ABSTRACT

This chapter explores several ways in which the social psychologist can draw on observations of the past in order to chart certain historical constancies and changes in behaviour. It examines the kinds of evidence available to the psychologist, and considers the problems that need to be addressed if textual and visual materials are to offer a reliable basis for comparing previous actions with those of the present. The chapter shows how historical evidence can be enlisted to explain the present-day distribution of gestures like the headtoss, and it explains how the material contained in etiquette books can be used to compare the practices of the past with those of the present. A classic instance of the use of visual media in historical analysis may be found in the work of Di Jorio. Marwick suggest that 'Social psychology may in some cases be a sine qua non of the intelligent analysis of certain historical problems'.