Social Psychology

Catalog description

The discipline of social psychology can be described as the study of the "power of the situation." Although we like to think that our behavior and our attitudes are freely chosen by us, this course illuminates how powerful outside situational forces can be in shaping both. It involves the understanding of how people influence, and are influenced by, others around them; how we form impressions of others and of ourselves; what determines our attraction to others (or lack thereof); why we help one another, and why we hurt one another. In addition to a basic understanding of these phenomena, an equally important goal is to develop critical and integrative ways of thinking about theories and research in social psychology.