Department: Master of Education
Module Description: Social psychology is concerned with the description and explanation of behaviour when humans interact with others. This module will provide a comprehensive and critical understanding of the concepts and methods used to explain the social behaviour of individuals, in terms of both internal characteristics of the person (such as cognitive mental processes) and external influences (such as groups and the social environment). Module content will typically range from traditional social psychological theories and methods to more critical application of knowledge to everyday behaviours and how we can consider behaviour change in a social world. Lectures will cover topics that include how we define the self; attitude formation and change; attribution theories; obedience; aggression; pro-social behaviour; social categories, and intra-group processes, such as group decision-making; inter-group dynamics which lead to group conflict, prejudice, and discrimination; and the ways that social knowledge is categorised – by the individual (e.g. schema theory) as well as within a culture (e.g. social representation and social constructionist theories).
Augoustinos, M., Walker, I. and Donaghue, N. (2014). Social cognition: an integrated introduction. 3rd edn. London: SAGE. Purchase eBook
Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T. and Lindzey, G. (2010). Handbook of social psychology. 5th edn. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Hogg, M. A. and Vaughan, G. M. (2018). Social psychology. 8th edn. Harlow: Pearson.
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the lifespan. 2nd ed. Basingstoke, UK: Worth. 4th edition available
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E. and Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 74(6), pp. 1464-1480. Request item
Hogg, M.A., Hohman, Z.P. and Rivera, J.E. (2008). Why do people join groups? Three motivational accounts from social psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, vol. 2(3), pp. 1269-1280. Request item
Leary, M.R., Tambor, E.S., Terdal, S.K. and Downs, D.L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: the sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 68(3), pp. 518-530. Request item
Lickel, B., Hamilton, D.L., Wieczorkowska, G., Lewis, A., Sherman S.J. and Uhles A.N. (2000). Varieties of groups and the perception of group entitativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 78(2), pp. 223-246. Request item
Journal articles
Hogg, M.A., Hohman, Z.P. and Rivera, J.E. (2008). Why do people join groups? Three motivational accounts from social psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, vol. 2(3), pp. 1269-1280. Request item
Leary, M.R., Tambor, E.S., Terdal, S.K. and Downs, D.L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: the sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 68(3), pp. 518-530. Request item
Lickel, B., Hamilton, D.L., Wieczorkowska, G., Lewis, A., Sherman S.J. and Uhles A.N. (2000). Varieties of groups and the perception of group entitativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 78(2), pp. 223-246. Request item
Books
Bee, H. & Boyd, D. (2014). The developing child. 13th ed. London: Allyn and Bacon.
Boyd, D. & Bee, H. (2015). Lifespan development. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Burr, V. (2003). Social constructionism. 2nd edn. Routledge: Hove, East Sussex.
Crisp, R.J. and Turner, R.N. (2010). Essential social psychology. 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
Dovidio, J. F. (2009). On the nature of prejudice: fifty years after allport. Oxford: Blackwell.
Edwards, D. and Potter, J. (2000). Discursive psychology. London: SAGE.
Forsyth, D. R. (2019). Group dynamics. 7th edn. Australia: Cengage.
Gough, B., McFadden, M. and McDonald, M. (2013). Critical social psychology: an introduction. 2nd edn. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Holtgraves, T. (2011). Language as social action: social psychology and language use. New York: Routledge.
Lawler, S. (2016). Identity: sociological perspectives. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity.
Lesko, W. A. (2012). Readings in social psychology: general, classic, and contemporary selections. 8th edn. Boston: Pearson.
Maio, G. R., Haddock, G. and Verplanken, B. (2018). The psychology of attitudes & attitude change. 3rd edn. Los Angeles: Sage.
O'Keefe, D. J. (2016). Persuasion: theory and research. 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Tesser, A. (1995). Advanced social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
