Psychology 15, "Social Psychology"

Psych 1 interspersed the things you really cared about–controlling people and generally getting your way–with useless info like the causes and warning signs of clinical depression.

Psych 15, “Social Psychology,” is like that cute fat girl who went on a diet: all the essentials without the fluff. Your fearless leader will be the superb Daniel Wegner, who re-takes the reigns after a year on leave doing research. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cringe at mildly inappropriate anecdotes. Some of the highlights:

Interpersonal Attraction–Hopefully your section will contain a resident feminist/male chauvinist for this portion of the course, where all of your worst assumptions about individuals’ partner-selection choices will be confirmed by oodles of data. Face the facts: John just wants to nail as many women as possible, with little concern for personality or appearance. As for Jane–I'm not sayin' she's a golddigga', but she ain't messin' with no broke, er, mates.

Stereotyping & Prejudice–It's not that you hate [insert group here], it's just that you don't know enough of them–and of course you naturally assume that the guy that jacked your iPod by Mather last fall is representative of all those people. It's human nature. Just take a moment, remember that the naturalistic fallacy is more of a suggestion than anything else, and run with it.

Cognitive Dissonance–We encounter ideas that conflict with our already-held beliefs all the time (especially those of you that came here from the South and Midwest). This theory explores the psychological distresses and coping processes that emerge in response to those conflicts. Ever wonder why people can recite the dialogue from “An Inconvenient Truth” verbatim, but can’t be bothered to understand trickle-down economics? It isn’t just because they’re dirty hippies–CD played a role. This theory also explains why the dues, probationary period, branding, and forced sodomy will actually draw you into that final club rather have you running for the hills.