Social Psychology
Social psychologists address a range of questions regarding the relationships between individuals and groups. The diversity in the field is reflected in the interests of our faculty.
Louis Gray is primarily interested in two interrelated aspects of choice behavior: first, the impact of framing and experience on learning and the distribution of behavioral choices and, second, the processes of learning and choice in interactive social situations in which an actors outcomes are partially or wholly determined by the actions of others. Gray's interest in the first area arose through the discovery that the form, rather than the content, of the feedback an actor receives in a choice situation can substantially alter behavior. In order to anticipate an actor's choices in multi-alternative situations it is necessary to understand the factors that contribute to the actor's “frame” of the situation and the social circumstances that give rise to it. Gray primarily uses experimental approaches to study these phenomena. His interest in the second area continues investigations of small group behavior first begun over thirty years ago. Gray conceives of small group interaction as simultaneous learning or choice situations in which each actor's behavior is influenced, at least potentially, by each other actor. At present he is developing computer simulations of small group behavior that can be used to test hypotheses regarding the formation of collaborative relations among group members.
Christine Horne is interested in social norms. Although there is widespread interest in norms among sociologists, legal scholars and others, we know relatively little about them – how they emerge, what makes them effective, and what their relation is to law. Horne is engaged in a theoretically driven research program that seeks to address these questions and that uses experimental methods to evaluate theoretical predictions. She also seeks to apply theoretical insights to explain naturally occurring norms. Some completed and ongoing projects include, for example, explaining variation in default-rates across micro-credit borrowing groups (with Denise Anthony); explaining variation in the permissiveness of norms regulating heterosexual sex across cultures, across nations, and across socio-economic groups within the United States; and explaining nations' commitment to the International Criminal Court (with Darren Hawkins and Dan Nielsen).
Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson is primarily interested in social psychological processes in adolescence and the transition to adulthood that center around work, family and education. Johnson studies the formation of and change in aspirations and values during this period of the life course. A major portion of her research activities is focused on stability and change in work values—the importance people attach to various rewards of working. In current projects in this area, she is examining entry into adult family roles and early experiences of limited employment opportunities as potentially consequential for work values and subsequent occupational attainment. Other projects include an examination of how young people come to see themselves as adults, the roles and personal qualities that help define adulthood, and how social location affects such relationships. She is also currently studying educational experiences in adolescence and the ways in which such experiences set young people on different life trajectories.
