Social Psychology Course Research Articles

Introduction to Michael A. Hogg's SPSSI Kurt Lewin Award Address

Introduction to Michael A. Hogg's SPSSI Kurt Lewin Award Address

Initial Evidence for Shifting Race Essentialism Beliefs in the Classroom

Background Teaching students about race and racism is critical to and relevant in psychology classrooms. Objective We explored whether direct instruction dismantling ideas that race is genetic affects students' race essentialist and other related beliefs. Method Undergraduate students enrolled in four social psychology courses completed measures of race essentialism and other related beliefs before and after engaging in course-directed activities designed to reduce endorsement of biological essentialist beliefs about race. Results After class activities, students reported lower levels of general racial essentialist beliefs and estimated that more progress is needed to reduce racial inequality. However, attitudes towards racially minoritized groups or perceived need for anti-racist actions did not shift, and colorblind ideology may have increased. Conclusion These data provide evidence that essentialism shifts can be accomplished in the psychology classroom, but shifting related beliefs may require additional instruction. Teaching Implications The class activities described in this research provide a way for instructors to introduce students to a new concept (race essentialism) and change students’ beliefs in the genetic underpinning of race.

“Exams by You”: Having Students Write and Complete Their Own Exams During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to proctor exams after the forced transition to remote teaching and learning.ObjectiveWe evaluated students’ experiences creating and answering their own exam items in an upper-level psychology course during the transition to remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodStudents in an advanced social psychology course wrote and answered exam items to demonstrate their learning when proctored exams became impossible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exams were graded for breadth, depth, and accuracy, and compared to other demonstrations of learning, including traditional in-class exams taken prior to the transition to remote teaching and learning.ResultsStudents performed well on these exams. Students reported positive perceptions of these exams during the COVID-19 pandemic, but reported that, while these exams reduced test anxiety, they were time-intensive.ConclusionStudents can demonstrate their learning by writing and completing their own exams. Their higher grades may be related to reduced test anxiety and greater time investments.Teaching ImplicationsInstructors should consider having students write and complete their own exams to demonstrate their learning, especially when proctoring exams is difficult or impossible.

Can Mental Tricks Effect Social Change?

Can Mental Tricks Effect Social Change?

Are structural equation models theories and does it matter?

ABSTRACT In their introductory marketing, management, and social psychology courses, undergraduates learn that correlation coefficients provide weak evidence for causal conclusions. Nonetheless, researchers conclude causally from correlation coefficients by drawing causal arrows in their structural equation models (SEMs). Although most researchers avoid describing their findings in causal language, obligatory recommendations for applying those findings insert causation. Researchers’ standard rejoinder to validity challenges is “the critics have ignored theory’s role in rendering our SEM internally and externally valid”. To evaluate this rejoinder, we explore SEMs based on comprehensive underlying theories and as stand-alone and testable context-specific theories that blend previously published hypotheses and findings. In most cases, the rejoinder is unconvincing.

Deep Learning Technology Based on Intelligent Teaching in Social Psychology Courses

Social psychology is a comprehensive course which is an interdisciplinary of sociology and psychology. Most colleges and universities have currently taken social psychology as a general course to popularize psychological knowledge to students, which has great significance to cultivating their quality. Previous teaching did not combine this course with social needs, the optimization of students’ psychological needs and enhancement of their abilities to solve problems, on the contrary, pure theoretical interpretation was the focus, resulting in students’ lacking of proactivity. Therefore, a new teaching mode for improvement is urgent. Based on deep learning theory and comprehensively taking teaching environment, teaching resources and technical strategy support into consideration, and intelligence as the core, the paper has designed an intelligent teaching mode including intelligent preview, intelligent classroom, intelligent promotion and intelligent evaluation. Meanwhile, combined with courses of social psychology, video, audio and text teaching resources and multimedia courseware, multimedia resources were integrated, and problem discussion-based collaborative learning was adopted for teaching. To accurately evaluate the teaching effect under the intelligent teaching environment, guided by the appeal of intelligent teaching and based on analysis of accurate teaching objectives, the paper has established an accurate teaching evaluation index system, aiming at providing an idea for "How to evaluate the effect of accurate teaching in the intelligent teaching environment". At last, the paper has applied the new teaching mode into the practice of social psychology, finding that the new mode can stimulate students’ proactivity, improve their performance, which is worth promotion.

Effectively Integrating a Diversity Focused Pedagogy into a Social Psychology Course

A number of faculty who teach psychology courses opt out of addressing diversity-centered content out of discomfort or glaze over this material, ultimately creating content which does not relate to increasingly diverse student bodies (Boysen, 2011; Ocampo et al., 2003). The present study examines the effectiveness and impact of utilizing a pedagogy grounded in a theory of diversity/social justice with respect to learning outcomes. The study also explores whether faculty’s teaching experience impacts student’s understanding and application of diversity focused content. Three raters categorized and coded assignment data from two course sections, containing a total of 786 undergraduate respondents. Students applied more content from diversity-centered chapters to their papers and final project. Additionally, the rate at which students applied diversity-focused concepts to assignments did not differ by instructor’s teaching experience. Findings indicate that students overwhelming resonate with diversity centered content and choose to relay constructs which align with a diversity-centered, socially just pedagogy over general social psychology content. Our findings also suggest that a diversity-driven curriculum can be effectively implemented in the classroom and received by students, regardless of prior teaching experience or exposure.

Identity Safety Cues Predict Instructor Impressions, Belonging, and Absences in the Psychology Classroom

Background: Students with marginalized identities report a lack of cultural competence among faculty in higher education classrooms. Identity safety cues (ISCs) signal to minority group members that their identities are valued and respected. Objective: The purpose of this study was to test for differences in students’ perceptions of their professor, sense of belonging, and academic outcomes when comparing an ISC course with a control course. Method: We randomly assigned one of two sections of a large social psychology course to receive ISCs while the other section was taught in a control format. The same professor taught both sections. Results: Participants in the ISC class believed their professor was trying to create an inclusive classroom and disapproved of social inequalities more than participants in the control course. These students also reported a higher sense of belonging and fewer absences. Conclusion: ISCs were associated with favorable impressions of faculty, a sense of belonging in the classroom, and fewer absences. Teaching Implications: Professors can make small adjustments to signal identity safety in their classrooms. These ISCs may foster a sense of belonging and motivation to attend the class for learners with diverse identities.

Effect of game based teaching on satisfaction and learning of midwifery students in social psychology course

Effect of game based teaching on satisfaction and learning of midwifery students in social psychology course

Connecting Psychological Science With Climate Change

Students often have little understanding of the role psychological science plays in informing us about the impact of human behavior when addressing climate change. We designed an assignment for a social psychology course based on Frantz and Mayer’s use of the decision tree model of helping behavior to identify the psychological barriers that reduce the likelihood that people will take action against climate change. Students identified one barrier and designed a persuasion or influence attempt to address that barrier. The assignment integrated social psychological topics in several areas (e.g., helping behavior, persuasion). A pretest–posttest design revealed that students’ knowledge of the role of psychological science in understanding climate change increased compared to a control class.

The Counter-Normative Effects of Service-Learning: Fostering Attitudes toward Social Equality through Contact and Autonomy

Power dynamics are implicated in prosocial behavior (Nadler & Halabi, 2015). This research investigated two factors that influence the effect of prosocial behavior on views of social equality: amount of direct contact and type of helping. Students in a social psychology course (N = 93) were randomly assigned to a service-learning group or to a control group. The service-learning group was further subdivided into an autonomy-oriented helping group or a dependency-oriented helping group. After participating in approximately 19 hours of community service over nine weeks, service-learners had more positive views of social equality compared to the control group. This effect was strongest in autonomy-oriented helpers who had high levels of direct contact. The implications and mechanisms of service-learning as a form of counter-normative prosocial behavior are discussed. Prosocial behavior is an integral, adaptive component of human functioning. Prosocial behavior can take many forms, including spontaneous assistance offered in emergencies, sustained community service, and the billions of dollars given each year in philanthropy. Communities richly benefit from the time, resources, and talents of prosocial people. Prosocial behavior also benefits helpers. Prosocial people become happier, healthier, and experience a greater sense of purpose in life through their service to others (Piliavin, 2003; Smith & Davidson, 2014). Prosocial behavior that is intergroup (i.e., that occurs across different social groups) has the added potential benefit of increasing people's exposure to diverse group members and may result in an increased preference for social equality. Brown (2011a, 2011b) found that participating in service-learning, a form of prosocial behavior (IPB), reduced social dominance orientation (Pratto, Sidanius, Stall worth, & Malle, 1994). Social dominance orientation is an anti-egalitarian attitude that includes one's preference for group-based social hierarchy and support for discrimination against lower status groups (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). The conditions under which these benefits of prosocial behavior are most likely to accrue have not yet been explored. The present study examines two variables hypothesized to influence the relationship between IPB and attitudes toward social equality: the amount of direct, personal contact that groups have with one another and the type of assistance offered. We begin with a brief review of the literature to provide the theoretical context for this study's design and hypotheses, focusing on the intimate relationship between IPB and power. Power dynamics are frequently implicated in IPB. The group offering assistance (i.e., the helpers) may possess some resource that the other group (i.e., the recipients) lacks, and thus the transaction is founded on a status differential. The Intergroup Helping as Status Relations Model (IHSR; Nadler, 2002; Nadler & Halabi, 2006) is the most well-developed theory in social psychology to describe the connection between IPB and power dynamics. The model is based on the assumption that pervasive legitimation of social inequality (Costa-Lopes, Dovidio, Pereira, & Jost, 2013) operates within IPB, such that rather than promote equality, prosocial behavior frequently serves the ironic function of keeping high status and low status groups in their respective places (Cunningham & Platow, 2007; Halabi, Dovidio, & Nadler, 2008; Jackson & Esses, 2000; Nadler & Chernyak-Hai, 2014). The IHSR differentiates between two types of prosocial behavior: autonomy-oriented and dependency-oriented. Autonomy-oriented helping is aimed at assisting the recipient to help him or herself by providing a partial solution such as tools that can be used to resolve the issue or need. In contrast, dependency-oriented helping provides a full solution to the recipient's need. …

Virtual Learning Environments in Social Psychology

An interactive learning module was developed and implemented in a social psychology course to teach concepts of the self via self-exploration and game play using The SIMS3. Students volunteered to play the computer video game throughout a 5-week summer session as a supplement to reading the chapter in the textbook. Results revealed that students who played the game demonstrated a significant increase in content knowledge compared to those who engaged in other active learning projects; interestingly, students who played the game reported lower levels of confidence with course material. Student’s overall perceived experience (e.g., engagement, fun) of the learning module was also explored.

In Memory Leigh S. Shaffer March 8, 1947 to August 5, 2017

I write this dedication to Leigh Shaffer with much respect, admiration, appreciation, and affection. Readers of this Journal will recognize that Leigh and I served as Co-Editors of the Journal from 2009 through 2016, but I have known Leigh for more than 30 years. I first met Leigh in 1986 when I was a student in my master's program in psychology at West Chester University. He was one of my first instructors, teaching a course on personality psychology my first semester. I was immediately captivated by his calm demeanor, his intellect, and his ability to connect with students. Little did I know at the time how much of an impact he would have on my life. I later took an advanced social psychology course with Leigh, and he served as my master's thesis advisor. Long-story-short, if it were not for our numerous conversations and his guidance, I likely would not have pursued and obtained my PhD in social psychology.We remained in contact after I left West Chester University, throughout my PhD program, and beyond. As our relationship evolved, he became not only a mentor but a friend. We eventually formally began working together again as members of the NACADA Journal Editorial Board in 2006, and then as Co-Editors starting in 2009 and continuously for the next seven years. As Co-Editor of the NACADA Journal, he presented or co-presented numerous sessions on writing for NACADA at regional and annual NACADA conferences, mentored up-and-coming researchers and authors, and continued to write in the area of academic advising. Upon ending his responsibilities as Co-Editor in 2016, he continued as a member for the Journal Editorial Board. However, beyond his roles with the Journal, I can think of few people who have contributed more to the field of academic advising in higher education in the last several decades than Leigh.As a professor in the Departments of Psychology and Anthropology & Sociology at West Chester University he advised hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students while also serving as a member and leader in his disciplinary associations. In addition to the dozens of psychological, sociological, and social psychological articles and book chapters Leigh authored or co-authored, his publications on academic advising include his 1997 article “A Human Capital Approach to Academic Advising,” his 1998 article “An Exercise for Teaching the Concept of Human Capital Through Calculating the ‘True Costs' of a College Education,” and three co-authored articles “The Professionalization of Academic Advising: Where Are We in 2010?” (2010), “A Human Capital Approach to Career Advising” (2011), and “It's What I Have Always Wanted to Do. Advising the Foreclosure Student” (2011). He was lead author on all of these co-authored articles. Leigh is actually the most prolific author of NACADA Journal articles in the past 30 years, authoring or co-authoring 11 NACADA Journal articles between 1997 and 2014.Leigh's 1997 and 1998 articles, referenced above, have been very influential in the field of academic advising in higher education in general, and are cited often at NACADA institutes, workshops, and conferences. His 1997 article was, in fact, 1 of 14 articles recognized as seminal historical articles reprinted in the 2009 special edition of the NACADA Journal. Probably of even greater impact is his co-authored 2010 article, which has been the basis for many discussions, decisions, and implementations by NACADA to drive the movement to professionalize academic advising as a field in higher education—including the realization of the new NACADA Research Center. That article, in particular, will have an impact on academic advising not just nationally but globally for decades to come.These few paragraphs can in no way communicate the person Leigh was. For those of us who had the opportunity to call him a colleague and friend, we are much better people today. For those of us who were graced by his teaching and mentoring, we will never forget him. And for the thousands upon thousands of people who have been and will be influenced by his work and his writings, his inspiration will continue for a long, long time. Gone but never forgotten. . . . ciao, my friend.

Effectiveness of Teaching with Movies to Promote Positive Characteristics and Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a systematic movie-based teaching course can promote positive characteristics and behaviors of Thai students. The sample of this study was 156 undergraduate students of a public university in northern Thailand. The research was conducted in two semester of the 2014 academic year. The experimental groups consisted of 41 and 44 students in the first and second semester, and the control group consisted of 35 and 36 students. Both experimental groups enrolled the “teaching-with-movie” class for credits, and viewed 11 movies during the semester. In addition, both experimental groups participated in a 30-minute discussion after viewing each movie. For the control groups, participants enrolled in social psychology course and received no intervention. Through a pretest, posttest control group quasi-experimental design, the two experimental groups showed a significant increase in positive characteristics and behaviors, while the control group showed no significant increase. In addition, results of the analysis of covariance showed that a systematic movie-based teaching course positively developed positive characteristics and behaviors, as the group variable predicted positive characteristics and behaviors at posttest while controlling for pretest scores. Overall, the results of this study provide support that positive characteristics and behaviors can be enhanced through a systematic movie-based teaching course.

Internationalisation at home: Intercultural learning for social psychology students

An internationalised curriculum could better prepare graduates for globalising and increasingly culturally diverse workplaces. There is a need to provide students with intercultural learning opportunities at home because many students do not have access to study abroad opportunities. This paper describes curriculum changes designed to enhance students’ intercultural learning in a third year social psychology course at an Australian university. Two novel classroom activities based on the alliance building and cultural mapping methods of the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership (EXCELL) programme were used. Students reported increased intercultural learning in this course, especially regarding awareness and knowledge, compared to another third year psychology course they participated in that did not include such activities. Suggestions for embedding intercultural l arning throughout the psychology curricula are discussed along with the challenges in sustaining such curriculum changes.

Social Psychological Interventions to Reduce the Number of Violence against Women in Indonesia

This article aimed at discussing the interventions that have been made in the fight against gender injustice, and specifically the domestic violence which is widespread in Indonesia. There are three social intervention solutions conducted during October 2014 to January 2015 in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, as part of Social Psychology and Psychological Intervention Course Program that will be discussed in detail, namely 1) intervention toward the observer’s (bystander’s) attitude toward the violence to be a preventer of the violence (or, to be an upstander), 2) intervention eliminating women objectification among men, and 3) intervention reducing verbal violent behavior against women. All those three will be discussed in an intervention methods of PATH, a model constructed by Abraham P. Buunk and Mark Van Vugt (2013) consisting of four stages, i.e. Problem formulation (Problem), Analysis and explanation (Analyze), Test stages (Test) and Intervention implementation (Help). The intervention targets are the students, the late teens, and the young adults through 1) Handbook of Violence Prevention to offer support and assistance for the actual and potential victims of domestic violence, 2) the campaign via radio mass media for prevention of women objectification, as well as 3) the delivery of contemplative messages through shirt and pin for verbal abuse prevention. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p285

Student Management Teams Increase College Students’ Feelings of Autonomy in the Classroom

The use of Student Management Teams (SMTs) is a relatively new teaching technique designed to increase students’ motivation and involvement with the planning and execution of college courses. However, to date, little systematic, empirical research has validated the effectiveness of using SMTs. To test the effectiveness of this technique, the current research utilized a pretest–posttest paradigm consisting of two courses taught by the same professor (both Social Psychology courses). In one course, the professor implemented a SMT; the other course served as a control comparison. Results revealed that students in the course with the SMT increased their feelings of autonomy relative to students in the control comparison course. Implications for teaching techniques and their potential impact on student motivation are discussed.

The Game of Social Life

This article presents the development of a new simulation activity, the Game of Social Life. The activity introduces students to concepts of social stratification based on multiple dimensions of poverty, including inequalities related to housing, education, occupational status, social power, and health outcomes. The game was administered to students enrolled in a social psychology course at a small, private, liberal arts university located in the midwestern United States. Qualitative analysis of 25 students’ written reactions revealed that the game was engaging and successful in motivating students to adopt a new perspective, acknowledge inequality and explanations for poverty, self-reflect about privilege and oppression, and consider solutions to these problems. The activity was also assessed as a training exercise with 16 staff members at a nonprofit agency located in an urban area in southeastern Canada. These assessments indicate that the activity can be used in a variety of contexts.

Can we learn through disagreements?: A sociocultural perspective on argumentative interactions in a pedagogical setting in higher education

It has been well established by educational research that social interactions play a role in learning and development. In this paper, we draw on recent advances in a sociocultural perspective in psychology that have showed the dialogical dimension of learning, and allowed to consider social interactions as a matrix for its development rather than a variable merely 'influencing' psychological processes. In educational contexts, argumentative interaction is often considered as a potential means to learn. However, in some cases, the results of argumentative activities do not reach the learning gains expected by the teachers: the students engage in an irenic confrontation trying 'to win', or face difficulties in elaborating counter- arguments and contents which allow an effective epistemic exploration of the topic under discussion. One of the main difficulties for the interlocutors seems 'to agree to disagree' and to develop the topic with relevant information. This paper, drawing on a sociocultural perspective on argumentation, has two main objectives: the first is to explain the theoretical outlines of a pedagogical design implemented in a university course in social psychology. This design was conceived in order to lead the students intending to explore a complex question to enter into an epistemic discussion. The second aim is to present and discuss the results of the analysis of the argumentative discussions developed by the students. Did they agree to disagree? How did they manage disagreements? Did their disagreements lead them to an epistemic exploration? The data are made up of 11 chat sessions in which 35 students participated in small groups of 3 or 4. The analysis focuses firstly on the structure of the sessions and secondly on the argumentative moves. The results show that the students co-construct a social frame in which the disagreements can be expressed and the 'deep' exploration of the topic can be developed in a cooperative framework. This finding is discussed by examining the role of the general meaning of such a setting in an academic context.

The Development of the Heuristics and Biases Scale (HBS)

Problem StatementThere is no comprehensive tool capturing general vulnerability to biases caused by the use of heuristics. Existing tools focus only on one specific bias or on personality traits. Research QuestionsCan general vulnerability to heuristic thinking be assessed and what are the sub-dimensions of this construct? Can undergraduate students be successfully involved in the research process? Purpose of the StudyTo demonstrate the results of an educational experiment in which undergraduate students are involved in the first stage of development of the Heuristics and Biases Scale (HBS). Research MethodsAfter getting acquainted with the underlying theory, students chose one specific bias or heuristic, investigated related results of the experiments and paradigms. At the later stage, under supervision, students developed items intended to capture the chosen bias. Finally, positively evaluated items were combined together and piloted. The psychometrical properties of the items and course outcomes were assessed. FindingsDeveloped items formed scales with satisfactory reliability. Course received positive student evaluations, and the assessment indicated that the majority of students achieved intended learning outcomes. ConclusionsThe study indicates that it is possible to develop a psychometrically sound assessment to measure vulnerability to a range of common cognitive biases. Moreover, it is also possible to successfully involve undergraduate students in the development of a psychometrical tool. AcknowledgmentsAuthors would like to thank the Students of University College Roosevelt contributing to this work as their Independent Research Projects or as a part of Social Psychology or Statistics Course.