SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

At the University of Texas

Real World Social Life

An important feature of the UT Social Psychology graduate program is that we share the belief that the field should have an eye on the real world -- in terms of theory, research, and practice. Here are some examples of this kind of work:

Describing how people regulate their emotions in the real-world. What do people think or do when they want to feel or express less emotion in a particular situation? Are some emotion regulatory strategies more effective than others? Does a strategy's "effectiveness" depend on the particular context (e.g, at work vs at home)? Face-to-face interviews, daily experiential sampling, and videotaping people in their everyday habitats helps us understand the complex nature of individuals efforts to "get a grip" on their emotions in situations that really matter to them. (Richards and students)

Tracking how people naturally talk, write, and think about massive upheavals in their lives. How do people change in the wake of personal upheavals as well as shared ones -- such as the September 11 terrorist attacks? How, why and when do individuals and cultures talk about, remember, and sometimes forget about these life-changing experiences? (Pennebaker and students)

Studying how couples who have been married for several years naturally talk with each other and work out differences. Do certain personality characteristics predict the quality of the relationships? Some of these studies are run in the lab; others have been conducted at local barbeque joints (Swann and students)

Examining how new students arrange their dorm rooms oand apartments. What does it mean when someone puts up a poster of a Polar Bear on their door? Is it safe to go in their room? Is a messy office a sign of a messy mind? (Gosling and students)

Exploring how a subtle message on an important exam can undermine a person's performance. Does merely asking individuals to list their race, sex, or even social class at the beginning of a test make a difference? If so, is it because it brings to mind previous experiences with threats to dominance or status? (Josephs and students)

Addressing how evolutionary mechanisms can influence dating, mating, mayhem, and murder. Through international surveys and the analysis of marriage and crime statistics, it is possible to begin to understand some of the basic social behaviors of humans. (David Buss and students)

Mapping the social dynamics of airline and astronaut crews as well as teams in hospital operating rooms. (Helmreich and students)