Gina Philogene

The concepts of cognitive biases and heuristics were empirically explored in social psychology more than 50 years ago. The seminal contributions of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman showed that people do not behave according to perfect rationality and logic. On the contrary, several extraneous factors influence people’s decision-making, especially when facing uncertainty. Cognitive biases are systematic errors in our thinking, while heuristics relate to the use of shortcuts in processing information. They both lead to errors in our thinking, causing us to draw incorrect conclusions. This seminar explores our use of mental shortcuts in making judgments about others and drawing inferences about the world. We will review these biases and heuristics as part of our automatic intuitive system of thinking and explore the possibility of overcoming these shortcomings to become better critical thinkers.

One of the most important aspects of our lives is the web of group affiliations in which we engage. Groups are an inescapable aspect of our existence. From the very beginning of one’s life, the idea of group pervades most dimensions of our existence, from family structures to nation-states. Not only is the individual defined on the basis of his or her group memberships, but (s)he also learns most facets of socialization within the confinements of groups; for example, school, committees, gangs, or work. Groups orient, guide, and shape individual perceptions, interpretations, and actions in the social world. While social psychology has maintained an individuo-centered approach to the analysis of groups, several classic studies have demonstrated that there is no individual who is not essentially and entirely a product of the various groups to which (s)he belongs. This seminar explores the defining characteristics of groups and the extent to which we are indeed shaped by our groups. We are primarily concerned with people’s thoughts and behavior as group members, both from within one’s own group as well as vis-à-vis other groups.

Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon, whereby people move into another nation with the intention of making a better life for themselves and/or residing there temporarily or permanently. While anchored in a multidisciplinary perspective, this seminar explores the crucial role of psychology in understanding the processes associated with our conceptualizations of immigrants and immigration. The course begins with some theoretical perspectives on immigration, as well as a brief historical overview of sociological and social psychological research on immigrants. We then examine the identity of the immigrant, stressing the profound distinctions between forced and voluntary immigrants. We will analyze the processes through which “illegality” is constructed by reflecting on the lives of undocumented immigrants. We will look at how the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and culture shape the psychological experience of immigrants. Seeking to extend our analysis to immigration’s impact on the host population, we conclude the course by discussing several social psychological issues, such as intergroup relations, discrimination, and modes of adaptation.

One of the most important aspects of our lives is the web of group affiliations in which we engage. Groups are an inescapable aspect of our existence. From the very beginning of one’s life, the idea of group pervades most dimensions of our existence—from family structures to nation states. Groups orient, guide, and shape individual perceptions, interpretations, and actions in the social world. Several classic studies in social psychology have demonstrated that an individual is essentially, if not entirely, a product of the various groups to which he or she belongs. This first-year seminar explores the defining characteristics of groups and the extent to which we are indeed shaped by our groups. We will focus, in particular, on three questions: How and why do individuals come to form specific groups? What are the dynamics operating within the group, transforming it into a cohesive unit that is more than the sum of its parts? Which processes rule the interactions between groups; in particular, the “us” vs. “them” dimension? The first two questions will be the objects of discussion during the first semester. In the course of the second semester, we shall address the third question while also highlighting how the realities of groups get transformed in the emerging cultural context of the internet and social media.

This lecture course introduces students to the key ideas of social psychology. We will examine the social dimensions underlying the cognitive existence of individuals by reviewing some theories, methodologies, and key findings of social psychology. We will look at human relations at various levels, with a primary focus on the tension between the individual and society. For this purpose, we will compare different theoretical perspectives (cognitive, interpersonal, and cultural). In the first part of the lecture, we will review micro-social phenomena. We will first look at cognitive constructs involved in our understanding of the world, notably the concept of attitudes. Then, we will explore the role of unconscious processes in our interpretations and explanations of the social world. At this point, we shall take a closer look at individuals as social “cognizers” to see how humans elaborate causes to explain the behavior of others and their own behavior, as well as events occurring in their social world. In the second part, we will examine the macro-social phenomena. We will look more specifically at the tensions between the individual and the social, beginning with how individuals manifest themselves in crowd behavior. We will then analyze the defining characteristics of groups to understand the psychological transformations required to become a member of, or to be defined as, a group. Finally, we will conclude with an examination of the processes of influence involved when individuals are in the presence of one another. 

Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon, whereby people move into another nation with the intention of making a life for themselves and/or residing there either temporarily or permanently. This course introduces a social psychological approach to our understanding of phenomena related to immigration in our society. While anchored in a multidisciplinary perspective, we will focus on the role of social psychology in understanding the processes associated with our conceptualizations of immigration and immigrants. From a brief historical review, including recent contentious narratives of such “history,” we will explore various theoretical perspectives on immigration and analyze this major societal challenge of the 21st century. We will look at how immigration affects identification. What are the consequences of intergroup attitudes and stereotypes? What shapes the psychological experience of immigrants as well as the impacts of immigration on the host population? We will conclude with a focus on the lives of undocumented citizens, trying to understand the processes through which “illegality” is constructed.

This seminar focuses on the different social representations of immigration in the United States. In analyzing the collective elaboration of such a central social object, one at the heart of America’s self-definition, we will try to understand how immigration has evolved as a concept that is incessantly redefined, recurrently debated, and continuously evaluated as positive or detrimental for the nation. There is, after all, a long-standing tension between the strongly held belief that “we are a nation of immigrants” and anti-immigrant sentiments. We will try to capture this ambiguity by exploring the formation and maintenance of attitudes and opinions to examine how these complex common grounds get objectified and crystallized into clear stereotypical images. Furthermore, we will look at the undocumented immigrants, through their own personal narratives, to see how their reality also structures the social representations of immigration. This discussion will help us focus on the notion of “dehumanization” as a central concept shaping the interaction between the undocumented communities and the rest of the population. Keywords: anchoring process, dehumanization, immigration, objectification, social representations.