THE PROPER SCOPE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Social psychology is shown as having, in its rejection of grand theory, also abandoned many of its significant problems. In order to define a kind of theory which could be precise and deal with these problems the field of social psychology is defined, in relation to sociology and psychology. Each of the latter is dealing with a self-contained system independent of the other. Modal logic is used to represent each system. As each system is self-contained, there can be interaction between systems, there can be conflicts, and there can be areas of action not covered by either system. The field of social psychology consists of those situations where action of the individual and the forces of organized society interact. A social psycological theory which starts at the point of contact of the two systems and explores all ramifications from experimental situations to historical patterns is introduced as full-range theory. Examples of this social psychological formulation are shown for the concepts of conformity and roles. Author