This seminar is meant to serve as a way of scientifically exploring questions about close relationships from a social psychological perspective. “Close relationships” are interpersonal relationships in which one person perceives the self to have a sense of intimacy (e.g., physical, emotional) with another person. There will be a focus on romantic relationships, along with parent-child relationships, friendships, and other close relationships. Although these relationships are commonly a topic of everyday, layperson discussions, this seminar will utilize a scientific approach to understanding them. The goal of this course is to provide students with an overview of the major social psychological theories and research findings on close relationships and to understand how these topics are connected to cognition, emotion, motivation, social behavior, health, well-being, the self, and more. By the end of the course you should be able to think critically about questions related to understanding relationships and be able to use scientific rationale to back up your reasoning.  We will discuss not only research on these topics, but also how this research might relate to students’ everyday lives and their future careers. 

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: Two 200-level courses in PSYC.

Distribution Requirements: SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis

Typical Periods Offered: Every other year

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered; Spring