Social Psychological Theories

In this course we will encounter numerous social psychological theories that have possible uses in understanding and solving practical and social problems. Here is a list of most of the theories that you will encounter in this course. Although you should have learned about these theories in previous courses, you may wish to brush up on them by looking them up (use the index) in your applied social psychology textbook or another social psychology book. Hint: this will also be a good idea to start you thinking about your Policy Proposal Paper, as you will be utilizing at least two social psychological theories in that paper.

• Attachment Theory
• Attribution Theory
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Cultivation Theory
• Ecological Theory
• Evolutionary Theory
• Groupthink Theory
• Hopelessness Theory of Depression
• Individualism/Collectivism Theory
• Need Theories
• Path-Goal Theory
• Personal Construct Theory
• Persuasive Argument Theory
• Realistic Group Conflict Theory
• Self-Perception Theory
• Self-Presentation Theory
• Social Cognition Theory of Mass Communication
• Social Comparison Theory
• Social Dominance Theory
• Social Exchange Theory
• Social Facilitation Theory
• Social Identity Theory
• Social Learning Theory
• Social Norm Theory
• Theory of Planned Behavior
• Theory of Reasoned Action
• Theory of Relative Deprivation