Page 26 - Сигурност и отбрана - брой 2 - 2023

Сигурност и отбрана, брой 2, 2023 г. Научно списание

Viewed from the perspective of the individual in society, social
psychology analyses social roles, which are defined as sets of realizable
qualities of the individual, related to other members of the social group in
each social situation. From the point of view of the society, the social role of
the person is the set of attitudes and characteristic behaviors expected of an
individual who occupies a specific position or performs a particular function
in a social context, such as being a spouse or acting as a caregiver for an
aging parent. Both perspectives lead to the thesis that social roles are socio-
psychological characteristics of personality. All social qualities, abilities,
properties, features, and characteristics are determined by different factors:
genetic factors, circumstances, experience, and situational factors. All of
them determine the social roles that the personality performs in the social
world.
A central place in psychology is occupied by the question of the identity
of the person. Self-identification has two main aspects:
Personal identity, which represents self-identification through one’s
own qualities: physical, volitional, intellectual, emotional, and social
identity, in which a person defines him/herself through belonging to real and
virtual social communities. Identity formation, according to Erik Erikson, is
an extremely long period, especially in adolescence and youth. Then the
striving for social identity appears in full force, including self-evaluation and
self-awareness of oneself as a part of society, respectively as a member of
certain social groups.
The well-known test of T. McPartland and M. Kuhn (1954) for personal
identification and identification of the contents of the self-concept include
many indicators from the social sphere. The research itself shows that a
person, answering the question "Who am I?" or "What am I?" rather
identifies him/herself as belonging to different groups than looking into
one’s own mental qualities.
Social identity, on the other hand, is multiple, since a person
simultaneously perceives oneself a member of different groups. When
identifying him/herself socially, one is included not only in the opposition
“I – others", but also in a series of social binary oppositions: “we – them”,
“similar to us – different from us”, “ours – theirs”.
People make decisions on both minor and major issues which are based
on social situations that influence their behaviour. Human cognition is
completely rational since everyone strives to do everything possible to be
right. People are always trying to understand their own social world and to
make it better. Aristotle said, “Man is by nature a social animal” who lives
in an environment saturated with messages and providing a rich opportunity

for decision-making. The place that a given social group occupies in society
determines the character of the set of social relations. These social relations,
affected by interpersonal relations, influence the person and his/her attitude

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