Research Activities

As revealed on the social program faculty page, each faculty member in the social psychology graduate program conducts programmatic research in substantive areas of inquiry, including altruism, social influence, interpersonal attraction, health psychology, social cognition, stereotyping and prejudice, social stigma, alcohol and drug use, emotions, culture, religion, divorce, coping and stress, group processes, cooperation and competition, relationships, aggression, gender and the psychology of women, women’s health, psychology and the law, and program evaluation. In addition, some faculty members are conducting research on topics with a more methodological/statistical focus including interactions in multiple regression, time series designs and analyses, and structural equations and causal modeling. Immediately upon entering the graduate program, students become involved in research in one or more of these areas under supervision of the faculty. However, students can and should shape the research activities of faculty by bringing to the program interests developed independently. The research activities in the program tend to be highly collaborative and interactive, making for an exciting and stimulating intellectual environment.
 

Training Emphases

The program has a broad view concerning the role of research in contemporary society. In general, the social psychology program follows a dual–track model, with the student actively involved in laboratory–based experimental social psychological training, applied social psychological training, or both. Unlike many social psychology programs, we have also provided an emphasis for interested students in applied social psychology to complement the traditional emphasis on experimental research of a theory–testing nature. For example, a number of social program students and faculty work and study with the Prevention Research Center, one of five centers in the U.S. funded by the National Institute of Mental Health researching "at risk" populations. Thus, although most of our students move into academic careers, a large minority of them do so with an interest in researching applied issues.
 

Related Areas

Students and faculty in social psychology often work collaboratively with, and take courses from, faculty in allied areas in the department. Emphases in health psychology and quantitative methodology—and our prominent Quantitative Psychology program—strengthen the range of experiences available to students. The social psychology program also participates in a joint law and psychology J.D./Ph.D program in cooperation with the ASU College of Law.