Program

Graduate program

Our Social Psychology Ph.D. program encourages a good grounding in related areas of psychology and cognate fields, and offers opportunities for advanced training across the broad range of substantive problems within social psychology. It also offers freedom for you to determine the focus and breadth of their own program concentration.

In addition to meeting departmental requirements, our Social Psychology students are expected to gain substantial conceptual and empirical knowledge within social psychology, taking the following core courses designed to cover the field:

  • P820: Social Perception and Social Cognition
  • P620: Attitudes and Attitude Change
  • P721: Group and Intergroup Process
  • P647: Judgment and Decision Making

Our students are expected to obtain a broad background in social psychology by taking advantage of the range of topical seminars offered by program members, as well as by participation in the program’s weekly area meetings and its speaker series, which attracts many prominent social and personality psychologists to the campus. Special reading groups and individual research courses can also be arranged to meet your interests.

As the final step to candidacy, you will take a preliminary examination prior to the beginning of the third year. Our students organize the preparation for the preliminary exam, with guidance from members of the area faculty who serve as general advisors to the cohort.