Prospectus

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Social Judgment and Decision Making

Course
2016-2017

Entry requirements

Only open to MSc Psychology (research) students

Description

This course provides an overview of findings in (social) psychological research on social judgment and decision-making. We will review work regarding diverse topics, including emotions and decision making, affective forecasting, power and consumption, morality, and punishment. In the meetings students will present empirical papers on one of the topics, which will be followed by a discussion. On the basis of the seminar meetings and relevant readings, students will develop two research proposals, in which they have to provide a specified research question, hypotheses with rationale based on literature reviews, and a proposed research design to test their hypotheses.

Course objectives

Upon completion of the course, the student:

  • understands the main concepts, methods, and research findings central to the study of social judgment and decision making;

  • has enhanced his or her scientific thinking through reviewing, evaluating, and discussing scientific readings on social judgment and decision making; and

  • has enhanced his or her research skills through writing a research proposal.

Timetable

For the timetables of your lectures, work groups and exams, please select your study programme in:
Psychology timetables

lectures

Registration

Course

Students need to enroll for lectures and work group sessions.
Master’s course registration

Examination

Students are not automatically enrolled for an examination. They can register via uSis from 100 to 10 calendar days before the date. Students who are not registered will not be permitted to take the examination.
Registering for exams

Mode of instruction

8 3-hour seminars (attendance is mandatory).

Assessment method

Assessment is based on presentations (40%), discussion essays (20%), and research proposals (40%).

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has instituted that instructors use a software programme for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. In case of fraud disciplinary actions will be taken. Please see the information concerning fraud.

Reading list

Introduction

  • Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Seminar 1

  • Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesole, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823.

  • Lerner, J. S., Small, D. A., & Loewenstein, G. (2004). Heart strings and purse strings: Carry-over effects of emotions on economic decisions. Psychological Science, 15, 337–341.

  • Small, D. A., & Lerner, J. S. (2008). Emotional policy: Personal sadness and anger shape judgments about a welfare case. Political Psychology, 29, 149–168.

  • Zeelenberg, M., Van Dijk, W.W., Manstead, A. S. R., & Van der Pligt, J. (2000). On bad decisions and disconfirmed expectancies: The psychology of regret and disappointment. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 521–541.

  • Van Dijk, W.W., Zeelenberg, M., & van der Pligt, J. (2003). Blessed are they who expect nothing: Lowering expectations as a way of avoiding disappointment. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 505–516.

  • Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2004). Consequences of regret aversion in real life: The case of the Dutch postcode lottery. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 93, 155–168.

Seminar 2

  • Wilson, T. D. & Gilbert, D. T. (2005). Affective forecasting: Knowing what to want. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 131–134.

  • Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2003). Affective forecasting. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 35, pp. 345–411). New York: Elsevier.

  • Gilbert, D. T., Lieberman, M. D., Morewedge, C. K., & Wilson, T. D. (2004). The peculiar longevity of things not so bad. Psychological Science, 15, 14–19.

  • Levine, L. J., Lench, H.C., Kaplan, R. L., & Safer, M. A. (2012). Accuracy and artifact: Reexamining the intensity bias in affective forecasting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 585–605.

  • Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2013). The impact bias is alive and well. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 740-748.

  • Van Dijk, W. W., Van Dillen, L. F., Seip, E. C., & Rotteveel, M. (2012). Emotional time travel: Emotion regulation and the overestimation of future anger and sadness. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 308–313.

  • Van Dijk, W. W., Van Dillen, L. F., Rotteveel, M., & Seip, E. C. (in press). Looking into the crystal ball of our emotional lives: Emotion regulation and the overestimation of future guilt and shame. Cognition and Emotion.

Seminar 3

  • Rucker, D. D., Galinsky, A. D., & Dubois, D. (2012). Power and consumer behavior: How power shapes who and what consumers value. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22, 352–368.

  • Rucker, D. D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Desire to Acquire: Powerlessness and Compensatory Consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 257–267.

  • Rucker, D. D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2009). Conspicuous consumption versus utilitarian ideals: How different levels of power shape consumption. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 549–555.

  • Kemp, E., & Kopp, S. W. (2011). Emotion regulation consumption; When feeling better is the aim. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 10, 1–7.

  • Sivanathan, N., & Pettit, N. C. (2010). Protecting the self through consumption: Status goods as affirmational commodities. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 564–570.

  • Gregoire, Y., & Fisher, R. (2008). Customer betrayal and retaliation: When your best customers become your worst enemies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36, 247–261.

Seminar 5

  • Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review, 108, 814-834.

  • Mooijman, M. & Van Dijk, W. W. (2015). Increasing the acceptance of the unacceptable: How self-affirmation affects the moral condemnation of harmless sexual taboos. Cognition and Emotion, 29, 1326-1334.

  • Van Dillen L .F., Van der Wal R. C. & Van den Bos K. (2012), On the role of attention and emotion in morality: Attentional control modulates unrelated disgust in moral judgements, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1221-1230.

  • Shariff, A. F., Greene, J. D., Karremans, J. C., Luguri, J. B., Clark, C. J., Schooler, J. W., Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2014). Free will and punishment: A mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution. Psychological Science, 25, 1563-1570.

  • Brosnan, S. F. & de Waal, F. B. M. (2003). Monkeys reject unequal pay. Nature, 424, 297-299.

  • De Waal, F. B. M. & Berger, L. M. (2000). Payment for labour in monkeys. Nature, 404, 563.

Seminar 6

  • Rand, D. G., Greene, J. D., Nowak, M. A. (2012). Spontaneous giving and calculated greed. Nature, 489, 427-430.

  • Fehr, E., & Gächter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans. Nature, 415, 137-140.

  • Seip E. C., Van Dijk W. W. & Rotteveel M. (2014), Anger motivates costly punishment of unfair behavior, Motivation and Emotion, 38, 578-588.

  • Molenmaker W. E., De Kwaadsteniet E. W., & Van Dijk E. (2014), On the willingness to costly reward cooperation and punish non-cooperation: The moderating role of type of social dilemma, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 125, 175-183.

  • Mooijman M, Van Dijk W. W., Ellemers N., & Van Dijk E. (2015), Why leaders punish: A power perspective, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 75-89.

Seminar 7

  • Hofmann, W, & Van Dillen, L. F. (2012). Desire: The new hot spot in self-control research. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 317-322.

  • Dillen L. F. van & Koole S. L. (2007), Clearing the mind: a working memory model of distraction from negative mood, Emotion, 7, 715-723.

  • Smith, P. K., Jostmann, N. B., Galinsky, A. D., & Van Dijk, W. W. (2008). Lacking power impairs executive functions. Psychological Science, 19, 441-447.

  • Mani, A., Mullainathan, S., Sharif, E., & Zhao, J. (2013). Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function. Science, 341, 976-980.

  • Inzlicht, M., Schmeichel, B. J., & Macrae, C. N. (2014). Why self-control seems (but may not be) limited. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 127-133.

Contact information

Prof. dr. Wilco van Dijk
dijkwvan@fsw.leidenuniv.nl