review, analyze, and evaluate a completed academic journal article as well as contemporary research in the field of psychology
The primary purpose of this paper is to critically review, analyze, and evaluate a completed academic journal article as well as contemporary research in the field of psychology. The journal article I selected is “Psychology and Social Networks: A dynamic network theory perspective” authored by James Westaby, Danielle Pfaff, and Nicholas Redding. The authors identified the issue surrounding the field of psychology. Despite the relevance of study on the social network, which has recorded exponential growth in recent years, psychologists and the overall field of psychology has shown a relatively slow pace on the explanation of the underlying goal pursuit and various resistance processes affecting the social networks (Westaby, Pfaff & Redding, 2014). The article demonstrated how the perspective of dynamic network theory could be applied to explain how social networks influence the processes and some of the outcomes associated with it, including goal performance, learning, achievement, and emotional contagion, primarily at the interpersonal level of analysis (Westaby, Pfaff & Redding, 2014).
The article presents psychology as a science. It utilizes scientific approaches or techniques, and theoretical perspective to integrate goal pursuit, motivation as well as conflict conceptualization from the field of psychology with the concepts of the social network from sociology and organizational science. This integration is scientifically applied to offer a taxonomy of social network role behaviors, including system supporting, goal striving, system negating, goal preventing, and observing. In the article, psychologists have applied scientific method by stating the question at issue, which is limited research and literature to provide an adequate theoretical explanation of the “motivational foundation underlying goal pursuit and resistance processes” (Westaby, Pfaff & Redding, 2014). The article employs a theory, a dynamic network theory perspective, to provide a theoretical explanation on how social networks influence the resistance processes and some of the outcomes associated with them, such as goal achievement, learning, performance, and emotional contagion. The researchers performed this study at the interpersonal level of analysis. Although the study does not construct rigorous laboratory test or field experiment to examine its hypothesis, it applies for literature review and the dynamic network theory to integrate goal pursuit, conflict conceptualizations, and motivation from psychology with the concepts of social network from organization science and sociology to offer a taxonomy of social network role behaviors (Westaby, Pfaff & Redding, 2014).
The rationale behind selecting this article and focusing on this particular topic is to understand how social networks influence resistance processes, goal pursuit, and related results. Given the fact that this field of psychology has received little research, it is crucial to analyze it and gather significant knowledge about the current and future research needs. New research and discoveries, mainly across multiple social sciences fields, have highlighted that social networks are one of the most influential phenomena with the capabilities of impacting and changing people’s lives. However, the literature fails to provide a critical explanation behind this and also fails to address what gives social networks such as power or how they motivate and facilitate change. Therefore, focusing on this topic is crucial in the field of psychology, primarily because it explores the motivational foundation behind social networks using a dynamic network theory perspective.
The professional role presented in the article is the duty articulated by social-organizational psychology. Social-organization psychology requires all professional psychologists to have the ability to think critically regarding specific real-world issues that face many people and organizations. It is the role of psychologists after identifying the question at issue to professionally design and implement evidence-based solutions responsible for solving the most pressing challenges in organizational life or science and the entire society. The article presents a role to psychologists to approach organizational and social issues from various perspectives and, of course, assess individuals, organizations, and groups. Social networking and social media platforms help professional psychologists facilitate social connections between various professionals and beyond.
Therefore, it is essential to understand how social networking influence goal pursuit and resistance processes, which gives psychology the role to theoretically explain the power of human and goals conflict with significant sophistication in the domain of psychology. Social networking enhances the interaction between professional psychologists and professionals in other fields such as sociology, organizational science, and information science. Although there is no sufficient description of the key underlying conflict mechanisms and goal striving, professionals in these fields have greatly explained the structural properties of social networks (Watts, 2004). They interact through other social network roles, including support from colleagues in teamwork and some of the organizational functioning.
One of the theoretical psychological perspectives presented in the article is the dynamic network theory perspective. Westaby et al. (2014) suggest that this theory seeks to offer an in-depth, comprehensive explanation of the influence that social networks have on organizational or business outcomes, including the goal achievement, performance, performance, learning, and emotional attachment. In Dynamic Network Theory, researchers expertly meld the traditional perspective of social psychology, primarily on individual and collective goals with management or organizational science’s analyses of the institutional responsibility (Westaby et al., 2014). It is of particular interest in the current research, which will apply the Dynamic Network Theory in the combination of approaches and techniques from industrial/organizational psychology, sociology/social psychology, management science, helping skills, and social learning. Dynamic Network Theory is essential for the current study, mainly because it directly infuses various goals into social network analysis.
References
Watts, D. J. (2004). The “new” science of networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 243–270. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.30.020404.104342
Westaby, J. D. (2012b, January). Social networks, social support, and goal pursuit: Testing dynamic network theory. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Westaby, J. D., Pfaff, D. L. & Redding, N. (2014). Psychology and social networks: A dynamic network theory perspective. American Psychological Association, 69(3): 269-284.
Westaby, J. D., & Redding, N. (2014). Social networks, social media, and conflict resolution. In P. T. Coleman, M. Deutsch, & E. C. Marcus(Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (3rded., pp. 998 –1022). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.