---
title: "Social psychology"
description: "Thinking about whether you should study social psychology? Find out how it differs from sociology, what you'll learn, your potential career paths and more."
canonical: "https://ads.pr1.ops.ads.arden-prod01.arden.ac.uk/psychology-subject-guide/social-psychology"
published: 2022-09-07
updated: 2022-10-19
author: "Arden University"
---

# Social psychology

WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

### Ever wondered why you act so differently depending on the social situation you're in? People have a massive impact on the way we behave and the choices we make. Our thoughts, our feelings, our perceptions, our attitudes - they're all heavily influenced by those around us.

Social psychology is the study that explains how the social environment impacts individuals within a group. It's not to be confused with sociology, however - which is the study of larger groups of people.

Topics covered by social psychologists are extremely varied but equally fascinating. These include understanding how leaders use their influence within a group, why we conform to fit in and what causes a person to develop prejudices against other groups.

[Read more ](#collapseExtraText)

## Social psychologist personality traits

![Attention to detail](https://d2n98vq36tw7n9.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2022-09/Attention%20to%20detail.png?VersionId=MNbI4ycuMvZGV96wCjuRcl1t7jMiNqT3)

METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL

![Highly Organised](https://d2n98vq36tw7n9.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2022-09/Highly%20organised.png?VersionId=8Ag3JGFGp6Uef6U.c2WvJPljmHYTnRIC)

HIGHLY ORGANISED

EMOTIONAL SEPARATION

![Communication Skills](https://d2n98vq36tw7n9.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2022-09/Communication%20skills.png?VersionId=6v39OwwZzVe62YhMqRl8DwpgiOE6TTQV)

GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS

## Our fictional famous social psychologist

![Lazio-Kreizler](https://cdn.arden.ac.uk/s3fs-public/styles/course_hero_low/public/2022-09/Lazio-Kreizler.jpg)

Lazlo Kreizler (The Alienist)

Set at the end of the 19th century, *The Alienist* follows psychologist, Lazlo Kreizler, and detective, Sara Howard, as they look to catch a child serial killer. Although in the novel (and the miniseries based on it), Lazlo is heavily involved in an early form of criminal psychology, he's an advocate of the idea that people's behaviour is influenced by social experiences and how this can help establish an understanding of their actions.

` ## Your potential social psychology career paths

'What can I do with a social psychology degree?' While there's no set pathway into a social psychology career - you can take your skills and apply them to an array of fields.

One of the most common career paths for social psychologists lies in teaching and academia.

This can involve delivering seminars in colleges and universities, as a lecturer, or working alongside universities to conduct independent research to be published in academic journals.

The power influence plays in society means businesses are always research to pinpoint their target audiences more effectively. This market research work regularly involves social psychologists.

Similarly, there are always opportunities to get involved in consultation and research for organisations – such as analysing data to provide useful insights.

![](https://cdn.arden.ac.uk/s3fs-public/styles/quote_low/public/2022-09/Social-Psy-Careers%20%281%29.jpg)

### Social psychology jobs - salary

A social psychologist's salary is dependent on several factors. However, according to data collected by Glassdoor, you can expect to earn anywhere between the region of £27,436 and £78,673 - depending on your experience and location.

[ Explore our psychology courses ](https://ads.pr1.ops.ads.arden-prod01.arden.ac.uk/distance-learning-psychology-degrees)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Social psychology",
    "description": "Thinking about whether you should study social psychology? Find out how it differs from sociology, what you'll learn, your potential career paths and more.",
    "datePublished": "2022-09-07T14:57:12+01:00",
    "dateModified": "2022-10-19T16:33:09+01:00",
    "author": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "Arden University"
    },
    "mainEntityOfPage": "https://ads.pr1.ops.ads.arden-prod01.arden.ac.uk/psychology-subject-guide/social-psychology"
}
```