Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Defying the stereotype
- 2 The potential of social identity theory
- 3 On the subject of subjectivity
- 4 Personal stories
- 5 A nation in turmoil: Britain between the wars
- 6 Radicalization: coming to commitment
- 7 Political conviction and the social self
- 8 Growing into socialism
- Conclusion: aging and sustained purpose
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - The potential of social identity theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Defying the stereotype
- 2 The potential of social identity theory
- 3 On the subject of subjectivity
- 4 Personal stories
- 5 A nation in turmoil: Britain between the wars
- 6 Radicalization: coming to commitment
- 7 Political conviction and the social self
- 8 Growing into socialism
- Conclusion: aging and sustained purpose
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
All are but parts of one stupendous whole…
Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, 1.267In recent years, there has been much criticism of psychology as being an essentially reductionist discipline which focuses almost exclusively on intra-individual psychological processes while ignoring the variety of contexts which influence the production of such processes (Bar-Tal & Kruglanski 1988; Broughton 1987; Parker 1989; Parker & Shotter 1990; Riegel 1976, 1979). Buss (1979) identifies elements of the individual-society debate as far back as Aristotle. Indeed, it is the ultimate relationship which any philosopher or student of human makeup must confront. Not surprisingly, it has been a central question of social psychology. Floyd Allport, one of the founders of modern social psychology, said that ‘the problem of the individual and the group is really the master problem of social psychology (1962: 7). This was reiterated more recently by Turner and Oakes (1986):
The raison d'être of social psychology is to solve scientifically a paradox. The paradox is to integrate two very different orders of phenomena: the psychological – to do with the mental properties of the individual – and the social – processes, properties and products deriving from the interrelatedness between individuals. The premises of the paradox are that, on the one hand, psychological processes belong only to individuals and not to any superordinate collective entity, and on the other, that social or even more so societal processes (political, cultural, economic, historical, etc…) [are]… distinct from and irreducible to … their elementary components, individuals … The issue is can there be and how can there be a non-individualistic science of the individual, a social psychology in the fullest sense? (p. 237).
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- Chapter
- Information
- Lifetimes of CommitmentAgeing, Politics, Psychology, pp. 22 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991