An Essay Toward an Institutional Conception of Social Psychology

Abstract

Psychological data are responses to stimuli.-Since the facts of psychology are correlated, interacting responses and stimuli, there can be no fixed and permanent human nature. Both the psychological person and the surrounding stimuli grow and Change. Such an organismic and institutional psychological conception can handle social phenomena in a scientific manner. Group Mind. This is really an institutional stimulus and not a reaction. Differential mental capacities of races. Different groups have different knowledge, actions, and beliefs dependent upon their different stimulating conditions. The prelogical mind of primitive people is a pure fiction. Capacity of environment to influence culture. -Environment is usually taken to be physical objects and conditions purely. As such it is practically impotent to influence culture, but from a psychological standpoint environment is frequently if not always cultural stimuli and institutions. Variety of cultural stimuli. -Institutions may be reactions which become cultural stimuli for the people of a group. Character of institutions. -Functional, created by serving as stimuli and maintained by stimulating actions. Functional character independent of institutions, origin, or kind of reaction called out. Personality of institutions. -When cultural or common stimuli are controlled by persons we make them into mental and subjective things. Nature of social psychology. -To study reactions of people as stimulated by institutions or cultural stimuli. Contrasted with individual psychology which is interested in reactions to particular or uninstitutionalized objects or conditions. Co-operates with economics, sociology, law, politics, etc. Does social psychology usurp or invade the domain of the social sciences? Social psychology is interested in "reactions" to institutions. Social sciences are interested in economic, sociological, or political "institutions." Social psychology historical. -Institutions are developed by reactions to them, and reactions are developed through stimulation; hence social phenomena are historical. Difficulty in keeping distinct actions and stimuli. -In economics for example, more objects are stimuli in addition to actions than in politics; so behavior and institutions can be kept more distinct. Social psychology essential for understanding group phenomena. Because it is an institution social psychology deals always and exclusively with concrete facts; thus is essential in the study of social phenomena, although not basic to other sciences.