Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?

Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?

I have been asked on numerous occasions what is the difference between Psycho-Social approaches to risk and Socio-Psychological approaches to risk. Similarly, there is also some confusion about Organisational Psychology and Social Psychology. The differences are significant and ought not to be confused. All three have a completely different focus in tackling the challenges of risk. For the moment let me just explain the difference between psycho-social risk and the focus of The Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR).

Whenever people study the Introductory module in the Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) they see two slides as follows:

Slide One. Psycho-Social Risk

Slide Two. Social-Psychological Risk

Both Schools of Risk (https://safetyrisk.net/a-great-comparison-of-risk-and-safety-schools-of-thought/ ) have their own validity but have a completely different focus, a complementary focus on the nature of risk at work. Both remain on the margins of the safety industry that is yet to discover a transdisciplinary approach (https://safetyrisk.net/transdisciplinary-safety/ ; https://safetyrisk.net/transdisciplinary-thinking-in-risk-and-safety/ ) to risk.

The next offering of the free Introductory module in SPoR is in September. You can register here: https://cllr.com.au/product/an-introduction-to-the-social-psychology-of-risk-unit-1-free-online-module/

The current cohort are about to finish their eighth session in their studies and I will soon publish their reflections on the value of this study.

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Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

• Ritual Performance and Risk - June 24, 2022
• Asking Better Questions in Risk - June 21, 2022
• The Toxic Language of ‘Performance’ and Risk - June 17, 2022
• The Art of Active Listening in Risk - June 12, 2022
• Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety - June 10, 2022

PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.