Using Journals to Show Students what Social Psychology is all About

Abstract

Professional journals serve the vital scientific function of disseminating knowl edge to colleagues. In so doing, journals become the face and voice of the pro fessional disciplines they represent. Journal content shows the major topics of interest, the scope, and the boundaries of the profes sion. It shows the techniques and methods of research that are relevant to the profes sion. It shows the most productive scholars and their institutional affiliations. Journal editors serve as gatekeepers, and therefore, the papers published in a journal show the current official standard of competence for the profession. In other words, a person can leam a lot about the nature of a disci pline simply by examining its major jour nals. My interest in social psychology journals provoked me to develop a teaching activity I use in my social psychology classes. The activity asks students to examine four major journals of social psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP), Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ), Euro pean Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP), and Symbolic Interaction (SI). I use the teaching activity on one of the first days of class to introduce students to the interdisci plinary field of social psychology, and to show students what the field of social psy chology is all about. The teaching activity shows students the range of topics and re search methods, and helps them understand differences between sociological and psy