Social psychology refers to society’s state of mind on the macro level dispersed among the whole community or social groups in a period of time, underlies key economic, judicial and social issues affecting society.

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Social psychology underlies key economic, judicial and social issues affecting society. Innovations in social governance need to take into account the ways in which social mentality changes over time.
Social governance is the overlapping research area of sociology, management science, politics and many others disciplines. Efforts to foster social development and good governance have used sociology, which can enrich research and analyze social mentality.

Yang Yiyin, a research fellow from the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said research on the characteristics and changes in social mentality brought by social changes underlies a more deepened understanding of the social phenomena, conflicts and contradictions that are occurring in the current social transformation. In recent years, the concept of social psychology has become widely accepted but at the same time bewildering and vague. Social psychology refers to society’s state of mind at the macro level dispersed among the whole community or social groups in a period of time, and the sum of social emotional feelings, consensus and values, Yang added.

Wang Junxiu, a research fellow from the Institute of Sociology at CASS, pointed out that in general, the core questions that sociology deals with are related to social mentality and structure. Sociology and social psychology are parallel concepts in terms of social governance, Wang said.

Luo Jin, a psychological professor from Capital Normal University, said laws and virtues are the two basic tools that can be used to improve social governance. The basic strategy of social psychological construction is “governing by virtue.” Compared with “governing by law,” “governing by virtue” is more broad and basic, Luo said.

Finding proper paths for the healthy development of social psychology is crucial to researching the psychological basis of social governance.

The core of social psychological construction should include the following five aspects: First, the basic needs of the community. Facing a deteriorating ecological environment and growing energy crisis, simple lifestyles should be promoted while excessive, extravagant, non-sustainable needs should be restrained. Second, objective social cognition. Social psychological theories consider the social abilities of thinking and reflection as a sign of social growth and maturity. Third, a healthy social mood. Social mood is an emotional experience shared by a group of people or the majority of the society. It is the power of social solidarity and cohesion, which helps people avoid social alienation and achieve social integration, thus promoting social progress. Fourth, positive social values. With the development of society, the core values of society will have certain tendencies. The healthy development of society will facilitate easier attainment of social consensus and shared emotions, which constitute the core values of society. Fifth, higher social cohesion. For a healthy society, the basic social needs are met, and the community has consensus, shared values and social emotions. In this way, society can be united, cooperative-oriented, with more social cohesion, so that society continues to grow and progress.

Research on online social mentality has become an important part of social psychological mechanisms. Zhang Zhian, dean of the School of Communication and Design of Sun Yat-sen University, said research on online social attitudes should be conducted according to evaluation indexes founded on the three aspects of value systems, social feelings and group behavior tendencies. Meanwhile, evaluation index systems of networked public opinion fields should be established to look at the attitudes and opinions of Internet users.

Examinations of online social psychology are mainly conducted through the following perspectives: First, multiple contexts, which mean to describe social mentality of Internet users in normal and abnormal conditions via network surveys and big data analysis of networked public opinion. Second, multiple groups. This refers to comparing and analyzing the social psychology of Internet users coming from different occupations, age groups, educational background and residential areas. Third, multiple aspects. This refers to inspecting social mentality of Internet users in terms of values, social feelings and group behavior.

 

 

 ZHANG CHUNHAI and SU PEI are reporters at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.