In this course the motivational and social-cognitive factors underlying behavioral influence will be thoroughly explored and used towards better understanding of commercial and noncommercial forms of behavioral influence. For example the effectiveness and coherence of different strategies behind advertising campaigns will be examined as well as (non-) governmental information campaigns.

The course teaches how to develop, carry-out, and evaluate an effective, evidence-based behavioral change intervention. These interventions are created for different kind of societal issues in which a change in human behavior is (part of) the solution (e.g., alcohol abuse among teenagers, public littering, discrimination in organizations, obesity, etc.). As social psychologists are experts in social behavior, they are often consulted in order to help solve these issues.

You will spend three (or more) months at a company or institution involved in influencing human behaviour, such as an advertising agency, market research agency, municipality, or training and assessment agency. Alternatively, you may opt for a research internship, which involves working on elements of an ongoing research project under the supervision of a researcher.

You will conduct an empirical study within the research programme of one of the scientific researchers in the Social Psychology department. During this project, you will complete the entire empirical cycle: from formulating a research question, developing the empirical study and collecting data to analysing data and reporting on and presenting results. 

This course will address basic research methods that are common when carrying out social and cultural psychology research, both fundamental and in the field. The topics are (quasi-)experimental research methods, surveys & questionnaire research methods, research across social and cultural contexts, Big Data research, and qualitative research methods.

The central question in this course is what role emotional expressions play in social influence, that is, when and how emotional expressions may contribute to a successful influence attempt. Themes that will be covered include (among other things) the social functions and dysfunctions of emotions, emotional contagion, the role of emotions in personal relationships, emotional influence in groups, the role of emotions in conflict and negotiation, the influence of emotional expressions in attitude change, customer service, and consumer behavior, and the role of emotional expressions in leadership and politics.