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Is an "individual perspective" in social psychology uniquely American and a "group perspective" uniquely European?

Psychology & Neuroscience Asked by P.P. on June 26, 2021

In the "social psychology" tag, it states:

"Questions are addressed both from the individual perspective (American school) and group perspective (European school)."

Is it valid to classify social psychology from an individual perspective as American and social psychology from a group perspective as European?

One introduction to individual and group perspectives can be found here (1) and a more recent discussion of group perspectives in a reflection (2) on the 20th anniversary of the journal Group Processes & Intergroup Relations.

Maybe this distinction is related to a debate in the late 1970s over social psychological theories and methods, in which some authors described others as European/American? (3, 4)

I’m not sure if we as a field ought to continue to use this distinction, regardless of it’s history.

References

  1. Steiner, I. D. (1974). Whatever happened to the group in social psychology?. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10(1), 94-108.

  2. Abrams, D., & Hogg, M. A. (2017). Twenty years of group processes and intergroup relations research: A review of past progress and future prospects. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 20(5), 561-569.

  3. Taylor, D. M., & Brown, R. J. (1979). Towards a more social social psychology?. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 18(2), 173-180.

  4. Tajfel, H. (1979). Individuals and groups in social psychology. British Journal of social and clinical psychology, 18(2), 183-190.

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