Topic > The basis of society, people and their social nature.

IndexSummary PointsObedienceAggressive BehaviorInterdependenceEthics in ResearchConclusionReferencesAlthough the nature of being social dates back hundreds of years, the study of social psychology is still developing. Psychologists today focus primarily on emotions, cognition, and motivation, while social psychologists focus on their role in our relationships with other people. Some social psychology themes seen are obedience, aggressive behavior, interdependence, and ethical practices. Each of these points will be explored in depth in the following paragraphs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssaySummary Points ObedienceThe study of obedience has always been of interest to different groups of people, including social psychologists. Knowing how someone will respond to a command in terms of obedience or disobedience can be helpful in developing solutions to myriad problems such as classroom management, workplace disputes, the prison environment, or, as mentioned in Milgram's study, mass genocide. The study came from “the destructive obedience demonstrated by Nazi officers and ordinary citizens during World War II” (Kassin, 2017) due to the apparent influence Hitler seemed to have to force the Nazis to kill millions of Jews simply by ordering them . Milgram studied how willing participants were to obey an authority figure even when it went against their ethical or moral beliefs by having them administer various intervals of perceived shock to a subject when given orders (1963). A group of Yale seniors who administered the experiment predicted that “an insignificant minority would make it to the end of the series of shocks” (Milgram, 1963). The results of the experiment were surprising as 65% of the participants administered the most extreme series of shocks. level of shock (Milgram, 1963) despite obvious signs of physical and emotional stress such as nervous laughter, sweating, stuttering and, on rare occasions, violent attacks (Milgram, 1963). According to these findings, it is evident that obedience can be imposed on others despite their personal beliefs or feelings. Aggressive behavior Research has also been conducted on aggressive behavior shown by one person or group of people towards another. In a simulated prison study, psychologists sought to determine whether hostility in prisons was attributed to the personalities of prisoners and guards prior to their entry/employment, or whether it was the result of a power struggle within the compound ( Haney, Banks and Zimbardo, 1973). Several hypotheses have emerged, including the idea that prisoners are prone to increased aggression and therefore guards must meet force with force, thus increasing the amount of violence and aggressive behavior in prisons. Still others say it has more to do with “bad seed” guards who are simply power-hungry and abusing their power (Haney et al., 1973). The results of the experiment show a variety of reactions to the mock prison environment. Most prisoners became extremely passive and some even had to be fired due to emotional stress and anxiety. Guards ranged from passive and exerting no control to going beyond the role and getting creative with punishments. Interdependence Interdependence is the relationship between “two or more interacting actors” who have “influence on each other's outcomes” (Rumble, 2011). We see evidence of interdependence in both the Milgram and.