What's Sexier than Social Psych? ..not much

So if there’s one thing I’ve learned this semester it’s that Social Psychology is the sexiest field on the planet. Why?

The number one reason – hands down – is the self-fulfilling prophecy. Just the idea that you change how a person is based on what you think of them and how you treat them is sexy as hell! Sure we learned that if a teacher is lead to believe that if a student is gifted, they will treat that student as if they are smart, and will consequently elicit actions from the student that lead them to perform better… but just think about all of the instances that this can apply to!!! Answer: Infinity. It has the potential to influence every human interaction we ever have – friendships, raising kids, dating partners, etc, etc etc. I swear I’m not sucking up; it seriously blows my mind every time I think about it!

Second, learning about the spotlight effect pretty much changed my life. I’m so much less stressed out now that I know that people usually don’t notice or don’t remember if I do something incredibly stupid, which is fairly often. I wasted so much time in the past worrying about what other people think of my crazy slipups and faux paus, and now I can just shrug anything off.

Affective forecasting is sexy for the same reason: it has changed my life. Sure, I know what makes me happy and sad, but I always think that I’m going to be miserable forever when something bad happens. Now I know that three months is the time limit; not matter how bad something is I know that it’s only a matter of time. As a result, I worry and few less sad which actually brings me out of my sad state even faster. I might still be sad about whatever event has caused my misery in the first place, but I’m at least not depressed about thinking I’ll never be happy again.

Mere exposure comes in at a close fourth. I like to like people, and I like for people to like me. It’s nice to know that just by being around them – even if we don’t notice each other – they’re more likely to like me (assuming I’m not a negative stimulus to begin with).

The sleeper effect is just really cool. It’s not really a good thing, because it allows sources of information that aren’t credible to hold more weight than they should once the source has been forgotten, but I find myself remembering this constantly now.


To top it off, Social Psychology is full of sexy people too, not just theories – fancy that!

1) Leon Festinger. Cognitive dissonance is my favorite to explain to people, and it’s my go-to example when people ask what social psychology is and I want to make sure that they know it rocks. Peg turning just makes so much sense! (I usually use the Zimbardo’s Grasshopper study when I explain it, but he’s too much of an A-hole from the Stanford Prison study to make my sexy list.)

2) Robert Cialdini. Because what isn’t cool about going undercover to figure out the world’s compliance techniques?!

3) Bill Swann. His study of couples done at the horse ranch and mall are pretty much the story of my life. In fact, as I was reading his study of self-verification I wrote those exact words in the margin, “Story of my life.”

4) Dan Wegner. Who doesn’t like to play footsie?! Just the fact that he incorporated one of my favorite past times into his research is enough to make this list. Next time I want to make someone like me, I’ll just be sure to secretly play footsie with them under the table. AND his book “White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts” was pretty great, despite his corny jokes.

5) John Gottman. Two words say it all: Love Lab. I don’t want to leave something as important as love up to “fate;” if I can make it work and there are sure signs that it will or won’t, I want to know. Besides, what’s sexier than love?

Bonus psychologist: Of course, Dr. Traci Giuliano, for being smart enough to know that just by having us do this assignment we will forever think Social Psychology is sexy (cognitive dissonance!)… :-)