PSBA013 Social Psychology I

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2026
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jaroslava Dosedlová, Dr. (lecturer)
Mgr. Petra Coufalová (seminar tutor)
doc. PhDr. Jaroslava Dosedlová, Dr. (seminar tutor)
Eliška Chocová, M.Sc. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Josefína Slámová (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jaroslava Dosedlová, Dr.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kateřina Šefčíková
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 14:00–15:40 C33, except Mon 16. 11. to Sun 22. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Abstract
The course introduces social psychology in the context of related disciplines as a subject focused on finding general mechanisms of cognition, behavior and experience, which are determined by the social context. It emphasizes the basic social and psychological approaches to social learning, attribution theory, socialization and group processes.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able:
- to define social psychology in the context of related disciplines;
- to have a general knowledge of themes social cognition, causal attribution, socialization, and social processes;
- to understand the historical and social contexts of theoretical approaches and critically evaluate them;
- to interpret and theoretically ground socially conditioned subjective experience
Key topics
    • 1. Introduction into social psychology
    • Subject of study SP, SP in the context of related disciplines. History of SP. Basic trends in SP of 20th century, current influential paradigms. Research methods in SP, possibilities of application in SP.
    • 2.Social cognition
    • a)social perception and categorization
    • Associationist and constructivist models of social cognition. Scheme of processes of social perception. First impression versus complex review. Creating of impressions of other people, connection between perception and motivation. Distortions and mistakes in social perception. Concept of social stereotype (auto and hetero-stereotype), social representations (Moscovici). Connection between perception and attribution processes.
    • b) interpretation of social reality - theory of attribution
    • theory of attribution (Heider, Fiske, Taylor, Jones, Davis, Kelley). Theory of causal schemes, basic principles of attribution. Mistakes in attribution processes (fundamental attribution failure), attribution of success and failure. Optimism as an explanatory style (Seligman), depressive attributional style (Abramson, Seligman, Teasdale).
    • c) self-relationship as a product of social interaction
    • Self-concept, self-esteem (Rosenberg, Tafarodi, Swan), ego defensive mechanisms. Socialization.
    • 3. Social processes
    • a) Microsocial processes
    • Basic characteristics of the small group. Group development, group dynamics. Leadership styles. Social influence (social facilitation, loafing, deindividuation, group polarization).
    • b) Macrosocial processes
    • Crowd, depersonalization. Introduction to the intercultural psychology (Hofstede). Ethnic relations.
Study resources and literature
    required literature
  • Sociální psychologie. Edited by Jozef Výrost - Ivan Slaměník. 2., přepracované a rozší. Praha: Grada, 2008, 404 stran. ISBN 9788024714288. info
  • HEWSTONE, Miles and Wolfgang STROEBE. Sociální psychologie : moderní učebnice sociální psychologie. Translated by Dagmar Brejlová - Pavla Le Roch. Vydání první. Praha: Portál, 2006, 769 stran. ISBN 8073670925. info
    recommended literature
  • MYERS, David G. Sociální psychologie. Translated by Helena Vaďurová - Zuzana Paseková - Milena Bildová. 1. vydání. Brno: Edika, 2016, 536 stran. ISBN 9788026608714. URL info
  • SELIGMAN, Martin E. P. Naučený optimismus : jak změnit své myšlení a život. Translated by Adéla Bartlová. Vydání druhé. Praha: Pavel Dobrovský - Beta s.r.o., 2025, 508 stran. ISBN 9788075937209. info
  • HOFSTEDE, Geert and Gert Jan HOFSTEDE. Kultury a organizace : software lidské mysli : spolupráce mezi kulturami a její důležitost pro přežití. Translated by Luděk Kolman. Praha: Linde, 2007, 335 s. ISBN 808613170X. info
    not specified
  • Handbook of implicit social cognition : measurement, theory, and applications. Edited by Bertram Gawronski - B. Keith Payne. New York: Guilford Press, 2010, xiii, 594. ISBN 9781606236734. info
  • FORSYTH, Donelson R. Group dynamics. 3rd ed. Belmont: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1999, xvi, 622 s. ISBN 0-534-26147-5. info
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
  • Journal of Social Psychology
  • European Journal of Social Psychology
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
Classwork takes place in the form of lectures that systematically integrate interactive and seminar elements. Discussions and practical exercises thus connect theoretical knowledge with its direct application and individual experience of students,
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
The course concludes with a colloquium, the award of which is tied to the submission of a written paper of 5-6 pages. Students will conduct at least two interviews on a selected topic with a peer (young adult) and a member of the middle or older generation (45 years and older). Based on the study of literature, they will prepare a basic research question and a semi-structured interview for it. Subsequently, students will summarize the findings from the interviews and supplement them with their own commentary and theoretical anchoring, within which they will list at least 5 professional literary sources duly cited in the text and in the list of used literature.


Basic structure of the thesis:


1. Introduction (what topic did I choose and why, written in "their form")


2. Theoretical anchoring of the selected topic (professional text with proper citations of the sources used)


3. Objective of the research investigation (what was your objective to find out based on the interviews, what was your basic research question, what did you focus on)


4. Respondents (briefly introduce your respondents, list basic demographic characteristics - age, gender, education, marital status, employment)


5. Interview as a tool used (semi-structured interview, what questions did you prepare and ask, how long did the interview last, where and when did it take place, form of recording, interviews do not need to be transcribed verbatim for the purpose of this thesis)


6. Results (present the outcomes that you obtained during the interviews in relation to your research question and the objectives of the research investigation, you can substantiate them with selected specific statements of your respondents - distinguish them in the text with quotation marks or italics; so far you have did not discuss qualitative methodology, so you do not have to evaluate the interviews in its sense yet, your comment is enough)


7. Discussion and conclusion (you will return to the research objective and research question and summarize what you found out; you will interpret your findings for yourself and in the context of other research or theoretical knowledge, again proper citations are necessary; in the conclusion you will propose the focus of further potential follow-up research)


8. Literature (a list of at least 5 professional sources used; if you use artificial intelligence, you will supplement the work in your conclusion with a statement at what points and for what purpose AI was used)




A selection of interview topics:


1. Courtship, love and marriage


2. Planned childlessness


3. Czech autostereotype and heterostereotype, how do I/we feel about my Czechness?


4. How do I perceive physical touch in a social context?


5. What do I consider good humor?


6. Your own topic


You will submit your work to the submission office of your seminar group by the end of the semester, i.e. by December 18, 2026.

Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Study support
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/24-25/course/view.php?id=445
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024, Autumn 2025.
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