Module manager: Tiina Eilola
Email: t.m.eilola@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
BSc Psychology or MPsyc, BSc Advanced Psychology or BSc Psychology with Education or BA Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Thought entry requirements
PSYC1604 Social Psychology
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module will involve lectures and interactive workshops to introduce students to social psychology theory, research, and practice. This will include coverage of key theoretical approaches to social psychology, as well as critical evaluation and real-world application of these theories. Students will be introduced to social psychological approaches to real-world problems (e.g., misinformation online, healthy behaviour, mental health) and will be supported to consider how a health or social approach can develop psychological understanding and intervention. Throughout the module, students will learn theory in the lecture and apply this theory to a specified realworld problem in an interactive workshop, preparing them for a coursework assessment. Breadth of theoretical knowledge will be examined in an exam.
This module aims to:
1- Facilitate an exploration of key theoretical approaches in health and social psychology, including social cognition, through lectures.
2- Enable an understanding of the interconnections between health and social psychology in explaining human behaviour.
3- Provide insights into the application of social and health psychology in real-world contexts, including psychosocial determinants of health, through structured workshops
4- Foster critical discussion and analysis of different approaches within health and social psychology.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Recognise fundamental conceptual knowledge within social psychology
2. Recognise fundamental conceptual knowledge within individual differences, as it relates to social psychology
3. Describe and explain, with appropriate evaluation, the practical application of social psychology theory to real world issues
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Summarise and evaluate practical, theoretical, and ethical issues associated with a range of social psychological research methodologies and approaches
5. Apply, with evidence, fundamental social psychological theory to address aspects of real-world issues
6. Compare and contrast health and social psychological theories to understand human behaviour
Although this is an L1 module, the syllabus is aligned to the requirements of the British Psychology Society (BPS) for L2 teaching – this is to ensure the module provides a foundation for later core teaching on a BPS accredited module.
Note that number of topics and number of lectures do not align exactly, because some topics will be covered across multiple lectures.
1- Health and social psychology: Interconnected approaches and research methods
2- Social influences and attitudes
3- Social cognition and attribution
4- Group processes and health behaviours
5- The self and social identity
6- Aggression and altruism
7- Prejudice, discrimination, and health inequalities
8- Interpersonal relationships
9- Social psychology in action
10- Recap and revision
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Formative feedback will be embedded in the module primarily in the interactive workshops. This will include facilitated peer feedback within workshops, in which students are encouraged to provide constructive comments on each other's contributions. Students understanding of the key theories and approaches will be monitored via case studies and practical application exercises relevant to health and social psychology, where there will be oral feedback during the workshop, highlighting strengths and suggesting areas for improvement.
There will be a dedicated workshop in the module for essay writing skills.
Lectures will also feature mock exam questions to check understanding and there will be a week dedicated to formative preparation for the exam.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework (summative) - Essay | 50 |
| Coursework | In-class essay writing training (formative) - To support essay | 0 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 50 | |
The essay will give students a list of real-world problems and they will be asked to apply social and health psychological theories to explain it and then critically evaluate how well the theories may address the problem they chose. Workshops will provide formative feedback for students to develop skills of applying social psychological theory to real-world problems.
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 1.0 Hrs 30 Mins | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 50 | |
The exam will examine breadth of understanding across the module contents.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 24/04/2025
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