Approaching Sociocultural Perspective Of Psychology

Absorbing academic resources from surrounding disciplines is an significant approach for the progress of psychology. Anthropology as one important humanities studying the society and culture comprehensively, is worth thinking deeply about the possible enlightenments for psychology.In history, anthropology uncovered the western centralism which was widespreading in psychology by means of emphasizing the functions of culture and setting out a large amount of cross-cultural evidences. Ultimately, anthropology promoted the revival of psychology’s cultural awareness. But this kind of discusses is still not overall and deep, in this study we attempt to expand and further the enlightenment. To be specific, we will discuss the sociocultural understanding of human being and humanities paradigm in the study of human and human’s psychology-behavior. In addition, many anthropology’s subdisciplines studying psychological phenomenon will be mentioned.As for psychology, human is the fundamental starting point and main goal. The understanding of human being determines the studies of human and human’s psychology and behaviors, and ultimately relates with psychology’s academic standing and ethical value. But as the same time, psychology, which is totally guided by natural science ideas, is inclined to preset human as simplex object, organism and individual. Obviously, these ways of understandings get rid of the extremely important sociocultural dimension. In fact, from the point of view of anthropology, the existence of human being is social and cultural. The phenomenoa of human world ought to discussed within the scope of social and culture rather than biological reasons. Individual’s mental phenomena and behaviors are closely relate with interpersonal interaction and cultural infiltration, as a result the corresponding interpretations require sociocultural structure to comprehensive understanding.In addition,the overemphasizing of human’s biotic and individuality is not only problematical in logic, but also exists ethical dangerous. The study and apply of psychology’s intelligence have conduced serious social consequences.Attribution to the worship of natural science, the sociocultural dimension is wholely ruled out under psychological studies,which lead to psychology’s current predicament. Psychology is really not the uniqueness discipline studying human’s psychology and behavior. In fact, anthropology is behavioural science and contained subdisciplines such as psychological anthropology, cognitive anthropology, sensation anthropology and emotional anthropology. The humanistic approach of understanding and studying human’s psychology-behavior in anthropology is accommodated to the sociocultural essence of human, as a result anthropology’s paradigm deserved attention from psychology. The issues specifically includes, spreading the research topic from laboratory, individual and low-level psychological phenomenoa to sociocultural context and real life scenes;in methodology, from controlled laboratory experiment to ecological strategy, quantivative approach to qualitative method, from limiting in objective method to the respect of issues itself, from limiting with biological and individual to holistic view, in the end, respecting the independent personality of research object rather than instrumental treatment.In all, social and cultue is significant dimensions for psychology,for they reflect this subject’s lack and future. Via the encounter with anthropology, it brings an diverse academic view for psychology. In this process, we reflects the starchiness, noncomprehensive and defects of psychology’s current paradigm. But it must be pointed out that the relationship between anthropology’s perspective and psychology’s current perspective is complementary and interactive rather than totally repudiating or replacing.