SOCI 320 Social Psychology
Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads; and social psychology analyzes these connections by studying everyday thinking, social influences and social relations. Students will explore the various ways people think about, affect, and relate to one another. The course is structured to promote depth of understanding, integration, and creativity. The course will cover topics such as the social self-concept, perceptions, attitudes, influence, conformity, aggression, helping behavior, and interpersonal relationships. This course has the following two goals: (1) to improve students' understanding of social psychological explanations for social influence and interaction and (2) to improve students' understanding of the research methodologies commonly used to understand social influence and interaction. Students will be engaged in the discussion of main questions that social psychologists tackle, social psychological theories, and research (its methods, its findings, and the underlying principles we have learned). The major activities and assignments are purposeful to stimulate students to think about the implications of this research for our everyday lives and for our understanding of various social problems.