The article deals with two of the first social-psychological conceptions, addressing the analysis of human behavior in a large social group; the socio-cultural and intellectual context of their occurrence is defined; a comparative analysis of the main provisions of these conceptions is carried out. The role of these concepts in the development of subject fields of social psychology is evaluated. Notes the importance of “subjective method” N.K. Michailovskiy for the future of methodological search within social constructionism.