Social psychology is the scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by their current construals of themselves and the social environment. These construals are profoundly influenced by social norms, are amenable to study with the experimental method, and are levers for changing people’s behavior.1 In order to understand what people do, and, importantly, to change people’s behavior for the better, we must get inside their skin and see the world the way they do.
The Social Psychology Program at the University of Florida prepares students for professional careers as researchers, teachers, program evaluators, and consultants in the field of social psychology. The program provides training in both theoretically-oriented basic research and problem-oriented applied research. Graduates of the program have gone on to careers in academia (primarily in psychology departments but also in departments of marketing, management, advertising, education, and others), in research firms (e.g., doing program evaluation research), in private businesses (e.g., in research divisions of major companies), and in government.
The program emphasizes close student-faculty interactions and an apprenticeship atmosphere. Students are expected to be actively involved in ongoing research. Over time, such involvement produces joint projects, provides opportunities for generating and pursuing collaborative research ideas, and leads to the thesis and dissertation. Individualized programs of study, worked out jointly between the student and members of his or her graduate committee, permit flexibility in constructing a graduate experience that fits the student’s goals and interests.
1 Wilson, T. D. (2022). What is social psychology? The construal principle. Psychological Review, 129, 873–889.