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The Essentials of Social Psychology
Every interaction you have with people, each day of your life, involves social psychology. For those of us who have struggled to fit in or wish we received more invitations to socialize, this relatively new field of study can be eye-opening when it comes to gaining a better understanding of the basics of human interactions.
In this illuminating Audible Original, Professor Wind Goodfriend explores the various facets of social psychology, including how we form personal identities, the importance of perceptions, the human need to be liked and respected, stereotypes and prejudices, and more.
Social psychology can be both fascinating in its own right and, ideally, applicable to your everyday life. It can offer you insights into how you relate to others in your friendships, how other people make judgments about you, how to get others to help you, how to manage your anger and aggression, what power of persuasion you have at your fingertips, and so much more.
In this illuminating Audible Original, Professor Wind Goodfriend explores the various facets of social psychology, including how we form personal identities, the importance of perceptions, the human need to be liked and respected, stereotypes and prejudices, and more.
Social psychology can be both fascinating in its own right and, ideally, applicable to your everyday life. It can offer you insights into how you relate to others in your friendships, how other people make judgments about you, how to get others to help you, how to manage your anger and aggression, what power of persuasion you have at your fingertips, and so much more.
6 pages, Audible Audio
First published August 11, 2022
12 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 26, 2022
This is a really good introduction to social psychology for someone with limited knowledge of the subject. I was surprised to find that much of the subject matter was a review for me. I had a psychology course in college but I think I've learned much of the subject matter covered over the years in the many science podcasts I listen to. For this reason I probably didn't make much of an impact on me. Someone with limited exposure would really enjoy this I think, and might even be blown away by some of the studies highlighted and by the explanations of why our brains work the way they do. The author, Dr. Wind Goodfriend, is a Professor of Psychology and Chair of Social Sciences at Buena Vista University. She writes in a down-to-earth and easy to understand style, and mixes in plenty of humor. She also narrates the Audible book I listened to. It is a *free* Audible Original at this time.
This is a collected group of lectures by the author, which starts out with a short history of psychology followed by nine chapters focusing on individual topics. The author uses a number of case studies and real life examples to illustrate the particular subjects. A lot of the subject matter is really relevant today given the political climate in the US and the many social issues that are currently in the news.
Here are the nine chapters after the initial history chapter, each one about a half hour long:
2. The Self in a Social World
3. Logic vs. Intuition
4. Perceiving Others
5: The Art of Persuasion
6. When Groups Help and Hurt
7. Conformity and Blind Obedience
8. Stereotypes and Prejudice
9. Understanding Aggression
10. Helping Others: The Questions of Altruism
As you can see, many of the topics are things we deal with everyday. Even though it felt like a review I liked it and would recommend to anyone with a limited knowledge of social psychology.
This was my third science read for Science September.
This is a collected group of lectures by the author, which starts out with a short history of psychology followed by nine chapters focusing on individual topics. The author uses a number of case studies and real life examples to illustrate the particular subjects. A lot of the subject matter is really relevant today given the political climate in the US and the many social issues that are currently in the news.
Here are the nine chapters after the initial history chapter, each one about a half hour long:
2. The Self in a Social World
3. Logic vs. Intuition
4. Perceiving Others
5: The Art of Persuasion
6. When Groups Help and Hurt
7. Conformity and Blind Obedience
8. Stereotypes and Prejudice
9. Understanding Aggression
10. Helping Others: The Questions of Altruism
As you can see, many of the topics are things we deal with everyday. Even though it felt like a review I liked it and would recommend to anyone with a limited knowledge of social psychology.
This was my third science read for Science September.
July 21, 2024
An overview of topics in typical social psychology textbooks and curricula, with a very engaging narrator who brings some (but not too many) personal anecdotes to connect the material and listener. Useful for students considering or starting psychology courses, or people who want to refresh material they learnt when they were younger and get a quick update on recent (c.2020) directions in the field.
But, not least due to the brevity - and also The Great Courses and the general subject orientation preferring to avoid this type of controversy - it doesn't discuss from a more detached or critical level the political nature of social psychology, culture war issues, or what social psychologies with different political underpinnings might look like. The latter could be seen as scary in the field, as research often aligns with campaigning in particular directions to avoid that. There isn't the willingness to face up to difficult prospects, and the to numbers of people in the US, the author's own country, who would take issue with some of its premises, and how their representatives might alter academia and the uses of its subjects. And especially to how existing practitioners might survive and accommodate. I think historians as a field are much better at countenancing such things, less naive, and more able to think about the present as a phase, like others that have previously existed. Social psychology (and I am not just speaking on the basis of this audiolecture) is still living in whig history world, the arc bending towards justice etc.
But, not least due to the brevity - and also The Great Courses and the general subject orientation preferring to avoid this type of controversy - it doesn't discuss from a more detached or critical level the political nature of social psychology, culture war issues, or what social psychologies with different political underpinnings might look like. The latter could be seen as scary in the field, as research often aligns with campaigning in particular directions to avoid that. There isn't the willingness to face up to difficult prospects, and the to numbers of people in the US, the author's own country, who would take issue with some of its premises, and how their representatives might alter academia and the uses of its subjects. And especially to how existing practitioners might survive and accommodate. I think historians as a field are much better at countenancing such things, less naive, and more able to think about the present as a phase, like others that have previously existed. Social psychology (and I am not just speaking on the basis of this audiolecture) is still living in whig history world, the arc bending towards justice etc.
February 10, 2023
I would have rated this 3 1/2 stars (if I could) but the last lecture was the clincher that made it a solid 4 stars. Overall I thought the professor was pretty good.
Occasionally she would suggest something I didn't agree with or that I thought was an example of the very thing she was talking about like the term "Toxic masculinity". She was talking about stereotyping and how that could lead to mistakes while using a term that clearly said that all men are toxic... even though she clearly did NOT suggest that. In fact she went out of her way to draw a distinction, but it didn't matter, Her long explanation would not be heard. The "Toxic Masculinity" term would be remembered. This would have earned her 3 1/2 stars, but she saved the review with the last lecture.
In the last lecture she talked about altruism and the murder of Kitty Genovese. Most accounts say that she was murdered over the course of a half hour while her neighbors watched, doing nothing. The professor rightly points out that this is an incorrect account and in fact her neighbors DID try to help her, in one case a neighbor even called the police. The police assured the caller that they were working on it. Essentially the news reporter lied in order to sell newspapers. Nevertheless, most people thought the report was correct and thus psychologists attempted to explain why neighbors might not attempt to help.
The professor goes down the list explaining why onlookers might not help. Each of these ideas corresponds to something the professors had already covered in detail so it was plausible that onlookers might not help in the case of Kitty Genovese. But the fact is that they DID try to help... obviously not very effectively, and Kitty died in the arms of her best friend. She did not die alone.
Although I have minor complaints about these lectures, over all I liked them very much and I will probably listen to them again.
For further reading on the lecture regarding the fascism experiment, I suggest reading the fictional story, "The Wave" based on a real experiment conducted by a high school teacher with his class. The experiment was shutdown when the parents complained. It is rather frightening what you can make a human being do.
Occasionally she would suggest something I didn't agree with or that I thought was an example of the very thing she was talking about like the term "Toxic masculinity". She was talking about stereotyping and how that could lead to mistakes while using a term that clearly said that all men are toxic... even though she clearly did NOT suggest that. In fact she went out of her way to draw a distinction, but it didn't matter, Her long explanation would not be heard. The "Toxic Masculinity" term would be remembered. This would have earned her 3 1/2 stars, but she saved the review with the last lecture.
In the last lecture she talked about altruism and the murder of Kitty Genovese. Most accounts say that she was murdered over the course of a half hour while her neighbors watched, doing nothing. The professor rightly points out that this is an incorrect account and in fact her neighbors DID try to help her, in one case a neighbor even called the police. The police assured the caller that they were working on it. Essentially the news reporter lied in order to sell newspapers. Nevertheless, most people thought the report was correct and thus psychologists attempted to explain why neighbors might not attempt to help.
The professor goes down the list explaining why onlookers might not help. Each of these ideas corresponds to something the professors had already covered in detail so it was plausible that onlookers might not help in the case of Kitty Genovese. But the fact is that they DID try to help... obviously not very effectively, and Kitty died in the arms of her best friend. She did not die alone.
Although I have minor complaints about these lectures, over all I liked them very much and I will probably listen to them again.
For further reading on the lecture regarding the fascism experiment, I suggest reading the fictional story, "The Wave" based on a real experiment conducted by a high school teacher with his class. The experiment was shutdown when the parents complained. It is rather frightening what you can make a human being do.
March 5, 2025
Wind Goodfriend’s The Essentials of Social Psychology is a fascinating and thought-provoking Audible Original that delves into the complexities of human behaviour, identity, and perception. Covering key topics such as social comparison, self-fulfilling prophecies, stereotypes, and group psychology, Goodfriend presents compelling insights into why we think and act the way we do.
As someone who teaches elements of social psychology in a high school senior Social Studies classroom, I found this particularly engaging. Concepts like the false dichotomy of nature vs. nurture, the beauty bias, and the impact of teacher expectations (as demonstrated in the “Harvard Test of lnflected Acquisition”) resonated deeply with me. The discussion on conspicuous consumption and how opulence can feel tone-deaf was especially relevant in today’s society.
Ethical concerns in classic studies, such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgram’s obedience study, were particularly striking, reinforcing the importance of ethical considerations in psychological research. Additionally, topics like pluralistic ignorance, groupthink, and echo chambers provided valuable perspectives on modern social and political dynamics.
Overall, this is an insightful and accessible listen that offers plenty of food for thought - both personally and professionally. Highly recommended for anyone curious about human behaviour and social influence.
As someone who teaches elements of social psychology in a high school senior Social Studies classroom, I found this particularly engaging. Concepts like the false dichotomy of nature vs. nurture, the beauty bias, and the impact of teacher expectations (as demonstrated in the “Harvard Test of lnflected Acquisition”) resonated deeply with me. The discussion on conspicuous consumption and how opulence can feel tone-deaf was especially relevant in today’s society.
Ethical concerns in classic studies, such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgram’s obedience study, were particularly striking, reinforcing the importance of ethical considerations in psychological research. Additionally, topics like pluralistic ignorance, groupthink, and echo chambers provided valuable perspectives on modern social and political dynamics.
Overall, this is an insightful and accessible listen that offers plenty of food for thought - both personally and professionally. Highly recommended for anyone curious about human behaviour and social influence.
January 8, 2023
The subject of social psychology covers all aspects of social interaction. In these lectures, you are likely to recognize many fallacies and social experiments popularized by pop-sci writers. Examples of the former include the planning fallacy says we almost always underestimate the cost of a project. It’s a form of optimism bias. Examples of the latter include the Stanford prisoner experiment. (Something I didn’t know is that the experiment participants didn’t really turn nasty completely spontaneously. They were encouraged by the guy designing the experiment.)
Overall, this is a very approachable set of lectures.
Overall, this is a very approachable set of lectures.
May 16, 2024
Listened as audiobook
This course is perfect for Psychology students in my opinion. It covers a lot of the topics I have studied in my first 2 years but is really useful to have them consolidated together.
This course is perfect for Psychology students in my opinion. It covers a lot of the topics I have studied in my first 2 years but is really useful to have them consolidated together.
October 25, 2022
Not up to Great Courses usual standard. I found the lecturer a little bit light and liberal. Matt Lieberman handled the subject much better. One notable omission was the Southern states having toxic masculinity, with no further explanation. Southern States mainly settled by Irish and Scottish immigrants who come from livestock farming backgrounds therefore more assertive by nature than arable farmers
April 25, 2025
I learned a great deal in a short amount of time, hence the 5 stars - most of this is well known, but a really good background. 5 things I found most useful...
1 - how social psychology explains our sense of self—how we size ourselves up against others. There’s downward comparison, where you feel better by looking at people who aren’t as skilled as you, and upward comparison, where you look at people who are better. Downward comparison tends to feel safer and healthier, but the author makes the good point that upward comparison can sometimes push us to improve, when it doesn’t just leave us feeling defeated.
2 - basic but important ideas about persuasion and influence—especially strategies like reciprocity and anchoring. Reciprocity is the classic sales move: someone offers you something, and you feel pressure to give something back. Anchoring works by throwing out an initial number—say, a car salesman starts at $50,000 and then “drops” to $20,000. That first number sticks in your mind and shapes how reasonable the second one feels, even if it’s still high. The author’s best advice here is simple but useful: when you feel like you’re being pushed into a decision, buy yourself time. Just saying, “Let me think about it” is often the most powerful move you have.
3 - The section on cognitive dissonance - the idea that we often adjust our beliefs to match our actions, especially when those actions don’t sit well with us. The book revisits one of the most famous studies on this: participants were paid either $1 or $20 to lie and say that a painfully boring task—turning knobs for an hour—was actually fun. Strangely, the people who were paid only $1 ended up convincing themselves that the task really was enjoyable. The $20 group didn’t.
4 - more on the darker experiments - like the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram obedience studies (the teacher-student voltage experiment). Both reveal how easily ordinary people can be pushed into harmful behavior when caught up in certain roles or under pressure from authority.
5 - the idea of catharsis—the belief that “letting it out” by doing things like punching a pillow when you’re angry will help you feel better. But the research doesn’t back this up. In fact, studies show that acting out your anger physically tends to make you more aggressive, not less.
Don't think about what made you mad, distract yourself...don't ruminate. This same idea carries over into how the book talks about forgiveness. Forgiveness, the author argues, is most effective when it’s done for your own sake—not for the person who wronged you. It’s not about excusing bad behavior or saying what happened was okay. It’s about choosing to stop letting that anger take up space in your head.
1 - how social psychology explains our sense of self—how we size ourselves up against others. There’s downward comparison, where you feel better by looking at people who aren’t as skilled as you, and upward comparison, where you look at people who are better. Downward comparison tends to feel safer and healthier, but the author makes the good point that upward comparison can sometimes push us to improve, when it doesn’t just leave us feeling defeated.
2 - basic but important ideas about persuasion and influence—especially strategies like reciprocity and anchoring. Reciprocity is the classic sales move: someone offers you something, and you feel pressure to give something back. Anchoring works by throwing out an initial number—say, a car salesman starts at $50,000 and then “drops” to $20,000. That first number sticks in your mind and shapes how reasonable the second one feels, even if it’s still high. The author’s best advice here is simple but useful: when you feel like you’re being pushed into a decision, buy yourself time. Just saying, “Let me think about it” is often the most powerful move you have.
3 - The section on cognitive dissonance - the idea that we often adjust our beliefs to match our actions, especially when those actions don’t sit well with us. The book revisits one of the most famous studies on this: participants were paid either $1 or $20 to lie and say that a painfully boring task—turning knobs for an hour—was actually fun. Strangely, the people who were paid only $1 ended up convincing themselves that the task really was enjoyable. The $20 group didn’t.
4 - more on the darker experiments - like the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram obedience studies (the teacher-student voltage experiment). Both reveal how easily ordinary people can be pushed into harmful behavior when caught up in certain roles or under pressure from authority.
5 - the idea of catharsis—the belief that “letting it out” by doing things like punching a pillow when you’re angry will help you feel better. But the research doesn’t back this up. In fact, studies show that acting out your anger physically tends to make you more aggressive, not less.
Don't think about what made you mad, distract yourself...don't ruminate. This same idea carries over into how the book talks about forgiveness. Forgiveness, the author argues, is most effective when it’s done for your own sake—not for the person who wronged you. It’s not about excusing bad behavior or saying what happened was okay. It’s about choosing to stop letting that anger take up space in your head.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2022
Goodfriend provides a solid, easily followed, introduction to the field of social psychology. The best chapter was Lecture 7 on Conformity and Blind Obedience in which Goodfriend explores some well known experiments on people to see how far they would follow orders and what would happen when the “rules” were removed. It’s a disturbing lecture, but there was also some reassuring moments when she examines responses by people who bucked the majority and stood up for what they thought was right. The best single moment in the series is at the end of the final lecture when the author explores the very famous case of Kitty Genovese who was stabbed a very large number of times over a half an hour period while dozens of people—her neighbors—listened and did nothing. I’ve read about this case in textbooks and seen it pop up again and again in popular literature and shows. This was the first time, however, that I ever heard the counter story. Kitty was not ignored by everyone. One neighbor intervened shouting from his window until the assailant ran away. Another called the police (it was pre 911) only to be told the police already knew about the incident. And a third went out to hold her friend while she died waiting for medical help. Reporters apparently admitted to editing their stories to make the neighbors appear more callous and brutal so that they could sell more papers. This is a good set of lectures.
March 25, 2023
I found this to be both an easy and informative read. It's packed with knowledge but concise and structured. Whether or not you have a special interest in social psychology, many topics in this book are helpful to reflect on our behaviours and interactions with others. I believe the chapter on the Art of Persuasion would appeal to most people, because - who does not want more awareness of how they may be manipulated? In my view, the chapter on Stereotypes and Prejudice is essential reading for anyone who would like to reflect on a more peaceful and tolerant world. I highly recommend reading some chapters even if not the entire book.
February 14, 2023
I loved this book. Such a clear and concise look at the way we act and interact with others. Aggression, altruism, conformity, and much more. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants tobbetter understand themselves and those around them.
March 26, 2023
Basic but provocative concepts about social psychology and why we do what we do - must listening for anyone who works with groups and wants to better understand some of the whys of group and individual behavior.
The narration was easy to listen to - an enjoyable textbook “read”
The narration was easy to listen to - an enjoyable textbook “read”
February 16, 2025
"By definition only half of the world can be better than average at anything."
Confirming the worst stereotypes about social psychologists by confusing median and mean in the first couple of minutes.
Confirming the worst stereotypes about social psychologists by confusing median and mean in the first couple of minutes.
October 13, 2022
A great crash course for Social Psych 101.
December 10, 2022
I will believe in others
Social loafing is real
Mix groups of people
Social loafing is real
Mix groups of people
December 16, 2022
Listened to this series. Well narrated with professional content (as far as an unqualified person can tell), but occasionally found myself struggling to stay interested.
February 26, 2023
Audiobook: interesting topic on social psychology. Never really have thought of some points that it was mentioned in the lectures. Would love to investigate more into this part of psychology
August 16, 2023
3.5 ⭐️ Overall.
Pretty good intro into social psychology. A little cliché and boring and times but good overall
Pretty good intro into social psychology. A little cliché and boring and times but good overall
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January 31, 2024Interesting and helpful!
Definitely worth a relisten.
Definitely worth a relisten.
February 14, 2024
Good intro to the topic, very endearing lecturer.
June 5, 2024
Excellent book on the basics of social psychology. Will have to read again.
July 8, 2024
cute little refresh, works great as an intro!
November 26, 2024
This is a well written canvas of the breadth of social psychology studies and theories.
June 14, 2025
Fun and easy listen.
June 15, 2025
Approachable. Recommended for those wondering if social psychology is what they’re looking for.
October 16, 2025
Concise, accessible read that breaks down complex ideas in a way that makes sense to those without a psychology background.
June 5, 2025
As somebody who doesn't know much about social psychology, I found this set of lectures both informative and easy to digest. All of the studies and topics talked about were very interesting, and you can tell Goodfriend has passion in her work.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews