Personality and Social Psychology

All of us observe our social worlds and try to understand why people behave, think, and feel as they do. In this unit you will study a number of influential theories, philosophical and empirical approaches in Personality and Social Psychology. You will examine key topics in the scientific assessment of personality, attitudes and emotions, including an introduction to psychometric testing (e. g. , validity and reliability) in Personality and Social Psychology. Specifically, in the Personality component you will be exposed to conceptual analysis and will be expected to examine critically theories from the Social Cognitive and Psychometric traditions. In the Social Psychology component you will examine salient social constructs such as social influence, the causes of prejudice and possible reduction strategies, and explore how cognitive processes affect social judgment and behaviour. In this unit you will develop a broad understanding of the leading theories and research in the areas of Personality and Social Psychology.