Socio-psychological phenomena accompany us all our lives. These include perception, imitation, understanding, suggestion, leadership, persuasion, relationships, and much more. All this usually manifests itself in the process of communication, which, in turn, in psychology is considered to be the central phenomenon. However, about everything - in order.
Specificity
First of all, it should be noted that socio-psychological phenomena are usually considered at several levels - on the official-formalized, personality-institutional and interpersonal. And indeed, all communication, in principle, is perceived as a means of improving the quality of training and labor, as a special phenomenon. After all, it is in his process that the psychological and social structure of the individual, the small groups and entire collectives is formed.
So, what is the specificity of a given topic? The fact that all the socio-psychological phenomena that seem familiar to us, it is customary to consider from several points of view. To be more precise - they are "laid out" on the levels.
At the first, something social only acts as a corrector of the biological and natural. The second factor is the universal factor. Differences in age and gender are taken into account, the continuity of generations is taken into account.
And finally, the third level. In short, it includes economic and political conditions, which are important reasons for the socialization of the individual.
And the central link in all this is the conceptual apparatus. That is, the basic concepts that express the structure of small groups, individuals, as well as mass events.
Classification
Socio-psychological phenomena of social psychology and their manifestations depend on a lot. From the communities, small and large groups in which they arise.
Also from their type. Communities are both organized and unorganized. The phenomena that arise in them are called massive (this will be discussed below), and the behavior is spontaneous.
The class of psychological phenomena also matters. Phenomena can be rationally meaningful (opinion, belief, values), emotionally ordered (mood, social feelings), functioning in certain conditions (for example, in extreme or conflict situations). And of course, they are both conscious and unconscious.
About Public Opinion: Definition
Theoretical knowledge is useful, but it’s worth going over to practice and looking at socio-psychological phenomena directly. One of them is a form of mass consciousness. That is public opinion. It is in it that the attitude of people (sometimes even entire groups) to certain processes is manifested. The definition specifies - what to those that affect their needs or interests. But reality shows that modern people express their opinions in relation to everything, even if it does not concern them.
The characteristic of the phenomenon
Public opinion can be formed in different ways - either consciously or spontaneously. In the second case, judgment is based on certain information that is transmitted from one mouth to another. Take, for example, the political sphere. It is unlikely that people in modern society are all experts on topics related to it. However, most of them are happy to talk about politics, and for many their opinions seem smart. Why? Because the opinion expressed by them is based on the information provided by the media, the politicians themselves, and authoritative people. This is at best. Usually there are still rumors, delusions, gossip, ideologies, beliefs.
In fact, people absorb everything they hear into their consciousness, after which they simply reinforce it with their guesses. And here is their opinion formed.
About Conscious Approach
It can be distinguished in a separate brief topic. Because the conscious approach in our time is not as "popular" as the one mentioned above. Since the lifestyle itself is spontaneous. For an opinion to be conscious, people (all or the majority) must approach the perception of reality subjectively. And this implies the ability to think independently, rarely focusing on something generally accepted and already established in society. Which, again, is not common for everyone.
Scale
Public opinion has one feature - it has an effect. Even if it happened in a small team.
Example: there is a relatively small enterprise with 50 employees. As elsewhere, the one who is commonly called an outcast works there. Why did you get such an opinion about him? Perhaps he was not as sociable as everyone else, or always behaved quietly, did not mind anyone. If normal people work in the team, then this person will not cause any discussion. But it often happens that individuals of this type become “outcasts”, “scapegoats” for dumping pleasant work on them. Guesses about their indulgence, weave around intrigue. And so, at one moment, such a person acquires the final image invented by his "well-wishers".
And this is just one example. Needless to say, the influence of public opinion, which covers the problems of international life and economic issues.
Types of Interactions
Joint activity is also commonly accepted as a socio-psychological phenomenon. Why? Because it is a relationship with other people, carried out for some purpose.
It cannot be translated into reality if nothing connects its participants. Compatibility is in all cases. Its first option is called psychophysiological. It manifests itself in cases where joint activities are carried out by similar people. They are united by a similar character, identical behavioral reactions, similar attitudes, perhaps even a worldview. All this determines the consistency between them. And its presence is necessary to achieve goals.
The second option for compatibility is socio-psychological. It is considered to be the most optimal. Since it involves a combination of the types of behavior of people in a certain group and the commonality of their attitudes, interests and values.
Rallying and achieving results
This is what collaboration means. Cohesion is a process in which a specific connection between people is formed, due to which they are combined into a “single organism”. Everything, again, is done in order to achieve certain goals and results. Each of the group members is interested in this.
It is customary to single out cohesion levels. And at the first, emotional contacts usually develop - the manifestation of people's sympathy and disposition towards each other, for example. The second level involves the process of convincing each person that his system of values ​​coincides with others. And on the third, a shared goal is shared.
All this affects the formation of the so-called socio-psychological climate in the team, contributing to the maintenance of a general mood, a decent level of performance and well-being.
Phenomena in the masses
Society is a form of bringing people together. Accordingly, such a concept as a massive psyche relates directly to the topic under discussion. Other terms follow from it. Mass consciousness, for example. It is one of the most common. Or a mass mood. All of us, at least once, have heard these concepts.
Here, for example, the massive phenomena of the psyche. This is the name of certain phenomena that arise, exist and develop in fairly large social groups. Those are mass sentiments. These are mental states that cover a large number of people. The prerequisites for their occurrence are usually events of a political, social, economic and even spiritual nature. Naturally, negative mass moods most often manifest themselves most vividly. Which are able to destroy the socio-political systems that have settled in society and are disgusted with it. The turbulent events of the "nineties" showed how moods can be influential.
Individuality
It also takes place in the topic of socio-psychological phenomena. Since often they do not relate to society, but to a single individual. This refers to those phenomena that are caused by the characteristics, behavior and actions of a particular person. This may be a social status, the role of the individual, her position, values, attitudes. It often happens that because of just one person in a group (in the same work collective), phenomena occur that cannot exist without him. If, for example, an office is run by an evil boss who constantly and for any reason breaks down on employees, then every time he is present there, most employees will have a tense state. Because everyone will foresee the “storm”, and perceive themselves as potential victims. And, again, this is just one example.
What is the law of imitation?
The answer to this question at one time was given by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde. More precisely, he formulated it.
Tarde argued that imitation is the main driving force of social development - this is imitation. And all the similarities that can only be in our world are due to ordinary repetition.
The sociologist has identified the logical laws of imitation - those that are based on a means of disseminating a specific innovation or calculating a goal. Innovations were designated as a separate category.
But the most important thing in the law is that imitation goes to the external from the internal. In other words, the mind is always ahead of the senses. Ideas come before meaning. And the goals - before the means. And of course, the desire to imitate people causes only all the most prestigious. Because hierarchy is of no small importance.
Functions of social groups and division into them
It has always been. Socio-psychological groups exist as much as humanity. Over time, only their names changed. But in general, there have always been associations of people who have some kind of a single social attribute.
There are a variety of approaches regarding the definition of the classification of functions of such groups. It is customary to highlight a few as the main ones.
The first function is socialization. It is believed that a person only in a group can ensure their full existence and survival.
The second function is instrumental. It implies the joint implementation by a group of one or another activity (interaction has already been mentioned above).
The third function is expressive. This includes everything related to psychology. This is mutual approval of people, respect, trust, friendship, feelings, emotions and much more.
And finally, the fourth function is supportive. Its essence lies in the fact that all people strive to unite in difficult situations. These are their socio-psychological characteristics. Together, dealing with something is easier (both physically and mentally) than alone.
About problems
The topic concerning them should also be noted with attention. Social and psychological problems concern everyone today.
Take, for example, such a small group as a family. Nowadays, not every union ends its existence in a natural way - that is, the departure of one of the spouses to another world. More and more marriages break up. About 80%, according to statistics! And almost always the causes are arisen and unresolved psychological problems.
Or, for example, the elderly. They also have a lot of problems of a socio-psychological nature. One of the few is a sharp decline in their status in society. They cease to function as successfully as individuals, which often leads to disruptions.
And the youth? It seems to many that this is who, and they certainly should not have problems. But this is nothing more than bias and stereotypes. The search for one’s place in life, attempts to “merge” into society and in particular groups, competition in all its manifestations. Yes, all problems have different socio-psychological characteristics. But they always accompany us, at any age. And some, unless, more often, others less often. Can they be avoided at all? Yes, of course. If you live outside of society. Which, however, is difficult to achieve.