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Social Psychology

Module description

Social psychology seeks to understand how people think, feel and act in relation to others and the world around them. As such, the topics of interest to social psychologist cover almost everything humans do, from personal choices to conflict and violence in society. Because social psychology is applicable to so many domains, it is also directly relevant to everyday life – by learning about social psychology, inevitably you also learn something about yourself. This module is structured to provide you with a good oversight of some of the key topics in social psychology. Specific areas will be introduced each week; together we will identify why it is important and discuss classic and contemporary theories and research that have tried to understand that topic from a social psychological perspective.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to provide you with a good understanding in some of the key areas of social psychology. Taught content will explore social psychological phenomena as they relate to individuals (e.g., the self), group behaviour (e.g., social influence, leadership), and important social issues (e.g., prejudice). Key theories and classic and contemporary studies will be identified and discussed. The taught content will give you an understanding of how social psychological thinking has developed across time and, more generally, the module will aim to develop your ability to engage critically with social psychological research, and give you experience of writing about social psychological research. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand key theories in the field of social psychology and ways in which they can be applied to explain social problems
• 2. Identify the variety of methods used in social psychology and engage with contemporary debates about measurement methods
• 3. Understand how to use quantitative methods to test hypotheses and gain experience of writing a research report

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Acquire basic and essential factual and conceptual knowledge of the subject, and demonstrate understanding of this knowledge
• 5. Review and evaluate published work and identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of this work
• 6. Address well-defined problems systematically, think critically and creatively, and appreciate the complexities of the issues
• 7. Explain and apply essential principles in designing research, evaluate and analyse empirical evidence, and assess the reliability of empirical evidence using defined techniques

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Manage information, to collect appropriate information from a range of sources and undertake essential study tasks under guidance
• 9. Take responsibility for your own learning with appropriate support
• 10. Apply methods accurately and carefully to a well-defined problem and begin to appreciate the complexity of the issues

Syllabus plan

This module will examine major themes and theories in social psychology with particular relevance to individuals, group processes, organisational and social issues. Theories in personality and social psychology will be explored as explanatory models in the context of the particular phenomena and classes of behaviour covered in the lectures. There will be a particular focus on evaluating classic studies of social psychology and how they have shaped more contemporary research.

Indicative examples of what may be covered include:

• Introduction to social psychology
• Group membership and intergroup relations
• Social influence
• Leadership
• Stereotypes
• Prejudice
• Pro-social behaviour

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Three assessments are required for this module. Where you have been referred/deferred in assessments you will be required to resubmit them. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%; deferred marks are not capped.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Indicative basic reading list:

• Baron, R. A., Branscombe, N. R., and Byrne, D. (2009). Social Psychology (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Key words search

Psychology, social