Social Psychology also focuses on social behaviour, people’s thoughts, feelings friendship and how we interact with other people. A prime example of this is in a study carried out by Brian Bigelow and John La Gaipa [1975] when they carried out a study on children’s friendship. Bigelow and La Gaipa wanted to explore what understanding children had on friendship and how it changed with the children’s age group and of the same sex. Bigelow and La Gaipa began their research by asking a group of children to write an essay in regards to their best friend who had to be of the same sex the children was asked to write what their expectations were from their friend. To enable this research to be conducted Bigelow and La Gaipa completed a list of Twenty
Subsequently Corsaro took a different approach to studying children's friendship, Corsaro was more interested in maintaining the children's individual view of the word “friend” and seeing how children talk to each other about this. In addition Corsaro wanted to see what this may mean to children from different backgrounds and personal beliefs.
Compare and Contrast the approach to studying children’s friendships taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) study with that taken by William Corsaro.
When it comes to investigating friendship, one question that has been raised is ‘what is the role of friendship in the life of a 13 year old?’’. Several sources of data include ethnographic notes taken whilst spending time with a group of friends during school lunch breaks and diary/blog entries etc. Firstly, in this case the researcher would need to carefully consider the strengths and weaknesses of each type of data, for example, when looking at a blog the information/data available is likely to be information that the author wants to share with a wider audience whereas a diary entry is more private. In this case, both documents
Friendship has been researched with different approaches including both quantitative and qualitative types. One of these is ethnographic approach in which the researcher joins the researched group and carries out observation over certain time. This essay will evaluate its contribution to research on friendship focusing on the Corsaro’s (1985 cited in Brownlow, 2012) ethnographic study on children’s friendship. Firstly, focusing on its benefits. Secondly, moving to shortcomings. Finally, it will evaluate it in the context of social sciences’ methodology.
Psychology is one of the newest sciences. Because it is the science of the mind and behavior, it is also less concrete than some of the other sciences. Over the years, social scientists have developed theories or perspectives based off of their observations, research, and the perspectives of other scientists. Although there is some overlap, each of the major perspectives of psychology is unique. As a result, they each have strengths and weaknesses and explain psychology in a different way. One theory, the sociocultural perspective, is exactly what its name suggests. It’s the idea that the society and groups that an individual belongs to are what influences development, thoughts, and behavior. The sociocultural perspective was
This article seeks to empirically measure the degree to which peer groups, specifically friendship groups, exert a normative influence on some aspects of gender identity in adolescents. This theory had not been tested empirically, although the authors cite previous studies to this effect on gender-typical behaviours of younger children and on the significant impact of peers on other areas of adolescent social development. In order to measure adolescents’ evolving understanding of gender identity, the researchers employed longitudinal social network analysis after surveying a diverse body of students. Furthermore, this particular method was utilised to discern whether adolescents tend to emulate the norms of their peers or whether friends are
For years the formation of friendship has been evaluated through the eyes of psychology on how friendships actual form. There
Prior to commencing their research, Bigelow and La Gaipa and Corsaro needed to decide who the participants would be. They wanted to know what children’s personal views were, so a common factor for both types of research was that those taking part were all children. Bigelow and La Gaipa chose a large sample of children aged 6 to 14 years old (Brownlow, 2012). They all resided in the same city in Canada and came from a similar or identical social group. There were 480 participants all together chosen from eight schools, with thirty girls and thirty boys from each. The age-range was a significant factor to them because they wanted to study how children understood friendship at different ages and stages of their life. Using such a large number of children in their study meant that they could make generalisations about children’s friendships and how they develop over time. This data could then be applied to children as a whole. Corsaro chose his participants differently. The children that took part in his studies were about three years old (Brownlow, 2012). In addition, unlike Bigelow and La Gaipa, Corasro did not limit his research to one city, or even one country. He wanted to know what friendship meant for children at different times and in different places. Therefore, Corsaro studied children in different countries including, the United States and Italy (Interview with William Corsaro, 2010). By
Molloy, Gest, Feinberg, and Osgood address questions about adolescent groups composed of the same sex and of different sex, in relation to timing of the group’s formation as well as how different structures correlate with delinquency, alcohol usage, and cigarette smoking, as well as more positive characteristics. The authors acknowledge past studies that show that bi-gendered friend groups emerge with adolescent (Connolly, Furman & Konarski, 2000; Dunphy 1969, etc), but the authors aim to delve into the specifics of different groups and individuals within those groups (2449). Their four topics of interest include: “normative emergence of mixed sex friendship groups,” “ how structural features vary by gender composition,” qualities of adolescents
Social psychology is the understanding of an individual’s behavior in a social context. It is the scientific field that focuses on the nature and causes of that individual’s behavior in social situations. It looks at the human behavior that has been influenced by others and in the social context with which it occurred. Social psychology pays attention to how feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and goals are constructed and how these factors influence our behavior and interactions with others. This paper will examine the principles of social psychology and help us to
Peer relations are one of the most important aspect of children development, as it is throughout these interactions that children and adolescent learns to function in a society. Studies show that peer rejection or lack of acceptance in childhood is linked to future low academic performance and drop out (Rubin, cited in Wainright and Patterson 2008). The relationship between parent and children seem to be the key for the success of building good social relationships. Wainright and Patterson (2008) found that children who stated to have a positive relationship with their parents, regardless of whether parents were homosexual or heterosexuals, had a
Throughout history, friendship is revered and has often been romanticised. It is a relatively new area of sociological study. Research has transferred the focus from personal interactions and the psychology of friendships to the social structures that influence and underpin them. This shift in the sociological view of friendship reflects a growing interest in mixed methodologies when carrying out research. As social structures bind a friendship in terms of manners agreed between its participants, so their rituals and routines become particular to those people in their understanding of the relationship. Understanding the effect of class and gender
Social interaction is a complex area of study because of how multifaceted it is. Social stability starts at an early age when the child or adolescent learns how to develop trust, take initiative, and achieve a sense of identity. Erick Erickson is a great example of showing the importance of completing the psychosocial stages of development (Erikson 1994). One can glean how crucial these psychosocial stages are and the support needed around the developing child to meet these checkpoints in their life. Children are incredibly malleable; however, instilling a negative light toward social interaction can affect how they manage their later years. Being aware of the crucial beginning steps of social interaction can set the stage on how one will be throughout their adulthood.
Social psychology has evolved through history and its developments and contributions have been remarkable. This specialized area of psychology studies various topics that are significant for human beings (Ross, Lepper, & Ward, 2010). This paper presents with an overview of social psychology by addressing its central themes, strengths, limitations, relevance, and the significance of cultural considerations.
The claim being tested the individual differences in some specific personality characteristics and differences in people behaviors. The participants in study one were one hundred and sixteen students. Fifty five were men and sixty one women. The students received a course credit for participating in the study. The final sample included forty men and forty eight men. The independent variable of the study male and females. The dependent variables is questionnaire, scales, tissues and hot sauce. The researchers provided packet of in random order. The measures consisted of global self-esteem and forty item personality inventory. Additional measures of self-esteem that researchers hypnotized would be predictive aggression. Social inclusion used two scales one was nine items and other was ten item. Interpersonal support evaluation list to measure social inclusion. This measure was reverse scored. The researchers measured components of competitive within group self-esteem questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of participants to rate themselves “relative to other college same age and sex.” The ratings were on a ten point scale that ranged five percent relative to same sex peer. The last measure was a twelve item that measured attractiveness to potential mates. The survey included items such as “members of opposite sex seem to like me.” The second measure was reverse scored. Then the participants were tested in groups of three to five people at a time. The participants were