Ashoka University

Social Psychology
Monsoon 2016
Instructor: Assistant Professor Kai Qin Chan
Course description
In what situations would you administer an electric shock to a stranger?
What about to yourself? And, would you like someone who is similar or different
to you? Much of what we think, feel, or do stems from our interactions with other
people and our environment, but we sometimes fail to understand how these
interactions affect us. This course explores the scientific nature of social influence
and interaction, covering topics such as social judgment, self-concept, attitudes,
conformity, prejudice, and interpersonal relationships. We will also pay particular
attention to the use of empirical evidence from which we build theories of social
behavior.
Learning Goals
At the end of the course, you will:
1.
2.
3.
4.

How to differentiate social psychology from mere commonsense

Become a keen observer of social phenomena
Learn how social psychological theories are developed
Learn how to present scientific research and manage peer scientific
discussions

Prerequisites
Gateway to the psychology major
Evaluation*
Group Presentation: 40%
Social Insights Reports: 20%
Final Exam1: 40%
*Your final grade may be moderated
Textbook
Aronson, E. (2014). Social psychology (8th edition). Delhi: Pearson.
1 The exam will have 5 questions, which you need to answer only two. Question 1
is a compulsory question which will involve you analyzing a significant world
event. Part of the question will be released to you in mid-Nov, so that you can do
some research on your own. For the other four questions, choose only one of
them to answer. More hints about the scope of these four questions will be
released towards the end of semester.
1

Punctuality policy
Based on consensus, students who come to class late will do these in front of the
whole class:
(1) Say:
(2) Say:
(3) Say:
(4) Say:

Its not okay to be late (first time)

Its really really really not okay to be late (second time)
I am morally disgusted that I am late for the third time (third time)
I am morally disgusted that I am late for the [nth] time (nth time)

If too many people come late, the above policy will be too disruptive and an
alternative policy needs to be enforced. We will review this policy again after 16
Sep.

Attendance policy
Based on consensus, you have three excused absences. Beyond that, you fail the
course.

Group presentation (40%)

Work in groups of 4-5. There must be 8 groups in the class. Select one of
the articles.
Part A: Present the paper (about 20 mins) using PowerPoint, Keynote, etc.
You may not use the whiteboard to present. You may, however, use the
whiteboard when leading the discussion. All members must be involved,
either in presenting the paper and/or leading discussions.
Part B: Come up with 3 discussion points. Lead the discussion (about 45
mins). The total length of your presentation must be within 65 mins. (You
may factor in a break, and the duration of this break will not count towards
your 65 mins)
By default, all members within a group will receive the same grade; if any
member disagrees, please let me know.
You must make a one-hour appointment to discuss the content of your
presentation before you actually present.
Grading criteria for presentation

Clarity of presentation
Quality of discussion question
Effectiveness at facilitating discussion

Guidelines for Part A

Introduction: Explain the logic of the hypothesis and research question; pay
attention to what knowledge gap the researchers fill.
3

Method: Explain how the methods answer the research question.

Results: Present main results, results that are essential to understanding
the main point(s) that the researchers are trying to achieve.
Conclusion: Present the key conclusion(s) and/or any implications for
psychology.
Tips for Part A

Sometimes, the research paper will have many studies and/or results.
Select the ones that are most important and/or interesting to you. It is
better to present fewer things and do them well, than present everything
in a rushed manner. Learn how to select pertinent information.
You will be judged on how well your classmates understand your
presentation. Thus, think about how you would ideally like to be taught.

Tips for Part B

You may choose to criticize the hypothesis, methods, and/or results. For
example, is the manipulation valid? Is the measurement valid? Do the
results support the claim? Are there any alternative explanations? How can
the research be improved?
You may also propose new experiments for unanswered questions, or
suggest implications for theory or our understanding of humanity.

Social Insights Report (20%)

Social psychology is everywhere; you just need to be a keen observer of social
life to be able
to see how social psychology plays out in the real world. You will submit two
reports. In each report, you will write down an event that you observed and your
analysis of it. You may not use examples from the textbook, lectures, and
presentations. Your report cannot be mere commonsense; they must be backed
up by theories and empirical evidence. One report must utilize content found in
Week 1-6; the other must utilize content found in Week 8-13.
Deadline:
First report 8 Oct
Second report 7 Dec
Grading:
Your grade will be the higher of the two reports you submitted. You will get
personal feedback on the first report, and we will also discuss some
pertinent points about the first report in class (21 Oct)
See grading rubrics and What makes a good report? below.
Advice:
4

Keep a diary. Jot down the things that puzzle you. Once you noted the
event, you may not have insights to them immediately. This is normal;
insights sometimes take days and weeks to incubate. But if you dont jot
down events, you will never incubate these insights, and you will find
yourself squeezing ideas out from nothing.
What makes a good report?
Your analysis should make use of social psychological theory, preferably
citing empirical research when it is available. Generally writing 500 to
1000 words would be enough. The event you write on need not be
extraordinary. Very often seemingly mundane events reveal a great deal
about human nature. For example, why do humans find drinking a cup of
their own saliva disgusting but they have been swallowing their own saliva
their whole lives (and occasionally their lovers saliva during kissing)? What
does this tell you about the nature of disgust? No, you may not use my
example =)
Seminar Schedule
We
ek
1

Seminar 1
+
Reading after class
31 Aug: Introduction;
Methodology
Chap 1, 2,
Jordan, C. H., & Zanna, M. P.
(1999). How to read a journal
article in social psychology. In R. F.
Baumeister (Ed.), The Self in
Social Psychology (pp. 461-470).
Philadelphia, PA: Psychology
Press.

Seminar 2
+
Reading before class
2 Sep: Measuring social constructs
Schwarz, N., Hippler, H.J., Deutsch,
B., & Strack, F. (1985). Response
scales: Effects of category range on
reported behavior and subsequent
judgments. Public Opinion Quarterly,
49, 388-395.

7 Sep: No class

Schwarz, N., Knuper, B., Hippler, H.

J., Noelle-Neumann, E., & Clark, F.
(1991). Rating scales: Numeric
values may change the meaning of
scale labels. Public Opinion
Quarterly, 55, 570-582.
9 Sep: No class

14 Sep: Social cognition

16 Sep:

Chap 3

Manipulating social
constructs
Fraley, R. C., & Marks, M. J. (2010).
Westermarck, Freud, and the incest
taboo: Does familial resemblance
activate sexual attraction?
Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 36, 1202-1212.

The instructor will present this

research. You may want to take this
as an example how you should
present a scientific research.
4

21 Sep: Social perception

23 Sep: Social cognition

Chap 4

*Markus, H. R., Uchida, Y., Omoregie,

H., Townsend, S. S. M., & Kitayama,
S. (2006). Going for the gold: Models
of agency in Japanese and American
Contexts. Psychological Science, 17,
103-112.

28 Sep: The self

30 Sep: Social perception

Chap 5

*Hejmadi, A., Davidson, R. J., &

Rozin, P. (2000). Exploring Hindu
Indian emotion expressions:
Evidence for accurate recognition by
Americans and Indians.
Psychological Science, 11, 183-187.

5 Oct: Attitudes and attitude change

7 Oct: The self

Chap 7

*Rozin, P., Scott, S. E., Zickgraf, H. F.,

Ahn, F., & Jiang, H. (2014).
Asymmetrical social mach bands:
Exaggeration of social identities on
the more esteemed side of group
borders. Psychological Science, 25,
1955-1959.

19 Oct: Conformity

Chap 8

BREAK (8-16 Oct)

21 Oct: Discussion on Social Insights first
report
We will dissect the observations some
students made, and as a class, see if we can
come up with even more insights about
particular phenomena.
The skills gained through this discussion will
help you to improve on your second Social
Insights report (due 7 Dec).

26 Oct: Group processes

Chap 9

10

The instructor will lead this discussion.

28 Oct: Conformity

*Huang, Y., Kendrick, K. M., & Yu, R.

(2014). Conformity to the opinions of
other people lasts for no more than
3 days. Psychological Science, 25,
1388-1393.

2 & 4 Nov:

We will watch Twelve Angry Men in class. The URL is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7muAm34RSrk
The instructor will lead the class discussion. In this discussion, we will
attempt to identify the group processes during the jury discussion among
the twelve angry men.
The full movie is about 2 hrs, but because we will be discussing as we
watch, we will need 3 hrs (two classes) to analyze the themes. The skills
you gain here will help you in answering Q1 of the exam.
11

12

13

14

15

9 Nov: Interpersonal attraction

11 Nov: Group processes

Chap 10

*Waytz, A., & Young, L. (2011). The

group-member mind trade-off:
Attributing mind to groups versus
group members. Psychological
Science, 23, 77-85.
18 Nov: Interpersonal attraction

16 Nov: Prosocial behavior & aggression

Chap 11, 12

*Knee, C. R., Nanayakkara, A.,

Vietor, N. A., Neighbors, C., &
Patrick, H. (2001). Implicit theories
of relationships: Who cares if
romantic partners are less than
ideal? Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 27, 808-819.

23 Nov: Prejudice & discrimination

25 Nov: Prosocial behavior & aggression

Chap 13

*Rand, D. G., Greene, J. D., & Nowak,

M. A. (2012). Spontaneous giving
and calculated greed. Nature, 489,
427-430.
2 Dec: Applying social psychology^

30 Nov: Prejudice & discrimination

*Legault, L., Gutsell, J. N., &

Inzlicht, M. (2011). Ironic effects
of anti-prejudice messages: How
motivational interventions can
reduce (but also increase)
prejudice. Psychological Science,
22, 1472-1477.
Make-up class:
7 Dec: Open consultation

Chap 14, 15, 16

Make-up class:
9 Dec: Final Exam (see footnote 1)

Note: * indicates group presentation. The readings in Weeks 1 and 2 are meant for
general discussion (i.e., there is no presentation). ^indicates non-examinable
chapter(s).
Office Hours:
7

Mondays, after 1 pm.

Exam tips:
(1) Open your eyes social psychology permeates much of your waking
moments!
(2) Eat well, sleep well.
(3) Attend all lectures; take notes during lecture. After lecture, revise your
material and write notes.
(4) Dont dump your answer down; answer the question. Not clear what
dumping is? Watch Sadhgurus interview @ Stanford here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLpbkMG6VfU