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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Social Psychology by Wesleyan University

4.7
stars
4,738 ratings

About the Course

Ever wonder why people do what they do? This course—which includes more than $1,000 of video and reading materials—offers some answers based on the latest research from social psychology. Students taking the course for a Certificate will also receive free membership in Social Psychology Network (SocialPsychology.org). COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM PROFESSOR PLOUS: Each of us is dealt a different hand in life, but we all face similar questions when it comes to human behavior: What leads us to like one person and dislike another? How do conflicts and prejudices develop, and how can they be reduced? Can psychological research help protect the environment, and if so, how? This course offers a brief introduction to classic and contemporary social psychology, covering topics such as decision making, persuasion, group behavior, personal attraction, and factors that promote health and well-being. Our focus will be on surprising, entertaining, and intriguing research findings that are easy to apply in daily life. The course will also draw from the websites of Social Psychology Network, the world's largest online community devoted to social psychology. I hope you'll join me for this course, have fun, and learn some useful information that enriches your life....

Top reviews

IV

Jun 12, 2020

Very interesting course, tons of great material. Of all the courses I have taken so far in Coursera, this is one of the few that has pushed me to focus on the material we were going over-great course.

JM

Aug 15, 2020

Professor Plous made me understand the lessons because he explained well all the lessons, and he provided enough information about the Social Psychology. More power to Coursera and Professor Plous :)

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176 - 200 of 1,951 Reviews for Social Psychology

By Kubra

•

Mar 26, 2019

I am glad that i took the course.It made me decide and realize what i really wanted to study/do and make my future plans.Very useful stuff to use in daily life/at work etc. I am aware of more things now and the more i know the more i get comfortable with people/society/kids etc. and how to deal with them.And i really know now what i really wanna do in the future ☺ Hope they will prepare other levels of the course too for those who like to continue learning about social psychology but cant study it.would be amazing.thank you for the course ✌

By Rhonda D

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Jun 18, 2020

I found this course pretty interesting, and learnt a lot in these past few weeks, about myself and my relationships with others, that I have kept applying DAILY. Even the final exam method you have used made me THINK and THINK sooooo much to ensure I understood the question correctly in order to answer effectively. The applied questions were a good test of our true understanding.

Thank you Professor Plous, the Mentors who respond to us in the discussion forums and ALL the persons involved in the creation and conducting of this course.

By Anuranjani N

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May 25, 2020

I had studied until masters and had a lot of preconceived notions that I could never verify or understand. This course certainly showed me why I think in a specific way and analyse it in a specific way. The most enjoyable part of the assignment was the compassion project and the honors assignment for me. Mapping the concepts one on one with day to day life situations brought in a lot of self realisation. Thank you for the wonderful course Professor Plous. I cannot stop raving about this course with my daughter, family and friends :-)

By Sai S

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Jul 11, 2020

The entire course was an amazing journey. Even though I don't have any background in Psychology or the social sciences, I was able to easily grasp the concepts thanks to the boiled down & simple explanation from Professor Scott Plous. The assignments were very exciting, especially for the Honors, where you can participate in a forum with your peers from different parts of the world. Incredible experience overall and some of the videos, especially the ones with the intriguing psychological experiments are definitely worth a rewatch.

By Gabriel T

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May 19, 2020

First of all, I would like to say that Professor Plous is an incredible teacher/mentor. he takes his time with every subject and makes sure you understand the topic by providing TONS of information about such while also giving video lectures as well. he has an amazing personality and honest to god I wish I could have met him in real life to show my gratitude towards him. if you are thinking about taking this course I would HIGHLY recommend you do! If you 100% will not be disappointed. Thank you again Professor Plous for doing this.

By Non A

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Feb 25, 2019

This is by far the best class I have taken on Courses. The professor is amazing. He's highly thoughtful, witty and full of great sense of humor. I particular like the fact that there're so many original videos and articles that I could access for free upon taking this course. The Milgram Experiment video, for instance, is a classic and I did not realize how severe and sterile the space looked until today (having read about it many years ago). I want to thank Wesleyan and the instructor so much for offering this great great course.

By Hedi M A

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Apr 22, 2020

This course is phenomenal. I always looked forward to studying assigned and optional material because it was just that fun. I wanted to learn everything the course had to offer, and I think that made a huge difference in my retention. Professor Plous's method of instruction is very easy to follow and engaging at the same time, so I deeply thank him and everyone who helped make the course. Someday, the world will become a more compassionate place; social psychology is a huge leap in that direction. Much love and thanks from Egypt!

By Danielle V

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Sep 9, 2020

This was my first ever Coursera class, which I chose because it was such a departure from my profession. Or so I thought. Professor Scott Plous has crafted a curriculum which I found engaging, and gave me tools to apply what I learned in class to the working world. I wished I would have taken this course sooner, I learned so much about myself and how to better understand and interact with people on the job. This course also provided an opportunity to engage in meaningful cultural discussions with students all over the world.

By Jo-Ann J

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Aug 16, 2021

Great course with dynamite instructor. Dr. Plous was friendly, knowledgeable and chose interesting readings and interview videos with world class psychologists for in depth explanation of the social psychology literature and experimental studies. There was also quite a bit of student participation in the discussion groups. The software worked quite well, even though there were some problems in the submission page for the assignements.

Would love to see more MOOC offerings of this caliber. Thanks for offering this course.

By Wendy P

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Sep 11, 2020

This is by far the best course that I have ever done. This course is so comprehensive and professional, it is far better than any other university course that I have studied. The amount of evidence based research and information in phenomenal. The peer reviewed assignments keep you engaged, as do the many videos. Professor Plous is the most engaging lecturer that I have come across. Such a professional, friendly and knowledgeable tutor. His enthusiasm is contagious. I will miss him, now that I have completed the course.

By Joseph T

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Jul 6, 2020

The course content, while a bit dry at times, was mostly very relevant for a beginner to Social Psychology like me. The pace of the course felt good, and I never felt like I had too much on my plate. The course community is friendly and very open with one another, and the instructor always found ways to keep things engaging and fresh. Scott Plous is an excellent lecturer who managed to deliver the core idea of each lesson without unnecessarily colouring the content with his perspective. Greatly recommend this course.

By MANSI R

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Sep 27, 2020

this is an exceptionally good course, there was all in it that I could have learned, what made it exceptional was all the videos and links and the extra material and effort made, I learned so much about things which I did not realize and now I know. I don't know if this will reach professor Plous, but my heartful thanks to him and his team to make this course so much more than just a theoretical subject, and enhance it in a way its hard to forget, this was a helpful and fascinating experience for me

thank you!

By Laila k k

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Jul 7, 2019

Full marks for an excellent course that makes me see myself and those around me in a totally different light, with better understanding. It has made me patient, less judgmental, more understanding.. changes I feel for the better.. To make sense of our biases, what an achievement. Or thin slicing, so much more.. what a great course indeed.... and taught in a particularly interesting manner by Professor Plous, making it easy for a layman to make perfect sense of complex thoughts. A brilliant experience indeed...

By Raktim D

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Jul 8, 2020

Professor Scott Plous has probably created one of the most fun yet educating MOOC, which gives us a fresh new perspective into our everyday life and the things happening in our surroundings that we may overlook or treat with our innate biases. The course serves not only as a great source of knowledge but also makes one aware of the power of situations that we may not understand otherwise. Really thankful to Prof. Scott Plous, Wesleyan University and Coursera fro providing us with such a beautiful opportunity.

By Zlatin M

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Jun 17, 2020

A very interesing course. I recommend to everyone, no matter you need social psychology for your work or not. Paul is a great lecturer and I like the way he leads the nerite course.

Two small things to improve - too long videos - they are really interesting but you should think of bite learning - more but shorter videos to present the material in a more easy-to-take way. Also the readings are too much and too long. So the structure definitely needs an improvement, the content and execution are great though.

By Stephanie F

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Jun 5, 2020

Hello, I enjoyed so much learning this course. It gives many new perspectives about human behavior, and it also gives me a lot of confirmation (AHA moment) about the situation that I'm dealing with in the past. If you have some free time and you like studying human behavior, I strongly suggest you take this course. The topic is exciting, and besides the lecture video, there are also other resources to explore. The assignment can be quite challenging, but it's worth the effort. Good luck on your study :)

By Lyton C

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Aug 15, 2020

I have really enjoyed the last 7 weeks that I have studied Social Psychology. My motivation for studying this was to be able to analyse and know how best to build and maintain relationships. What I got was much more than that, a deep understanding of human behaviours and what effect circumstances and situations play. I would recommend anyone to take up courses on Coursera for personal development, you won't regret it. Scott Plous is an amazing Professor, I enjoyed my lectures and will sure miss them.

By Aislinn M

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Jan 29, 2021

I really really enjoyed taking this course. It was well-structured, engaging, challenging and interesting. Scott is a great lecturer and the material provided is quite extensive. I will say that the time given to complete each week can be achieved but if you want to take the time to actually engage with and think about all the central and extra material, you will need to give yourself more time each week (but it is definitely worth it!). Thank you to everyone who is involved in providing the course!

By Alexander D

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Apr 26, 2020

That was my first experience in Coursera. I used to think that it would be easier, but I realised it's not quite like that when I opened the first reading material by David Myers, the author of books my wife uses to grind her 1st degree at Open University in Israel.

The course is useful and enlightening... even after taking into consideration my 15 years long experience of working with people and communities in the field.

Thanks, professor Plous and others for this experience and knowledge sharing!

By Alejandra

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Oct 16, 2020

Professor Plous is THE BEST! I enjoyed so much the entire course! The knowledge I've gathered is priceless! I learned a lot about human behavior. This course helped me redefine my ideas and take a new perspective on several issues such as: prejudice, stereotypes, biases, sexuality, evil, obedience, conflicts, love, among others. I highly recommend it! All the concepts learned during the course can and must be applied to our everyday life! We definitely can build a better and more peaceful world!

By Nyanada P

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Oct 15, 2020

A very well curated course. It provides a deep understanding of the subject matter with the help of several examples. The addition of several optional assignments makes the course even more interesting by helping one use the knowledge in real-life scenarios as well as understanding one's own decisions. Even if you have a smallest of interest in this field, I highly recommend this course for you. You will have a blast with it, especially with the professor's multiple jokes throughout the course.

By Samriddh S

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Aug 5, 2020

Wow ! I never expected so much of quality content, notes, explanations, creative assignments, a very active discussion forum from the course ! If you are interested in social Psychology you must and must take this course. Professor Plous provides a very interactive and intellectually stimulating path to learn several concepts of psychology. I am 100% satisfied and have learnt so so so so so much ! JUST WOW ! Loved the curriculum, the way it was presented and even the assignments were amazing !

By Kathryn

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May 9, 2020

What better way to spend 7 weeks in lock down during the Covid19 pandemic! A very interesting course with great material in the form of video lectures, readings, bonus videos, optional readings and even bonus material such as "Hang-outs". The discussion forum is a really helpful way of getting peer "classmate" insight and having done several online courses/training in my time I can say lecturer Scott Plous has mastered distance/online learning lecturing! A highly recommended course, thank you.

By Gwendolyn M

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Nov 4, 2021

Excellent Course. Professor Scott demonstrated critical thinking and encouraged Students to further their learning by providing SUPERIOR RESOURCES. The Social Psychology Course Data, Evaluative Procedures, Comprehension Quizzes / Test and Optional Certificate of Accomplished combined made it both cost effective and valuable. Thanks to everyone involved in the establishment, presentation and management of the Social Psychology Course provided by Wesleyan University and Coursera.

GDMM 11-4-2021

By LUDMILA S

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Jul 24, 2020

I got a great experience with joining this course. The course is conducted really great. Professor Plous conducted the course in interesting manner. I should thank for Coursera and Wesleyan University for giving me this great opportunity. I highly recommend this course, who interested in Social Psycology. This gave me a lot of knowledge and I had different experience. And also I should thank my peers who review my assignments. Finally, again I thank everyone. Keep learning. Have a great one.