PSY 834: Graduate Seminar in Social Psychology

Fall 2020

Day/Time: Thursday, 5:00p-7:50

Place: 120 Psychology

Instructor: Prof. C. David Navarrete
E-Mail: cdn@msu.edu
Phone: 517-432-8391
Office: 247 Psychology Bldg.
Office Hour: Thurs 2:15p-3:15p

Description

As the graduate core course in social psychology, 834 provides a broad overview of the science of social psychology. In addition to being exposed to broad range of literature, a primary goal of this course is to compare the contributions and limitations of major theoretical perspectives on our social psychology, and to learn about the nature of theory construction and theory-testing in psychology generally. Both general theories and middle-level models of social behavior are reviewed in light of empirical research. The advantages and disadvantages of different models for different levels and different kinds of social-personality phenomena are highlighted. Exercises comparing the predictions of different theories for the same study are designed to help the student acquire an appreciation of how to operationalize theories and an understanding of the various features of a "good" theory.

An important theme in this course is the analysis of human thought, feeling, and behavior in social context as directed toward strategic goals. The analysis of the strategic logic of social behavior is called game theory. This analytical tool is becoming ever more prevalent in the social sciences in recent years, and has the potential to become a key unifying principle bridging biology, economics and social psychology.

In this course you will learn about theories in social psychology, as distinct from personality or evolutionary psychology, which are separate graduate-level courses. However, in practice, this distinction is fluid. You will learn about approaches to human social behavior, regardless of whether these behaviors and the causes of these behaviors tend to be classified. Most of the content covered could be construed as mainstream social psychology, but a major goal of this course is the importance of uncovering broad principles of social behavior that operate in consistent ways, and that can be integrated into various disciplines across the behavioral sciences.

Evaluation

Class Participation

Preparation for and participation during class will receive 20% of the total grade. Each week there will be a feedback assignment due, based on the readings (upload to a dropbox on D2L every Wednesday by 7:00p) to these two questions: (a) What were the most interesting aspects of the readings?  (b) What are the strengths and weaknesses of a given theory, approach or model.

In addition, each student will lead class discussion at least once.

Homework Assignments

There are four take-home assignments, each worth about 10% of your grade (40% total). The assignments are broad ranging in terms of content and scope, and are designed to build critical thinking and analytical reasoning skill. In the exercises, students will rigorously analyze theory, predictions, research methods, and the interpretation of findings from the primary literature. In addition, formal models of behavior and psychological systems are analyzed using the tools of decision and game theory.

Exam: There is one exam in this course worth 20% of your grade. It is a written take-home exam that is due 10-Nov.

Writing Assignment

The writing assignment will be on a specific area relevant to your own research interests (20%). The paper will be written as a research proposal designed to test hypotheses informed by a theoretically integrative, social psychological perspective. The paper should be written in APA format, and range from 7-10 double-spaced pages (excluding references).

Academic Integrity

Every student is held responsible for knowing the academic integrity policy at MSU. Information regarding this policy is available at: https://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/dishonestystud.html

Open Dialogue and Free Expression

Students should feel free to voice questions and comments relevant to the course material during lectures, via email or during office hours. Ideally, we should all be committed to the concepts of free expression and the university environment as the marketplace of ideas where ideas compete, and an honest treatment of sensitive topics is sometimes necessary for a meaningful educational experience. More information about you the importance of free speech on universities and colleges is available at: http://www.thefire.org/about-us/mission/

Tentative Reading List

Wk1      Introduction

Wk2      Evolutionary Psychology.

Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2005). Conceptual foundations of evolutionary psychology. In D. M.

Buss (Ed.), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (pp. 5-67). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Neuberg, S. L., Kenrick, D. T., & Schaller, M. (2010). Evolutionary social psychology. Handbook of social psychology.

 (1971). The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism.  The Quarterly Review of Biology, 46, 35-57.

Wk3      Social Neuroscience and Psychophysiology.

Cacioppo et al. 2010. Social neuroscience and its relation to social psychology. Social Cognition, 28, 675–685.

Cacioppo, J.T., Petty, R. E., & Tassinary, L. G. (1989). Social psychophysiology: A new look. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 39–91.

Blascovich, J., Vanman, E., Mendes, W. B., & Dickerson, S. (2011). Social psychophysiology for social and personality psychology. Sage Publications. pp. 1-40.

Blascovich, J., Mendes, W. B., Hunter, S. B., & Salomon, K. (1999). Social" facilitation" as challenge and threat. Journal of personality and social psychology, 77(1), 68.

Wk4      Decision Heuristics and Game Theory.

Van Lange, P. A., Agnew, C. R., Harinck, F., & Steemers, G. E. (1997). From game theory to real life: How social value orientation affects willingness to sacrifice in ongoing close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(6), 1330.

Van Lange, P. A., De Bruin, E., Otten, W., & Joireman, J. A. (1997). Development of prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations: theory and preliminary evidence. Journal of personality and social psychology, 73(4), 733.

Todd, P. M., Rieskamp, J., & Gigerenzer, G. (2008). Social heuristics. Handbook of experimental economics results, 1, 1035-1046.

Axelrod, R & Hamilton, W.D. (1981). The evolution of cooperation. Science, 211,1390–96.

Wk5      Groups I: Social Identity and the Self

Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C. (1979). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict. In W. G. Austin & S.

Worchel (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.

Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (1994). Self and collective: Cognition and social context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 454-454.

Yamagishi, T., & Kiyonari, T. (2000). The group as the container of generalized reciprocity. Social Psychology Quarterly, 116-132.

Brewer, M. B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475-482.

Wk6      Social Influence I

            Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 67,

371-378.

Burger, J. (2009). Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today? American Psychologist,

64, 1-11.

Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact. American psychologist, 36(4), 343.

Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance.

Wk7      Self-Esteem and Belonging.

            Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., et al. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 435-468.

Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L., & Toguchi, Y. (2003). Pancultural self-enhancement. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84, 60-79.

Heine, S. (2005). Where is the evidence for pan-cultural self-enhancement? A reply to Sedikides et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 531-538.

Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of personality and social psychology, 68(3), 518.

            Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological bulletin, 117(3), 497.

Wk8      Social Perception.

Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First impressions: Making up your mind after a 100-ms exposure

to a face. Psychological Science, 17, 592-598.

Darley, J., & Gross, P. (1983). A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 20–33.

Snyder, M., Tanke, E., & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 656-666.

Bargh, J. A. (1989). Conditional automaticity: Varieties of automatic influence in social perception and cognition. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended Thought (pp. 3-51). New York: Guilford.

Jussim, L., Cain, T. R., Crawford, J. T., Harber, K., & Cohen, F. (2009). The unbearable accuracy of stereotypes. Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, 199-227.

Jussim, L., Eccles, J., & Madon, S. (1996). Social perception, social stereotypes, and teacher expectations: Accuracy and the quest for the powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. Advances in experimental social psychology, 28, 281-388.

Wk9      Moral Psychology & Prosociality.

            Pinker, 2011, NYTimes Article: “The Moral Instinct”

Nucci, L. P., & Turiel, E. (1978). Social interactions and the development of social concepts in preschool children. Child development, 400-407.

Haidt, J. (2007). The new synthesis in moral psychology. Science, 316: 998-1002. 

Greene, J., Sommerville, R.B., Nystrom, L., Darley, J., Cohen, J. (2001). An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment. Science, 293: 2105-2108.

Greene, J., Nystrom, L., Engle, A., & Darling, J. (2004). The neural bases of cognitive conflict and

control in moral   judgment. Neuron, 44, 389-400.

Cushman, F., Young, L., & Hauser, M. (2006). The role of conscious reasoning and intuition in

moral judgment. Psychological Science, 1082-1089.

Hauser et al. (2007). A dissociation between moral judgments and justifications. Mind & Language,

Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 1–21

Wk10    Close Relationships, Love and Sex.

            Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.) Sexual

selection and the descent of man, 1871-1971 (pp 136–179). Chicago, Aldine.

Haselton, M.G. & Buss, D.M. (2000). Error management theory: A new perspective on biases in cross-sex mind reading.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1): 81-91.

Gangestad, S., Garver-Apgar, C., Simpson, J., & Cousin, A. (2007). Changes in women’s mate preferences across the ovulatory cycle. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 92(1):  151-163.

Buss, D. & Schmitt, D. (1993). Sexual Strategies Theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological  Review, 100(2), 204-232.

Pillsworth, E. & Haselton, M. (2006). Male sexual attractiveness predicts differential ovulatory shifts in female extra-pair   attraction and male mate retention. Evolution & Human Behavior, 27, 247-258. 

Wk11    Groups and Personality.

Zajonc, R. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269-274.

Latané, B., Williams, K., & Harkins, S. (1979). Many hands make light the work: The causes and

consequences of social loafing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 822–832.

Latané, B., & Darley, J. (1968). Group inhibition of bystander intervention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10, 215–221.

Stalder, D. (2008). Revisiting the issue of safety in numbers: The likelihood of receiving help from a group. Social Influence, 3, 24-33.

Kihlstrom, J. F. (2013). The person-situation interaction. The Oxford handbook of social cognition, 786-805.

 Wk12   Aggression and Social Dominance.

            Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Psychology, 53(1), 27.

Archer, J., & Coyne, S. M. (2005). An integrated review of indirect, relational, and social aggression.

Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9(3), 212-230.

Baumeister, R. F., Smart, L., & Boden, J. M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and

aggression: the dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological review, 103(1), 5.

Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., & Malle, B. F. (1994). Social dominance orientation: A

personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of personality and social

psychology, 67(4), 741.

Wk13    Thanksgiving (no meeting)

Wk14    Cognitive Consistency and Dissonance.

            Egan, L. C., Bloom, P., & Santos, L. R. (2010). Choice-induced preferences in the absence of choice:

Evidence from a blind two choice paradigm with young children and capuchin monkeys. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1), 204-207.

Jarcho, J. M., Berkman, E. T., & Lieberman, M. D. (2011). The neural basis of rationalization: cognitive dissonance reduction during decision-making. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 6(4), 460-467.

Gawronski, B., & Strack, F. (2004). On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(4), 535-542.

Elliot, A. J., & Devine, P. G. (1994). On the motivational nature of cognitive dissonance: Dissonance as psychological discomfort. Journal of personality and social psychology, 67(3), 382.

Wk15    Weird Science

            Shariff, A. F., & Norenzayan, A. (2007). God is watching you priming God concepts increases prosocial

behavior in an anonymous economic game. Psychological science, 18(9), 803-809.

Bem, D. J. (2011). Feeling the future: experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on

cognition and affect. Journal of personality and social psychology, 100(3), 407.

Baumeister, R. F., Masicampo, E. J., & DeWall, C. N. (2009). Prosocial benefits of feeling free:

Disbelief in free will increases aggression and reduces helpfulness. Personality and Social Psychology

Bulletin, 35(2), 260-268.

Psi and Psychology, The recent debate, Harvard University, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tdiu5kwjKs