Toward an Interdisciplinary Social Psychology

Abstract

Publisher Summary The preoccupation with the possibility of a convergence between the sociological and psychological traditions in social psychology is part of a paradigmatic shift. This chapter discusses the advantages to be gained from such a shift and underscores the fact that there is some distance yet to be traveled. The role of cultural and social structural influences on the construction of meaning has paid insufficient attention. The study of moral behavior, the social construction of meaning is recognized; however, what is underestimated is the human ability to construct meaning to one's advantage. It also suggests further avenues of research on the effects of individual differences, situational variables, and social structural factors on conformity to norms. In the chapter, the relationship formation and identity creation is focused and also the updating research concerned with self maintenance processes and the relation between self and behavior is reviewed. The dialectical processes of identity creation observed in the context of developing relationships based on attraction are also emphasized in the chapter.