What does psychology study? What kind of science is this? If you ask these questions to people who have not studied this science, then the answers will be “studying human behavior” or “studying the thoughts, feelings and desires of a person”, etc. And these answers are really close to the truth. Psychology owes its name and definition to Greek mythology.
The son of Aphrodite, Eros fell in love with a simple mortal Psyche. But his mother did not like it, and she made every conceivable and unimaginable effort to separate the lovers. Psyche went through all the tests patiently and submissively, because she was ready for anything, just to see her beloved. And the gods of Olympus, seeing how great Psyche's love was, persuaded Zeus to make her a goddess. And so they connected forever. For the Greeks, Psyche became a symbol of the soul, which reaches for the highest spiritual happiness.
Only in the 18th century did the term “psychology” appear in the scientific sense. Initially, psychology, as a science, studied psychic phenomena revealed through introspection and self-observation, that is, conscious ones. However, over time, it became clear that there are not only conscious manifestations of the soul, but also not conscious ones. In this regard, psychology as a science of the soul begins to study the subconscious.
Understanding the subject of study of psychology was gradual and slow. For decades, various schools, trends and directions have contributed to the formation and design of psychology as a science that we know today.
The subject of psychology is a whole complex of concepts and phenomena that represent the mental properties and states of a person.
The object of psychology is the inner world of the personality hidden from everyone, which takes shape under the influence of surrounding reality.
Developing and expanding its borders, psychology as a science begins to consider a person in society and draws up such a direction as social psychology. Representing a hidden and very subtle form of experiences by people socially significant, that form that is similar for certain social groups or society as a whole. These are the emotional and sensory reactions that are manifested during joint activities and the life of society.
Currently, there are several views on understanding what social psychology is. So, for example, some see it as a reaction of people to environmental influences. They also hold the opinion that the division into individual and public psyche is inappropriate, since a person lives in society, the psyche can only be public. Others argue that social psychology is nothing more than a connection between the consciousness of people that has developed over the course of certain historical stages of development. And others argue that the concept of social psychology must include all possible reactions of people, their behavior, various experiences as public subjects.
The psychology of trade is based and developed on the knowledge of psychology. The knowledge donated by scientists is actively used in advertising to promote goods. And the success of a product in the market depends on the knowledge of the human psyche, and its reactions to certain actions and irritants.
We can conclude that psychology as a science continues to develop and expand its boundaries. This is primarily due to the development of mankind and the person in it. It’s not a secret to anyone that every year a psychologist becomes the norm in enterprises, schools, kindergartens, etc. At present, it has become the norm to pass certain psychological tests when hiring. We can say, having gone through a thorny path and having stood the test of time, psychology is finally recognized by science.