Social Psychology is a core area within Psychology that is often defined as the scientific study of how people think about, relate to, influence, and are influenced by other people and the social context. Prior to entering the Applied Social Psychology area within the Psychology MA Program, students should take an undergraduate in social psychology. To learn more about social psychology, consult websites such as The Social Psychology Network (which provides links to many other relevant sites).
Our focus is on Applied Social Psychology, which can be defined as the systematic application of social psychological constructs principles, theories, intervention techniques, research methods and research findings to understand, prevent, and ameliorate social problems (Oskamp & Schultz, 1998). The social problems and issues that can be addressed are numerous, some areas include:
- Health (e.g., diet, exercise, behavior change, substance abuse prevention);
- Interpersonal conflict (e.g., bullying, negotiations, mediation, peace)
- The environment (e.g., conservation, space design, crowding, sustainability)
- Safety (violence prevention, workplace organization, seat belt use)
- Social cognition (judgment accuracy, eyewitness testimony, stereotyping)
- Group processes (social influence, communication)
- Politics (political participation, citizenship, partisanship)
- The workplace (mentoring, leadership, motivation, job satisfaction)
- Volunteerism, helping, and altruism
Career and Employment Opportunities
The Psychology MA, with a focus in applied social psychology, can prepare students for careers in research, evaluation, prevention programming, jobs in government and non-profit sectors, consumer behavior, and doctoral student in social psychology and related areas. This program does not prepare students for licensure in mental health services.
Examples of employment opportunities might include:
- Research in government and corporations
- Training and development
- Consumer behavior and marketing
- Non-profit organizations (program design and evaluation)
- Performance and Personality testing
- College-level teaching (usually part-time, many full-time positions require doctorate)
- Research or teaching assistant while pursuing a doctoral degree
