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Welcome to the homepage of the Social Psychology Area at Ruhr-University Bochum!

Social psychology studies the interplay between individuals and their surrounding social world from three major perspectives: social cognition, interpersonal relations, and group interactions. Classic topics include social perception, stereotyping and prejudice, intergroup relations, social influence and persuasion, (group) decision-making, close relationships, aggression, morality, and prosocial behavior.

Because social aspects are pervasive in so many spheres of life, however, social psychology is a broad and increasingly multidisciplinary discipline with many connections to neighboring fields, including work and industrial psychology, motivation and personality science, health psychology, environmental psychology, behavioral economics, and public policy, to name just a few, and with the potential to inform applications and interventions targeting societal problems, including unhealthy lifestyles, prejudice and intergroup conflict, as well as behavior change regarding pro-environmental action.

Our group studies a broad array of these topics. In our methodological approach, we strive to combine the rigor of experimental research with the external validity and richness of behavioral data from everyday life (as measured, for instance, with ecological momentary assessment).

On these pages, you will learn more about...