The connection between emotions and instincts in the theory of W. McDougall
Job McDougall“Introduction to Social Psychology” and 1908 is marked as the beginning of the existence of social psychology as an independent science. Thesis: the cause of social behavior is innate instincts. There is a desire for a goal in both animals and humans. He called the psychology he created target psychology. The repertoire of instincts arises as a result of a psychophysiological predisposition - the presence of hereditarily fixed channels for the discharge of nerve impulses. Everything that happens in the area of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious principle. The internal expression of instincts is mainly emotions. Pairs of interconnected instincts and emotions. All institutions of socialization are born from instincts, social institutions. For social psychology, McDougall's ideas played a negative role, because the defining moments, according to his theory, are unconscious instincts.
Advantages of the first concepts:
1) questions are clearly posed;
2) an attempt to find approaches from two sides - from psychology and sociology;
Minuses:
1) there is no reliance on research practice;
2) similar to reasoning
Spontaneous group: short-term an association of a large number of individuals, often with very different interests, but nevertheless gathered for a specific reason and demonstrating some kind of joint action. An important factor in their formation is public opinion. The dynamism of public opinion and its emotionality can serve as an incentive for the formation of a spontaneous group. There are 3 main types:
1. Crowd- formed on the street about an event; the duration of existence depends on its significance
2. Weight- a stable formation with rather fuzzy boundaries, more organized, conscious and lasting than a crowd. But it is still quite heterogeneous and therefore not very stable.
3. Public-short-term education for viewing the spectacle. It is more manageable because gathers consciously and with purpose.
Ways of interaction in spontaneous groups:
1. Infection- learning patterns of someone's behavior. Vivid cases are religious ecstasy, mass psychosis and other joys.
2. Suggestion- the purposeful influence of one on the other, the process of transmitting information based on its uncritical perception. Three types: message, persuasion and suggestion itself. Distinguish from infection by the fact that the infector experiences the same state as the infected, but the suggestor does not necessarily, and even more often does not. Success depends on trust in the inspirer.
3. Imitation- acceptance of the external features of another person and mass states + reproduction of features and patterns of demonstrated behavior. Rules: imitation is carried out from internal to external; those of lower status imitate those of higher status.
Mass movement: an organized unity of people that sets itself a specific goal. Associated, as a rule, with changes in social reality. This might be movements with global, local or pragmatic goals. Traits: based on public opinion, desire to change something, presence of a program.
Mechanisms of joining: explained through an analysis of the motives of the participants.
Relations between the majority and the minority: opinions must be taken into account. Otherwise the group weakens.
The problem of leadership: the leader must defend the goals and interests of the movement, impress all its participants, and monitor the image.
General characteristics and types of spontaneous groups. In the general classification of large social groups, it has already been said that there is a special variety of them, which in the strict sense of the word cannot be called "group". E then short-term associations of a large number of individuals, often with very different interests, but nevertheless gathered together for a specific reason and demonstrating some kind of joint actions. The members of such a temporary association are representatives of various large organized groups: classes, nations, professions, ages, etc. Such a “group” can be organized to a certain extent by someone, but more often it arises spontaneously, does not necessarily clearly understand its goals, but nevertheless can be very active. Such education cannot in any way be considered a “subject of joint activity,” but its importance cannot be underestimated either. In modern societies, political and social decisions often depend on the actions of such groups. Among spontaneous groups in the socio-psychological literature most often distinguished crowd, mass, audience. As noted above, the history of social psychology to a certain extent “began” precisely with the analysis of such groups (Le Bon, Tarde, etc.).
In social psychology of the 20th century. the psychological characteristics of such groups are described as forms of collective behavior. Considering that the term "team" in the Russian language has a very specific meaning; it is more expedient to define the named type of behavior as mass behavior, especially since spontaneous groups really act as its subject. (42)
The factor in the formation of spontaneous groups is public opinion . In any society, ideas, beliefs, social representations of various large organized groups do not exist in isolation from each other, but form a kind of alloy, which can be defined as the mass consciousness of society. The exponent of this mass consciousness is public opinion. It arises in connection with individual events, phenomena public life, is quite mobile, can quickly change assessments of these phenomena under the influence of new, often short-term circumstances. Public opinion research is an important key to understanding the state of society.
For the socio-psychological analysis of spontaneous groups, the study of public opinion preceding the formation of such groups is very important: the dynamism of public opinion, the inclusion of emotional assessments of reality in it, the direct form of its expression can serve at a certain moment as an incentive for the creation of a spontaneous group and its mass actions.( 42)
Formation of various types of spontaneous groups:
Crowd formed on the street regarding a variety of events: a traffic accident, the capture of an offender, dissatisfaction with the actions of a government official or just a passing person. The duration of its existence is determined by the significance of the incident: the crowd of onlookers may disperse as soon as the element of entertainment is eliminated. In another case, especially when it is associated with an expression of dissatisfaction with some social phenomenon (they didn’t bring groceries to the store, refused to accept or give out money in the savings bank), the crowd can become more and more excited and move on to actions, for example, to move in the direction of some - institutions. At the same time, its emotional intensity can increase, giving rise to aggressive behavior of participants; elements of an organization can arise in the crowd if there is a person who can lead it. But even if such elements have arisen, they are very unstable: the crowd can easily sweep away the organization that has arisen. The elements remain the main background of crowd behavior, often leading to its aggressive forms.
Weight usually described as a more stable formation with rather fuzzy boundaries. The mass may not necessarily act as a momentary formation, like a crowd; it can turn out to be much more organized when certain sections of the population quite consciously gather for the sake of some kind of action: a manifestation, demonstration, rally. In this case, the role of the organizers is higher: they are usually not nominated directly at the moment of the start of action, but are known in advance as the leaders of those organized groups whose representatives took part in this mass action. In the actions of the masses, therefore, both the final goals and tactics of behavior are more clear and thought out. At the same time, like a crowd, the mass is quite heterogeneous; various interests can also coexist or collide, so its existence can be unstable. (42)
Public represents another form of a spontaneous group, although the element of spontaneity here is less pronounced than, for example, in a crowd. An audience is also a short-term gathering of people to spend time together in connection with some kind of spectacle- on the stands of the stadium, in a large auditorium, in the area in front of the speaker when listening to an important message. In more confined spaces, such as lecture halls, the public is often referred to as an auditorium. The public always gathers for a common and specific purpose, therefore, it is more manageable, in particular, it complies to a greater extent with the norms adopted in the chosen type of organization of spectacles. But the public remains a mass gathering of people, and the laws of mass apply within it. Here, too, an incident is enough for the public to become uncontrollable. There are known dramatic cases that result from irrepressible passions, for example, football fans in stadiums, etc. (42)
The common features of various types of spontaneous groups allow us to talk about similar means of communicative and interactive process in these groups. The public opinion presented in them is supplemented by information obtained from various sources. On the one hand, from the official media reports, which in conditions of mass behavior are often arbitrarily and erroneously interpreted. On the other hand, another source of information is popular in such groups - various types rumors and gossip. They have their own laws of distribution and circulation, which is the subject of special research in social psychology. The alloy of judgments and statements thus formed begins to function in the mass or crowd, playing the role of an incentive to action. In this case, the need for one’s own interpretation of information is lost, and group stimulation of actions occurs. There is a special effect of trust in precisely the information that is received “here and now” without any need to verify its reliability. This is what gives rise to specific forms of communication and interaction. (42)
Methods of influence implemented in spontaneous groups:
1. Infection has long been studied as a special method of influence that in a certain way integrates large masses of people, especially in connection with the emergence of such phenomena as religious ecstasies, mass psychoses etc. The phenomenon of infection was known, apparently, at the earliest stages of human history and had diverse manifestations: massive outbreaks of various mental states, arising during ritual dances, sports excitement, situations of panic, etc. In the most general form, infection can be defined as an individual’s unconscious involuntary exposure to certain mental states. It manifests itself not through more or less conscious acceptance of some information or patterns of behavior, but through the transmission of a certain emotional state, or “mental mood” (Parygin, 1971, p. 10). Since this emotional state occurs in the mass, a mechanism of multiple mutual reinforcement of the emotional effects of communicating people operates. The individual here does not experience organized deliberate pressure, but simply unconsciously assimilates patterns of someone’s behavior, only by obeying him. (42)
A special situation where exposure through contamination is increased is panic situation.
Panic arises among the masses of people as a certain emotional state, resulting either from a lack of information about some frightening or incomprehensible news, or from an excess of this information. The immediate cause of panic is the appearance of some news that can cause a kind of shock. Subsequently, panic increases in strength when the considered mechanism of mutual multiple reflection comes into play. The contagion that occurs during panic cannot be underestimated, even in modern societies. Panic is one of those phenomena that is extremely difficult to study. It cannot be directly observed, firstly, because the timing of its occurrence is never known in advance, Secondly, because in a situation of panic it is very difficult to remain an observer: this is its strength and lies in the fact that any person, finding himself “inside” the system of panic, to one degree or another succumbs to it.
Research on panic remains at the level of descriptions made after its peak. These descriptions made it possible to identify the main cycles that are characteristic of the entire process as a whole. Knowing these cycles is very important to stop panicking. This is possible provided that there are forces capable of introducing an element of rationality into a situation of panic, and in a certain way seizing leadership in this situation. In addition to knowledge of cycles, it is also necessary to understand the psychological mechanism of panic, in particular such a feature of infection as the unconscious adoption of certain patterns of behavior. If in a situation of panic there is a person who can offer a model of behavior that helps restore the normal emotional state of the crowd, it is possible to stop the panic(Sherkovin, 1975).
The extent to which different audiences are susceptible to infection depends, of course, both on the general level of development of the individuals composing the audience and, more specifically, on the level of development of their self-awareness. In this sense, it is true that in modern societies infection plays a much smaller role than in the initial stages of human history. It is rightly noted that the higher the level of development of society, the more critical the attitude of individuals towards the forces that automatically drag them down the path of certain actions or experiences, the weaker, therefore, the effect of the infection mechanism (Porshnev, 1968). (42)
No growth in self-awareness can cancel such forms of mental infection that manifest themselves in mass social movements, especially during periods of social instability, for example, in conditions of radical social transformations. owes a great debt to society in studying this problem: so far there are only fragmentary descriptions and observations, but essentially no serious research.
2. Suggestion represents a special type of influence, namely the purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another or on a group. With suggestion, the process of transmitting information is carried out based on its uncritical perception. Often all information transmitted from person to person is classified in terms of the measure of activity of the communicator’s position, distinguishing between message, persuasion and suggestion. It is this third form of information that is associated with uncritical perception. It is assumed that the person receiving the information, in the event of suggestion, is not capable of critically assessing it. Naturally, in different situations and for different groups of people, the measure of lack of reasoning that allows for uncritical acceptance of information becomes very different.
The phenomenon of suggestion has been studied in psychology for a very long time, although it has been studied to a greater extent in connection with medical practice or with some specific forms of training.
1) during infection, a large mass of people empathize with a common mental state, while suggestion does not offer such “equality” in the empathy of identical emotions: the suggestor here is not subject to the same state as the suggestor. The process of suggestion is one-sided - it is not a spontaneous tonization of the state of the group, but a personalized, active influence of one person on another or on the group;
2) suggestion, as a rule, is verbal in nature, while during infection, in addition to verbal influence, other means are used (exclamations, rhythms, etc.) (Parygin, 1971, pp. 263-265).
On the other hand, suggestion differs from persuasion in that it directly causes a certain mental state, without the need for evidence and logic (Bekhterev, 1903).
3. Persuasion, on the contrary, is built on the fact that using logical reasoning to obtain consent from a person, receiving information. With suggestion, it is not consent that is achieved, but simply the acceptance of information based on a ready-made conclusion, while in the case of persuasion, the conclusion must be made by the recipient of the information independently. Therefore, persuasion is primarily an intellectual influence, while suggestion is primarily an emotional-volitional influence. (42)
That is why, when studying suggestion, some patterns were established regarding in what situations and under what circumstances the effect of suggestion increases. Thus, if we talk not about medical practice, but about cases of social suggestion, then the dependence of the effect of suggestion on age has been proven: in general, children are more amenable to suggestibility than adults. In the same way, tired and physically weakened people turn out to be more suggestible than those who feel well. But the most important thing is that during suggestion, specific socio-psychological factors operate. For example, numerous experimental studies have revealed that the decisive condition for the effectiveness of suggestion is the authority of the suggestor, which creates a special, additional factor of influence - trust in the source of information. This “trust effect” manifests itself both in relation to the personality of the suggestor and in relation to the social group that this person represents. The authority of the suggestor in both cases performs the function of so-called indirect argumentation, a kind of compensator for the lack of direct argumentation, which is a specific feature of suggestion. (42)
Just as is the case in situations of infection, with suggestion the result also depends on the personality characteristics of the suggestor. The phenomenon of counter-suggestion illustrates the degree of resistance to suggestion that an individual exhibits. In the practice of social suggestion, methods have been developed by which this “mental self-defense” can be blocked to a certain extent.
In applied terms, suggestion research has great importance for areas such as propaganda and advertising. The role assigned to suggestion in the system of means of propaganda influence varies depending on what kind of propaganda is meant, what its goals and content are. Although the main feature of propaganda is an appeal to logic and consciousness, and the means developed here are primarily means of persuasion, all this does not exclude the presence of certain elements of suggestion. The method of suggestion acts here as a method of a kind of psychoprogramming of the audience, i.e. refers to methods of manipulative influence. The application of this method is especially obvious in the field of advertising. A special concept of “image” has been developed here, which acts as a link in the mechanism of suggestion. Image is a specific “image” of a perceived object, when the perspective of perception is deliberately shifted and only certain aspects of the object are emphasized. Therefore, an illusory display of an object or phenomenon is achieved. There is a so-called credibility gap between the image and the real object, since the image thickens the colors of the image and thereby serves as a mechanism of suggestion. The image is built on the inclusion of emotional appeals, and the art of advertising consists in ensuring the psychological effect of the suggestive aspects of the image. The practice of creating an image is used not only in advertising, but also in politics, for example during election campaigns. In the mass behavior of spontaneous groups, the image of the leaders nominated by the crowd also acquires great importance as a factor of psychological influence, regulating the behavior of the mass of people through suggestion.
4. Imitation also refers to mechanisms and ways of people influencing each other, including in conditions of mass behavior, although its role in other groups, especially in special types of activities, is also quite large. Imitation has a number of common features with the already discussed phenomena of infection and suggestion, but its specificity lies in the fact that here It is not a simple acceptance of the external traits of another person’s behavior or mass mental states that is carried out, but the individual’s reproduction of the traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior. In the history of social psychology, imitation has received a lot of attention. As already noted, the development of ideas about the role of imitation in society is characteristic of the concept of G. Tarde, who owns the so-called theory of imitation. In basic terms, this theory boils down to the following: the fundamental principle of the development and existence of society is imitation. It is through imitation that group norms and values emerge. Imitation acts as a special case of the more general “world law of repetition.” If in the animal world this law is realized through heredity, then in human society- through imitation. It acts as a source of progress: periodically, inventions are made in society, which are imitated by the masses. These discoveries and inventions subsequently enter the structure of society and are again mastered through imitation. It is involuntary, and can be considered as a “kind of hypnotism”, when “the reproduction of one brain cliché is carried out by the sensitive plate of another brain” (Tard, 1892).
Social conflicts occurring in society are explained by contradictions between possible directions imitation. Therefore, the nature of these conflicts is similar to the nature of conflicts in the individual consciousness, when a person simply experiences hesitation, choosing a new pattern of behavior. There are several types of imitation: logical and extra-logical, internal and external, imitation-fashion and imitation-custom, imitation within one social class and imitation of one class to another. Analysis of these different types of imitation made it possible to formulate the laws of imitation, among which, for example, are the following: imitation is carried out from internal to external (i.e., internal models evoke imitation earlier than external ones: the spirit of religion is imitated earlier than rituals); the lower (meaning those lower on the social ladder) imitate the higher (the province - the center, the nobility - the royal court), etc.
In each case, the implementation of influence using the indicated methods encounters one or another degree of criticality of the individuals who make up the mass. Impact generally cannot be considered as a unidirectional process: there is always a reverse movement - from the individual to the influence exerted on it. All this takes on special significance in spontaneous groups. Spontaneous groups and the mass behavior and mass consciousness demonstrated in them are an essential component of various social movements.
Social movements. Social movements are a special class of social phenomena that should be considered in connection with the analysis of the psychological characteristics of large social groups and mass spontaneous behavior. The social movement is a fairly organized unity of people who set themselves a specific goal, usually associated with some change in social reality.
Social movements have different levels: they can be broad movements with global goals(struggle for peace, for disarmament, against nuclear tests, for environmental protection, etc.), local movements, which are limited either by territory or by a certain social group (against the use of the landfill in Semipalatinsk, for the equality of women, for the rights of sexual minorities, etc.) and movements with purely pragmatic goals in a very limited region(for the removal of one of the members of the municipal administration).
Whatever the level of a social movement, it exhibits several common characteristics. First of all, it is always based on a certain public opinion, which, as it were, prepares the social movement, although subsequently it itself is formed and strengthened as the movement develops. Secondly, any social movement has as its goal a change in the situation depending on its level: either in society as a whole, or in a region, or in any group. Thirdly, during the organization of the movement, its program is formulated, with varying degrees of elaboration and clarity. Fourthly, the movement is aware of the means that can be used to achieve goals, in particular whether violence is acceptable as one of the means. Finally, fifthly, every social movement is realized to one degree or another in various manifestations of mass behavior, including demonstrations, manifestations, rallies, congresses, etc. (Sztompka, 1996). (42)
Social movements particularly clearly demonstrate the complex subject of social psychology as a science: the unity of basic psychological processes and social conditions in which the behavior of individuals and groups unfolds. The starting point of any social movement is a problematic situation, which gives impetus to the emergence of the movement. It is simultaneously refracted both in the individual consciousness and in the consciousness of a certain group: it is in the group that a certain unity of opinions is achieved, which will be “spilled out” in the movement. It is important to emphasize here that both relatively stable social ideas formed during the previous development of the group and moving elements of mass consciousness formed on the basis of the latest information, often incomplete and one-sided, will be significant. Hence the relative ease of changing the content of the slogans and goals of the movement. The following three questions are extremely important from the point of view of social psychology: mechanisms for joining the movement, the ratio of majority and minority opinions, characteristics of leaders.
The mechanisms of joining the movement can be explained through analysis of participants' motives. They are divided into fundamental, which are determined by the conditions of existence of a particular social group, its status, stable interest in relation to any phenomenon, political decision, legislation, and momentary, which are generated by a problem situation, a social incident, a new political act. The latter are more justified by purely emotional reactions to what is happening in society or a group. The solidity and “strength” of the movement and the prognosis for the successful fulfillment of goals largely depend on the relationship between fundamental and momentary motives.
Recruitment of supporters of the movement is carried out in various ways: in local movements this can also be “on the street” recruitment, when a collection of signatures is organized in favor of some action. In higher-level movements, recruitment occurs in those groups in which the initiative was born. Thus, in the civil rights movement, the initiators can be people who have suffered illegally or been subjected to repression; in the movement “Doctors of the World for the Prevention of Nuclear War” the initiators are a professional group, etc. Each new potential participant in the movement individually solves the problem of joining or non-aligning at the call of the initiative group. In this case, he takes into account both the degree of proximity of the group’s interests to his own, and the degree of risk, the willingness to pay a certain price in the event, for example, of the failure of the movement. In modern, predominantly sociological, literature, two theories have been proposed to explain the reasons for an individual’s joining a social movement.
Relative deprivation theory states that a person feels the need to achieve a goal not in the case when he is absolutely deprived of some good, right, value, but in the case when he is relatively deprived of it. In other words, this need is formed by comparing one’s position (or the position of one’s group) with the position of others. Criticism rightly notes the simplification of the problem in this theory or, at least, the absolutization of a factor that may actually occur. Other theory - resource mobilization- focuses on more “psychological” reasons for joining the movement. It is argued here that a person is guided by the need to identify to a greater extent with the group, to feel part of it, thereby feeling his strength, and mobilizing resources. In this case, one can also make a reproach for one-sidedness and overestimation of only one of the factors. Apparently, the issue of recruiting supporters of social movements is still awaiting further research. (42)
Second problem concerns the relationship between the positions of the majority and the minority in any mass movement, including social movement. This problem is one of the central ones in the concept of S. Moscovia (Moscovia, 1984). Taking into account the heterogeneity of social movements, the unification of representatives of different social groups in them, as well as specific forms of action (high emotional intensity, the presence of contradictory information), it can be assumed that in any social movement the problem of identifying “dissenters”, more radical, decisive, etc. d. In other words, the movement is easily designated as a minority. Not taking his position into account can weaken the movement. Therefore, a dialogue is needed to ensure the rights of the minority, prospects for triumph and their points of view.
Third problem arising in a social movement is problem of the leader or leaders. It is clear that a leader of such a specific type of mass behavior must have special traits. Along with the fact that it must most fully express and defend the goals accepted by the participants, it must also, purely outwardly, appeal to a fairly large mass of people. The image of the leader of a social movement should be the subject of his daily attention. As a rule, the strength of the leader's position and authority largely ensures the success of the movement. These same qualities of a leader also help to keep the movement within the accepted framework of behavior, which does not allow for easy changes in the chosen tactics and strategy of action.
Principles of research into the psychology of large social groups. Content and structure of the psychology of a large social group.
"Large social group"
Based on the general principles of understanding the group, we cannot, of course, give a purely quantitative definition of this concept. In the above diagram, it was shown that “large” in quantitative terms, human education is divided into two types: accidental, spontaneous, rather short-term existing communities, which include the crowd, audience, audience, and in the exact meaning of the word social groups, i.e. groups formed during historical development societies that occupy a certain place in the system of social relations of each specific type of society and therefore long-term, sustainable in its existence. This second type should include, first of all, social classes, various ethnic groups (as their main variety is nations), professional groups, gender and age groups (from this point of view, for example, youth, women, elderly people, etc. .d.). (42)
All large social groups identified in this way are characterized by some common characteristics that distinguish these groups from small groups. IN In large groups there are specific regulators of social behavior that are not present in small groups. These are morals, customs and traditions. Their existence is due to the presence of specific social practices with which this group is associated, and the relative stability with which the historical forms of this practice are reproduced. Considered in unity, the features of the life position of such groups, together with specific regulators of behavior give such important characteristics as group lifestyle. His research involves the study of special forms of communication, a special type of contact that develops between people. Within a certain lifestyle, interests, values, and needs acquire special significance. Often plays an important role in the psychological characteristics of these large groups. presence of a specific language. For ethnic groups, this is a self-evident characteristic; for other groups, “language” can act as a certain jargon, for example, characteristic of professional groups or an age group such as youth.
However common features, characteristic of large groups, cannot be absolutized. Each type of these groups has its own uniqueness: it is impossible to line up a class, a nation, any profession and youth. The significance of each type of large group in the historical process is different, as are many of their features. Therefore, all “end-to-end” characteristics of large groups must be filled with specific content. (42)
Now we can answer the methodological question: what is structure of psychology of large social groups? The mediating link between economic development and cultural history in the broad sense of the word is changes in human psychology caused by socio-economic development. These changes are obvious, first of all, not as individual changes in the attitudes, views, interests of each individual, but precisely as changes characteristic of large groups. The influence of similar conditions of existence of a group on the consciousness of its representatives is carried out in two ways: a) through the personal life experience of each member of the group, determined by the socio-economic conditions of life of the entire group; b) through communication, most of which occurs in a certain social environment with clearly defined characteristics of a given group. (42)
The structure of the psychology of a large social group includes a number of elements. In a broad sense, these are various mental properties, mental processes and mental states, just as the psyche of an individual person possesses these same elements. In domestic social psychology, a number of attempts have been made to more accurately determine the elements of this structure. Almost all researchers ( G.G. Diligensky, A.I. Goryacheva, Yu.V. Bromley etc.) highlight two components in its content:
1) mental makeup as a more stable formation (which can include social or national character, morals, customs, traditions, tastes, etc.);
2) the emotional sphere as a more mobile dynamic formation (which includes needs, interests, moods). Each of these elements should become the subject of special socio-psychological analysis.
The third problem, which was posed above, is the problem of the relationship between the psychological characteristics of a large group and the consciousness of each individual within it. In its most general form, this problem is solved as follows: the psychological characteristics of a group represent what is typical of all individuals, and, therefore, by no means the sum of the traits characteristic of each individual. The well-known answer to this question is contained in L.S. Vygotsky in his reasoning about the relationship between “social” and “collective” psychology. As is known, Vygotsky used the term “social psychology” to mean psychology that studies the social conditioning of the individual’s psyche. “Collective” psychology, in his understanding, approximately coincides with what is called social psychology today. Therefore, it is advisable to consider the meaning that Vygotsky’s works attach specifically to the term “collective psychology.” He explains the meaning of this concept with the following simple reasoning. “Everything about us is social, but this does not mean that all the properties of the psyche of an individual person are inherent in all other members of a given group. “Only a certain part of personal psychology can be considered to belong to a given collective, and it is this part of the personal psyche in the conditions of its collective manifestation that collective psychology studies every time, exploring the psychology of the army, the church, etc.” (Vygotsky, 1987, p. 20). (42)
Apparently, that “part” of the personal psychology of the individuals constituting a group that “belongs” to the group is what can be called "group psychology" In other words: The psychology of a group is something common that is inherent to one degree or another in all representatives of a given group, i.e. typical for them, generated by the general conditions of existence. This typical is not the same for everyone, but it is common.
Identifying what is common and typical is impossible by studying only the content of the individual consciousnesses of group members, primarily because not all traits inherent in group psychology are inherent in each group member. In some cases, any particular representative of the group may possess these general characteristics to a minimal extent. This is explained by the fact that group members differ among themselves in their individual psychological characteristics, in the degree of involvement in the most significant areas of the group’s life, etc.
Thus, the “mental makeup” of the group and the “psychic makeup” of the individuals included in it do not completely coincide. The dominant role in the formation of group psychology is played by collective experience, recorded in sign systems, and this experience is not fully and equally absorbed by each person. The measure of its assimilation is combined with individual psychological characteristics, which is why we get the phenomenon that L.S. spoke about. Vygotsky: only “part” of the psychology of the individual “includes” the psychology of the group. (42)
Because the Typical features of the psychology of large social groups are enshrined in morals, traditions and customs; social psychology in this case has to resort to the use of ethnographic methods, which are characterized by the analysis of certain cultural products. It cannot be said that these methods are generally unknown to social psychology: if we recall V. Wundt’s proposals about studying language, myths and customs to understand the “psychology of peoples”, then it will become clear that at the dawn of its emergence, social psychology addressed the problem of using such methods.
When studying the psychology of large social groups, methods traditional for sociology can be used, including various techniques of statistical analysis. The results of studies performed using such techniques do not always reveal cause-and-effect relationships; rather, they describe some functional dependencies that allow meaningful correlations to be obtained. (42)
The mechanism of connection between the group and the social idea developed by it appears in this form: the group records some aspects of social reality, influences their assessment, and then uses its idea of the social phenomenon in developing an attitude towards it. On the other hand, the social representation already created by the group contributes to the integration of the group, as if “educating” the consciousness of its members, bringing to them typical, habitual interpretations of events, i.e., contributing to the formation of group identity. Social ideas generated by a group are quite long-lasting; they can be passed on from generation to generation, although under certain circumstances they can, of course, change over time.
This concept helps to more accurately define such a concept as mentality – an integral characteristic of a certain culture, which reflects the uniqueness of the vision and understanding of the world by its representatives, their typical “responses” to the picture of the world. Representatives of a certain culture acquire similar ways of perceiving the world, form a similar way of thinking, which is expressed in specific patterns of behavior. This understanding of mentality can rightfully be attributed to the characteristics of a large social group. A typical set of social ideas and corresponding patterns of behavior determine the mentality of the group. It is no coincidence that in everyday speech they mention the “mentality of the intelligentsia”, “mentality of the entrepreneur”, etc.
In addition to needs and interests, class psychology sometimes includes so-called “social feelings”, certain characteristics of emotional states characteristic of the group. The concept of “social feeling” is not generally recognized in the literature. (42)
Term "social character" is widely represented in the works of the neo-Freudian movement, in particular in the works of E. Fromm. For him, social character is the link between the psyche of the individual and the social structure of society. Fromm’s forms of social character are not tied to specific social classes, but are correlated with various historical types of human self-alienation - with a person of the era of early capitalism (“accumulative type”), the era of the 20s. XX century (“market type” associated with a society of “total alienation”), etc. (Fromm, 1993).
In addition to the social character, the mental makeup is revealed in habits and customs, as well as in the traditions of the class. All these formations play the role of regulators of the behavior and activities of members of a social group, and therefore are of great importance in understanding the psychology of the group and provide the most important characteristic of such a complex feature of a class as its way of life. The socio-psychological aspect of the study of lifestyle, in particular, is to determine and explain, within the framework of the objective position of the class, the dominant mode of behavior of the bulk of representatives of this class in mass, typical situations Everyday life. Habits and customs develop under the influence of certain life conditions, but are subsequently consolidated and act precisely as regulators of behavior. The analysis of habits and customs is actually a socio-psychological problem. The methods for studying this problem are close to traditional psychological methods, since it is possible to use observation techniques. As for traditions, some of them are embodied in objects material culture, and therefore the methods known in psychology under the name analysis of activity products are applicable to their study.
Psychological characteristics of ethnic groups. Another example of large social groups that are significant in the historical process are various ethnic groups. In contrast to the psychology of classes, the psychological characteristics of various ethnic groups and, above all, nations have been studied much better. A special branch of science has emerged at the intersection of social psychology and ethnography - ethnopsychology.
Some authors generally consider ethnopsychology as an integral part of social psychology. When developing problems of ethnic psychology, the emphasis is often somewhat shifted; Of all ethnic groups, only nation. Meanwhile, nations as forms of ethnic communities of people emerged at a relatively late stage of historical development - their emergence, as is known, is associated with the period of formation of capitalism. Although nations are the most common form of ethnic community in modern societies, in addition to them, today there are such varieties as nationality, national group, etc. Therefore, it would be wrong to reduce the whole problem only to the study of the psychology of nations.
The tradition of studying the psychology of ethnic groups dates back to the works V. Wundt on the “psychology of peoples”, where the “people” was interpreted precisely as a certain ethnic community. Wundt also raised the question that the method of studying the psychology of ethnic groups should be the study of myths, customs and language, since these same formations constitute the structure of the psychology of ethnic groups. After Wundt, many new approaches to the study of this problem arose in Western psychology, the main one among which was the approach developed within the framework of cultural anthropology.
The national (ethnic) affiliation of an individual is an extremely significant factor for social psychology because it records certain characteristics of the microenvironment in which the personality is formed. Ethnic specificity is, to a certain extent, concentrated in the historical experience of each people. ode, and the assimilation of this experience is the most important content of the process socialization of the individual. Through the immediate environment, primarily through family and school, the personality, as it develops, becomes familiar with the specifics national culture, customs, traditions. The way of realizing ethnicity, primarily national, depends on the specific socio-historical conditions of existence of a given ethnic group. At the level ordinary consciousness it is possible to record a number of characteristics that are characteristic of a given ethnic group.
Despite numerous contradictions and disputes regarding the content national character, in specific studies there is usually quite a lot of unanimity when describing the national character traits of individual national groups (bravery, hard work, restraint, etc.). We are talking not so much about some “sets” of traits, but about the degree of expression of one or another trait in this set, about the specifics of its manifestation. It is not without reason that literature records, for example, the specifics of English humor (although a sense of humor is naturally not only characteristic of the English), Italian expansiveness (although the Spaniards are no less expansive), etc.
Basic the sphere of manifestation of national character is various types of activities, therefore, a study of national character is possible using studying the products of activity: along with the study of customs and traditions, a special role is played here analysis of folk art and language. Language is also important because the transmission of national character traits is carried out in the process of socialization, primarily through language. The relative stability of national character traits, despite the variability of the social environment, is explained by the fact that a certain inertia arises, ensured through the intergenerational transfer of experience.
In ethnic groups, such elements of mental makeup are sometimes recorded as temperament and abilities. However, this issue has not yet been resolved unambiguously in social psychology: some researchers generally deny the legitimacy of identifying the specifics of temperament and abilities for different ethnic groups. The reason for this is the numerous layers that exist in studies of the problems of nations. As for temperament, the opinion is expressed that we should only talk about identifying specific combinations of the prevailing types of temperament, and not about strictly “tying” a certain type of temperament to a certain ethnic group. The question of abilities is even more difficult. When studying abilities, the following tools are used: tests. As many authors rightly note, any test cannot, by its nature, take into account the specifics of the various cultures in which it is used. Hence the possibility of underestimating test results, which turns out to be only the result of an unadapted test to the specific conditions of a given culture. All this can also give rise to nationalist speculation. It is generally accepted that tests of mental ability by themselves do not reliably distinguish between what is due to natural abilities and what is the result of environmental influences, training and upbringing. “Given equal cultural opportunities to realize their potential, the average achievements of members of each ethnic group are approximately the same.” Therefore, the question about abilities as an element of the mental makeup of ethnic groups is hardly legitimate.
A number of phenomena that complicate the study of the specifics of national character also arise at the level of ordinary consciousness, which is generated by the process stereotyping, characteristic of any perception of social objects and especially manifested in the perception of representatives of another ethnic group. The emergence of ethnic stereotypes is associated with the development of ethnic self-awareness, awareness of one's own belonging to a particular ethnic group. The mental community inherent in any group is expressed, as is known, in the formation of a certain “we-feeling”. For ethnic groups, the “we-feeling” captures the awareness of the characteristics of one’s own group, its difference from other groups. At the same time, the image of other groups is often simplified and formed under the influence of interethnic relations, which form a special attitude toward a representative of another group. In this case, past experience of communicating with another ethnic group plays a role.
The very fact of awareness of the characteristics of one's ethnic group does not contain prejudice against other groups. But this is the case as long as these differences are stated. However, it is very easy to move from such a statement to an assessment of another group, and then distortions in its image are possible. Psychologically, this gives rise to the phenomenon of ethnocentrism - the tendency to perceive all life phenomena from the position of “one’s” ethnic group, considered as a standard, i.e. given her known preference. Thus, ethnocentrism is a sympathetic fixation of the characteristics of one's group. It does not necessarily imply the formation of hostile attitudes towards other groups, although this shade can arise under certain circumstances. (42)
In particular, an important characteristic of the psychology of ethnic groups, established by social psychology, is relativity of psychological differences between groups.
More developed sense national pride The Greeks, Americans and Indians discovered it, the Finns called the Swedes, everyone else called the British. These results are very indicative, because they indicate a high degree of relativity of ideas about the content of the typical characteristics of various national groups. Ethnic stereotypes are always powerfully invaded by various kinds of extra-ethnic influences, primarily socio-historical, political, as well as those determined by the content of culture, etc.
Introduction
Chapter 1. William McDougall's Theory of Instincts
1The concept of instinct
1.2 The influence of instincts on the social behavior of an individual
Chapter 2. The connection between instincts and emotions
1 Seven pairs of emotions and instincts
2 Explanation of social phenomena using the theory of instincts
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
In the middle of the 19th century. The first forms of socio-psychological knowledge emerged. They could not yet be based on any kind of research practice, but, on the contrary, they were very similar to the constructions of universal encyclopedic schemes characteristic of the social philosophy of that era. These concepts were inevitably created in the canons of philosophical knowledge; they were speculative and speculative. Social phenomena begin to be interpreted in terms of unconscious instincts, impulses, and aspirations. The theory of instinctivism appears, the founder of which was the English researcher William McDougall.
Instinctivism played a role in the development of sociology. He aroused interest in the study of the psyche and stimulated attention to problems of consciousness that had not been raised until then. Therefore, it is no coincidence that under the banner of developing the problem of instincts they began to write about attitudes, affects, needs, interests, habits, etc. The theory of instincts places emphasis on important aspects of the human psyche as the basis of human behavior. Moreover, it attracted the attention of researchers to the unconscious aspects of the psyche and their role in social life.
Relevance of the research topic. Instincts, as the main specific species-specific inclinations, motivate and purposefully direct all human behavior; instinct is part of the personality structure and is a hereditarily fixed product of phylogenetic development. This means that instinct is a hereditary tendency towards a certain behavior or course of action. In extreme situations, the mind simply does not have time to analyze the situation, and we act as instinct dictates to us. Without this, the human race could not survive. Although a person is capable of suppressing, controlling, and distorting his instincts, they, being suppressed, can crush a person and even destroy him. Noting that man is a rational being, we must not forget that reason is only a modest corrector and distributor of instinctive programs. Explaining the relevance of the study of instinct, ethologists, first of all, emphasized the specific species and biological aspects of its study.
Degree of study of the work. The ideas of W. McDougall were developed in modern socio-psychological theory - ethogenics by R. Harre, as well as in the theories of personality of G. Allport and R. Cattell, the three components of instinct identified by W. McDougall, affective, cognitive and cognitive, firmly included in the theory of social attitudes and the study of attitudes. An important merit of W. McDougall was also the formulation of the problem of motivation of social behavior and social emotions, which remains relevant for modern social psychology. In modern domestic scientific literature one can find mention of the name of W. McDougall and his theory social instincts in the works of G.M. Andreeva, E.S. Kuzmin, L.G. Pochebut, A.L. Sventsitsky, M.G. Yaroshevsky. References to the theory of W. McDougall can also be found in the works of S. L. Rubinstein, in particular, in the book “Fundamentals of General Psychology” (1940). Brief description S.L. Rubinstein gave the psychological heritage of W. McDougall in the chapter “History of the Development of Western Psychology”, and also critically examined his theory of social instincts in connection with the analysis of the problem of emotions. A.R. Luria in 1930, in the article “The Crisis of Bourgeois Psychology,” made a sharp ideological criticism of the theory of W. McDougall and Western psychology in general. In the work of Arinina M.V. “Problems of social psychology of a group in the works of V. McDougall. Educational strategies and practice of scientific training: a modern view.”
Purpose of the study- consider the connection between emotions and instincts in the theory of W. McDougall, outline the basic principles of the theory of instincts of social behavior.
Research objectives:
)to study the concept of instinct;
)characterize the influence of instincts on the social behavior of an individual;
)consider seven pairs of emotions and instincts;
) analyze the explanation of social phenomena using the theory of instincts.
Object of studyV course work advocates the theory of instincts by W. McDougall.
Subject of researchThe course work covers emotions and instincts in the theory of W. McDougall.
Hypothesis- emotions and instincts have a great influence on the social behavior of the individual and on social phenomena in general.
Scientific and practical significanceThe work is that its results can be used in lecture courses on the history of psychology, sociology, personality psychology, organizational psychology at the departments of psychology and sociology of universities and pedagogical universities; in special courses on the history of foreign and domestic psychology, can be used in historical and psychological research, and in the creation of teaching aids.
The structure of the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, and a list of references.
Chapter 1. William McDougall's Theory of Instincts
.1 Instinct concept
William McDougall (1871 - 1938) - Anglo-American psychologist, one of the founders of social psychology (introduced this term in 1908), author of the concept of hormic psychology. He was educated at the University of Queen Victoria (BA, MA, 1890), then studied at the University of Cambridge (BA, 1894; BA, BA, Chemistry, MA, 1897). At the same time, from 1894 to 1898, he studied medicine at St. Thomas's Hospital in London. In 1898, he accompanied as a doctor a group of specialists from the Cambridge anthropological expedition to Australia and the Torres Strait Islands, where he carried out psychological diagnostics of local residents. Upon his return, he walked with J.A. Miller scientific internship with G.E. Müller at the University of Göttingen in Germany on the problem of color vision (1900). From 1901 to 1904 M.-D. - assistant in the experimental laboratory of University College in London, where, together with F. Galton, he worked on the creation psychological tests. Their research influenced the development of factor analysis, which was developed jointly with Cyril Barton by Ch.S. Pier. Like M.-D., Ch.S. Pierce was working at University College London at this time. From 1904 to 1920, M.-D. taught mental philosophy at Oxford University. In 1908, he defended his master's thesis here and wrote a number of books, in particular Physiological Psychology (1905) and Body and Mind: A History and Defense of Animism (1911), where he tried to prove the heritability of acquired characteristics and explain the effect of inhibition by the outflow of nervous energy. In 1920 M.-D. moved from England to the USA, where as a professor he became the successor of G. Münsterberstig at Harvard University. Finding no support for his ideas at Harvard, M.-D. moved to Duke University in 1927, where he became dean of the psychology department. He decisively declared himself as an original thinker back in 1908, when one of his most important works (Main Problems of Social Psychology) was published, where he formulated the basic principles of human social behavior. This work formed the basis of his hormic psychology as part of dynamic psychology, which emphasizes modifications of mental processes and their energetic basis. At the same time, he deliberately contrasted his psychology with theories of learning and, in particular, with the ideas expressed by J. Watson about instincts. Skill, according to M.-D., in itself is not the driving force of behavior and does not orient it. He considered irrational, instinctive impulses as the main driving forces of human behavior. But his understanding of instinct, due to its vagueness, caused criticism from ethology specialists, in particular K. Lorenz. Behavior is based on interest, conditioned by an innate instinctive drive, which only finds its manifestation in a skill and is served by certain mechanisms of behavior. Every organic body is endowed from birth with a certain vital energy, the reserves and forms of distribution (discharge) of which are strictly predetermined by the repertoire of instincts. As soon as the primary impulses are defined in the form of impulses aimed at certain goals, they receive their expression in the corresponding bodily adaptations.
Instinct - this term was later replaced by McDougall with the term inclination - is an innate formation that has incentive and control functions, containing a certain sequence of information processing, emotional arousal and readiness for motor actions. Thus, this psychophysical predisposition forces the individual to perceive something, experiencing from this a specific emotional arousal and impulse to action. Initially M.-D. identified 12 types of instincts: flight (fear), rejection (disgust), curiosity (surprise), aggressiveness (anger), self-deprecation (embarrassment), self-affirmation (inspiration), parental instinct (tenderness), procreation instinct, food instinct, herd instinct , instinct of acquisition, instinct of creation. In his opinion, basic instincts are directly related to corresponding emotions, since emotions are the internal expression of instincts. Based on Charles Darwin's teaching about emotions, he interpreted them as the affective aspect of the instinctive process. Each primary impulse corresponds to a specific emotion: the urge to escape is associated with fear, curiosity with surprise, pugnacity with anger, parental instinct with tenderness. He criticized the James-Lange theory because it placed the sensory component in the center of attention and ignored the incentive component. He distinguished between two primary and fundamental forms of feeling: pleasure and suffering, directly related to a certain aspiration. Several emotions can be summed up into complex feelings, which is due to experience and learning from interaction with certain objects or circumstances that become involved in cognitive-emotional assessment. Among the feelings he considered the most important to be the so-called egotic, associated with self-awareness. The experience of happiness is due, in his opinion, to the harmonious coordination of all feelings and actions in the context of the unity of the individual. M.-D. tried to give a scientific interpretation of processes in social groups. He interpreted social need as a herd instinct, and group communication as the organization of a system of interacting energies of all members of these groups (the soul of the group), and developed the idea of a super-individual national soul. Like his predecessor, W. James, M.-D. had a pronounced scientific interest in occult phenomena. In 1927, with the participation of J. Rhine, he organized the first parapsychological laboratory at Duke University. He proceeded from the understanding of psychic energy as just as effective as physical energy. On this basis, he again tried to approach the problem of personality and explain the clinical material concerning the phenomenon of multiple personality; here he came to an understanding of personality as a system of thinking and purposeful monads. In general, his work in this area gave new impetus to research into personality, especially its motivational characteristics. instinct emotion Mowgall behavior
1.2 The influence of instincts on the social behavior of an individual
In his theory, McDougall formulated three aspects of instincts. Firstly, each individual instinct has a perceptual predisposition<#"center">Chapter 2. The connection between instincts and emotions
.1 Seven pairs of emotions and instincts
The human spirit, McDougall believed, has certain innate or inherited tendencies that are the main sources or motives of all thought and action. The action of instinct is a psychophysical process that embraces both mental and physical changes. Like any mental process, it has three aspects - cognitive, affective and volitional. In other words, every instinctive act contains within itself the consciousness of the existence of some object or object, an emotional attitude towards the latter and a desire for it or avoidance from it. Instinctive impulses determine the purpose of any activity and provide the driving force that supports mental activity. The entire complex intellectual apparatus of the human mind, no matter how developed, serves only as a means to achieve such a goal, only as an instrument with the help of which these impulses seek their fulfillment.
McDougall identified a set of elementary, or primary, instincts, each of which is accompanied by some emotion.
These are: the fight instinct (the accompanying emotion is fear), the flight instinct (the sense of self-preservation), the reproductive instinct (jealousy, female timidity), the acquisition instinct (the sense of ownership), the construction instinct (the sense of creation) and, finally, the herd instinct (the sense of accessories).
There are also complex instincts that arise as combinations of the original ones. These are, for example, the instinct of humility (emotion - humility, humility), the instinct of vanity (narcissism), the instinct of self-affirmation (positive well-being), the instinct of curiosity (surprise).
Religion, like all other human manifestations, is the result of the combined activity of instincts, forming a complex mosaic in their combination. Since there is a one-to-one correspondence between instincts and emotions, this picture can also be represented as a mosaic of emotions. Emotions playing main role in religious life, the essence of admiration is reverence and reverence. Admiration is a combination of surprise and negative well-being; awe - a mixture of admiration and fear; and reverence is reverence combined with tenderness. In the early stages of religion, fear played a decisive role. However, he was accompanied by an instinct of curiosity, which caused surprise, especially at things that were also frightening. Since the forces that a person worshiped were portrayed to him as cruel, he was afraid to offend them: thus, a negative feeling of well-being was added to the instinct of humility. Religious awe turned out to be the result of a triple combination: fear, surprise and negative well-being.
The main trend in the historical development of religion is that fear is increasingly giving way to the instinct of curiosity, which, in turn, leads beyond the boundaries of religion and contributes to the development of a scientific worldview.
What was McDougall's position? He opposed both the purely descriptive psychology of consciousness and the “mechanistic” explanation of behavior by theorists of associationism and reflexology. For him, any behavior is “teleological, goal-directed, focused on achieving an intended future goal state.” Seven signs indicate directionality:
1.spontaneity of movement;
2.duration and persistence of movement, regardless of whether the stimulus is active or not;
.changing the course of purposeful movements;
.calming down after achieving the desired change in the external environment;
.preparation for a new situation to which the action being performed leads;
.some increase in the effectiveness of behavior when repeated under similar conditions;
.integrity of the organism's reactive behavior
McDougall explains these signs of purposeful behavior with the help of instincts. His initial concept of instinct is quite complex and covers three successive processes:
) a predisposition to selective perception depending on specific states of the body (for example, faster detection of edible objects in a state of hunger);
) corresponding emotional impulse (core of instinct);
) instrumental type activity aimed at achieving a goal (for example, flight when afraid).
McDougall makes the following conclusion: “... any pattern of instinctive behavior includes knowledge about something (an object), an attitude towards it and a tendency towards or away from the object.”
It is obvious that here, within the framework of one concept, completely different things are linked together. The inconsistency of this statement is aggravated by the fact that McDougall considers as an innate and changing component of instinct only one of its three components, namely emotion (the core of instinct), while the cognitive and motor components, from his point of view, can change under the influence life experience.
“Emotional arousal with the accompanying nervous activity of the central part of the disposition is the only component of the integral instinctive process that retains its specificity and remains the same in all individuals in all situations where this instinct is awakened.”
Studying such a complex concept, McDougall compiled an initial list of the following 12 instincts, although he could not associate the last five with any specific emotion (shown in parentheses):
) flight (fear);
) rejection (disgust);
) curiosity (surprise);
) aggressiveness (anger);
) self-deprecation (embarrassment);
) self-affirmation (inspiration);
) parental instinct (tenderness);
) instinct of procreation (-);
) food instinct (-);
) herd instinct (-);
) acquisition instinct (-);
) instinct of creation (-).
Because the term "instinct" was under intense attack and gave rise to the misinterpretation of behavior as being determined primarily by innate motivational dispositions, McDougall later began to use the term "inclination." However, its contents remained almost unchanged, except that the distinction between disposition and function was noted, as evidenced by the following quotation from McDougall's latest work:
“An inclination is a disposition, a functional unit of general mental organization, which, when actualized, gives rise to an active tendency, desire, impulse or attraction towards some goal. Such a tendency, consciously directed towards an anticipated goal, constitutes desire.”
Several inclinations can be synthesized into so-called feelings (sentiments) - cognitive-emotional assessments conditioned by experience and learning, which are associated with attitudes towards objects and circumstances (we have already encountered them in Cattell). For example, many dispositions are involved in the perception and evaluation of the concept of “fatherland”. Such cognitive schemes, among which the central and organizing role is played by the feeling of self-esteem associated with the attitude towards the image of oneself, constitute “character”. They thereby largely determine individual differences against the background of an innate basic set of instinct-like emotional impulses (tendencies). Table 1 presents the final version of McDougall's postulated propensities.
When studying this list, it immediately becomes obvious that its convincing justification is hardly possible. Why are so many, and not fewer or more, motivational dispositions identified? Is there too much in common between “help-seeking” (11) and “submission” (9)? Isn't the “passion for wandering” (17) just one of the manifestations of “curiosity” (5)? These and many other questions can be asked, raising the problem of empirical criteria for classifying motives that differ from the ideas of ordinary common sense. The urgency of this problem, which has not been resolved to this day, was felt more and more as, under the influence of McDougall's list of instincts, primarily in related disciplines such as sociology and political science, it became customary to explain each behavioral phenomenon through a special instinct. according to the following scheme: wars arise due to the instinct of aggressiveness. But why is it actually known that there is an instinct of aggressiveness? Yes, because people often fight. Such tautological thinking was never characteristic of McDougall, but became the root cause of the heated discussion that soon began about the nature of instincts. It would be possible to refute the statements of opponents using more clear criteria for instinctively determined behavior and systematic research. However, the researchers, carried away by the debate, did not get to this point. The second reason, somewhat similar to the first, was associated with the suspicion that under the label of instincts the old psychology of abilities was being revived, i.e., that, in essence, behavior itself was being described and classified. The third reason was the problem of dividing behavior into instinctively determined and based on acquired skills. To do this, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between interchangeable instrumental activities and goal states to which these forms of behavior ultimately converge.
Table 1.Instinct-like motivational dispositions
1. Food gathering. Finding (and possibly hoarding) food2. Disgust. Rejection and avoidance of definitely harmful substances3. Sexuality. Courtship and marital relations4. Fear. Flight and hiding in response to traumatic, painful, suffering or threatening influences5. Curiosity. Exploration of unfamiliar places and objects6. Patronage and parental care. Feeding, protecting and sheltering the younger ones7. Communication. Staying in a society of equals, and in solitude searching for such a society8. Self-affirmation. Dominance, leadership, assertion or demonstration of oneself in front of others9. Subordination. Concession, obedience, exemplary, subordination to those who demonstrate superior strength10. Anger. Indignation and violent removal of every hindrance or obstacle that interferes with the free exercise of any other tendency11. A call for help. Actively seeking help when our efforts fail12. Creation. Creation of shelters and tools13. Acquisition. Acquiring, possessing and protecting everything that seems useful to us or for some reason attractive14. Laughter. Making fun of the shortcomings and failures of people around us15. Comfort. Eliminating or avoiding what causes discomfort: for example, scratching or changing position, location16. Rest and sleep. Tendency to immobility, rest and sleep when tired17. Vagrancy. Moving around in search of new experiences18. A group of primitive tendencies serving bodily needs, such as coughing, sneezing, breathing, defecation
Finally, the fourth reason was the significant metatheoretical contradictions that latently fueled the disputes while simultaneously preventing their concrete empirical clarification. For McDougall's opponents, the concept of instinct was identified with his belief that behavior is purposeful, that is, organized based on a goal. From the associationist point of view, this belief, however, seemed unscientific, since it was believed that McDougall, as the vitalists had previously done, when speaking about instincts, implied certain mystical forces. McDougall, of course, was far from this. However, such metatheoretical substitutions fueled discussions and prevented the identification of factual criteria for resolving disagreements. Since critics of the concept of instinct could not offer a better theory, the contradiction essentially remained unresolved. The fatigue and satiety caused by the disputes led to the fact that speculative reasoning was put to an end. The result, which was widely welcomed, was the view that more experimentation, specification and detail should be done.
McDougall, like Freud, introduced a style of thinking typical of the psychology of motivation into the explanation of behavior. By asking what motives were and how to classify them, he identified central problems that, when attempted to clarify them largely through descriptions and definitions, generated controversy and largely determined the empirical nature of motivation research over the ensuing decades. Is behavior primarily the result of prior learning or innate impulses? Is the motivation of behavior a matter of its energy or its direction and selectivity? And most importantly: should behavior be explained mechanistically, based on stimulus-response connections, or teleologically, based on cognitive processes anticipating the future?
The word "instinct" has ceased to be used to designate motivational dispositions. Its place was taken by the concepts of drive and need. The previously ignored problems of motive actualization and the effectiveness of motivation have become very relevant. However, along with McDougall's list of instincts and Cattell's catalog obtained using factor analysis, another serious attempt to classify them, closely related to the measurement of motives, was made: Murray's list of needs of 1938.
2.2 Explanation of social phenomena using the theory of instincts
Extending his psychological theory to society, McDougall assigns a certain instinct or group of instincts to each social phenomenon. Thus, wars are explained by people’s predisposition to pugnacity, and the accumulation of social wealth is explained by a tendency to acquisitiveness and stinginess. At the heart of religion is a combination of the instincts of curiosity, self-deprecation and escape, combined with the emotional reactions inherent in the parental instinct. McDougall attached the greatest social importance to the herd instinct, which holds people together and underlies most of the institutions of society. A direct manifestation of the herd instinct is the growth of cities, the collective nature of human leisure, mass gatherings, etc.
Instincts are innate, they have incentive (energy aspect) and control functions, they contain in an ordered sequence the processes of information processing (cognitive aspect), emotional arousal (emotional aspect) and readiness for motor actions (motor aspect). McDougall initially compiled a list of 12 instincts, and then expanded it somewhat. Later, he replaced “instincts” with the less defined concept of “inclinations,” which was no longer reduced to the idea of a stereotypical course of actions. Its content was mainly determined by the tendency towards purposeful activity:
“Inclination is determined by predisposition, the functional unity of the general mental organization, and it is the latter, when excited, that gives rise to active aspiration, effort, impulse or energetic movements towards some goal.”
The appearance of McDougall's work in 1932 was preceded by a well-known discussion in the 1920s. about instincts, one of the few major discussions that has ever been widely conducted in psychology. The beginning of this discussion was laid by Watson, who, back in 1913, put forward the demand that psychology be limited to the study of what can be registered by external observation. The widespread dissemination of McDougall's theory of instincts led to many psychologists explaining all kinds of behavior only by corresponding instincts. Bernard, who reviewed the literature on instinct in 1924, found no less than 14,046 definitions of this term! One cannot but agree with his opinion that with such an ambiguous use of the word, it is easy to fall into the error of a “vicious circle”, and in this case the concept will lose its explanatory meaning.
McDougall opposed such an expansion of the study of instincts; his final list contained no more than 18 “propensities.” After a few years, the discussion about instincts, which did not lead to a clear solution, ceased to be of interest. McDougall's influence has been most profound in two prominent areas of motivation research. Firstly, his works gave a new impetus to the development of the problem in line with personality theory, substantiating the need to include certain motivational characteristics in the concept of personality. Indicative in this regard are Allport's theory of traits, the work of Lersch performed in Germany, as well as the studies of Murray, whose views are typical of a representative of the psychology of motivation in the narrow sense.
Secondly, McDougall contributed to the development of a serious functional analysis of instincts and laid the foundations for the comparative study of animal behavior (ethology). The merit of carrying out such an analysis belongs, first of all, to Konrad Lorenz, who criticized the provisions of McDougall's theory of instincts for their uncertainty and limited the concept of instinctive behavior to innate motor coordination, i.e., invariant links present in the chain of a purposeful behavioral act up to the “final action.” " It is this last link that is an instinctive action in the narrow sense of the word; it is controlled by the central nervous system always the same and tough. The “final action,” so to speak, is resolved through an “innate trigger.” The preceding links can change in accordance with the characteristics of the situation, and the closer the link is to the beginning of the act, the more susceptible it is to learning, especially the initial phase, the so-called search behavior. It has been found that for certain instinctive actions (such as following an object in gray goslings during a short sensitive phase in early ontogenesis), any object can become an inducing key stimulus (“imprint”).
Intensive study of certain animal species has revealed key stimuli that trigger certain instincts. If these stimuli do not appear for a long time, instinctive sequences of behavioral acts can proceed without them as so-called “idle actions.”
The research results made it possible to identify two characteristics of instinctive behavioral acts; firstly, their stereotypicality and independence from learning, and secondly, the involvement in their arousal of internal processes, manifested in the form of readiness, which increases over time. Lorenz presented the mechanism of action of internal processes in the form of a “psychohydraulic” model of the motivational process (which, however, is close to Freud’s early views). Lorenz attributed to each instinct an energy specific to a given action, which is constantly renewed and fills a certain reservoir. In contrast to previous views, according to which instinctive action always follows an external stimulus, Lorenz argued that the flow of certain instincts does not require the presence of external key stimuli at all (“reaction into the void”).
Nikolaus Tinbergen, who continued and developed Lorenz’s ideas, defines instinct as follows:
“I would like to tentatively define instinct as a hierarchically organized nervous mechanism which is susceptible to certain preparatory, triggering and directing impulses of both an external and internal nature and which reacts to these impulses with coordinated movements conducive to the preservation of the individual and the species.”
“Mechanism” is contrasted here with “impulses”, which perform the actual motivating function, that is, they activate instincts.
Ethology stands apart from the psychology of motivation. However, it again and again attracts the attention of scientists involved in motivation issues. Interest in it is connected primarily with two problems. Firstly, with ethological criticism of a laboratory experiment in the psychology of learning, since during such an experiment the animals being studied are placed not in their natural environment, but in an artificial environment that greatly limits the animal’s capabilities. Secondly, with numerous attempts to use ethological data in explaining human behavior.
Conclusion
As a result of the study, its main goal was achieved: the connection between emotions and instincts in the theory of W. McDougall was considered, the basic principles of the theory of instinctivism were outlined, the objectives of the research were realized, and a historical, scientific and theoretical justification for the main provisions put forward for defense was obtained.
The conducted research allowed us to draw the following conclusions: 1. An important merit of W. McDougall was the formulation of the problem of motivation of social behavior and social emotions, which remains relevant for modern social psychology and sociology. Today, such a direction as the social division of emotions is being developed.
McDougall's influence has been most profound in two prominent areas of motivation research. Firstly, his works gave a new impetus to the development of the problem in line with personality theory, substantiating the need to include certain motivational characteristics in the concept of personality. Indicative in this regard are Allport's theory of traits, the work of Lersch carried out in Germany, as well as the research of Murray, whose views are typical of a representative of the psychology of motivation in the narrow sense. Secondly, McDougall contributed to the development of a serious functional analysis of instincts and laid the foundations for the comparative study of animal behavior (ethology). The merit of carrying out such an analysis belongs, first of all, to Konrad Lorenz, who criticized the provisions of McDougall's theory of instincts for their uncertainty and limited the concept of instinctive behavior to innate motor coordination, i.e., invariant links present in the chain of a purposeful behavioral act up to the “final action.” ".
McDougall's detailed analysis of the role in human social behavior contributed to the fact that other psychologists paid serious attention to this. Many of them began to study the irrational manifestations of the human psyche, primarily instincts, their essence and role in people’s activities, their behavior and interpersonal communication.
Despite the fact that the scientific heritage of W. McDougall was undeservedly forgotten by his colleagues for many years, the author’s ideas are also developing in modern psychology, and many problems remain relevant to social psychology to this day.
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Question No. 41. The problem of periodization of mental development.
In contrast to chronological age, which expresses the duration of an individual’s existence from the moment of his birth, the concept of psychological age denotes a qualitatively unique stage of ontogenetic development, determined by the laws of the formation of the organism, living conditions, training and upbringing and having a specific historical origin (that is, at different times age had different psychological content, for example, primary school age was distinguished with the introduction of universal primary education).
Age in psychology is a specific, relatively time-limited stage in the mental development of an individual and his development as a personality, characterized by a set of natural physiological and psychological changes that are not related to differences in individual characteristics.
The first attempt at a systematic analysis of the category of psychological age belongs to L.S. Vygotsky. He viewed age as a closed cycle with its own structure and dynamics.
Age structure includes (components of the development structure):
1.social development situation- the system of relations in which a child enters society; it determines which areas of social life he enters. It determines those forms and the path by which the child acquires new and new personality traits, drawing them from social reality as the main source of development, the path along which the social becomes individual. The social situation of development determines how the child navigates the system of social relations and what areas of social life he enters. According to Elkonin, this is a specific form of relationship that a child enters into with an adult in a given period.
2.leading type of activity- activity in which other types of activity arise and differentiate, basic mental processes are restructured and personality changes (Leontiev). The content and forms of leading activity depend on the specific historical conditions in which the child’s development takes place. Leontyev also described the mechanism of changing the leading type of activity, which manifests itself in the fact that in the course of development, the previous place occupied by the child in the world of human relations around him begins to be perceived by him as inappropriate to his capabilities, and he strives to change it. In accordance with this, his activities are being restructured.
3.central age neoplasms- at each age level there is a central new formation, as if leading the entire development process and characterizing the restructuring of the child’s entire personality on a new basis. Those. this is a new type of personality structure and its activity, those mental. and social changes that first arise at a given age level and that determine the child’s consciousness, his internal and external life, the entire course of his development. Around this neoplasm, all other particular neoplasms and developmental processes associated with neoplasms of previous ages are located and grouped. Vygotsky called those developmental processes that are more or less closely related to the main new formation the central lines of development. Vygotsky’s law of uneven child development is closely related to the concept of the main new developments of age: each side of the child’s psyche has its own optimal period of development - the sensitive period. In turn, the concept of sensitive periods is closely related to Vygotsky’s hypothesis about the systemic structure of consciousness: no cognitive function develops in isolation, the development of each function depends on what structure it is included in and what place it occupies in it.
4.age crises- turning points on the developmental curve that separate one age from another. Foreign psychologists, contemporaries of Vygotsky, viewed age-related crises either as growing pains or as a result of disruption of parent-child relationships. They believed that there could be a crisis-free, lytic development. Vygotsky viewed crisis as a normative phenomenon of the psyche, necessary for the progressive development of the individual. The essence of the crisis, according to Vygotsky, lies in resolving the contradiction between the previous social situation of development, on the one hand, and the new capabilities and needs of the child, on the other. As a result, an explosion of the previous social situation of development occurs, and a new social situation of development is formed on its ruins. This means that the transition to the next stage of age development has taken place. Vygotsky described the following age-related crises: the newborn crisis, the one-year crisis, the three-year crisis, the seven-year crisis, the thirteen-year crisis. Of course, the chronological boundaries of crises are quite arbitrary, which is explained by significant differences in individual, sociocultural and other parameters. The form, duration and severity of crises can vary markedly depending on the individual typological characteristics of the child, social conditions, characteristics of upbringing in the family, and the pedagogical system as a whole. Thus, for Vygotsky, age-related crises are the central mechanism of age dynamics. He derived the law of age dynamics, according to which the forces driving the development of a child at a particular age inevitably lead to the denial and destruction of the very basis of development of his age, with internal necessity determining the annulment of the social situation of development, the end of a given era of development and the transition to the next age steps.
Answering the second part of the question, we note that there are many different periodizations of mental development, both foreign and domestic authors. Almost all of these periodizations end with high school age; very few authors described the entire life cycle (primarily E. Erikson).
We will consider the periodizations of L.S. Vygotsky, as the creator of the doctrine of age, D.B. Elkonin, as a generally accepted concept in our country, D.I. Feldstein, Z. Freud, as the founder of psychoanalysis, a direction that is very popular in the world, E. Erikson, since it was he who first described the entire life cycle.
Age - this is a specific, relatively time-limited stage of mental development of an individual and his development as a person. Age is not related to the type of nervous system, temperament, or character. Specific socio-historical conditions, as well as upbringing, activity and communication, play a large role in determining age. Each age has its own specific developmental situations.
Vygotsky believed that when creating a periodization of mental development, it is necessary to take into account the dynamics of the transition from one age to another, when smooth “evolutionary” periods are replaced by “jumps.” During lytic periods, qualities accumulate, and during critical periods, their realization occurs. The problem of periodization of mental development is a problem of the laws and patterns of the change from one age period to another.
A crisis newborns |
Phys. a crisis. Change of habitat, etc. Adaptation. Swimming and grabbing. reflex. |
Ved. activity - communication on an emotional level |
|
Younger age | |||
A crisis one year |
The social situation of development is changing - from the horizon. In a vertical position. Object-manipulation discrepancy. activities with existing new products |
New formation – “I myself” |
|
Early childhood | |||
A crisis 3 years |
Crisis of self-awareness (first wave of self-awareness). Developmental thinking, objective activity. |
Ved. type of activity - play, self-service, enters into social relationships, understands moral standards. |
|
Preschool childhood |
By 6-7 years - verbal and logical. thinking. Gender identification. |
Psychic new image 5 years: internal action plan; arbitrariness of mental.cognitive.processes; awareness of one’s actions from the outside (reflection); control turning into self-control; assessment that turns into self-esteem. |
|
A crisis 7 years |
Educational activity and its requirements do not coincide with the capabilities of those new formations, cat. has already. There must be an element of play. |
Leading activities are educational. |
|
Junior school age | |||
A crisis teenager period |
2nd wave of self-awareness. The crisis is that outwardly they already want to be adults, but internally they are not yet ready for this. |
Ved. activity – communication with peers and with adults. New development - the ability to establish relationships, form social status, be socially significant, self-awareness of adulthood and need. |
|
Relatively calm. period | |||
A crisis early youth |
Ved. activity - educational and professional. New recruits: 1. professional. self-determination; 2. the ability to build and implement real plans |
||
Early youth | |||
A crisis young age |
Crisis: admitted - not admitted, adaptation to new conditions. |
New recruit: becomes a professional, builds a family. Formation of the position of adult development. |
|
The generally accepted concept in our country is Elkonin’s concept, which is based on the idea of changing the leading type of activity. Considering the structure of activity, Elkonin noted that human activity is two-faced, it contains human meaning, that is, the motivational-need side and the operational-technical side.
In the process of child development, the motivational-need side of the activity is first mastered, otherwise objective actions would not make sense, and then the operational-technical side is mastered. Then they alternate. Moreover, the motivational-need side develops in the “child-adult” system, and the development of the operational-technical side occurs in the “child-object” system.
Elkonin’s concept overcame an important drawback of foreign psychology: the opposition between the world of objects and the world of people.
Elkonin reconsidered the problem: the child and society” and renamed it “the child in society.” This changed the view on the relationship between “child and object” and “child and adult.” Ellko6nin began to consider these systems as “a child is a social object” (since for a child, socially developed actions with him come to the fore in the object) and “a child is a social adult” (since for a child an adult is, first of all, a bearer of certain types of social activities).
The child’s activity in the “child – social object” and “child – social adult” systems represents a single process in which the child’s personality is formed.
Early childhood |
Boyhood |
||||
Infancy |
Early age |
Preschool age |
Junior school age |
Adolescence |
Early youth |
Newborn crisis |
Year 1 crisis |
Crisis 3 years |
Crisis 7 years |
Crisis 11-12 years |
Crisis 15 years |
According to Elkonin, the crises of 3 and 11 years are crises of relationships, after which orientation in human relationships arises. And the crises of the 1st year and 7th year are crises of worldview that open up orientation in the world of things.
David Iosifovich Feldshtein developed the ideas of Vygotsky and Elkonin and created on their basis the concept of a pattern of level-by-level development of personality in ontogenesis. Its concept is based on the idea of shifts in leading activities.
Feldstein considered the problem of personality development as a process of socialization, and he considered socialization not only as a process of appropriating socio-historical experience, but also as the formation of socially significant personality qualities.
According to this concept, a purposeful consideration as an object of research of the characteristics of the social development of children, the conditions for the formation of their social maturity and the analysis of its formation at different stages of modern childhood allowed the author to isolate two main types of actually existing positions of the child in relation to society: “I am in society.” and “me and society.”
The first position reflects the child’s desire to understand his Self - what am I? What can I do?; the second concerns awareness of oneself as a subject of social relations.
The formation of the position “I and society” is associated with the actualization of activities aimed at mastering the norms of human relationships, ensuring the implementation of the individualization process. The child strives to express himself, highlight his I, contrast himself to others, express his own position in relation to other people, having received from them recognition of his independence, taking an active place in various social relationships, where his I acts on an equal basis with others, which ensures his development a new level of self-awareness in society, socially responsible self-determination.
The subject-practical side of the activity, during which the child’s socialization occurs, is associated with the affirmation of the position “I am in society.”
In other words, the development of a certain position of the child in relation to people and things leads him to the possibility and necessity of realizing the accumulated social experience in such activities that most adequately correspond to the general level of mental and personal development. Thus, the position “I am in society” is especially actively developed during the periods of early childhood (from 1 to 3 years), primary school age (from 6 to 9 years old) and senior school age (from 15 to 17 years old), when subject-practical side of the activity. The position “I and society,” the roots of which go back to the infant’s orientation toward social contacts, is most actively formed in preschool (from 3 to 6 years) and adolescence (from 10 to 15 years) when the norms of human relationships are especially intensively absorbed.
Identification and disclosure of the characteristics of the child’s different positions in relation to society made it possible to identify two types of naturally occurring boundaries of the social development of the individual, designated by the author as intermediate and key.
The intermediate stage of development - the result of the accumulation of elements of socialization - individualization - refers to the child’s transition from one period of ontogenesis to another (at 1 year, 6 and 15 years). The nodal turning point represents qualitative shifts in social development, carried out through the development of personality; it is associated with a new stage of ontogenesis (at 3 years, 10 and 17 years).
In the social position that develops at the intermediate stage of development (“I am in society”), the developing personality’s need to integrate himself into society is realized. At the key turning point, when the social position “I and society” is formed, the child’s need to determine his place in society is realized.
Z. Freud, in accordance with his sexual theory of the psyche, reduces all stages of human mental development to stages of transformation and movement through different erogenous zones of libidinal energy. Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are sensitive to stimulation; when stimulated, they cause satisfaction of libidinal feelings. Each stage has its own libidinal zone, the stimulation of which creates libidinal pleasure. The movement of these zones creates a sequence of stages of mental development.
1. Oral stages (0 – 1 year) are characterized by the fact that the main source of pleasure, and therefore potential frustration, is focused on the area of activity associated with feeding. At this stage, there are two phases: early and late, occupying the first and second years of life. It is characterized by two sequential libidinal actions - sucking and biting. The leading erogenous zone is the mouth. At the second stage, the “I” begins to emerge from “It”.
2. Anal stage (1 – 3 years) also consists of two phases. Libido is concentrated around the anus, which becomes the center of attention of the child, accustomed to neatness. The “Super-I” begins to form.
3.phallic stage (3 – 5 years) characterizes the highest level of child sexuality. The genital organs become the leading erogenous zone. Children's sexuality becomes objective, children begin to experience attachment to parents of the opposite sex (Oedipus complex). “Super-I” is formed.
4. latent stage (5 – 12 years) is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest, libido energy is transferred to the development of universal human experience, the establishment of friendly relationships with peers and adults.
5.genital stage (12 – 18 years) is characterized by the return of childhood sexual desires, now all former erogenous zones are united, and the teenager strives for one goal - normal sexual communication
E. Erikson considered the stages of personality development from the point of view of the tasks that society sets for a person, and which a person must solve. He considers each stage separately from each other. Each stage of the fuss. Regardless of the previous one, it does not determine the driving force of psycho-social. development and specific mechanisms, cat. connect the development of the individual and society. The social link of the social situation falls out of Erikson's periodization. Each stage of development is inherent in society's expectations. An individual may or may not justify them; he is either included in society or rejected. The concept has 2 concepts: group identity (focused on inclusion in the community) and ego-identity (integrity of the individual, sense of stability and self). Occurs throughout life and goes through a number of stages. For each stage, society puts forward its own task, and the development of the individual depends on the spirituality of society.
1.infancy (0-1) – formation of basic trust in the world / mistrust
2.early age (1-3) – autonomy / shame, doubt about one’s own independence, independence
3. preschool age games (3-6) – initiative / feeling of guilt and moral responsibility for one’s desires
4. school age or pre-teenage (6-12) – achievement (formation of hard work and ability to handle tools) / inferiority (as awareness of one’s own ineptitude)
5. adolescence or youth (13-18) – identity (the first integral awareness of oneself, one’s place in the world) / diffusion of identity (uncertainty in understanding one’s Self)
6.youth or early adulthood (20-25) – intimacy (searching for a life partner and establishing close friendships) / isolation
7.maturity or middle age (25-65) – creativity / stagnation
8. old age or late maturity (after 65) – integration (formation of a final, integral idea of oneself and one’s life path)/ disappointment in life
Question No. 42. History of the formation of socio-psychological ideas.
The period about which we're talking about, dates back to the middle of the 19th century. By this time, significant progress could be observed in the development of a number of sciences, including those directly related to various processes of social life. Great development received linguistics. Its necessity was dictated by the processes that were taking place in Europe at that time: it was a time of rapid development of capitalism, multiplication of economic ties between countries, which gave rise to active migration of the population. The problem of linguistic communication and mutual influence of peoples and, accordingly, the problem of the connection of language with various components of the psychology of peoples have become acute. Linguistics was not able to solve these problems by its own means. In the same way, by this time significant facts had been accumulated in the field anthropology, ethnography and archeology, who needed the services of social psychology to interpret the accumulated facts. The English anthropologist E. Taylor completes his work on primitive culture, the American ethnographer and archaeologist L. Morgan studies the life of the Indians, the French sociologist and ethnographer Lévy-Bruhl studies the peculiarities of the thinking of primitive man. All of these studies required taking into account the psychological characteristics of certain ethnic groups, the connection of cultural products with traditions and rituals, etc. Successes, and at the same time difficulties, characterize the state criminology: the development of capitalist social relations gave rise to new forms of illegal behavior, and an explanation of the reasons determining it had to be sought not only in the sphere of social relations, but also taking into account the psychological characteristics of behavior.
This picture allowed the American social psychologist T. Shibutani to conclude that social psychology became independent partly because specialists in various fields of knowledge were not able to solve some of their problems (Shibutani, 1961).
Interest in socio-psychological knowledge in the field developed differently. sociology. Sociology itself emerged as an independent science only in the middle of the 19th century. (its founder is considered to be the French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte). Almost from the very beginning of its existence, sociology began to make attempts to explain a number of social facts through laws drawn from other areas of knowledge (Essays on the history of theoretical sociology of the 19th - early 20th centuries, 1994). Historically, the first form of such reductionism for sociology was biological reductionism, especially clearly manifested in the organic school (G. Spencer and others). However, the miscalculations of biological reduction forced us to turn to the laws of psychology as an explanatory model for social processes. The roots of social phenomena began to be sought in psychology, and outwardly this position seemed more advantageous: the appearance was created that, unlike biological reductionism, the specifics of social life were actually taken into account here. The fact of the presence of a psychological side in every social phenomenon was identified with the fact of determination by the psychological side of a social phenomenon. At first it was a reduction to individual psyche, as exemplified by the concept of the French sociologist G. Tarde. From his point of view, an elementary social fact lies not within one brain, which is the subject of intracerebral psychology, but in the contact of several minds, which should be studied by intermental psychology. The general model of the social was depicted as a relationship between two individuals, one of whom imitates the other.
When explanatory models of this kind clearly demonstrated their failure, sociologists proposed more complex forms of psychological reductionism. The laws of the social have now begun to be reduced to laws collective psyche. A special direction in the system of sociological knowledge is finally taking shape - the psychological direction in sociology. Its founder in the USA is L. Ward, but, perhaps, the ideas of this trend were formulated especially clearly in the works of F. Giddings. From his point of view, the primary social fact is not the consciousness of the individual, not the “national spirit,” but the so-called “consciousness of the race.” Hence, social fact is nothing other than social reason. Its study should be carried out by “social psychology”, or, what is the same, sociology. Here the idea of “reduction” is taken to its logical conclusion.
Thus, in the development of the two sciences of psychology and sociology, a counter movement emerged, which should have ended in the formulation of problems that became the subject of the new science. These mutual aspirations were realized in the mid-19th century and gave birth to the first forms of socio-psychological knowledge proper. By the middle of the 19th century. There are three most significant theories: the psychology of peoples, the psychology of masses, the theory of social instincts. Behaviors.
Psychology of peoples (M. Lazarus, G. Steinthal, W. Wundt).
Psychology of peoples as one of the first forms of socio-psychological theories developed in the middle of the 19th century. in Germany. From the point of view of the criterion we have identified, the psychology of peoples offered a “collectivistic” solution to the question of the relationship between the individual and society: it allowed the substantial existence of a “supra-individual soul”, subordinate to the “supra-individual integrity”, which is the people (nation). The process of nation formation, which was carried out at that time in Europe, acquired a specific form in Germany due to the need to unite the fragmented feudal lands. This specificity was reflected in a number of theoretical constructions of German social science of that era. It also had a certain influence on the psychology of peoples. Its theoretical sources were: Hegel’s philosophical doctrine of the “national spirit” and Herbart’s idealistic psychology, which, in the words of M.G. Yaroshevsky, was “a hybrid of Leibnizian monadology and English associationism.” The psychology of peoples tried to combine these two approaches.
The direct creators of the theory of the psychology of peoples were the philosopher M. Lazarus (1824-1903) and the linguist G. Steinthal (1823-1893). In 1859, the journal “Psychology of Peoples and Linguistics” was founded, where their article “Introductory Discourses on the Psychology of Peoples” was published. It articulates the idea that the main force of history is the people, or the “spirit of the whole” (Allgeist), which expresses itself in art, religion, language, myths, customs, etc. Individual consciousness is only its product, a link in some psychic connection. The task of social psychology is “to understand psychologically the essence of the spirit of the people, to discover the laws according to which the spiritual activity of the people proceeds.”
Subsequently, the ideas of the psychology of peoples were developed in the views of W. Wundt (1832-1920). Wundt first formulated his ideas on this matter in 1863 in his “Lectures on the Soul of Man and Animals.” The idea received its main development in 1900 in the first volume of the ten-volume “Psychology of Peoples.” Already in his Lectures, based on a course given in Heidelberg, Wundt outlined the idea that psychology should consist of two parts: physiological psychology and the psychology of peoples. According to each part, Wundt wrote fundamental works, and it was the second part that was presented in “Psychology of Nations.” From Wundt's point of view, physiological psychology is an experimental discipline, but experiment is not suitable for studying higher mental processes - speech and thinking. Therefore, it is from this “point” that the psychology of peoples begins. It must use other methods, namely the analysis of cultural products: language (language represents the concepts with the help of which thinking is carried out and consciousness is determined); myths (in them one can find the original content of concepts and emotional attitudes towards certain phenomena); customs, traditions (it is easier to understand the behavior
This concept raised the fundamental question that there is something other than individual consciousness that characterizes the psychology of the group, and individual consciousness is to a certain extent determined by it.
Psychology of the masses (G. Tarde, G. Le Bon, S. Siegele).
Psychology of the masses represents another form of the first socio-psychological theories, because, according to the criterion proposed above, it provides a solution to the question of the relationship between the individual and society from an “individualistic” position. This theory was born in France in the second half of the 19th century. Its origins were laid in the concept of imitation by G. Tarde. From Tarde's point of view, social behavior has no other explanation than through the idea of imitation. Official, intellectually oriented academic psychology tries to explain it, neglecting the affective elements, and therefore fails. The idea of imitation takes into account irrational moments in social behavior, and therefore turns out to be more productive. It was these two ideas of Tarde - the role of irrational moments in social behavior and the role of imitation - that were adopted by the direct creators of mass psychology. These were the Italian lawyer S. Sigele (1868-1913) and the French sociologist G. Lebon (1841 - 1931). Siegele mainly relied on the study of criminal cases, in which he was attracted by the role of affective aspects. Le Bon, being a sociologist, paid primary attention to the problem of contrasting the masses and elites of society. In 1895, his main work “Psychology of Peoples and Masses” appeared, which sets out the essence of the concept.
From Le Bon's point of view, any collection of people is a "mass", main feature which is the loss of the ability to observe. Typical features of human behavior in the masses are: depersonalization (which leads to the dominance of impulsive, instinctive reactions), a sharp predominance of the role of feelings over the intellect (which leads to susceptibility to various influences), a general loss of intelligence (which leads to the abandonment of logic), loss of personal responsibility (which leads to a lack of control over passions). The conclusion that follows from the description of this picture of human behavior in the mass is that the mass is always disordered and chaotic by nature, so it needs a “leader”, whose role can be played by the “elite”. These conclusions were made based on the consideration of isolated cases of manifestation of mass, namely its manifestation in a situation of panic. No other empirical evidence was provided, as a result of which panic turned out to be the only form of mass action, although later observations of this single form were extrapolated to any other mass actions.
A certain social coloring is clearly manifested in the psychology of the masses. The end of the 19th century, marked by numerous mass protests, forced the official ideology to look for means of justifying various actions directed against these mass protests. The assertion that the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century is becoming widespread. - this is the “era of the crowd”, when a person loses his individuality, obeys impulses, primitive instincts, and therefore easily succumbs to various irrational actions. The psychology of the masses was in line with these ideas, which allowed Le Bon to speak out against the revolutionary movement, interpreting it as an irrational movement of the masses.
As for the purely theoretical significance of mass psychology, it turned out to be twofold: on the one hand, the question was raised about the relationship between the individual and society, but, on the other hand, its solution was in no way justified. Formally, in this case, a certain primacy of the individual over society was recognized, but society itself was arbitrarily reduced to a crowd, and even on this “material” it looked very one-sided, since the “crowd” or “mass” itself was described only in one single situation of its behavior, panic situations. Although mass psychology did not have any serious significance for the future fate of social psychology, nevertheless, the problems developed within the framework of this concept are of great interest, including for the present time.
3. Theory of instincts of social behavior c. McDougall.
The third concept, which ranks among the first independent socio-psychological constructs, is the theory instincts of social behavior English psychologist V. McDougall(1871 - 1938), who moved to the USA in 1920 and subsequently worked there. McDougall's work "Introduction to Social Psychology" was published in 1908, and this year is considered the year of the final establishment of social psychology in independent existence (in the same year the sociologist's book was published in the USA E. Rossa“Social psychology”, and thus it is quite symbolic that both a psychologist and a sociologist in the same year published the first systematic course on the same discipline). This year, however, can only very conditionally be considered the beginning of a new era in social psychology, since back in 1897 J. Baldwin published “Studies in Social Psychology,” which could also claim to be the first systematic guide.
The main thesis of McDougall's theory is that innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of a more general principle accepted by McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (which interprets behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created “target” or “hormic” (from the Greek word “gorme” - desire, desire, impulse). Gorme acts as an intuitive driving force that explains social behavior. In McDougall's terminology, gormé is “realized as instincts” (or later “inclinations”).
The repertoire of instincts in each person arises as a result of a certain psychophysical predisposition - the presence of hereditarily fixed channels for the discharge of nervous energy.
Instincts include affective (receptive), central (emotional) and afferent (motor) parts. Thus, everything that happens in the area of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious principle. The internal expression of instincts is mainly emotions. The connection between instincts and emotions is systematic and definite. McDougall listed seven pairs of interconnected instincts and emotions: the instinct of fight and the corresponding anger and fear; flight instinct and sense of self-preservation; reproductive instinct and jealousy, female timidity; instinct of acquisition and sense of ownership; instinct of construction and sense of creation; herd instinct and sense of belonging. All social institutions are derived from instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war. Partly because of this mention in McDougall’s theory, people were inclined to see the implementation of the Darwinian approach, although, as is known, being transferred mechanically to social phenomena, this approach lost any scientific significance.
Despite the enormous popularity of McDougall's ideas, their role in the history of science turned out to be very negative: the interpretation of social behavior from the point of view of some spontaneous striving for a goal legitimized the importance of irrational, unconscious drives as the driving force not only of the individual, but also of humanity. Therefore, as in general psychology, overcoming the ideas of the theory of instincts later served as an important milestone in the development of scientific social psychology.
Result: Thus, we can summarize what kind of theoretical baggage social psychology was left with after these first concepts were built. First of all, obviously, their positive significance lies in the fact that really important questions that need to be resolved were identified and clearly posed: about the relationship between the consciousness of the individual and the consciousness of the group, about the driving forces of social behavior, etc. It is also interesting that in the first socio-psychological theories, from the very beginning they tried to find approaches to solving the problems posed, as it were, from two sides: from the side of psychology and from the side of sociology. In the first case, it inevitably turned out that all solutions were proposed from the point of view of the individual, his psyche; the transition to the psychology of the group was not worked out with any precision. In the second case, they formally tried to go “from society,” but then “society” itself dissolved in psychology, which led to the psychologization of social relations. This meant that neither the “psychological” nor the “sociological” approaches themselves provide the right solutions if they are not interconnected. Finally, the first socio-psychological concepts turned out to be weak also because they were not based on any research practice, they were not based on research at all, but in the spirit of old philosophical constructions they were only “reasoning” about socio-psychological problems. However, an important thing was done, and social psychology was “declared” as an independent discipline with a right to exist. Now it needed to provide an experimental basis for it, since psychology by this time had already accumulated sufficient experience in using the experimental method. The next stage in the formation of the discipline could only become an experimental stage in its development.
Question No. 43. Psychology of large groups and mass phenomena.
The structure of large social groups.
Numerically large formations of people are divided into two types: randomly, spontaneously arising, fairly short-lived communities, which include the crowd, public, audience, and in the exact meaning of the word social groups, i.e. groups formed during the historical development of society, occupying a certain place in the system of social relations of each specific type of society and therefore long-term, stable in their existence. This second type should include, first of all, social classes, various ethnic groups (as their main variety is nations), professional groups, gender and age groups (from this point of view, for example, youth, women, elderly people, etc. .d.).
All large social groups identified in this way are characterized by some common features that distinguish these groups from small groups. In large groups there are specific regulators of social behavior that are not present in small groups. This - morals, customs And traditions. Their existence is due to the presence of specific social practices with which this group is associated, and the relative stability with which the historical forms of this practice are reproduced. Considered in unity, the features of the life position of such groups, together with specific regulators of behavior, provide such an important characteristic as Lifestyle groups. His research involves the study of special forms of communication, a special type of contact that develops between people. Within a certain lifestyle, they acquire special significance interests, values, needs. Not the least role in the psychological characteristics of these large groups is often played by the presence of a specific language. For ethnic groups, this is a self-evident characteristic; for other groups, “language” can act as a certain jargon, for example, characteristic of professional groups or an age group such as youth.
However, the common features characteristic of large groups cannot be absolute. Each type of these groups has its own uniqueness: it is impossible to line up a class, a nation, any profession and youth. The significance of each type of large group in the historical process is different, as are many of their features. Therefore, all “end-to-end” characteristics of large groups must be filled with specific content.
The structure of the psychology of a large social group includes a number of elements. In a broad sense, these are various mental properties, mental processes and mental states, just as the psyche of an individual person possesses the same elements. In domestic social psychology, a number of attempts have been made to more accurately determine the elements of this structure. Almost all researchers (G.G. Diligensky, A.I. Goryacheva, Yu.V. Bromley, etc.) identify two components in its content: 1) mental makeup as a more stable formation (which can include social or national character, morals, customs, traditions, tastes, etc.) and 2) the emotional sphere as a more mobile dynamic formation (which includes needs, interests, moods). Each of these elements should become the subject of special socio-psychological analysis.
Characteristics and types of spontaneous groups.
In the general classification of large social groups, it has already been said that there is a special variety of them, which in the strict sense of the word cannot be called a “group”. These are short-term associations of a large number of individuals, often with very different interests, but nevertheless gathered together for a specific reason and demonstrating some kind of joint action. The members of such a temporary association are representatives of various large organized groups: classes, nations, professions, ages, etc. Such a “group” can be organized to a certain extent by someone, but more often it arises spontaneously, does not necessarily clearly understand its goals, but nevertheless can be very active. Such education cannot in any way be considered a “subject of joint activity,” but its importance cannot be underestimated either. In modern societies, political and social decisions often depend on the actions of such groups. Among spontaneous groups in the socio-psychological literature, they most often distinguish crowd, mass, audience. As noted above, the history of social psychology to a certain extent “began” precisely with the analysis of such groups (Le Bon, Tarde, etc.).
Crowd is formed on the street in response to a variety of events: a traffic accident, the capture of an offender, dissatisfaction with the actions of a government official or just a passing person. The duration of its existence is determined by the significance of the incident: the crowd of onlookers may disperse as soon as the element of entertainment is eliminated. In another case, especially when it is associated with an expression of dissatisfaction with some social phenomenon (they didn’t bring groceries to the store, refused to accept or give out money in the savings bank), the crowd can become more and more excited and move on to actions, for example, to move in the direction of some - institutions. At the same time, its emotional intensity can increase, giving rise to aggressive behavior of participants; elements of an organization can arise in the crowd if there is a person who can lead it. But even if such elements have arisen, they are very unstable: the crowd can easily sweep away the organization that has arisen. The elements remain the main background of crowd behavior, often leading to its aggressive forms.
Brown defined a crowd as "a cooperative, shoulder-to-shoulder, anonymous, casual, temporary, unorganized community." There are types of crowds depending on their degree of activity: active crowd (the crowd itself) and passive crowd (public and audiences). An active crowd is also classified depending on the dominant behavior of the participants: aggressive (rioting crowds, which are characterized by aggression towards people or objects); fleeing (form of behavior - panic); acquisitive (involvement in competition for a certain scarce object); expressive (onlookers).
Characteristics of a crowd: 1. Spiritual unity or “mental homogeneity”; 2. emotionality – meh emots. Infection works maximally; 3. irrationality. For the first time, Le Bon (French writer) studied the mechanisms of the emergence and characteristics of crowd behavior. He created a theory of crowd behavior - the theory of “contempt of the masses.” I highlighted the trail. basic features: 1. consciousness disappears. Personality and the “collective soul”; 2. occurrence spiritual unity of the crowd; 3. unconscious. character of behavior that is susceptible to logical influence. There are 3 levels of behavior: instinctive, impulsive and rational (volitional, conscious).
Weight usually described as a more stable formation with rather fuzzy boundaries. The mass may not necessarily act as a momentary formation, like a crowd; it can turn out to be much more organized when certain sections of the population quite consciously gather for the sake of some kind of action: manifestation, demonstration, rally. In this case, the role of the organizers is higher: they are usually not nominated directly at the moment of the start of action, but are known in advance as the leaders of those organized groups whose representatives took part in this mass action. In the actions of the masses, therefore, both the final goals and tactics of behavior are more clear and thought out. At the same time, like a crowd, the mass is quite heterogeneous; various interests can also coexist or collide, so its existence can be unstable.
Public represents another form of a spontaneous group, although the element of spontaneity here is less pronounced than, for example, in a crowd. An audience is also a short-term gathering of people to spend time together in connection with some kind of spectacle - on the stands of a stadium, in a large auditorium, on a square in front of a speaker while listening to an important message. In more confined spaces, such as lecture halls, the audience is often referred to as audience. The public always gathers for a common and specific purpose, so it is more manageable, in particular, it more closely follows the norms adopted in the chosen type of organization of spectacles. But the public remains a mass gathering of people, and the laws of mass apply within it. Here, too, an incident is enough for the public to become uncontrollable.
Groening suggested a trail. class of audience (or public): 1. non-public (people minimally included in the situation); 2. latent (people who notice their connections or interactions with other people, as well as with organizations in an actual situation); 3. conscious (people who understand that they depend on the influence of other people in the current situation, but do not express it); 4. active (people and cats are included in communication and organizational systems to correct the situation).
Psychological characteristics of the masses.
The masses as carriers of mass consciousness, according to B. A. Grushin’s definition, these are “situationally emerging (existing) social communities, probabilistic in nature, heterogeneous in composition and statistical in forms of expression (functioning)” (Grushin, 1987).
Main types of masses are distinguished by a number of leading characteristics. Accordingly, masses are divided into: 1) large and small; 2) stable (constantly functioning) and unstable (pulse); 3) grouped and ungrouped, ordered or disordered in space; 4) contact and non-contact (dispersed); 5) spontaneous, spontaneously arising, and specially organized; 6) socially homogeneous and heterogeneous. However, this is just a theoretical division.
Among mass qualities the most important are the following. Firstly, it is static - that is, the amorphousness of the mass, its irreducibility to an independent, systemic, structured integral formation (group), different from the elements that make up the mass. Secondly, this is its stochastic, probabilistic nature; there is openness, blurred boundaries, uncertainty in the composition of the mass in quantitative and qualitative terms. Thirdly, it is situational, the temporary nature of its existence. Finally, fourthly, there is pronounced heterogeneity in the composition of the mass.
Mass consciousness is a kind of extra-structural “archipelago” in the social-group structure of public consciousness; the formation is not stable, but, as it were, “floating” as part of a broader whole. Today this archipelago may include some islands, but tomorrow it will include completely different ones. This is a special kind of, as it were, “supergroup” consciousness.
1. The main difference between the masses and classically identified social groups, strata, classes and layers of society is the presence of a special, self-generating, unorganized and poorly structured mass consciousness. This is an everyday type of social consciousness that unites representatives of different classical groups by common experiences. Such experiences arise under special circumstances that unite members of different groups and are equally significant for them, and so significant that these experiences acquire a supra-group character.
2. Unlike classical groups, stable and structured, the masses act as temporary, functional communities, heterogeneous in composition, but united by the significance of the mental experiences of the people included in them. The commonality of experiences among the masses becomes more important than all the parameters of joining classical social groups. Masses are divided depending on their main features. The main features that distinguish masses from each other include their size, the stability of their existence over time, the degree of compactness of their presence in social space, the level of cohesion or dispersion, the predominance of factors of organization or spontaneity in the emergence of a mass.
3. The mass is always changeable and situational. Its psychology is determined by the scale of events that cause general mental experiences. Mass consciousness can spread, capturing more and more new people from different classical groups, or it can narrow, reducing the size of the mass. This dynamic size and variability of the boundaries of the mass makes it difficult to create a typology of mass consciousness. The only productive way out is considered to be the construction of complex, multidimensional, spherical models of mass consciousness. Only at the intersection of different coordinates can one identify different really existing types of mass consciousness.
4. The main psychological properties of mass consciousness include emotionality, infectiousness, mosaic, mobility and variability. Public opinion and mass sentiments stand out as the leading macroforms of mass consciousness.
Public opinion, propaganda.
Public opinion should be considered as a kind of collective product, but as such it is not some kind of unanimous opinion with which every individual who makes up the public agrees, and not necessarily the opinion of the majority. Public opinion always moves towards some kind of decision, even if it is sometimes not unanimous.
Universality of speech. The formation of public opinion occurs through the opening and acceptance of discussion. Arguments and counterarguments become the means by which it is framed. For this process of discussion to develop, it is essential for the public to have what has been called the universality of speech, i.e. to have some common language or the ability to agree on the meaning of some basic terms.
Interest groups. The public usually consists of interested groups and some more detached and disinterested body of individuals similar to the audience. A public-building issue is usually posed by competing interest groups. These interest groups have some immediate private concern about how to solve the problem, and therefore they try to win the support and loyalty of an external disinterested group. This puts the disinterested group, as Lipman noted, in the position of judge or arbiter. It is its disposition that usually determines which of the competing plans is most likely and most widely taken into account in the resulting action.
The role of public debate. It is clear that the quality of public opinion depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of public debate. In turn, this effectiveness depends on the availability and flexibility of mass communication mechanisms, such as the press, radio, and public meetings. The basis for their effective use is the possibility of free discussion.
Propaganda can be understood as a deliberately instigated and directed campaign to force people to accept this point view, mood or value. Its peculiarity is that, in seeking to achieve this goal, it does not provide an impartial discussion of opposing views. The goal dominates, and the means are subordinated to this goal.
Thus, we see that the primary characteristic of propaganda is an attempt to achieve acceptance of a point of view not on the basis of its merits, but by appeal to some other motives. It is this feature that makes propaganda suspicious. In the sphere of public debate and public discussion, propaganda functions with the aim of forming opinions and judgments not on the basis of the merits of a given subject, but mainly by playing on emotional attitudes and feelings. Its goal is to impose a certain attitude or value that people begin to perceive as something natural, true and authentic and, thus, as something that is expressed spontaneously and without coercion.
Basic propaganda procedures. There are three main ways in which propaganda, as a rule, achieves its goal. 1. The first consists of simply falsifying facts and providing false information. People's judgments and opinions are obviously shaped by the data available to them. By manipulating facts, hiding some and distorting others, a propagandist can maximize the formation of a particular attitude. 2. The propagandist must strive to make people identify his views with their in-group attitudes, and opposing views with their out-group attitudes. It is the presence of this in-group/out-group entourage that explains the exceptional effectiveness of propaganda during the war. 3. Using emotional attitudes and prejudices that people already possess. His task in this case is to build an association between them and his propaganda mission. Thus, if he can connect his views with certain favorable attitudes that people already possess, these views will gain acceptance.
Gossip- these are special types of functioning of unreliable information or distortion of any information, giving it specific features, transmitted exclusively orally, as if informally and “in secret”. From a socio-psychological point of view, this is a massive phenomenon of interpersonal exchange of distorted, emotionally charged information. Rumors usually arise in the absence of complete and reliable information on an issue that is relevant to people. This is a specific type of interpersonal communication, during which a plot, to a certain extent reflecting real or fictitious events, becomes the property of a vast diffuse audience, the masses.
Gossip- false or true, verified or unverifiable, but always incomplete, biased, although plausible information about things and circumstances that can be considered personal, but have a wide social resonance because they relate to the closed aspects of the life of closed, elite social groups. Gossip performs six main socio-psychological functions: information-cognitive, affiliative-integrative, entertainment-game, projection-compensatory, the function of social control over the elite and the tactical function in social struggle.
Social movements, the problem of the leader and leaders.
Social movements are a special class of social phenomena. A social movement is a fairly organized unity of people who set themselves a specific goal, usually associated with some change in social reality. Social movements have different levels. The socio-psychological mechanisms of the emergence of mass movements are associated with situations in which some people cannot satisfy their needs. At the same time, both the needs (economic, political, cultural, etc.) and the reasons for their dissatisfaction can be different. Unmet needs cause dissatisfaction, frustration, and a switching of energy mobilized to satisfy the need to new tasks - the struggle against real or virtual obstacles. As a result, a state of emotional tension arises, anxiety, which, spreading, can acquire a social character. Widespread social anxiety manifests itself in discussions, informal discussions related to the search for ways to resolve a disturbing situation. This is the basis for the emergence of mass movements.
Whatever the level of a social movement, it exhibits several common characteristics. First of all, it is always based on a certain public opinion, which, as it were, prepares the social movement, although subsequently it itself is formed and strengthened as the movement develops. Secondly, any social movement has as its goal a change in the situation depending on its level: either in society as a whole, or in a region, or in any group. Thirdly, during the organization of the movement, its program is formulated, with varying degrees of elaboration and clarity. Fourthly, the movement is aware of the means that can be used to achieve goals, in particular whether violence is acceptable as one of the means. Finally, fifthly, every social movement is realized to one degree or another in various manifestations of mass behavior, including demonstrations, manifestations, rallies, congresses, etc.
From the point of view of social psychology, the following three questions are extremely important: mechanisms of joining the movement, the relationship between the opinions of the majority and the minority, and the characteristics of leaders.
In modern, predominantly sociological, literature, two theories have been proposed to explain the reasons for an individual’s joining a social movement. Relative deprivation theory states that a person feels the need to achieve a goal not in the case when he is absolutely deprived of some good, right, value, but in the case when he is relatively deprived of it. In other words, this need is formed by comparing one’s position (or the position of one’s group) with the position of others. Criticism rightly notes the simplification of the problem in this theory or, at least, the absolutization of a factor that may actually occur. Another theory is resource mobilization - emphasizes the more “psychological” reasons for joining the movement. It is argued here that a person is guided by the need to identify to a greater degree with the group, to feel part of it, thereby feeling his strength, and mobilizing resources. In this case, one can also make a reproach for one-sidedness and overestimation of only one of the factors.
The second problem concerns ratio of majority and minority positions in any mass movement, including social movement. This problem is one of the central ones in the concept of S. Muscovy.
The concept of S. Muscovy offers characteristics of the conditions under which a minority can count on influence in the movement. The main one is a consistent style of behavior. This means ensuring consistency in two “sections”: synchrony (unanimity of participants at any given moment) and diachrony (stability of the position and behavior of minority members over time). Only if such conditions are met, negotiations between the minority and the majority (and this is inevitable in any movement) can be successful. It is also necessary to study the style negotiations: the ability to reach a compromise, remove excessive categoricalness, readiness to move along the path of finding a productive solution.
The third problem that arises in a social movement is problem of the leader or leaders. It is clear that a leader of such a specific type of mass behavior must have special traits. Along with the fact that it must most fully express and defend the goals accepted by the participants, it must also, purely outwardly, appeal to a fairly large mass of people. The image of the leader of a social movement should be the subject of his daily attention. As a rule, the strength of the leader's position and authority largely ensures the success of the movement. These same qualities of a leader also contribute to keeping the movement within the accepted framework of behavior, which does not allow for easy changes in the chosen tactics and strategy of action (Yanitsky, 1991).
William McDougall(1871-1938) - author of the theory of instincts, American psychologist (English by birth). In 1908, his book “Introduction to Social Psychology” was published.
Instinct - an inherited or congenital predisposition that determines in its owner the ways to educate and pay attention to a certain class of objects, to be emotionally aroused by specific qualities of these objects and to act in a very specific way or, at least, to experience an urge to such actions.
Functions of instincts:
urge,
Activity management.
McDougall tried to reduce all behavior to motivational factors. Any human behavior is purposeful and focused on achieving the intended goal state.
Instinct includes 3 components:
Cognitive component – a predisposition to selective perception of the surrounding world depending on specific states of the body (a hungry animal notices only food).
Emotional component – the core of instinct is a specific emotional state characteristic only of a given subject that accompanies each instinct.
Motor component – instrumental type activity, i.e. in ways to achieve the goal.
Over time, McDougall replaced the concept of instinct with the concept inclination.
Addiction – this is 1) disposition (predisposition); being actualized, the disposition gives rise to 2) an active tendency, desire, impulse, attraction to a certain goal; this tendency is desire.
Psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud
Based on biodeterminism, i.e. at the heart of behavior everyone living beings lies the dynamics of drives.
Sigmund Freud(1856-1939) - Austrian psychologist, creator of psychoanalysis. In 1915, his work “Attraction and Their Fates” was published, where the theory of motivation was developed.
Freud gives the psyche the main function associated with the perception of internal stimuli. Needs generate the energy of irritation, which is subjectively experienced as traumatic and unpleasant. The subject tries to get rid of this energy or reduce it as much as possible, i.e. S. Freud's motivational theory is based on two principles:
1. Hedonic – any decrease in the level of accumulated irritation is accompanied by the experience of satisfaction, and any increase is accompanied by dissatisfaction.
2. Homeostatic - The higher the level of accumulated irritation (tension), the lower the balance of the body.
The motivational process is aimed at reducing the energy of attraction. Self ATTRACTION consists of elements:
TENSION – motor moment of drive – the sum of forces to which drive corresponds
GOAL – associated with satisfaction, which can only be achieved by eliminating the irritable state of the source of attraction
OBJECT OF ATTRACTION - something with the help or in which attraction can achieve its goal
SOURCE OF ATTRACTION - that somatic process in an organ or part of the body, the irritation from which is represented in the mental life of the subject as an attraction.
All mental life– this is the dynamics of conflicts, which are based on the needs of the “I” aimed at maintaining its existence.
The essence of social behavior
Human social behavior is one of the objects of study of sociological science. Research in this area began to be carried out in the mid-19th century, and, in addition to the concept of “social behavior,” elements such as social action and interaction were included in the same category.
Definition 1
Social behavior of a group - in sociological science, this is a qualitative characteristic of social action and social interaction, which are inextricably linked with each other.
Social behavior characterizes the behavior of an individual or social groups in certain conditions, in a particular social situation and environment. Social behavior may be uncharacteristic in different situations. For example, a certain number of deputies take part in the work of the State Duma, that is, they are actively involved in political activities. But their behavior is ambiguous, since some are interested in their activities, while others ignore their activities and responsibilities, staying at work only “for show,” because this is necessary to obtain benefits.
The behavior of participants in mass events can also be characterized in different ways. For example, some participants demonstratively peacefully follow the column, while others seek to show their deviant behavior, break the rules in order to demonstrate a negative attitude towards the current regime and a desire for change. All of these actions also fall under the category of “social behavior.” In other words, all people are equally participants in a socio-political event, but each participant behaves differently, depending on their interests, needs and worldview.
Thus, social behavior acts as a special way for the subject of a socio-political event (actor) to demonstrate his motives, preferences and attitudes, which are aimed at the implementation of social action and interaction.
Development of behavior in society
Social behavior plays a very important role in human life. Hence the importance for sociological science of not only the study of this concept, but also a detailed analysis of its development.
Note 1
Social behavior is very multidimensional, and includes not only the social interactions of people with each other, but also the interaction of a person with the entire vast world of things that have their own unique meaning for him at each stage of development and socialization.
The development of social behavior of an individual or a separate, broader social group directly depends on various biological and psychological processes in the human body. Such processes include:
- puberty,
- level and development of perception, awareness, understanding of the surrounding world and its processes,
- development of memory and learning ability.
As soon as a person forms his own worldview, view of things and events, interpretation of specific concepts, then the motives of social behavior are realized, clearly defined goals appear, and an assessment of one’s own intellectual, physical and psychological characteristics and capabilities appears. This is the essence of the development of social behavior - the presence of awareness of oneself and one’s place in the world around us. Social behavior is formed depending on the diversity of its types, which we will reveal in the next section.
Theories of social behavior and its development
Since social behavior is the object of research by a number of sociologists and psychologists, it is worth noting the presence of a fairly large number of theories that reveal the essence of social behavior, the features of its development and varieties.
One of the earliest and most studied theories of social behavior is the theory of individuality development by B.G. Ananyeva (“Organism. Individual. Personality. Individuality”). He examines a number of characteristics that represent differences between higher animals and humans. These include the following signs that influence social behavior:
- Anatomical and morphological differences;
- Differences in the organization of the psyche;
- Development in interaction with the world (as subjects).
The development of a person’s individuality occurs based on the characteristics of his individual properties (psychological, physiological, intellectual). The entire set of these properties influences the formation of social behavior and the presentation of oneself as part of this world.
The next theory is disposition. It affects more the basis of the rule of law; it is for this reason that the disposition is called part of the rule, which contains the entire set of rules of behavior that all possible subjects of law must comply with and follow. The rules of law are provided depending on the Constitution, legislative documents and acts.
T. Hilton's situational theory, which determines not only the social behavior of an individual, but also the nature of his leadership. Thus, the nature of leadership stems from the basic and outstanding human qualities that are also inherent in leaders: communication skills, responsibility, self-confidence, belief in team spirit, the desire to act for the benefit of the public, and not just taking into account one’s own interests and needs.
But social behavior is considered by researchers not only within the framework of the norm, but also within the framework of antisocial (deviant) behavior. This includes a behavioral approach to the definition (determination) of deviant behavior of an individual and a social group. This theory has been considered for several years as a result of learning, and its founders are E. Thorndike, J. Watson and B. Skinner. The key idea is that social and asocial behavior of an individual and a social group is aimed at adapting to the environment, adapting to its constant dynamic changes. In this case, all of his qualities are manifested in a person, as well as the methods of behavior that he uses to achieve his goals.
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