Social Cognition 2.0: Toward Mechanistic Theorizing

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Social cognition emerged by applying cognitive psychology principles to social questions.
• Recent trends show cognitive psychology increasingly interested in social situations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify obstacles in integrating cognitive and social psychology perspectives.
• To demonstrate the need for mechanistic theorizing and sociohistorical context in social cognition.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the social-cognition approach using conformity as a case study.
• Examination of theoretical and methodological integration between social and cognitive psychology.

Main Results:

• The social-cognition approach has adopted cognitive methods but lacks mechanistic explanations (causes vs. reasons).
• It often fails to adequately incorporate the sociohistorical context of social phenomena.

Conclusions:

• Developing mechanistic theories is crucial for explaining social behavior, including individual differences.
• Integrating sociohistorical context and causal explanations will eliminate boundaries between cognitive and social psychology.