SOCIOLOGY 319
Sociological Approaches to Social Psychology
Tu & Th 3:20-4:40 p.m. (T5Th5) ● Lucy Stone Hall (LSH) B267
Spring 2009
Professor:
Deborah Carr
Lucy Stone Hall 332
Office Phone: 445-3190/932-4068
E-mail: carrds@sociology.rutgers.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3 p.m., and by appointment
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~carrds/
Description: Social psychology is the systematic study of the nature and causes of human social
behavior. This course will introduce you to the key concepts, theories, and methods of social
psychology, and to some fundamental arguments about the social world. Although a semesterlong course cannot be comprehensive in its coverage of social psychology, we will cover
important topics including socialization, the self, perception, cognition, attitudes, interpersonal
relationships, group behavior, altruism, aggression, and deviance. Students will obtain a toolkit
of social psychological concepts to apply to their own life experiences, including interactions
with friends, family members, and romantic partners; educational and employment experiences;
and one’s own observations about the social problems in the United States and elsewhere.
Required Texts:
Delamater, John D., and Daniel J. Meyers. 2007. Social Psychology, 6th edition. Belmont, CA:
Thomson-Wadsworth. ISBN: 0-495-09336-X (Referred to as “D&M” in reading
schedule).
Pettijohn, Terry F. 2001. Notable Selections in Social Psychology, 3rd edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill/Dushkin. ISBN-13: 978-0-07-2422580; ISBN-10: 0-07-242258-0 (Referred
to as “P” in reading schedule).
All readings are required. Readings denoted with (L) will be available via the online Library
Reserves system. Books are available at the Livingston Bookstore. One copy of each book will
also be available at the reserves desk at the Kilmer Library. Throughout the semester,
recommended readings may be posted on the course website.
Class Format:
Students are required to attend two lectures each week. Active participation is encouraged in
lecture. Lecture outlines will be posted on the course website within 24 hours prior to each
lecture. Assigned readings should be read prior to each lecture. Students are strongly encouraged
to visit the professor’s office hours.
Requirements and Grading:
Exams: Three closed-book exams will cover material from lectures, readings, video clips, and
class discussion. The first two exams will be held during class (Tuesday February 17 and
Tuesday March 31), and the final exam will be held on Wednesday May 13. Each of the three
exams is non-cumulative, and is worth 24 percent of your grade. The exams are only
“cumulative” in the sense that several theoretical perspectives underlie the substantive topics that
we discuss throughout the semester, and you are responsible for understanding these theoretical
perspectives. A review sheet distributed one week prior to each exam will help you identify and
understand the important issues. The review sheet will also describe the format of the exam.
Exams may include multiple choice questions, definitions, and short answers. The final exam
may also include one essay question. I will give a make-up exam only to those students who give
me at least 5 days notice, and who present a valid and documented reason for missing the
scheduled exam.
Written Exercises: You are required to submit two 3-5 page written assignments. Assignments
will involve the application of social psychological theories and concepts. Submissions must be
type-written, double-spaced, thoughtful, and clearly written. You are expected to use proper
grammar and spelling. Each written assignment is worth 10 percent of your overall course grade.
Paper #1 is due in class on Tuesday March 10. Paper #2 is due in class on Tuesday April 21.
Assignments will be posted on the class website at least two weeks before the due date.
Participation: Attendance and class participation are very important for what you learn and for
how well you do in the class. Your attendance and informed participation accounts for 8 percent
of your grade.
Summary of grading procedure: Course grades are based on the total number of points an
individual earns on exams and written assignments, relative to point totals earned by others in the
class. Extra credit points will be added to the final grade, where applicable, after the overall
course grade distribution is established. In determining course grades, the assignments are
weighted as follows:
Exam 1 [2/17/08]
Exam 2 [3/31/08]
Exam 3 [5/13/08]
Written Assignments [Due March 10 and April 21]
Discussion
TOTAL
24%
24%
24%
20%
8%
100%
ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION
Extra credit option: We will cover a variety of thought-provoking topics in this course, and
some of you may be inspired to do additional reading on a topic you find particularly
compelling. You will have the opportunity to do an extra credit project, worth 0 to 3 points based
on the quality of your work. These extra credit points will be added to your overall class average.
You may write an 8-10 page original research paper on the topic of your choice. The topic must
be approved by the professor by March 3. The research paper should include a critical review
and integration of relevant literature. In addition to adding points to your class grade, this
assignment also gives you an opportunity to apply the social psychological perspective to your
own major field of study. Extra-credit assignments may be handed in at any point during the
semester, but any work submitted later than Friday May 8 at 5 p.m. will NOT be accepted. Only
typewritten papers will be accepted. Proper grammar and spelling is expected. Further guidelines
for the extra credit paper will be posted on the course website.
E-mail etiquette and requirements: I will happily and promptly reply to all student email.
However, you must follow a few simple rules. First, you must put “Soc 319” in the subject line.
If you do not, then I have no way of knowing whether a message from jrzy_grrl@aoh.com or
PhatBoy@earthlinc.net is a Sociology 319 student with an important inquiry, or a spam mail
message from a Viagra vendor. I will delete all email messages from unfamiliar addresses unless
“Soc 319” is in the subject line. Second, you should include your name somewhere in the body
of the message. Your email addresses often do not tell me who you are.
Website: The class website includes the class syllabus, lecture outlines, lecture notes, the written
assignments, answer keys following exams, recommended readings, and other important
announcements pertaining to class. Please check the website regularly to keep updated of class
information and any changes in class schedules. The address is:
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~carrds/class_index.html
UNIVERSITY AND DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES
Academic Misconduct: Rutgers University policies state that academic misconduct may
involve:
a. cheating;
b. fabrication;
c. facilitating academic dishonesty;
d. plagiarism;
e. denying others access to information or material.
The Department of Sociology uses anti-plagiarism software to ensure that students submit their
own work. Any evidence of cheating, plagiarism or other misconduct will result in censure
within the class and a referral to the Dean of Students.
Class Conduct: The Rutgers University Department of Sociology encourages the free exchange
of ideas in a safe, supportive, and productive classroom environment. To facilitate such an
environment, students and faculty must act with mutual respect and common courtesy. Thus,
behavior that distracts students and faculty is not acceptable. Such behavior includes cell phone
use, surfing the internet, checking email, text messaging, listening to music, reading newspapers,
leaving and returning, leaving early without permission, discourteous remarks, and other
behaviors specified by individual instructors. Courteous and lawful expression of disagreement
with the ideas of the instructor or fellow students is, of course, permitted.
If a student engages in disruptive behavior, the instructor, following the University Code of
Student Conduct, may direct the student to leave class for the remainder of the class period.
Instructors may specify other consequences in their syllabi. Serious verbal assaults, harassment,
or defamation of the instructor or other students can lead to university disciplinary proceedings.
The University Code of Student Conduct is at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~polcomp/judaff/ucsc.shtml.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND READINGS
I. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
A. Theoretical Perspectives
January 20 (Tu). Welcome and Introduction
January 22 (Th). What is Social Psychology? Introduction to Social Psychological Theories
(D&M) Chapter 1 “Introduction to Social Psychology” (Pp. 1-25).
(P) Allport, Floyd Henry “Social Psychology” (Pp. 3-6).
(P) Berscheid, Ellen. “A Glance Back at a Quarter Century of Social Psychology” (Pp. 14-22).
B. Research Methods in Social Psychology: How Do We Study People?
January 27 (Tu) through February 3 (Tu). Research Methods & Ethics
(D&M) Chapter 2 “Research Methods in Social Psychology” (Pp. 26-51).
(P) Nicks, Sandra D., James H. Korn, and Tina Manieri. “The Rise and Fall of Deception in
Social Psychology and Personality Research” (Pp. 7-13).
(P) Milgram, Stanley. “Behavioral Study of Obedience” (Pp. 227-236).
II. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
A. Socialization
February 5 (Th). Socialization
(D&M) Chapter 3 “Socialization” (Pp. 52-81).
(L) Kluger, Jeffrey. 2006. “The New Science of Siblings.” Time (July 2, 2006).
(L) Gibbs, Nancy. 2005. “Parents Behaving Badly.” Newsweek (February 13, 2005).
(L). 2007. Cloud, John. “The Overscheduled Child Myth.” Newsweek (January 19, 2007).
B. Self and Identity
February 10 (Tu) and February 12 (Th). Self, Identity, and Self-Esteem
(D&M) Chapter 4 “Self and Identity” (Pp. 82-107).
(P) Brewer, Marilyn. “The Social Self: On Being the Same and Different at the Same Time” (Pp.
54-60).
(P) Festinger, Leon. “A Theory of Social Comparison Processes” (Pp. 31-36).
(L) Milkie, Melissa. “Media Images’ Influence on Adolescent Girls’ Self-Concepts.” Pp. 46-60
in Inside Social Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology, edited by
Spencer Cahill (2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
February 17 (Tu): Exam #1
III. COGNITIVE PROCESSES
A. Social Perception and Cognition
February 19 (Th). Social Perception and Person Perception
(D&M) Chapter 5 “Social Perception and Cognition” (Pp. 108-127).
(P) Kelley, Harold H. “The Warm-Cold Variable in First Impressions of Persons” (Pp. 25-30).
(P) Dion, Karen, Ellen Berscheid and Elaine Walster. “What is Beautiful is Good” (Pp. 161167).
B. Attribution Processes
February 24 (Tu). Attribution Theory and Processes
(D&M) Chapter 5 “Social Perception and Cognition” (Pp. 127-140).
C. Attitudes
February 26 (Th) and March 3 (Tu). Attitudes and Attitude-Behavior Link
(D&M) Chapter 6 “Attitudes” (Pp. 141-164).
(P) LaPiere, Richard T. “Attitudes versus Actions” (Pp. 103-107).
(P) Ajzen, Icek and Martin Fishbein. “Attitude-Behavior Relations: A Theoretical Analysis and
Review of Empirical Research” (Pp. 97-102).
March 5 (Th) Attitudinal Change and Persuasion
(D&M) Chapter 8 “Social Influence and Persuasion” (Pp. 196-224).
(P) Festinger, Leon and James M. Carlsmith. “Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance”
(Pp. 108-116).
(P) Freedman, Jonathan L. and Scott C. Fraser. “Compliance without Pressure: The Foot-in-the
Door Technique” (Pp. 237-242).
(P) Han, Sang-Pil and Sharon Shavitt. “Persuasion and Culture: Advertising Appeals in
Individualistic and Collectivistic Societies” (Pp. 125-136).
(P) Petty, Richard E. and John T. Cacioppo. “The Effects of Involvement on Responses to
Argument Quantity and Quality: Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion” (Pp. 117124).
IV. Social Interaction
A. Foundations of Social Interaction: Interaction “Tactics”
March 10 (Tu). Self-Presentation and Impression Management [Paper #1 due]
(D&M) Chapter 9 “Self-Presentation and Impression Management” (Pp. 225-249).
(L) Cahill, Spencer E. “The Interaction Order of Public Bathrooms.” Pp. 167-177 in Inside
Social Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology, edited by Spencer
Cahill (2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
(L) Goffman, Erving. “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.” Pp. 108-166 in Inside Social
Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology, edited by Spencer Cahill
(2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
(L) Rosenbloom, Stephanie. 2008. “Putting your Best Cyberface Forward.” New York Times
New York Times. (January 3, 2008).
B. Close Relationships
March 12 (Th). Interpersonal Attraction
(D&M) Chapter 13 “Interpersonal Attraction and Relationships” (Pp. 325-338).
(P) Buss, David M. “The Strategies of Human Mating” (Pp.168-174).
(P) Cunningham, Michael R. “Measuring the Physical in Physical Attractiveness: QuasiExperiments on the Sociobiology of Female Facial Beauty” (Pp. 175-185).
(P) Dutton, Donald G., and Arthur P. Aron. “Some Evidence for Heightened Sexual Attraction
under Conditions of High Anxiety” (Pp. 186-191).
March 17 (Tu) and March 19 (Th). No class session. Happy spring break!
March 24 (Tu) and March 26 (Th). Close Relationships
(D&M) Chapter 13 “Interpersonal Attraction and Relationships” (Pp. 338-353).
(P) Sternberg, Robert J. “The Ingredients of Love” (Pp. 192-201).
(P) Hazan, Cindy and Phillip Shaver. “Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment
Process” (Pp. 211-224).
(P) Sprecher, Susan. “‘I Love You More Today than Yesterday’: Romantic Partners’ Perceptions
of Changes in Love and Related Affect over Time” (Pp. 202-210).
March 31 (Tu). Exam #2
C. Emotions
April 2 (Th). Emotions
(D&M) Chapter 10. “Emotion” (Pp. 250-272).
(L) Smith, Allen C. III and Sherryl Kleinman. “Managing Emotions in Medical School.” Pp. 92105 in Inside Social Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology,
edited by Spencer Cahill (2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Read one of the following two:
(L) Martin, Susan Ehrlich. 1999. “Police Force or Police Service? Gender and Emotional Labor.”
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 561: 111 - 126.
(L) Henderson, Angela. 2001. “Emotional Labor and Nursing: An Under-appreciated Aspect of
Caring Work.” Nursing Inquiry 8(2): 130-138.
D. Small Group Behavior
April 7 (Tu). Group Cohesion and Conformity
(D&M) Chapter 14 “Group Cohesion and Conformity” (Pp. 354-377).
(P) Janis, Irving L. “The Groupthink Syndrome” (Pp. 275-280).
April 9 (Th). Group Performance & Leadership
(D&M) Chapter 15 “Group Structure and Performance” (Pp. 378-407).
(P) Zajonc, Robert B. “Social Facilitation” (Pp. 251-257).
(P) Latane, Bibb, Kipling Williams, and Stephen Harkins. “Many Hands Make Light the Work:
The Causes and Consequences of Social Loafing” (Pp. 258-265).
April 14 (Tu). Intergroup Conflict
(D&M) Chapter 16 “Intergroup Conflict” (Pp. 408-431).
(P) Allport, G.W. “The Nature of Prejudice” (Pp. 137-142).
(P) Sherif, M. “Superordinate Goals in the Reduction of Intergroup Conflict” (Pp. 143-149).
(P) Dovidio, John F., and Samuel L. Gaertner. “Affirmative Action, Unintentional Racial Biases,
and Intergroup Relations” (Pp. 150-158).
E. Social Movements
April 16 (Th). Social Movements
(D&M). Chapter 20. “Collective Behavior and Social Movements” (Pp. 524-552).
(L) Boyd, Andrew. 2003. “The Web Rewires the Movement” The Nation (August 4, 2003).
(L) Etzioni, Amitai. 2008. “Transitioning the Obama Movement.” Huffington Post (November 7,
2008).
F. Helping and Hurting Behaviors
April 21 (Tu). Altruism [Paper #2 due]
(D&M) Chapter 11 “Helping and Altruism” (Pp. 273-298).
(P) Darley, John M. and Bibb Latane. “Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of
Responsibility” (Pp. 283-292).
(P) Baron, Robert A. “The Sweet Smell of…Helping: Effects of Pleasant Ambient Fragrance on
Prosocial Behavior in Shopping Malls” (Pp. 293-299).
April 23 (Th). Aggression
(D&M) Chapter 12 “Aggression” (Pp. 299-324).
(P) Bandura, Albert, Dorothea Ross and Sheila A. Ross. “Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive
Models” (Pp. 300-307).
(P) Huesmann, L. Rowell. “Psychological Processes Promoting the Relation Between Exposure
to Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior by the Viewer.” (Pp. 308-316).
V. Macro-Micro Linkages
A. Deviance and Stigmatization
April 28 (Tu). Deviance: Introduction and Theories
(D&M) Chapter 19 “Deviant Behavior and Social Reaction” (Pp. 493-503).
(L) Becker, Howard. “The Social Basis of Drug-Induced Experience.” Pp. 70-77 in Inside Social
Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology, edited by Spencer Cahill
(2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
April 30 (Th). Labeling Theory, Stigma, and Social Construction of “Deviance”
(D&M) Chapter 12 “Deviant Behavior and Social Reaction” (Pp. 503-523).
(L) Rosenhan, D.L. “On Being Sane in Insane Places.” Science (Jan. 19, 1973) 179: 250-258.
(L) Fox, Kathryn. “Self Change and Resistance in Prison.” Pp. 371-385 in Inside Social Life:
Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology, edited by Spencer Cahill
(2004). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
May 13 (Wednesday). Final Exam: 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. (in regular classroom)
Good luck with finals and have a wonderful summer break!