The sociological origins of social psychology

Abstract

There are many textbooks in which social psychology is considered a branch of psychology. An analysis of the origins and evolution of social psychology shows us that it emerged within psychology and sociology alike. Initially, during the early decades of the 20th century, there were more social psychology texts written by sociologists than by psychologists, but this tendency has gradually inverted throughout the decades that followed up until the present. This change was influenced by Floyd Allport with the publication of his Social psychology in 1924. On the other hand, the decline of the Chicago School during the 1930s within psychology itself and the increasing importance of functionalism within sociology, were also responsible for the decline of a sociological perspective within social psychology. The historical analysis of this field reveals that we have to differentiate at least between a psychological and a sociological social psychology.