The psychology of societal problems
This course is offered by the PPE Program in the Fall 2010
MONDAY, 3:30-6:20, VAN PELT 425 (forth flour, all the way West).
Office hours: Wednesday 12:1.45, and appointment
In this class, we will see that many societal problems—from violence to poor performance in school—have their root in the mechanisms of human psychology, but that these very mechanisms can also provide us with ways to solve these problems. While very different themes will be covered, all will follow the same underlying approach: we evolved to be social creatures, this can help us understand how our psychology works, which in turn explains why most problems arise and where the solutions are to be found.
Course requirements
The course requirements are simple: students will have to write a very short paper (700 words or more) every week about the readings. Grading will be based on these papers (75%) and participation during the class (25%). The following key will be used for grading the papers:
A+: Went beyond the readings: additional research and creative thinking
A: Went beyond the readings: creative thinking (application to other cases, alternative explanations for the phenomenon, etc.)
A-: Good coverage of the readings, shows a good understanding and raises at least a well founded criticism
B+: Good coverage of the readings, shows a good understanding
B: Decent coverage of the readings
B-: Coverage of the readings includes important misunderstandings
C: Blatant misunderstanding, readings have merely been skimmed
The reading load will be relatively high (more than one technical paper every week or several book chapters). However, there will be no other requirement (i.e. nothing to do after the last class).
The papers will be due by each Friday preceding the class, at midnight.
Schedule for the different classes (tentative)
09/13 Class 1: Introduction
09/20 Class 2: The origin of misunderstandings
Ross et Ward 1996 Naive Realism in Everyday Life Implications for Social Conflict and Misunderstanding
Pronin et al 2004 Objectivity in the Eye of the Beholder
09/27 Class 3: Stereotypes and prejudice
Paluck et Green 2009 Prejudice Reduction What works
Aronson et al 2009 Reducing stereotype threat in classrooms
10/04 Class 4: Special session on happiness, with Diener conference
10/11 Fall break
10/16 Class 5: Inequality and its psychological consequences
Wilkinson and Picket, The Spirit Level
10/25 Class 6: Pluralistic ignorance
Kuran, Private Truths Public Lies
11/1 Class 7: Norms
Mackie 1996 Ending footbinding and infibulation A convention account
Prentice ---- The Psychology of Social Norms and the Promotion of Human Rights
Jensen et Oster 2009 The Power of TV Cable Television and Women's Status in India
11/8 Class 8: Failures and successes of collective action
Ostrom, Towards a behavioral theory linking trust, reciprocity and reputation.
Gambetta, Mafia: The price of distrust
11/15 Class 9: Mental health
Van Orden et al 2010 The interpersonal theory of suicide.
Charuvastra et Cloitre 2008 Social Bonds and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Cacioppo et Hawkely 2009 Perceived social isolation and cognition
11/22 Class 10: Poverty
Bertrand et al 2006 Behavioral economics and marketing in aid of decision making among the poor
Mullainathan 2006 Development Economics Through the Lens of Psychology
Mullainathan and Shafir 2009 Savings Policy and Decision-Making in Low-Income Households
11/29 Class 11: Reasoning alone and reasoning together
Sunstein 2002 The Law of Group Polarization
Mercier & Sperber In press Why do humans reason?
Slavin 1996 Research on cooperative learning and achievement What we know, what we need to know
12/6 Class 12: Conspicuous Consumption
Miller, Spent
(might have been:
Crimes against humanity
Bandura 1999 Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities
Goldhagen, Worse than War (Why perpetrators act: 145-231)
)