What tasks does a specialist in social psychology do? What are the professional opportunities for social psychologists? Find out where you can study the master’s degree in social psychology.
The Social psychology It is the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of the people around us are constructed within a social context. That is, when analyzing human behavior we must take into account that it is influenced by both people and the environment that surrounds them.
Then the social psychologists They address problems that have a significant impact on people’s health and well-being, from understanding behavior to analyzing why people have specific attitudes in certain contexts. But what are the outputs of this specialization? What to study to be a social psychologist?
What is social psychology?
The Social psychology uses scientific methods to understand and explain how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be influenced by the presence of other human beings. Therefore, a social psychologist tries to analyze how individual behavior is influenced by the social environment in which they are. How we act may depend not only on how many people are present, but also on the experiences you have had in your life. In this way, social psychology covers a wide range of topics such as the following:
- Group behavior
- Social perception
- Leadership
- Non-verbal behavior
- Accordance
- Assault
- Prejudice
It is important to keep in mind that the social psychologists They don’t just observe social influences. Social perception and social interaction are vital to understanding social behavior. In fact, the way we see other people or believe others see us can play a very important role in a wide variety of actions and decisions.
What are the professional opportunities for social psychology?
The main job opportunities that exist within social psychology are the following:
- Socio-labor and community insertion: This is one of the most valuable psychological fields. To do this, social psychologists must carry out a study of the causes that lead to problems in this area. Therefore, this work is usually in sociocultural centers assigned to the administration.
- public inquiry : The social psychologists They carry out research tasks for public purposes. First, these studies may be focused on the behavior and dynamics of certain groups. In addition, they can also investigate people’s behavior towards environmental fear or carry out university research tasks to analyze certain social behaviors.
- Private investigation: Private investigation tasks are usually focused, generally, on private companies. These are used to infer generic behaviors of certain groups and know how to implement certain commercial policies.
- Teaching: Teaching is also an option for psychologists. Specialists in this discipline can opt for university teaching, secondary education or provide workshops or specific training for companies.
The best master’s degrees in social psychology
If you want to specialize in this area, we recommend that you take into account the following master’s degrees in social psychology :
- Master’s Degree in Social Psychology (Complutense University of Madrid, UCM): This master’s degree focuses on general and specialized services, such as dependency, child care, immigration; the world of work (selection, training, leadership), conflict management in urban planning, as well as intervention in emergency situations. Due to the wide variety of objectives that the Social psychology Within society, this master’s degree has an interdisciplinary approach. 60 ECTS, Price: not specified.
- Master’s Degree in Psychology of Social and Community Intervention (International University of Valencia, VIU): This master of social psychology It focuses on providing the necessary tools so that professionals in this field can facilitate the development and well-being of numerous vulnerable groups and population groups. 60 ECTS, price €7,500.
- Master’s Degree in Psychosocial and Community Intervention (Autonomous University of Madrid, UAM): This course aims to provide the necessary training to carry out research or intervention tasks in the field of psychosocial and community action. Therefore, this master’s degree in social psychology is focused on providing theoretical and practical knowledge so that psychologists can adopt a perspective of critical and systemic analysis on the main social problems that exist today. 60 ECTS, price not specified.
- Master’s Degree in Psychology of Social Intervention (National University of Distance Education, UNED): This master in social psychology It is aimed at those psychologists who want to delve deeper into the field of social intervention. In this way, its main objective is for its students to learn the tools to improve people’s quality of life, make our society inclusive, as well as promote the reduction of inequalities and social change. That is, it will focus on learning proactive and preventive strategies that energize and favor the participation of people and communities that take human diversity into account. 60 ECTS, price: €3000.
- Master’s Degree in Psychology of Social and Community Intervention (University of Seville, US): This master’s degree is aimed at training specialists in social and community intervention who are capable of becoming professionals focused on solving social and community problems because they have the skills to offer responses to certain social needs. Therefore, this master’s degree in social intervention is focused on the scientific and professional strategies that allow the acquisition of the skills that allow these objectives. 60 ECTS, price: €850
- Master’s degree in psychology of social investment (University of Granada, UGR): The objective of this master in social psychology is that its students learn to know how to address individual psychological problems, as well as the analysis and intervention aimed at solving social problems. Therefore, it provides tools focused on giving a broad vision to practice as a psychologist in the field of social intervention. 60 ECTS, price not specified.
These are the main master in social psychology that you can take to specialize in this profession. Furthermore, if you have doubts about which branch to bet on, we recommend that you take into account the psychology master’s degrees that you can study in Spain.