Module:                     SOS102 Social Psychology

Programme:              BA in Political Science and Sociology

Credit Value:             12

Module Tutor:           

1. General Objective

This module explores relationship between the individual and society to understand and predict human behaviour. It will explore how our thinking (social cognition) drive our behaviour, how people around us (social forces) influence our behaviour and how we relate to one another. Finally, the module will look at applying social psychology's principles and findings to practical context for sustainable living and happiness.

2. Learning Outcomes

On the completion of the module, learners will be able to:

• Explain the role of social surroundings in shaping self-identity
• Discuss various ways in which we form beliefs about the social world
• Examine the link between our thinking and our actions
• Evaluate the  role  of  cultural  influence,  forces  of  social  conformity, principles of persuasion and group influence in shaping our actions
• Explain why we dislike others and sometimes harm and hurt one another
• Explain why we love or like particular people and offer help to friends or strangers
• Apply social psychological principles that might guide us to sustainable future
• Examine social  psychological  principles  on  understanding  materialism and wealth

3. Learning and Teaching Approach

4. Assessment Approach

Assessments  will  be  carried  out  on  a  continuous  basis  through  the  following assignments:

A. Oral Presentation of Readings: Portion of the final mark: 20%

Each student will present assigned reading in the class for 20 minutes. The Students will highlight key issues and themes from the assigned reading and 

provide a succinct summary. The readings and presentation schedule will be provided to students at the beginning of the semester.

5% - Delivery

8% - Content

2% - Organization

5% - Enthusiasm/Audience Awareness

B. Leading Discussion: Portion of the final mark: 15%

Each student will lead a classroom discussion during tutorial session on a key issue identified at the beginning of the semester.

3% - Preparation

7% - Leading discussion - Question and activities

3% - Engaging audience

2% - Use of visual aids

C. Mid-term Exam: Portion of the final mark: 25%

The exam will be conducted during Week 8 of the semester. Students will attempt objective and long answer questions with total marks of 50. Duration of the examination will be one hour and will include contents covered till Week 7.

10% - Objective/short answer questions

15% - Long answer questions

D. End Semester Exam: Portion of the final mark: 40%

End semester will be conducted after the completion of Week 15. Questions will cover  all  the subject matter  of  the modules. Questions  will  be  divided  into  two sections - A and B separating objective-short answer question and long answer questions. The examination will be for three hours for a total of 100 marks.

15% - Objective/short answer questions

25% - Long answer questions

Overview of the assessment approaches and weighting

Prerequisite: None

5. Subject Matter:

5.1.           Unit I: Introducing Social Psychology

5.1.1.       What is social psychology?

5.1.2.       Central concepts - social thinking, social influence & social relations

5.1.3.       Values and social psychology

5.1.4.       Common sense and social psychology

5.2.           Unit II: Social Thinking

5.2.1.     Self and social world - Self-concept: our sense of self, development of self, self and culture, self-knowledge; Self-esteem, behaviour and cognition: self-esteem motivation, Narcissism, low and secure  self-esteem;   Self-control:  self-efficacy,   locus  of   control, learned helplessness, self-determination; self-serving bias; self- presentation;

5.2.2.       Social beliefs and Judgment – Perceiving our social world: priming, interpreting events, belief perseverance, constructing memories; judging our social world: intuitive judgement, overconfidence, heuristics, counterfactual thinking, illusory thinking, moods and judgments; Explaining social world: attributing causality, attribution error.

5.2.3.       Behaviour  and  attitudes  –  Do  attitudes  predict  behaviour? When behaviour affect attitudes? Role playing, saying and believing, foot-in-the-door  phenomenon,  social  movements;  why  behaviour affect  attitudes?  Impression  management,  Cognitive  dissonance, self-perception

5.3.           Unit III: Social Influence

5.3.1.       Genes, culture and gender – Influence of Natural Diversity: gene, evolution and behaviour, culture and behaviour; Gender Difference: gender and genes, independence vs connectedness, social dominance, aggression, sexuality; Evolution and Gender: gender  and mating preference, evolution psychology,  gender and hormones; Culture and Gender: gender roles variation with culture and over time, peer-transmitted culture; Biology and culture

5.3.2.       Conformity  and  obedience  –  defining  conformity;  review  of classic conformity and obedience studies: Asch's studies of group pressure, Milligram's obedience experiment; predicting conformity: group size, unanimity, cohesion, status, public response, prior commitment; reasons for conforming; who conforms?   Role of personality, culture and social roles;

5.3.3.       Persuasion: Paths to persuasion; elements of persuasion: the communicator, the message content, the channel of communication, the audience; Extreme persuasion: attitudes and behaviour, persuasive  elements,  group  effects;  Resisting  persuasion: Challenging  beliefs,  developing  counterarguments,  attitude inoculating

5.3.4.       Group influence – defining group; social facilitation: presence of others, presence of many others (crowding); reason for arousal in the presence of others; Social loafing; deindividuation; group polarization; group think; influence of individual on group;

5.3.5.       Unit IV: Social Relations

5.3.6.       Prejudice:  defining  prejudice;  implicit  and  explicit  prejudice, gender prejudice; social sources of prejudice: social inequalities, socialization,  institutional  support;  motivational  sources:  frustration and aggression, social identity theory; cognitive sources: classifying people into groups, perceiving people who stand out; consequences: self-fulfilling prophecy, stereotype threat.

5.3.7.     Aggression: Defining aggression; theories of aggression; influences   on   aggression:   arousal,   aggression   cues,   media influences, effect of games, group influence; reducing aggression.

5.3.8.       Attraction   and   intimacy:   What   leads   to   friendship   and attraction? Defining love, enabling close relationships, process of relationships end.

5.3.9.       Helping behaviour: Reason for helping others: social exchange and social norms, evolutionary psychology, genuine altruism; When will we help? Who will help? Personality traits, gender, religious faith; increasing helping: increase responsibility; socializing altruism;

5.4.           Unit V: Applying Social Psychology

5.4.1.       Social psychology and sustainable development: Psychology and climate change; enabling sustainable living; materialism and wealth.

6. Reading List:

6.1.           Essential reading

Aronson, E., Wilson, T., & Akert, R. (2012).Social Psychology (8 edition). Boston: Pearson.

Bogardus, E. S. (2015). Social Psychology Questions: And Readings in Social Psychology. Forgotten Books.

Myers, D. (2012). Social Psychology (11 edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Date: August 2015