Faculty First Year Seminars 197PSY14 - Ubiquitous Social Psych-Walmar

When you walk into a Wal-Mart (or Target, Best Buy, or any big-box retailer), you?ll encounter principles of social psychology operating everywhere. How is orderly behavior of large groups of people maintained, and why does it sometimes break down? Why are all the advertising models young, thin, and happy? How are shoppers and employees silently judging each other rightly and wrongly? What factors facilitate or inhibit employee helpfulness? Why is it a bad idea to stock the toilet paper in plain sight? Topics include social influence, social cognition, self-regulation, persuasion, status and power, group processes, stereotyping, stigma and privilege, identity and social roles, rational and irrational behavior, and decision making.

Freshmen Only