Table of Content
1. Introduction to Social Psychology
1.1 Definition and scope of social psychology
1.2 Descriptive methods
• Observational / naturalistic research
• Correlational and survey research, correlation coefficient r
• Spurious correlations; strengths & weaknesses
1.3 Experimental methods
• IV, DV, experimental vs control conditions
• Random assignment vs random sampling
• Experimental control, extraneous variables
• Mundane vs experimental realism; generalizability
1.4 “Is social psychology just common sense?”
• Hindsight bias, anecdotes vs data
1.5 Replicability / reproducibility crisis
• Open Science Collaboration (Nosek)
• Famous failed replications, open science reforms
2. The Self
2.1 Self-focused processing
• Spotlight effect, illusion of transparency
• Self-reference effect
2.2 Self-concept and its development
• Roles, successes/failures, social comparisons
• Cooley’s looking-glass self
2.3 Cultural influences on self
• Individualism vs collectivism
• Culture and cognition; culture and self-esteem
2.4 Self-knowledge and prediction
• Planning fallacy
• Affective forecasting; impact bias
• Psychological immune system; synthetic happiness
1
, 2.5 Self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-control
• Correlates and limits of high self-esteem
• Baumeister’s perspective
2.6 Narcissism
• NPI, traits, myths, generational claims
2.7 Self-serving biases
• Self-serving attributions
• Above-average effect
• Unrealistic optimism; benefits and dangers
• False consensus vs false uniqueness
• Motivational and cognitive explanations
2.8 Impression management
• Self-handicapping
• Self-monitoring
• Online impression management, humblebragging
3. Social Beliefs and Judgments
3.1 Dual-process models: automatic vs controlled
3.2 Priming and embodied cognition
3.3 Confirmation bias and belief perseverance
• Ross et al. (1975) suicide note study
3.4 Misinformation effect and memory distortion
3.5 Overconfidence phenomenon
• Causes and consequences; remedies
• Eyewitness confidence vs accuracy
3.6 Heuristics
• Representativeness heuristic & base-rate neglect
• Availability heuristic (letter “R,” media effects)
• Anchoring and adjustment
• Affect heuristic
3.7 Counterfactual thinking (upward vs downward)
3.8 Illusory thinking
• Illusory correlations
• Illusion of control
2
,4. Attribution: Explaining Behavior
4.1 Internal vs external attributions
4.2 Misattribution of arousal and causes
4.3 Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) / correspondence bias
• Jones & Harris (1967) Castro essays
• Ross et al. (1977) quiz show study
4.4 Why we commit FAE
• Perceptual salience and perspective
• Actor–observer difference
• Camera-perspective effects
• Cognitive load; cultural influences
4.5 Self-fulfilling prophecies
• Rosenthal & Jacobson “bloomers” study
• Critiques and real-world implications
5. Attitudes and Behavior
5.1 Tri-component model of attitudes (ABC)
5.2 When attitudes predict behavior
• Wicker (1969) review
• Specific vs general attitudes; aggregation
• Social influence, strength, accessibility, self-awareness
5.3 When behavior shapes attitudes
• Saying-is-believing effects; self-talk
• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
• Role-playing and the Stanford prison study (evidence & critiques)
5.4 Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Dissonance definition, arousal, reduction strategies
• Festinger & Carlsmith ($1 vs $20)
• Factors increasing dissonance
• Effort justification; post-decisional dissonance
• Culture and self-affirmation as moderators
5.5 Self-Perception Theory
• Attitude inference from behavior
• Overjustification effect; Lepper et al. (1973) drawing study
3
, 5.6 Comparing CDT and SPT
5.7 Implications for behavior change and therapy
6. Social Influence: Conformity & Obedience
6.1 Forms of social influence
• Conformity, compliance, obedience
6.2 Social norms (situational and cultural)
6.3 Informational vs normative social influence
• Clues to underlying motive
6.4 Classic conformity studies
• Sherif (autokinetic effect, norm formation)
• Asch (line judgment, group pressure)
6.5 Predictors of conformity
• Difficulty, competence, group size, unanimity, cohesion, status, public response, prior
commitment
6.6 Suggestibility and everyday conformity
• Chameleon effect, mass hysteria, health behaviors
6.7 Obedience
• Constructive vs destructive
• Milgram’s obedience studies (findings and ethics)
• Agency theory (autonomous vs agentic state)
• Factors influencing obedience: distance, authority, institution, modeling
• Burger’s partial replication; puppy study
• Why Milgram’s set-up was so effective
6.8 Resisting social pressure
• Personal responsibility, allies, awareness
• Psychological reactance and uniqueness
7. Persuasion
7.1 Elaboration Likelihood Model (central vs peripheral routes)
7.2 The communicator (“who”)
• Credibility (expertise, trustworthiness)
• Speaking style; sleeper effect
• Attractiveness, similarity, atypical communicators
7.3 The message (“what”)
• Argument strength and quality
4
1. Introduction to Social Psychology
1.1 Definition and scope of social psychology
1.2 Descriptive methods
• Observational / naturalistic research
• Correlational and survey research, correlation coefficient r
• Spurious correlations; strengths & weaknesses
1.3 Experimental methods
• IV, DV, experimental vs control conditions
• Random assignment vs random sampling
• Experimental control, extraneous variables
• Mundane vs experimental realism; generalizability
1.4 “Is social psychology just common sense?”
• Hindsight bias, anecdotes vs data
1.5 Replicability / reproducibility crisis
• Open Science Collaboration (Nosek)
• Famous failed replications, open science reforms
2. The Self
2.1 Self-focused processing
• Spotlight effect, illusion of transparency
• Self-reference effect
2.2 Self-concept and its development
• Roles, successes/failures, social comparisons
• Cooley’s looking-glass self
2.3 Cultural influences on self
• Individualism vs collectivism
• Culture and cognition; culture and self-esteem
2.4 Self-knowledge and prediction
• Planning fallacy
• Affective forecasting; impact bias
• Psychological immune system; synthetic happiness
1
, 2.5 Self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-control
• Correlates and limits of high self-esteem
• Baumeister’s perspective
2.6 Narcissism
• NPI, traits, myths, generational claims
2.7 Self-serving biases
• Self-serving attributions
• Above-average effect
• Unrealistic optimism; benefits and dangers
• False consensus vs false uniqueness
• Motivational and cognitive explanations
2.8 Impression management
• Self-handicapping
• Self-monitoring
• Online impression management, humblebragging
3. Social Beliefs and Judgments
3.1 Dual-process models: automatic vs controlled
3.2 Priming and embodied cognition
3.3 Confirmation bias and belief perseverance
• Ross et al. (1975) suicide note study
3.4 Misinformation effect and memory distortion
3.5 Overconfidence phenomenon
• Causes and consequences; remedies
• Eyewitness confidence vs accuracy
3.6 Heuristics
• Representativeness heuristic & base-rate neglect
• Availability heuristic (letter “R,” media effects)
• Anchoring and adjustment
• Affect heuristic
3.7 Counterfactual thinking (upward vs downward)
3.8 Illusory thinking
• Illusory correlations
• Illusion of control
2
,4. Attribution: Explaining Behavior
4.1 Internal vs external attributions
4.2 Misattribution of arousal and causes
4.3 Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) / correspondence bias
• Jones & Harris (1967) Castro essays
• Ross et al. (1977) quiz show study
4.4 Why we commit FAE
• Perceptual salience and perspective
• Actor–observer difference
• Camera-perspective effects
• Cognitive load; cultural influences
4.5 Self-fulfilling prophecies
• Rosenthal & Jacobson “bloomers” study
• Critiques and real-world implications
5. Attitudes and Behavior
5.1 Tri-component model of attitudes (ABC)
5.2 When attitudes predict behavior
• Wicker (1969) review
• Specific vs general attitudes; aggregation
• Social influence, strength, accessibility, self-awareness
5.3 When behavior shapes attitudes
• Saying-is-believing effects; self-talk
• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
• Role-playing and the Stanford prison study (evidence & critiques)
5.4 Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Dissonance definition, arousal, reduction strategies
• Festinger & Carlsmith ($1 vs $20)
• Factors increasing dissonance
• Effort justification; post-decisional dissonance
• Culture and self-affirmation as moderators
5.5 Self-Perception Theory
• Attitude inference from behavior
• Overjustification effect; Lepper et al. (1973) drawing study
3
, 5.6 Comparing CDT and SPT
5.7 Implications for behavior change and therapy
6. Social Influence: Conformity & Obedience
6.1 Forms of social influence
• Conformity, compliance, obedience
6.2 Social norms (situational and cultural)
6.3 Informational vs normative social influence
• Clues to underlying motive
6.4 Classic conformity studies
• Sherif (autokinetic effect, norm formation)
• Asch (line judgment, group pressure)
6.5 Predictors of conformity
• Difficulty, competence, group size, unanimity, cohesion, status, public response, prior
commitment
6.6 Suggestibility and everyday conformity
• Chameleon effect, mass hysteria, health behaviors
6.7 Obedience
• Constructive vs destructive
• Milgram’s obedience studies (findings and ethics)
• Agency theory (autonomous vs agentic state)
• Factors influencing obedience: distance, authority, institution, modeling
• Burger’s partial replication; puppy study
• Why Milgram’s set-up was so effective
6.8 Resisting social pressure
• Personal responsibility, allies, awareness
• Psychological reactance and uniqueness
7. Persuasion
7.1 Elaboration Likelihood Model (central vs peripheral routes)
7.2 The communicator (“who”)
• Credibility (expertise, trustworthiness)
• Speaking style; sleeper effect
• Attractiveness, similarity, atypical communicators
7.3 The message (“what”)
• Argument strength and quality
4
