What is social about social cognition?

Abstract

Interest in social cognition is one of the major new developments in social psychology in recent years. This paper argues for a radically expanded view of social cognition as not merely the information‐processing analysis of social domains, but as a field genuinely devoted to the study of the relationship between individual cognition and socio‐cultural representations. Social cognition as a field of research thus has the unique potential of unifying the hitherto separated individual and social realms in psychology. Four relevant lines of argument are considered: (1) The implications of the currently dominant information‐processing metaphor are contrasted with traditional social psychological theories. (2) Next, the historical roots of social cognition research in sociology, psychology and phenomenology are outlined, in support of an expanded conceptualization of the field. (3) The expansion of current research in three specific directions is suggested, to include ( a ) developmental, ( b ) affective and motivational, and ( c ) collective processes in social cognition. (4) The methodological implications of this expanded view of social cognition are discussed. It is concluded that a genuinely social approach to cognition as advocated here is not only congruent with historical formulations, but also offers exciting new opportunities for empirical research in social psychology.

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