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Social Psychology
Psychology 227 - 01 | Spring 2014 | Stein 216
WF 12:30 – 1:45pm
"The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson. Often it is not so much the kind of person a man
is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act."
~ Stanley Milgram (c. 1974)
Professor:
Office:
Phone:
Office Hours:
Email:
Stephenie Chaudoir, Ph.D.
Beaven 326
508.793.3620
Monday 1:00 – 3:00pm, Wednesday 2:00 - 4:00 pm
schaudoi@holycross.edu
REQUIRED COURSE TEXTS
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D. & Akert, R. M. (2013). Social Psychology (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall. [ISBN: 9780105796625]
ADDITIONAL READINGS (pdfs available via Moodle)
Balcetis, E., & Dunning, D. (2007). Cognitive dissonance and the perception of natural environments.
Psychological Science, 18, 917-921. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02000.x
Burger, J. M. (2009). Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today? American Psychologist, 64, 1-11.
doi: 10.1037/a0010932
Galinsky, A. D., Magee, J. C., Inesi, M. E., & Gruenfeld, D. H. (2006). Power and perspectives not taken.
Psychological Science, 17, 1068-1074. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01824.x
Jordan, C. H., & Zanna, M. P. (1999). How to read a journal article in social psychology. In R. F. Baumeister
(Ed.), The Self in Social Psychology (pp. 461-470). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Nier, J. A. (2012). Taking sides: Clashing views in social psychology (Ch. 19, 20). New York: McGraw Hill.
Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: How the new personalized web is changing what we read and how we
think (Ch. 4). New York: Penguin.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1996). How to Think Like a Social Scientist (pp. 1 – 18). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Plant, E. A., & Peruche, B. M. (2005). The consequence of race for police officers’ responses to criminal
suspects. Psychological Science, 16, 180-183. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00800.x
Zinn, H. (1970/2009). The problem is civil obedience. The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and
Democracy. New York: Seven Stories Press.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Social psychology is the scientific study of the way in which our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are
influenced by the actual or imagined presence of other people. In this course, you will be introduced to
the field of social psychology. We will explore a number of theories, examine the research used to
substantiate and refute these theories, and observe how social psychological principles emerge in
everyday life situations.
In this course, we will peer into the hearts and minds of human beings and use our own life experiences to
understand social psychological principles. However, we will adopt a scientific approach to weed out
commonly accepted folk wisdom that is sometimes wrong or contradictory (e.g., Do “birds of a feather
flock together” or do “opposites attract”?). The topics we’ll study come right out of daily life: How do we
form impressions of other people? Why do people conform? How do attitudes affect behavior? What are
the causes of interpersonal attraction and love? What are the psychological underpinnings of aggression
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and helping behavior? What are the social psychological processes involved in stereotyping, prejudice,
and discrimination?
COURSE ORGANIZING THEMES
The course will emphasize three main themes of social psychology. When trying to understand human
behavior:
1. Perception is typically more informative than “objective reality.”
2. The situation is often a powerful (and underestimated) determinant.
3. Human needs are strong motivators.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Although I hope you walk away from this course with a variety of new perspectives, improved skills, and a
new outlook on your own personal experiences, there are three main objectives for this course:
1. Demonstrate a mastery of social psychological concepts and theory.
2. Understand the empirical methods social psychologists utilize in order to test their hypotheses
and develop theory.
3. Apply social psychological principles and perspectives to better understand human behavior and,
especially, how behavior contributes to enduring and emergent problems of social injustice.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Exams (160 points): There will be three in-class exams including the final exam. Each of the first two
exams will cover material from its respective third of course material (worth 50 points each). The
third and final exam will cover material from the final third of the course AND include one additional
cumulative writing component (worth an additional 10 points, for a total of 60 points). Exams may
consist of multiple choice items, short answer questions, and essays. Questions on the exam will come
from lectures, readings, assignments, films, and activities—anything covered in class or in any of the
readings is fair game.
2. Response Papers (50 points). There will be five brief response papers that will ask you to apply
course concepts to your life. Most will involve some brief activity, followed by a 1-page response.
Additional details will be provided in class.
#1 – Self-Fulfilling Prophesy: Describe a past experience of a self-fulfilling prophesy.
#2 – Terror Management Theory: Describe your worldviews and how they provide meaning.
#3 – Implicit Association Test: Complete an IAT and describe what your findings mean.
#4 – Social Norm Violation: Violate a social norm and describe your experience.
#5 – Day of Compassion: Try living with total compassion towards all living beings for one day.
3. Participation (20 points). To ‘participate’ means to take part or share in something. In the context of
this class, participation will take many forms, and it includes both what you contribute to and what
you detract from the course experience (as experienced by both your colleagues and your professor).
Participation points will be assigned based on the following:
 Completion of in- and out-of-class activities
 Regular, quality contributions to class discussions
 Reading and commenting on the course blog
 Refraining from texting, web-browsing, and other misuses of technology
 Attendance
 Utilizing appropriate email etiquette
 Other behaviors that contribute to the course experience (e.g., contributing new videos,
examples, etc.)
 Participation justification papers
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Participation points will be awarded at two times during the semester, representing amount and
quality of participation in the preceding half of the semester.
4. Blog Analysis (10 points). Part of the excitement of a social psychology course is that it provides a
new lens through which to observe your own social life and the world around you. In order to provide
us with another outlet to share our collective observations, I will ask each of you to contribute to a
course blog. During your selected week, I will ask you to write an analysis in which you integrate the
following: a) a relevant course concept, b) your own life experience or relevant societal happening,
and c) information from a published social psychological experiment that extends your knowledge
about this topic (which you’ve identified via PsycInfo).
5. Outside Lecture (10 points). There are a number of on-campus lectures that relate to our course
content. I will ask you to attend ONE of the below lectures (others may be added at a later date) and
write a 1-page response outlining what you learned from the talk and how it relates to this course.
Please submit responses at the beginning of the first class period following the lecture.
Thurs., Feb. 27, 7:00pm (Rehm Library) – Joshua Greene, Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the
Gap Between Us and Them
Thurs., March 27, 4:30pm (Rehm Library) – Lisa Dodson, The Moral Underground: How Ordinary
Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy
Wed., April 2, 7:00pm (Rehm Library) – CJ Pascoe, Notes on a Moral Masculinity: Rethinking
Relationships between Homophobia, Heterosexism and Sexual Violence
Thurs., April 3, 4:30pm (Levis Browsing Room in Dinand Library) – Margot Weiss, Visions of
Sexual Justice
OTHER IMPORTANT POLICIES
No Late Assignments
Much of your life’s success depends on being able to produce “deliverables” in a specified amount of time.
In order to help you refine your ability to meet deadlines, I have a strict NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS policy.
I’m not kidding, either. I will not accept any late assignments unless you have an appropriately
documented emergency situation.
Academic Dishonesty
Per college guidelines, I enforce ZERO TOLERANCE for academic dishonesty. Any instance of academic
dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the assignment or exam. All instances of academic dishonesty
will be reported to the department chair and Class Dean who will administer the procedures outlined in
the College’s official Academic Honesty Policy which may result in further penalization. For further
information, visit this document: http://www.holycross.edu/catalog/academic-honesty-policy.pdf
 Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrative material, or statements of
someone else, without full and proper acknowledgment, and presenting them as one’s own.
 Cheating is the use of improper means or subterfuge to gain credit or advantage. Forms of
cheating include the use, attempted use, or improper possession of unauthorized aids in any
examination or other academic exercise submitted for evaluation; the fabrication or falsification
of data; misrepresentation of academic or extracurricular credentials; and deceitful performance
on placement examinations. It is also cheating to submit the same work for credit in more than
one course, except as authorized in advance by the course instructors, or to submit the same work
completed by anyone other than oneself.
 Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another student in an act of academic dishonesty.
Absences
In cases of unforeseen absence, you should contact me as soon as possible. Coursework (e.g., assignments,
exams) that occurs during these absences will only be accepted or rescheduled in the event that you have
an extenuating circumstance (e.g., medical emergency, death in the family) that is also documented by
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your Class Dean. Arrangements for foreseen absences (e.g., participation in college-sponsored athletic
events) should be made with me well in advance of the anticipated absence.
Educational Accommodations
My goal is to create a classroom environment that is conducive to everyone’s success. If there is an
accommodation that will optimize your learning experience, please provide me with appropriate
documentation from the Office of Disability Services. If you require special accommodations for exams,
please contact me at least two weeks in advance in order to make appropriate arrangements.
Extra Credit
There may be opportunities to earn extra credit by attending campus speakers, participating in optional
research studies, or completing other course-relevant activities. There are no guarantees on the
availability of these opportunities, but I will notify you about these opportunities as they arise. Up to 5
points of extra credit will be counted towards your final grade.
GRADING
Activity
Exams ([50 x 2] + 60)
Response Papers
Participation
Blog Post
Outside Lecture
Total Points Possible
Points
160
50
20
10
10
250
Grade Percentage
64%
20%
8%
4%
4%
100%
Final Percentage
Final Grade
93.00 – 100.00%
A
90.00 – 92.99%
A87.00 – 89.99%
B+
83.00 – 86.99%
B
80.00 – 82.99%
B77.00 – 79.99%
C+
73.00 – 76.99%
C
70.00 – 72.99%
C67.00 – 69.99%
D+
60.00 – 66.99%
D
59.99% or below
F
Notes: Please keep in mind that I do not round up grades. The course percentage you earn determines the
final course grade you receive. Also, note that I do not apply any special weighting of grades, so you can
always calculate your current course grade (total points earned / total points possible) so that you know
where you stand in this course.
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Spring 2014 pg. 5
COURSE TOPICS, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS
Week
Date
Topics
Readings
Beginnings – How do social psychologists think and work?
1
1/22
Greeting
1/24
Intro to Social Psychology
Ch. 1
2
1/29
Research Methods
Ch. 2
1/31
““
Pettigrew, 1996; Jordan & Zanna, 1996
Thinking, Socially – How do we think about others in (in)accurate ways?
3
2/5
Social Cognition
Ch. 3
2/7
““
Plant & Peruche, 2005
4
2/12
Social Perception
Ch. 4
2/14
““
Galinsky et al., 2006
5
2/19
EXAM 1
The Social Self – Knowing and protecting thy self
2/21
The Self
Ch. 5
6
2/26
A Flight From Death – Until 2:30p
2/28
The Self
Pariser, 2011
Spring Break
7
3/12
Self-Justification
Ch. 6; Balcetis & Dunning, 2007
3/14
Prejudice
Ch. 13; Eye of the Storm
8
3/19
Prejudice
3/21
““
Social Influence – Ripples and waves in the social pond
9
3/26
Conformity
Ch. 8
3/28
““
Burger, 2009; Zinn, 1970/2009
10
4/2
Group Processes
Ch. 9
4/4
The End of the Line – Until 2:30p
11
4/9
EXAM 2
Interpersonal Behavior – Can’t we all just get along?
4/11
Aggression
Ch. 12; Nier, 2012 - #20
12
4/16
Prosocial Behavior
Ch. 11
Easter Break
13
4/23
Prosocial Behavior
Nier, 2012 - #19
4/25
Interpersonal Attraction
Ch. 10
14
4/30
Interpersonal Attraction
Finkel & Eastwick, 2009
5/2
Final Words
TBN
5/8
EXAM 3 – Thursday, 5/8 – 11:30 – 2:00p
Assignments
Response Paper #1 - SFP
Response Paper #2 - TMT
Participation Justification #1
Response Paper #3 - IAT
Response Paper #4 - Norms
Response Paper #5 – Compassion
Participation Justification #2