Course SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

HCS6376
Term Spring 2010
Meetings Tuesdays 2:30 – 5:15 PM GR 4.208

PROFESSOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. Candice Mills
candice.mills@utdallas.edu
972.883.4475
GR 4.202A
Mondays 11 AM to noon or by appointment

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions
None, although it is recommended that students have taken Introductory Psychology or Social Psychology at the
undergraduate level.

Course Description
Overview of the social bases of behavior. Topics may include social cognition and self justification, biases in
judgment, attitudes and persuasion, conformity, compliance, and group dynamics, prejudice and stereotyping,
interpersonal attraction and relationships, aggression and altruism, cultural diversity, and applications relevant
to these aspects of the human experience. Special attention to research paradigms of interest to students
developing their own empirical work.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

 Students will analyze and apply fundamental concepts and theories in social psychology.
 Students will compare and critically evaluate research findings and theories in social psychology.
 Students will demonstrate effective writing skills in communicating research findings related to social
psychology.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS

Textbook
Aronson, E. (2008). The Social Animal (10th edition). New York: Worth/Freeman. The ISBN-10 is
1429203161.
Required readings (listed below) are from a variety of books and journals. Most assigned journal articles will
be available on eLearning for our class. You may also use the electronic databases at the UTD library.

Instructions for finding journal articles using the UTD library:

1. Go to the UTD library website: www.utdallas.edu/library
2. Click “Finding Articles (Databases)” at the top of left hand column. (To connect from an off campus
computer, you’ll need your Comet card number.)
3. Click “Behavioral and Brain Sciences” under Databases by Subject.
4. Click Behavioral and Brain Sciences POWERSEARCH
5. If you are searching for a specific article, the best way to do so is to search by author’s name and the
year published. Most will have a PDF file that can be accessed. If you are searching for articles on a
specific topic, you can search by keyword, by author, or look for a specific article and then search
through the articles that have cited that specific article.
REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
1. Reading Responses (10% of grade)
Each week students will be required to read the materials and complete a writing assignment before class. For
the first portion of the semester, these readings responses will take the form of discussion questions. Each week,
you will write at least 2 discussion questions from the week’s materials. Your questions must be for separate
readings unless there is only one article or chapter for class that week. These questions must be posted on
eLearning by 11:59 PM on the Sunday before each class.

A “discussion question” is usually over several sentences long and can take many different formats: for
example, you can challenge or question methods, ponder the implications of the research presented, suggest a
connection to other research, or mention a specific question that you felt the readings raised but did not address.
You MUST justify your responses. Your questions should not duplicate questions asked by others. The purpose
of these questions is to show that you have read and reflected on the readings as well as to help structure our
discussion about each week’s topic. Your response for each week will be graded out of 5 points. There are 12
classes for responses, with the highest 10 scores averaged for your final grade.

2. Class Attendance and Participation (10% of grade)

Students are expected to attend classes regularly, complete the assigned readings before each class, and
participate in class discussions. Each class will consist of a student-led presentation of a reading, discussion,
and some lecture. Active participation in the discussion is crucial to the success of this course and will be
expected. To actively participate, make sure to read the discussion questions posted on eLearning before each
class. You should also make sure to remember the questions that you posted.

During the course of the semester, you will also be in charge of leading discussion for class at least once. You
will sign up for a day in which you and one other classmate will be in charge of facilitating discussion. Your job
will be to briefly summarize the main points of the reading you signed up to present, and to print out and
organize the discussion posts from your classmates into several main themes for discussion. You will then use
this information to guide the discussion of the readings.

3. Writing Assignments (30% of grade)

There will be two writing assignments designed to help students learn to integrate ideas across the literature, to
generate research ideas, and to design studies. More information and due dates on these assignments will be
provided in handouts later in the semester.

4. Exams (50% of grade)

There will be two exams, a midterm and a final. These exams are both take-home exams designed to encourage
deep reflection on the course material, and they may involve a combination of multiple choice and essay
questions. The exams MUST be completed on your own (not in groups). However, you may use textbooks and
your readings to help you complete the exam.
COURSE POLICIES
Grading policy
The course grade will be based on the below assignments. Final grades will be calculated as follows: 90-100%
= A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, and 60-69% = D. Plusses and minuses may be given for borderline cases. If you
are concerned about your grade, see me as early as possible.

Late policy
Exams and papers are due at the BEGINNING of the class period, and they must be turned in proofread and
typed. After this, penalties are as follows:
Up to 24 hours late 10% deduction
24 to 48 hours late 25% deduction

Grades will also be lowered 10% for assignments that are not typed. FINAL VERSIONS OF PAPERS AND
EXAMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED MORE THAN 48 HOURS AFTER THE DUE DATE.

Extra credit
There will be no individualized extra credit given for this course.

Course website
New assignments, revisions to the syllabus, announcements, and your grades will be posted on the eLearning
site. You can access eLearning through a link on UTD’s main page. When the course site is set up by the
computer center, you will be notified via your UTD email address. You are then responsible for creating an
account on this site and for checking this site frequently (at least twice weekly) in order to remain aware of new
learning activities, announcements, etc. Make sure that you have a UTD email address on this account (see info
below on UTD email policy). Any email to students enrolled in this class will be sent through UTD email.

ACADEMIC CALENDAR
Week Date Topics Assignments Due
1 Jan 12 Introduction to social psychology
2 Jan 19 Self-concept and social comparison
3 Jan 26 Self and social judgment I: Heuristics and biases
4 Feb 2 Self and social judgment II: Awareness and motivated reasoning
5 Feb 9 Self-justification
6 Feb 16 Persuasion
7 Feb 23 Social influence: Obedience and compliance
8 Mar 2 The light side of groups I: Attraction Exam 1 Due
9 Mar 9 The light side of groups II: Relationships
10 Mar 16 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS
11 Mar 23 The dark side of groups: Aggression
12 Mar 30 Discrimination and stereotyping I
13 Apr 6 Discrimination and stereotyping II
14 Apr 13 Prosocial psychology
15 Apr 20 Applications of social psychology
16 Apr 27 To be determined Exam 2 Due
Note: Your professor reserves the right to revise the schedule for pedagogical reasons.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Important Note: These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor. It is
your responsibility to keep track of changes in the schedule through eLearning and by attending class.

Introduction

January 12: Introduction to social psychology

No readings.

The Self

January 19: Self-concept and social comparison

Aronson Chapter 1 – Introduction (12 pages)

Aronson Chapter 9 – Social Psychology as a Science (25 pages)

Markus, H. R. & Kunda, Z. (1986). Stability and malleability of the self-concept. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 51, 858-866.

Crocker, J. & Knight, K. M. (2005). Contingencies of self-worth. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
14, 200-203.

Lyubomirsky, S. & Ross, L. (1997). Hedonic consequences of social comparison: A contrast of happy and
unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1141-1157.

January 26: Self and social judgment I: Heuristics and biases

Aronson Chapter 4 – Social Cognition (64 pages)

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 1124-
1131.

Pronin, E. (2008). How we see ourselves and how we see others. Science, 320, 1177-1180.

Balcetis, E., & Dunning, D. A. (2008). A mile in moccasins: How situational experience diminishes
dispositionalism in social inference. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 102-114.

February 2: Self and social judgment II: Awareness and motivated reasoning

Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J., & Kruger, J. (2003). Why people fail to recognize their own
incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 83-87.

Bargh, J.A., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct
and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 230-244.
Balcetis, E., Dunning, D., & Miller, R. L. (2008). Do collectivists know themselves better than individualists?
Cross-cultural studies of the holier than thou phenomenon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95,
1252-1267.

Dunning, D., & Story, A. L. (1991). Depression, realism, and the overconfidence effect: Are the sadder wiser
when predicting future actions and events? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 521-532.
February 9: Self-justification

Aronson Chapter 5 – Self-Justification (72 pages)

Egan, L. C., Santos, L. R., & Bloom, P. (2007). The origins of cognitive dissonance: Evidence from children
and monkeys. Psychological Science, 18, 978-983.

Lepper, M. R., Corpus, J. H., & Iyengar, S. S. (2005). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations in the
classroom: Age differences and academic correlates. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 184-196.

Being Influenced and Influencing Others

February 16: Persuasion

Aronson Chapter 3 – Mass Communication, Propaganda, and Persuasion (58 pages)

Strahan, E. J., Spencer, S. J., & Zanna. M. P. (2002). Subliminal priming and persuasion: Striking while the iron
is hot. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 768-777.

Moses, L. J., & Baldwin, D. A. (2005). What can the study of cognitive development reveal about children’s
ability to appreciate and cope with advertising. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 24, 186-201.

Barden, J., & Petty, R. E. (2008). The mere perception of elaboration creates attitude certainty: Exploring the
thoughtfulness heuristic. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 489-509.

February 23: Social influence: Obedience and compliance

Aronson Chapter 2 – Conformity (46 pages)

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371-
378.

Baumrind, D. (1964). Some thoughts on ethics of research. American Psychologist, 19, 421-423.

Zajonc, R.B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 256-268.

Interacting with and Thinking about Others

March 2: The light side of groups I: Attraction

Aronson Chapter 8 – Liking, Loving, and Interpersonal Sensitivity (48 pages)

Griffin, A. M., & Langlois, J. H. (2006). Stereotype directionality and attractiveness stereotyping: Is beauty
good or is ugly bad? Social Cognition, 24, 187-206.

March 9: The light side of groups II: Relationships

Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preference: Evolutionary hypothesis tested in 37 cultures.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1-49.

Rudman, L. A., & Heppen, J. B. (2003). Implicit romantic fantasies and women’s interest in personal power: A
Glass Slipper Effect? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1357-1370.

McNulty, J. K., O’Mara, E. M., & Karney, B. R. (2008). Benevolent cognitions as a strategy of relationship
maintenance: ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’… But it is not all small stuff. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 94, 631-646.

Wegner, D. M., Erber, R., & Raymond, P. (1991). Transactive memory in close relationships. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 923-929.

March 23: The dark side of groups: Aggression and not-so-positive group behaviors

Aronson Chapter 6 – Human Aggression (48 pages)

Schulz-Hardt, S., Frey, D., Luthgens, C., & Moscovici, S. (2000). Biased information search in group decision
making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 655-669.

Diener, E., Fraser, S. C., & Beaman, A. L. (1976). Effects of deindividuation variables on stealing among
Halloween trick-or-treaters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33, 178-183.

Cacioppo, J. T., Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2009). Alone in the crowd: The structure and spread of
loneliness in a large social network. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 977-991.

March 30: Discrimination and stereotyping I: Examples and consequences

Aronson Chapter 7 Pages 302-324 – Prejudice (23 pages)

Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., Wittenbrink, B., Sadler, M. S., & Keesee, T. (2007). Across the thin blue line:
Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1006-
1023.

Dunham, Y., Baron, A. S., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). From American City to Japanese Village: A cross-cultural
investigation of implicit race attitudes. Child Development, 77, 1268-1281.

Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African
Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797-811.

Effron, D. E., Cameron, J. S., & Monin, B. (2009). Endorsing Obama licenses favoring Whites. Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 590-593.

April 6: Discrimination and stereotyping II: Causes and treatment

Aronson Chapter 7 Pages 324-355 – Prejudice (31 pages)

Fiske, S. T. (2002). What we know now about bias and intergroup conflict, the problem of the century. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 123 – 128.

Hodson, G., Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2002). Processes in racial discrimination: Differential weighting
of conflicting information. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 460 – 471.

Galinsky, A. D., & Ku, G. (2004). The effects of perspective-taking on prejudice: The moderating role of self-
evaluation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 594 – 604.

Brown, C. S. & Bigler, R. S. (2005). Children’s perceptions of discrimination: A developmental model. Child
Development, 76, 533 – 553.

April 13: Prosocial psychology

Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical
validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410 – 421.

Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental
health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193 – 210.

Kahneman, D. Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you
were richer? A focusing illusion. Science, 312, 1908 – 1910.

Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1 – 31.

April 20: Applications of social psychology

Zimbardo, P. G. (2004). Does Psychology make a significant difference in our lives? American Psychologist,
59, 339 – 351.

Latimer, A. E., Rivers, S. E., Rench, T. A., Katulak, N. A., Hicks, A., Hodorowski, J. K., Higgins, E. T., &
Salovey, P. (2008). A field experiment testing the utility of regulatory fit messages for promoting physical
activity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 862-832.

Alexander, C. N., Langer, E. J., Newman, R. I., Chandler, H. M., & Davies, J. L. (1989). Transcendental
meditation, mindfulness, and longevity: An experimental study with the elderly. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 57, 950 – 964.

Cohen, G.L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., & Master, A. (2006). Reducing the racial achievement gap: A social-
psychological intervention. Science, 313, 1307-1310.

Paluck, E. L. (2009). Reducing intergroup prejudice and conflict using the media: A field experiment in
Rwanda. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 574 – 587.

April 27: TBD

UTD POLICIES
Student Conduct & Discipline
The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have
rules and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is
the responsibility of each student and each student organization to be
knowledgeable about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct
and activities. General information on student conduct and discipline is
contained in the UTD publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all
registered students each academic year.
The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the
procedures of recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined
and described in the Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University
of Texas System, Part 1, Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student
Services and Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of
the Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in
interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the
responsibilities of citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and
local laws as well as the Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and
administrative rules. Students are subject to discipline for violating the
standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or off campus, or
whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.
Academic Integrity
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic
honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute
integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a
student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic
work.
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or
omissions related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or
the submission as one’s own work or material that is not one’s own. As a
general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating,
plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students suspected of
academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes,
and from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the
university’s policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course
will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible
plagiarism and is over 90% effective.
Email Use
The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of
communication between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At
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The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for
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The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any
college-level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's
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In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or
other fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first
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“the respondent”). Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for
assigning grades and evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level,
the grievance must be submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy of the
respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written response
provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the
School Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the School Dean’s decision,
the student may make a written appeal to the Dean of Graduate or
Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic
Appeals Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The
results of the academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved
parties.
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of
the Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in
interpreting the rules and regulations.
Incomplete Grade Policy
As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work
unavoidably missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work
has been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8)
weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work
to complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by
the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade
of F.
Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational
opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is
located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and
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p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:
The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)
Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those
reasonable adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of
disability. For example, it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions
against tape recorders or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who
are blind. Occasionally an assignment requirement may be substituted (for
example, a research paper versus an oral presentation for a student who is
hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with mobility impairments may
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need to provide special services such as registration, note-taking, or mobility
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It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for
such an accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to
present to faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs
accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact
the professor after class or during office hours.
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The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as
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student, so excused, will be allowed to take the exam or complete the
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the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment. If
a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the
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