positive
dimensions of human social behaviour.
Applying Social Psychology
Social psychology had always intimate ties to the larger political and cultural spheres. It has
addressed important social problems in past and present. It has always focused on real life
problems, e.g., does media violence contribute to aggression in society; how social factors
like family support can influence our susceptibility to disease, etc. The following examples
show how social psychology has responded to current social problems of the time:
• World war II stimulated research on prejudice/conformity
• 1940-50s Civil war in US initiated work on prejudice/ stereotypes
• Higher violence/ crime rates in 1960-70s led to research on aggression.
• In 1980-1990s skyrocketing health care costs and growing awareness of behaviors
contributing to disease led to research social factors in health.
• 9/11 event led to research on terrorism/ suicide bombing.
• October 8 2005 earthquake in Pakistan initiated research on social and psychological effects
of disasters, and PTSD.
These examples illustrate that how with the changing trends and circumstances in society,
research also changed its focus.
