Social Psychology

From the rise of fascism to modern fashion trends, why do humans conform? How do prejudices arise? How do people persuade others? Where do behaviors come from?

Social Psychology is a course that will explore these questions, and the nature of human relations as a whole, through four key areas of study—social thinking, social influence, social relations, and applications of social psychology in the real world. Social thinking is how an individual’s thoughts and perceptions are affected by those around them. Within different social situations, people interpret the behavior of others by assessing both perceived intention and emotion in order to appropriately respond.  Social influence is the behaviors that are acted upon in response to social thinking. Social influence reveals itself in various ways, and can be seen through conformity, peer pressure, and leadership.  Social relations can be described as the development of relationships between two or more people. These relationships occur over time after multiple social interactions, which can evolve into shared behaviors or power dynamics within a group.  In this course, students will apply social psychology in the real world in a variety of settings, engage in discussion, conduct research, and write reports/papers.

This is a UC Honors designated course.

About the Instructor

Melina Bersamin – Athenian
Melina has been teaching and conducting research in psychology and public health for over 20 years. For the last four years she has taught courses in general psychology, social psychology, human development, and research methods. She has a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Human Development from UC Davis. Her favorite hobbies include gardening, baking, hiking and running.