Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in psychology with at least 7.5 credits in methods and statistics. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

1. Describe theories, models, and empirical findings in contemporary and classic social psychology.
2. Discuss social psychological research and reflect upon the strengths and limitations of contradictory arguments in the literature. 
3. Design and describe a research project that integrates social psychology with work from other fields in psychology and/or applied work to address societal challenges.

Content

Social psychology is the study of how thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by the actual or imagined presence of others. The course provides an overview of research in field. The course has a special emphasis on critical debates in the literature, connections between social psychology and other fields, and the role of social psychology in addressing societal challenges.

Social psychology has also played a central role, for good and for bad, in the debate about replicable psychological research. In this course, we discuss what researchers and students could learn from the problems and solutions that have been highlighted in social psychology.

Instruction

The teaching comprises a mix of lectures and seminars. All students are expected to participate in the seminars, in case of absence there will be compensatory written assignments.

Assessment

The examination includes (1) active participation at the seminars, (2) presentations at the seminars, and (3) a written research proposal. The final task can be done after the teaching has been concluded and it is the most important for the final grade.

For each seminar, students are expected to have read the chapters from the preceding lecture, as well as assigned research articles (presented before the start of the course). Students should be prepared to verbally present a summary of select chapters.

For the final examination, students write a research proposal. The proposal should concern a project that could be implemented within a Ph.D. program. The project should integrate social psychological methods and theory with work from other fields in psychology (e.g., developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience) and/or practical applications to societal challenges (e.g., democracy, group relations, environmental issues).

More detailed information and instructions about the examinations are provided at the start of the course.