What’s this about?

You’re at a party – the most lit one this side of 2019. The partygoers have broken off into different groups. Off in a corner, two lovers are busily taking a game of tonsil tennis into overtime. Suddenly, the police come to investigate reports of a stolen wallet; but no one claims to know anything. If you’re a budding social psychologist, you might find yourself asking the following questions:

  • How did those partygoers form their different groups?
  • What kind of romantic relationship do the lovers have with each other? And what does that mean for their future?
  • How will the police deal with the partygoers, and what implications does that have on how the partygoers will respond?
  • Ok, no, seriously. WTF is this class about?

If you didn’t ask these questions, that just means you’re not a nerd; but by the end of this course, you will be (a nerd and asking those questions)!

The purpose of this course is to help you gain a better understanding of the numerous ways in which our behaviours are actually impacted by our environment, and not just as a manifestation of our personalities. We will equip you with the theories with which you can understand both your and others’ thoughts and behaviours in a more scientific manner. As part of this learning process, this course will help you learn how to read and critique the primary sources of this field – journal articles in social psychology.

When the course ends, students successfully meeting the course requirements will be able to:

  • Identify and explain social psychological explanations of human behaviour
  • Apply social psychological theories to explain human behaviour and real-world issues
  • Understand how social psychology is different from, similar to, and contributes to, other fields of studies
  • Use the school’s library resources to locate empirical journal articles
  • Understand and critically analyse published empirical journal articles

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