assignment

assignment

Comparing and Contrasting the Theoretical Perspectives of Social Psychology
This paper will discuss the historical roots of social psychology through the theoretical perspectives of the following:
Motivational
Cognitive
Learning
Sociocultural
Evolutionary
Motivational Theories come from a person’s needs or motives, as stated in the Social Psychology book. The Psychoanalytical way of defining this is by emphasizing inborn impulses. A person’s needs can dictate how they view things. An example of this is when someone fails at something they may be prone to blame someone or something else for the failure instead of taking the responsibility themselves. This can be viewed as a defense mechanism to their self-esteem. (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2012)
Learning theories state that a person’s social behavior forms from their past experiences, (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2012). A personal example of this would be observing people saying “gesundheit” to someone when they sneeze, yet not being German or being someone who speaks German. Many people do not even know what “gesundheit” means in German. Going around and saying “health” to people when they sneeze does not seem correct, but many people do so when someone sneezes by saying it in German. This is a learned behavior, because they may have observed this so often that they developed a habit.
Cognitive theories emphasize that a person’s behavior depends on the way they perceive the social situation. This is different from learning theories, because cognitive theories come from present perceptions and not the past. The main idea of this theory is that people are more than likely to group objects. (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2012)
Sociocultural theories are how someone’s cultural influences their way of thinking and behavior, (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2012). The perfect example of this would be when Meriam Ishag (pregnant) was sentenced to death in Sudan for refusing to recant her Christian faith. She...

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