MSc Social Psychology

The MSc in Social Psychology (taught) gives you the opportunity to sample a range of modules from our Developmental, Organisational and Political programmes as well as other modules related to social psychology.

Overview

This taught programme considers how social psychology can be applied to a wide range of social problems and answer key questions such as: How are attitudes formed and developed, and how do they relate to behaviour? What are the key motives that affect people’s reactions to the social world? What social psychological processes are implicated in the form and content of language and communication?

You will gain a thorough grounding in research methods, and conduct a project in an area of social/applied psychology that interests you. The programme is taught by the School’s outstanding research group in social psychology.

Our teaching and research covers the psychology of intergroup behaviour, group decision and performance, attitudes and persuasion, organisational psychology, social cognition, children’s self-concept and social attitudes, and cross-cultural questions, relating social psychological research in these areas to social problems. Course tutors include academics and experts who work in the media, the health service and other applied settings.

Teaching and assessment

Assessment is mainly by coursework assignment (4-6,000-word essays), examination (for the Advanced Statistics and Methodology module only), plus the dissertation.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• foster your intellectual development of postgraduate students by providing you with a specialised knowledge of a range of theoretical approaches to social and applied psychology and statistical and methodological expertise in order that you should be well equipped to make your own original contribution to psychological knowledge
• provide teaching that is informed by current research and scholarship and that requires you to engage with aspects of work at the frontiers of knowledge

Careers

Our postgraduate students commonly go into the fields of health, teaching or further education. For instance, many of our graduates take up roles as assistant psychologists in the NHS with a view to becoming a professional clinical or forensic psychologist. Upon completing our Master’s courses, graduates have also pursued doctoral study and academic careers at higher education institutions.

The programmes we offer help you to develop general critical, analytic and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a wide range of settings.