Economic psychology in the system of sciences. Research methods

The basic fundamental component of economic psychology is general and differential psychology. In addition, economic psychology is closely related to the psychology of the individual, the psychology of labor, age and pedagogical psychology, ethnic psychology, economic sociology, as well as with special scientific and practical disciplines.

These sciences offer the results of numerous studies in the field of mental processes and states, individual differences of people, cultural and socially determined behavior, various theories, patterns, methods of obtaining data. Within the framework of these sciences, the qualities of the human soul, its manifestations and factors influencing the formation of an individual, an individual, psychological mechanisms of our behavior, determined by the influence of other people and situations, mutual communication, etc., are investigated.

General psychology is a theoretical and experimental area of ​​research that reveals the most common psychological patterns, theoretical principles and methods of psychology, its basic concepts and categorical structure.

Differential psychology studies the psychological differences between individuals and groups of people, as well as their causes and consequences. Since in general psychology, researchers turned to the general laws of mental life, the laws that govern all mental processes, in search of the general and the same, infinite diversity cannot be taken into account, in which the essence of the psychic of different personalities, nations, estates, genders, types, etc. d.

At the junction with the psychology of personality and the psychology of individual differences, the influence of individual psychological factors on the perception and assessment of socio-economic phenomena and features of economic behavior of subjects is investigated.

At the junction with the psychology of labor , organizational psychology and psychology of management , the most important problems are: studies of labor motivation and human behavior in the organization, job satisfaction and socio-psychological factors of increasing labor productivity and organizational efficiency.

At the junction with the age and pedagogical psychology, the problems of economic socialization of children and adolescents, economic training and education of children and adults are actively developed.

Ethnocultural and ethnopsychological features of economic consciousness and behavior are studied at the junction with ethnic psychology.

Economic psychology is closely connected with economic sociology and has in many ways a common subject field and a similar structure. The specificity of economic psychology is exceptional attention to subjective, psychological, conscious and unconscious phenomena associated with the reflection of economic activity in a person and the regulation of his economic behavior.

Research methods. Economic psychology has almost no specific research methods . She uses both the methods of other branches of psychology and economic methods.

As the main methodological principles in economic psychology, there is a historical-genetic approach that makes it possible to consider phenomena in the specific historical conditions of their self-development and build a logical scheme of reality with the aim of explaining empirical processes, as well as the principle of a humanitarian-personal approach , allowing to link the evolution of a social organism with a culture type and personality type.

As the methods of research in economic psychology, we can distinguish two main ones: laboratory experiments (various economic games) and field studies conducted in natural conditions.

Logic-theoretical analysis, a method of modeling, are widely used.

The most widely used survey methods adopted in social psychology.

Test questions:

1. What is the history of the emergence and development of economic psychology as an independent and branch of psychological knowledge?

2. What are the subject, object and main directions of research in economic psychology?

3. What is the place of economic psychology in the system of sciences?

4. What is the relationship of economic psychology with other sciences?