Careers in Social Psychology

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Careers in Social Psychology
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Field of Social Psychology

• Scientific study of how individuals thoughts,
  feelings and behaviors are affected by other
  people
• Focused on how people think about others,
  influence others, and relate to one another

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Some Topics in Social Psychology

• Relationships
• Social Influence/Persuasion
• Group processes
• Intergroup relations
• Prosocial behavior
• Antisocial behavior

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Careers

• Broad nature of social psychology lends itself to
  a wide variety of career options

Private sector 18.7
Academic50
Self-employed 13.9
Government 10.6
Non-profit 6.5
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Academic Careers
Dr. E. Ashby Plant Research Areas
Stereotypes Prejudice
50

• University Professor

• Research
• Conduct research in 1 - 2 specialized topics
• Run a laboratory
• Publish in peer-reviewed journals
• Apply for grants
• Mentor students in research

• Teaching
• Prepare curriculum
• Design classes
• Teach classes
• Advising/mentor students

Dr. James McNulty Research Areas Romantic
Relationships Marital satisfaction
Teaching
Research
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Careers outside of Academia

• Many applications for social psychology, such as
• Marketing
• Human resources
• Management organization
• Health services
• Law
• Public policy
• Social services
• Technology

Private sector 18.7
Self-employed 13.9
Government 10.6
Non-profit 6.5
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Careers Outside of Academia
18.7

• Private sector
• Market Research
• Use research skills/social psychological
  background to study marketing strategies
• How satisfied are customers?
• What influences spending on products/services?
• How best to design products/services to appeal
  to consumers?
• How to improve customer service?
• Stephen J. Kraus, Ph.D.
• Marketing firm Marketing and Planning Systems
• Works with companies to improve their marketing
  strategies

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Careers Outside of Academia
13.9

• Self-employed/Consulting
• Law/Trial Consulting
• Expert witnesses in trials
• Julie Blackman, Ph.D. domestic abuse cases
• Jury selection
• Trial strategy
• Joy Stapp, Ph.D.
• Trial consulting firm Stapp Singleton
• Consults with both defense/prosecution
• Designs effective strategies for fairly
  presenting cases
• Tests trial strategies by using large samples of
  mock jurors

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Careers Outside of Academia
10.6

• Government
• Best way to implement public policy
• Best uses of public resources
• Recommendations for policies/laws/regulations
• Christine Sannerud, Ph.D.
• U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
• Research on
• abuse potential of drugs
• ideal drug schedules
• Work shapes drug regulations implemented by
  federal government

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Careers Outside of Academia
6.5

• Non-profit organizations
• Best ways to distribute services to people in
  need
• Research/help for underserved populations
• Fund-raising
• Connor Seyle, Ph.D.
• Nonprofit organization Psychology Without
  Borders
• Research on long-term psychological effects of
  natural disasters on
• Victims of disasters
• Mental health workers aiding disaster populations
• Recent work with earthquake survivors in Java

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Companies/Organizations that employ Social
Psychologists

• Companies
• Educational Testing Service (ETS)
• Gallup Polling Organization
• Consumer Reports
• Software companies
• Marketing research/marketing
• Advertising

• Government
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Department of Justice
• Department of Education
• Military
• Census Bureau
• Department of Energy
• CIA /FBI

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Salaries
Median Starting Salaries for Ph.D. (2007) Median Starting Salaries for Ph.D. (2007)
Instructor/lecturer 38,000
Assistant Professor 52,000
Applied Careers 68,000
Overall Median Salaries (2009) Overall Median Salaries (2009) Overall Median Salaries (2009) Overall Median Salaries (2009)
Masters Masters Ph.D. Ph.D.
Faculty Position 52,000 Full Professor 100,000
Applied Careers 80,000 Associate Professor 72,000
Assistant Professor 65,000
Applied Careers 120,000
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Skills Experience for Social Psychology
Graduate Programs

• To be competitive for Social Psychology Ph.D.
  programs
• 1.) GPA
• Average incoming graduate GPA 3.5 (out 4.0
  scale)
• 2.) Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
• www.ets.org
• General Exam
• Average incoming verbal/quantitative total 310
  (out of 340)
• Average incoming analytic score 4.5 (out of 6)
• Subject Exams
• Only rarely required by social psych graduate
  programs

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Skills Experience for Social Psychology
Graduate Programs

• To be competitive for Social Psychology Ph.D.
  program
• 3.) Research experience
• Involve yourself in DIS opportunities!
• Recommend working with two different labs during
  undergrad
• 4.) Letters of Recommendation
• Typically need 3
• At least 2 should come from professors/research
  advisors

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More information

• American Psychological Association
• http//www.apa.org/
• Social Psychology Network
• http//www.socialpsychology.org/
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• http//www.spsp.org/