Psychology in Our World

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In the field of social psychology, we study the effects of the real or imagined presence of others on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals. The questions asked in social psychology have to do with our daily lives in the social world, and often seek to find answers to social mysteries. Power, personalities, attraction, stress, families, the act of winning and the experience of losing, all exert profound, but often undetected, effects on both people's individual lives and how we interact with others. These phenomena, and the culture in which they are embedded, affect our psyches, our professions, and our choices. Questions beg for answers in social psychology such as, "Why would a person that is considered ‘at the top’ make a decision that threatens that position by a choice that is more than risky?" "Why does someone get out of one unhealthy relationship and then make a choice to get into different unhealthy relationships?" "Do the ends justify the means?" Greed, altruism, narcissism, and deception surround us in life, what are their origins? Does nature or nurture influence us more in who we are and what we chose? In this course, we will seek to find answers to these questions and many others by studying the major perspectives of social psychology. This course draws from a range of theoretical, clinical, and methodological approaches to explore several key questions: Where does the drive to pursue and persevere originate? Do we control our choices, and what is the theory behind decision-making? Is change something that lies within us and why is it so hard to make necessary changes? How does psychology play a part in our habits, the choice of partners, in our professional careers? What are the origins of power, narcissism, altruism, grit, and risk-taking? We will analyze and discuss both the scholarly ramifications of these ideas and also how to understand them in our lives and society more broadly.