Advanced Social Psychology, Fall
2023
|
Class Information |
Instructor Information |
|
PSYCH 6204 |
Helen C. Harton, Ph.D. |
|
Bartlett 34 |
Bartlett 2080 |
|
W 7-9:45pm |
273-2235; harton@uni.edu |
Office Hours: W 2-4; F 11-11:50; whenever I’m around
Course
Information
Course
Learning Outcomes: By the end of
this course, you should be able to:
1) Critically evaluate theory and research
relevant to the major areas of social psychology;
2) Apply theories and research in social
psychology to other topics and to societal issues;
3) Design a study that would adequately test
novel predictions based on previous research and theory;
4) Orally present about and defend your study and
design; and
5) Write a scientific paper that describes this study
using best practices in design, ethics, statistics, and APA style.
Instructor
Course Description: In this
class we will explore several major (and overlapping) areas of social
psychology. Social psychology has been defined as “an attempt to
understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals
are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others"
(Allport, 1954). This course will deal with the theory, research, and
methodology of social psychology, including both classic and contemporary
approaches. We will also talk a lot about the “replication crisis” in social
psychology and what it means for our findings. In addition to the overview of each area provided by the text, we will
usually focus on around three articles or chapters each week in depth. There
are so many choices that no two graduate social psychology courses will ever be
the same, but I chose articles with an eye toward interesting ideas and recent
events/controversies (both in psychology and in the world). The course will primarily be discussion-based,
but I will sometimes give introductions to an area or provide you with further
information about research findings.
Course
Catalog Description: Covers the
major areas of classic and current research in social psychology. Students
engage in an in-depth, critical analysis of the research in areas including,
but not limited to, conformity, obedience, social norms, social cognition,
interpersonal relationships, aggression, and helping behavior. Substantial
proportion of the course focuses on social cognition. Examines the
socio-historical context of social psychology and the application of social
psychological research. Prerequisite(s): an undergraduate course in social
psychology; graduate standing in psychology or consent of instructor.
Course
Policies
Makeup and Late Paper Policies: Class discussion grades cannot be made up, but you can drop your one lowest one. You can also drop your lowest discussion point grade. In addition, you can turn in one discussion point paper up to 24 hours late with no penalty. Other assignments will be accepted up to two days (days, not business days) past the due date, but one letter grade will be deducted for each day until they are turned in. Note the exact times things are due on Blackboard—after that time counts as the next day. Plan ahead and don’t wait until the last minute to finish (or start) assignments, in case something unexpected arises. If there are extenuating circumstances, talk to me—it’s always better to address things than to put them off.
Attendance Policy: It’s expected that if you’re able to, you’ll attend class, but if you need to self-isolate (e.g., for COVID exposure), we can temporarily have you attend virtually. You have one automatic drop for class discussion grades. If you need to miss more than one class because of illness, etc., just talk to me. We’ll figure something out. Don’t come to class sick or contagious.
Academic Ethics Policy Statement: You should read and make sure you follow the Academic
Ethics Policy (http://www.uni.edu/policies/301).
Cheating and plagiarism of any kind or amount will result in lowered
grades, up to and including a possible disciplinary F in the course. Plagiarism/cheating
includes using a paper from another class or that you have worked on with
another faculty member, student, or other person to fulfill a requirement in
this class, quoting or too closely paraphrasing material in a paper without
proper attribution, using secondary citation sources for primary citations,
using AI to generate parts of essays or papers, or looking at or using any
prohibited information during tests. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse. If you have any questions about what is
acceptable, ask.
Weather/Illness-related Policies: If class must become virtual at any time during the
semester for any reason, including university directive, cancellation due to
weather, and/or instructor illness, the default response will be to meet via
Zoom during regular class time. Check your email at that time for further
information.
Diversity and Inclusion Policy: We are lucky to have diversity in class, as it
makes our discussions richer and our understanding of social psychology more
nuanced. My intention in the course and all that I do is to be respectful of
various types of diversity, including but not limited to gender, sexuality,
disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion, political
orientation, and culture. Please let me know if you have thoughts or concerns
or ideas on how to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally
or for other students or student groups. In addition, if any of our class
meetings conflict with your religious events, please let me know so that we can
make arrangements for you.
Classroom Civility Policy: It is important that we discuss topics calmly
and respectfully. We want to have an open setting where everyone feels free to
contribute, where no one tries to dominate the conversations, and where we all
remain open to other’s ideas. Ad hominem comments are not appropriate.
Credit Hour Statement: This course meets the Course Credit Hour
Expectation outlined in the Course Catalog. Students should expect to work a
minimum of 2 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Because this is a graduate course, the expectation is that you will work
approximately 4 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Required
Readings
We will use parts of
two different undergraduate social psychology textbooks to provide you with
background on the topic each week. You should read these, even if you took an
undergraduate social psychology course before. Both books are free and open
access. Links to the books are in the syllabus with the individual reading
assignments. Make sure you read all of each assigned chapter.
Anonymous (2015). Principles of
social psychology. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialpsychology/
Biswas-Diener, R., Diener, E. (2016). Together:
The science of social psychology. Noba. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/together-the-science-of-social-psychology
Additional chapters and
articles assigned for each week are listed in the course schedule below. Those
that are not available freely online (check ahead of time—these things change!)
using your UNI account can be found in Blackboard.
**Bring the readings to class with you when we discuss that topic (hard
copy or electronic).
Course Elements and Expectations
Class discussion: Active class discussion is essential to the functioning of the class. You are expected to contribute meaningfully (thoughtful, relevant, critical comments) to class discussions. While mere attendance is not enough to get a good grade for this component, it is imperative in that you can’t participate if you’re not here. You should read the readings carefully and critically before class and come to class with specific questions or comments about each of them to add to the discussion. Think about things like how the research or theory relates to other research you know about, how you could test the theory, criticisms and solutions of the theory or area, etc. I will drop your one lowest discussion grade. Participation (frequency and quality) will be graded each week on roughly the following scale:
0 = not there
2 = attended but didn’t participate, or turned in, but not very relevant (below average; C-)
3 = comments or questions relevant, but didn’t involve much insight (average; B-)
4 = comments or questions relevant and insightful (good; A-)
5 = more than one comment or question showed a significant contribution (outstanding; full credit)
You will also turn in at least four written discussion points each week (covering all of the readings for that week). This assignment is designed to help you prepare for discussion and better articulate your thoughts on the readings. Discussion points will be graded on the same scale as class discussion. Your discussion points are due each Tuesday by noon and should be uploaded in Blackboard. The discussion points will count for 50% of your discussion grade. I may call on you in class to talk about your discussion points, so bring them to class. Your lowest score will be dropped.
For more information on class discussion grading, click here.
Midterm and final essays: There will be two exams in which you’ll answer essay questions about class material. Essay questions will be provided at least two weeks before they are due.
Research proposal: This original proposal should be based on one or more social psychological theories (they don’t have to be ones discussed in class, but make sure you check with me early on whether your theory is appropriate for this assignment) and add to the literature in the area. For this paper, you can either 1) choose a theory and propose a study to test a new prediction from the theory (this may take the form of extending or limiting the theory); 2) choose two or more theories and design a study to integrate them, either showing that they would lead to similar predictions or differentiating conditions under which they would lead to conflicting predictions; or 3) apply a theory to a research area to which it has not been previously applied (e.g., your area of interest). The proposals should contain an abstract, a relevant and focused literature review (at least 7-8 pages), a detailed method section, a results section with proposed analyses and expected results, a discussion section examining the implications and limitations of your expected findings, references, and appendices with any questionnaires or measures you designed. The paper should be in excellent APA style. Papers with APA style or citation errors will be returned for you to fix, and late points will be deducted until the corrected paper is turned back in. Topics (a written description of your general idea) will be due September 27, and the final paper will be due on December 4. I will be happy to read and give comments on (fairly complete) rough drafts, but you have to turn them to me by November 1 to get this feedback. I am also happy to meet with you anytime during the semester to discuss your proposal. If you have any questions about whether a paper topic is appropriate for any reason, ask me about it. Obviously, proposals for projects that you are working on with other faculty or students or for another class are not appropriate for this assignment, but you can do something related to (but different from) your thesis or do something that may become your thesis.
Click here for a rubric that explains what I expect to see in each section and here for a level-based rubric.
Presentation: During one of the last class sessions, you will
present your proposal to the class (background, method, expected results, what
they would mean, etc.). Your presentation, which should include PowerPoint-type
slides, should last about 15 minutes, followed by a discussion of the proposal
by the class. You should integrate any helpful comments from the class into
your proposal before you turn it in.
For more information on the presentation, click here and for a level-based
rubric, click here.
Grading
The components of your final grades are as
follows:
Class discussion/papers 35% Final grades will be distributed as follows:
Midterm essays 15% 93-100 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 =
B+;
Final essays 15% 83-86 = B; etc.
Research proposal 25%
Proposal presentation 10%
Course
Schedule
*not
available online (see Blackboard). For most, but not all, articles that are
available through the library, you can click on the doi
link. Otherwise, you can paste the title in google scholar or PsychInfo to locate it.
August 23 Introduction: History, Theory,
and Methodology
*Ellsworth, P. C. (2004). Clapping with both hands: Numbers, people, and simultaneous hypotheses. In J. T. Jost, M. R. Banaji, & D. A. Prentice (Eds.), Perspectivism in social psychology: The yin and yang of scientific progress (pp. 261-273). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10750-019
Lakens, D. (2023, July 24). Concerns about replicability, theorizing, applicability, generalizability, and methodology across two crises in social psychology. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dtvs7
Lewis, N. A., Jr. (2021). What counts as good science? How the battle for methodological legitimacy affects public psychology. American Psychologist, 76(8), 1323-1333. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000870
Sullivan, D. (2020). Social psychological theory as history: Outlining the critical-historical approach to theory. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(1) 78-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868319883174
August
30 The Self
Pyszczynski, T., Lockett, M., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (2021). Terror management theory and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(2), 173-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167820959488
Malte, F., Loscheider, D. D., Gleseler, K., Frankenbach, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2019). Is ego depletion real? An analysis of arguments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23(2), 107-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868318762183
Hamann, K. R. S., Wullenkord, M. C., Reese, G., & van Zomeren, M. (2023). Believing that we can change our world for the better: A triple-a (agent, action, aim) framework of self-efficacy beliefs in the context of collective social and ecological aims. Personality and Social Psychology Review, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683231178056
September 6 Culture
Biswas-Diener
& Thin; Tsai (2 modules)
Kitamaya, S., Salvador, C. E., Nanakdewa,
K., Rossmaier, A., San Martin, A., & Savani, K. (2022). Varieties of interdependence and the
emergence of the modern West: Toward the globalizing of psychology. American Psychologist, 77(9), 991-1006. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0001073
Krys, K., Vignoles, V.
L., de Almeida, I., & Uchida, U. (2022). Outside the “cultural binary:”
Understanding why Latin American collectivist societies foster independent
selves. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 17(4), 1166-1187. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211029632
September
13 Social Cognition
Chapters 2 and 6 and Garcia & Halldorsson
*Pennycook. G. (2023). A framework for understanding reasoning errors: From fake news to climate change and beyond. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 67, 131-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2022.11.003
Jost, J. T. (2019). A quarter century of system
justification theory: Questions, answers, criticisms, and societal
applications. British Journal of Social
Psychology, 58(2), 263-314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12297
Crandall, C. S., & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 414-446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.414
Paluck, E. L., Porat, R., Clark, C. S., & Green, D. P. (2021). Prejudice reduction: Progress and challenges. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 533-560. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-071620-030619
Najdowski, C.
J. (2023). How the “Black criminal” stereotype shapes Black people’s
psychological experience of politicking: Evidence of stereotype threat and
remaining questions. American
Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0001159
(use PsychArticles to find this one)
September
27 Attitudes
Hornsey, M. J. (2020). Why facts are not enough: Understanding and managing the motivated rejection of science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(6), 583-591. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420969364
*Bal-Tal, D., Hameiri, B., & Halperin, E., (2021). Paradoxical thinking as a paradigm of attitude change in the context of intractable conflict. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 63, 129-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2020.11.003
Ajzen, I., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). Reasoned action in the service of goal pursuit. Psychological Review, 126(5), 774-786. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000155
Paper ideas due
October 4
Midterm essays
due
October
11 Morality
*Effron D. A.,
& Helgason, B. A. (2023). Moral inconsistency. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,
67, 1-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2022.11.001
Skitka, L. J., Hanson, B. E., Morgan, G. S., & Wisneski, D. C. (2021). The psychology of moral conviction.
Annual Review of Psychology, 72,
347-366. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-063020-030612
October 18 Social Influence
Gelfand, M. J., Harrington, J. R., & Jackson, J. C. (2017). The strength of social norms across human groups. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 800-809. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617708631
Spears, R. (2021). Social influence and group identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 367-390. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-070620-111818
October
25 Groups and Cultural Emergence
Greenway, K. H., & Cruwys, T. (2019). The source model of group threat: Responding to internal and external threats. American Psychologist, 74(2), 218-231. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000321
Varnum, M. E. W., & Grossmann, I. (2017). Cultural change: The how and why. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 956-972. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699971
*Harton, H. C., Bourgeois, M. J., & Gunderson, M. (2022). “I’ll be there with you”: Social influence and cultural emergence at the Capitol on January 6. Group Dynamics, 26(3), 220-238. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/gdn0000185
November
1 Relationships
Franklin & Zebrowitz; Lambert; Brannan & Mohr; Fraley (4 modules)
*Arriaga, X., Kumashiro, M., Simpson, J. A., & Overall, N. (2018). Revising working models across time: Relationship situations that enhance attachment security. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(1), 71-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317705257
Walter, K. V., Conroy-Beam, D., Buss, D. M., Asao, K., Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P, Aavik, T., Akello, G., Alhabahba, M. M., Alm, C., Amjad, N., Anjum, A., Atama, C. S., Atamturk Dyar, D., Ayebare, R., Batres, C., Bendixen, M., Bensafia, A., Bizumic, A.,…Zupancic, M. (2020). Sex differences in mate preferences across 45 countries: A large scale replication. Psychological Science, 31(4), 408-423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620904154
November 8 Helping and Happiness
Phillpot, R., Liebst, L. S.,
Levine, M., Bernasco, W., & Lindegaard,
J. R. (2019). Would I be helped? Cross-national CCTV footage shows that
intervention is the norm in public conflicts. American Psychologist, 75(1), 66-75. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000469
Oishi, S., & Westgate, E. C. (2022). A psychologically rich life: Beyond happiness and meaning. Psychological Review, 129(4), 790-811. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/rev0000317
DeYoung, C. G., Tiberius, V. (2022). Value-fulfillment from a cybernetic perspective; A new psychological theory of well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 27(1), 3-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683221083777
November 15 Aggression and Rejection
Gul, P., Cross, S. E., & Uskul, A. K. (2021). Implications of culture of honor theory and research for practitioners and prevention researchers. American Psychologist, 76(3), 502-515. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000653
Wamser-Nanney, R. (2021). Understanding gun violence: Factors associated with beliefs regarding guns, gun policies, and gun violence. Psychology of Violence, 11(4), 349-353. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000392
*Williams, K. D., & Nida, S. A. (2022). Ostracism
and social exclusion: Implications for separation, social isolation, and loss. Current Opinion in Psychology, 47, 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101353
November 29
Student presentations
December 4
Paper due
December 6 Political Partisanship, Terrorism, and Extremism
Clark, C. J., Liu, B. S., Winegard, B. M., & Ditto, P. H. (2019). Tribalism is human nature. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(6), 587-592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419862289
*Gibson, J. T., & Haritos-Fatouros, M. (1986). The education of a torturer. Psychology Today, 20, 50-58.
*Bandura, A. (2004). The role of selective moral disengagement in terrorism and counterterrorism. In F. M. Moghaddam & A. J. Marsella (Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions (pp. 121-150). American Psychological Association.
Atran, S. (2021). Psychology of transnational terrorism and
extreme political conflict. Annual Review
of Psychology, 72, 471-501. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050800
van den Bos, K. (2020). Unfairness and radicalization. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 563-588. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050953
December 13
Final essays due
Resources
and University Policy Statements
Further
information and required syllabus statements related to free speech,
non-discrimination, student accessibility services, and the Learning Center are
available at https://provost.uni.edu/syllabus-statements.