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Applied Social Psychology

Code: 102563
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Psychology OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Luz María Martinez Martinez
Email :
luzmaria.martinez@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is a fourth year subject, which presupposes the previous acquisition of knowledge and perspectives provided by the set of previous courses, especially for subjects such as "Social Dimension of the Person", "Social Influence and Groups" and "Social Psychology of the Contemporary World".

Objectives

Social Psychology as a discipline and as a profession is a history of research and intervention in social problems, quality of life, and psychosocial well-being, applied to the most diverse areas. The development of Applied Social Psychology (ASP), like that of the human and social sciences in general, derives from a complex process of combining theory and practice. On the one hand, we have the will to understand and explain the most diverse theoretical and social, problematic and challenging realities that emerge in the context of modernization: labor relations in the successive phases of capitalism, mass phenomena that burst into the urbanization scenario, social movements associated with renewed forms of participation, integration, marginalization and exclusion, inequality and discrimination, domination and submission, poverty, unemployment and underemployment, drug addiction and delinquency, development and achievements, epidemics and failures, old and new needs and social utopias. And on the other, we have the urgency of giving an effective, valuable, and up-to-the-minute practical response to present, predictable, and preventable social problems. Until the middle of the 20th century, social problems and psychosocial distress constituted the hardcore of theoretical concerns in the discipline and the practical orientations of the profession. In the last half-century, this perspective has been extended to the consideration of the positive dimensionof social progress, including that of quality of life as a field that includes not only the problematic side of social deficiencies but also the positive side of psychosocial well-being and the social and psychosocial successes that must be promoted, enhanced and optimized.

The general objective of the subject is to provide a wide and interdisciplinary orientation to metatheoretical approaches and to the theoretical, methodological, thematic and practical developments of ASP. This, in turn, requires specific training to do the following: (a) use a basic theoretical and technical ASP vocabulary, (b) develop an intellectual openness to urgent and important psychosocial questions, a motivation for investigation and intervention in ASP and a precise knowledge of the ethical and deontological implications of these practices, (c) construct a framework of theoretical reference on phenomena and processes typical of the main fields of application of ASP (from health, work, and education, to politics or the environment), (d) understand the socio-historical nature of the construction of social needs and problems, (e) identify basic dimensions and indicators of the constructs of quality of life and psychosocial well‑being, (f) know the methodological and technical tools of ASP, together with specific intervention processes (g) make an informative synthesis of specific topics in ASP (individually and as a group).

Learning outcomes

  1. Discuss the implications of different methods of assessment and diagnosis for psychosocial intervention.
  2. Distinguish methods of assessment and diagnosis in the field of psychosocial intervention.
  3. Recognise diversity in the context of intervention and evaluation.
  4. Distinguish methods and assessment tools in the field of psychosocial intervention.
  5. Compare, in practical terms, the use of methods and instruments of social intervention.
  6. Identify indicators and tools to evaluate programs and interventions.
  7. Design evaluation instruments.
  8. Use tools for program evaluation.
  9. Use adequate tools for communication.
  10. Work in a team.
  11. Recognise personal limitations and limitations of the discipline in the different areas of professional practice.
  12. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  13. Assess the impact of the difficulties, prejudices and discriminations that actions or projects may involve, in the short or long term, in relation to certain persons or groups.
  14. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  15. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  16. Assess how stereotypes and gender roles impact professional practice.
  17. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  18. Communicate in an inclusive manner avoiding the use of sexist or discriminatory language.
  19. Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
  20. Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
  21. Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
  22. Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one's own and other people's proposals for improvement.
  23. Propose new ways of measuring the viability, success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.

Contents

1. Fundamentals of Applied Social Psychology


  • Contexts, developments, and forms of application of Social Psychology
  • Planning and evaluation of SP applications
  • Ethics and pragmatics of SP applications


2.- Basic concepts in the field of ASP


  • Quality of Life. Concept, genealogy, dimensions, and indicators
  • Psycho-social well-being. Factors, models, and evaluation
  • Needs and psychosocial problems. Their structure and social construction
  • Other specific fields: poverty, social exclusion, discrimination processes (sex-gender system, racism, etc.)


3. Theoretical and methodological toolbox of ASP


  • Principles for planning psychosocial research and intervention in ASP
  • Perspectives of psychosocial intervention and evaluation
  • Tools for planning psychosocial intervention processes


4.- Areas of Applied Social Psychology


  • Education
  • Work
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Environment


Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
A3. Individual work 33 1.32
S1. Group supervision 10 0.4
A2. Group work 40 1.6
A1. Individual review of literature and documentation 25 1
S2. Individual tutoring 4 0.16
D2. Medium-size group sessions 12 0.48
D1. Formal lectures 24 0.96

The directed activities of this subject are taught through 12 sessions with the whole class group and 6 sessions with a medium-size group, always taking 2 hours. The following didactic resources are used in combination.

  • The 12 sessions with the class group are either formal lectures or presentations made by groups of students.
  • In the other 6 sessions, practical exercises will be done which involve debates on theoretical and methodological aspects of different applications of Social Psychology.

Supervised activities deal specifically with issues associated with the design and performance of the group and individual work.

Autonomous activities consist of individual study of bibliographic and documentary material, which leads to the preparation of diagrams, conceptual maps, and summaries, which will be used later in individual and group work.

N.B. The proposed teaching and assessment methodologies may experience some modifications as a result of the restrictions on face-to-face learning imposed by the health authorities. The teaching staff will use the Moodle classroom or the usual communication channel to specify whether the different directed and assessment activities are to be carried out on site or online, as instructed by the Faculty.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Av2. Individual written test (second assesment period) 35 2 0.08 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 17
Av1. Group work. Presentation (between weeks 10 and 15) 25 0 0 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21
Av3b. Grup work. Intervention analysis (week 15) 20 0 0 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23
Av3a. Grup work. Awareness campaing analysis (weeks 7/10) 20 0 0 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23


The final grade for the course will be determined as described for continuous assessment.


Exam Translation:


COMPLETE THE REQUIREMENTS ESTABLISHED IN ARTICLE 263 AND THE ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION APPLICATION (ELECTRONIC FORMS) (more information available on the Faculty website).


Assessment System Regulations


Course Passing: The course will be considered passed if the student obtains an overall grade higher than 5 across all assessments. The definition of a passing grade for continuous assessment, on a scale of 0 to 10, must necessarily include a minimum grade of 5.0 points and a grade of 4.0 points or higher on each of the in-person assessments that represent 20% or more of the continuous assessment grade. If these requirements are not met, the maximum grade recorded on the academic transcript will be 4.5 points.


Assessable: Students who submit learning evidence worth 40% or more of the total course grade will be considered assessable.


Not Assessable: Any evidence submitted by a student whose total value relative to the total course grade is less than 40% will be considered not assessable.


Retake: Students who, during continuous assessment, submitted evidence worth 2/3 or more of the total grade and received a grade lower than 5 points may retake the assignment. Students may resubmit the individual written exam or the oral presentation, which may be given individually or in a group. They may also resubmit the analysis of the awareness campaign and the analysis of the intervention projects (individually or in a group). The same retake system used for continuous assessment will apply to the final assessment.


Review Procedure: The review and subsequent numerical evaluation of the activities, tests, and requests submitted in class will be carried out by the professor responsible for the course.


Individual Case Management: If a student's assessment differs from the six expected learning outcomes, the responsible professor will discuss, review, and justify the assessment. In cases involving two compelling reasons justifying absence, lateness, or failure to complete graded assignments, or any other issues encountered during the assessments, the responsible professor will follow the criteria established by current regulations for such cases.


Second-year students and beyond are not expected to be assessed with a single, non-recoverable summary exam.


Psychology Faculty Assessment Guide: https://www.uab.cat/web/estudiar/graus/graus/avaluacions-1345722525858.htm





















































































Bibliography

Basic references

Alvaro, J. L.; Garrido, A. & Torregrosa, J. R. (Eds.) (1996). Psicología Social Aplicada. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

Arias Orduña, Ana Victoria; Morales Domínguez, José Francisco; Nouvilas Pallejà, Encarnación; Martínez Rubio, José Luis (2019) Psicología Social Aplicada. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.

Blanco, A. y Rodríguez Marín, J. (Coords.) (2007). Intervención psicosocial. Madrid: Pearson – Prentice Hall.

Expósito, F. & Moya, M. (Coords.) (2005).  Aplicando la Psicología Social.  Madrid: Piràmide.

Maya jariego, I.; García Ramírez, Manuel; Santolaya Soriano, F.J.(2007) (coord.) Estrategias de intervención psicosocial: casos prácticos. Ed. Piirámide..

Mark, M. M., Donaldson, S. I. & Campbell, B. (Eds.). (2011). Social Psychology and Evaluation. Hove: Guilford Press.

Montenegro, M. (Coord.) (2011). Intervenció Social. Controvèrsies teòriques i metodològiques. Barcelona: ediuoc

Morales, J.F., Blanco, A., Huici, C. & Fernández, J.M. (Eds) (1985). Psicología Social Aplicada. Bilbao: DDB.

Nouvilas Pallejà, E.; y Laguía González, A.; Pérez Garín, D. (2025). Manual de Psicología Social Aplicada. Ed: Sanz y Torres.

Sánchez, A. (2002). Psicología Social Aplicada. Madrid: Prentice Hall.

Other complementary specific references

Evaluation

Alonso, E.; Pozo, C. & Martos, M. J. (2008). Intervención psicosocial y evaluación de programas en el ámbito de la salud. Alcalá La Real: Formación Alcalá.

Alvira, F. (1991). Metodología de la evaluación de programas. Madrid: CIS.

Gómez, M (2000). Els serveis socials y la seva avaluació. Barcelona: EUB.

Guba, E. G. & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth Generation Evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Pozo, C.; Alonso, E. & Hernández Plaza, S. (2004). Teoría, modelos y métodos en evaluación de programas. Granada: Grupo Editorial Universitario.

Stufflebeam, D. I. (2001). Evaluation models. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Stufflebeam, D. I. & Shinkfield, A.J. (1987). Evaluación sistemática. Barcelona: Paidós.

Vedung, E. (1997). Evaluación de políticas públicas y programas. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos sociales.

Ethics and deontology

Alcalde, M. J. & del Río, C. (2001). Metacódigo de ética de la Federación Europea de Asociaciones de Psicólogos (EFPA). Traducción y adaptación al castellano. Infocop, 80, 36-39. (Orig. Inglés de 1995: htpp// www.efpa.be).

American Psychological Association (APA). (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. http://www.apa.org/ethics.

American Psychological Association (APA). (2009). Report ofthe Ethics Committee, 2008. AmericanPsychologist, 64/5, 464-473

Bersoff, D.M. (2003). Ethical Conflicts in Psychology. (3ª ed.) Washington, DC: APA

Canadian Psychological Association (2000). Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. http://www.cpa.ca/

Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos (COP). (2009 a). Proyecto del Código Deontológico de la profesión de Psicología. Madrid: COP.

Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos (COP). (2009 b). Papeles del Psicólogo, 2009. Vol. 30(3) Monográfico sobre Ética profesional y deontología. http://www.copmadrid.org

DelRío, C. (2005). Guía de ética profesional en Psicología Clínica. Madrid: Pirámide.

Del Río, C. (2009).La docencia de la Ética profesional en los estudios de Psicología en España.Papeles del Psicólogo, 2009. Vol. 30(3), pp. 210-219.

European Federation of Psychologists Associations (EFPA). (2005). Metha Code of Ethics. htpp//www.efpa.be  

Quayle (2009). Teaching ethics to future psychologists: Challenges and the model of an experience of a college psychology professor in a developing country. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 22/1, 97-104

Social problems, quality of life, psychosocial wellbeing 

Abdallah, S., Thompson, S., Michaelson, J., Marks, N., Steuer, N. et al. (2009). The Happy Planet Index 2.0. London: New Economics Foundation.

Andrews, F.M. y McKennell, A.C. (1980). Measures of self-reported well-being: Their affective, cognitive and other components. Social Indicators Research, 8, 127-155.

Andrews,F.M. y Withey, S.B. (1976). Social Indicators of Well-Being: Americans Perceptions of Life Quality.New York: Plenum Press.

Constanza, R. et al (2008). An Integrative Approach to Quality of Life Measurement, Research, and Policy. S.A.P.I.EN.S [Online], 1.1 |: http://sapiens.revues.org/169

Díaz, D., Rodríguez-Carvajal, R., Blanco, A., Moreno-Jiménez, B., Gallardo, I, Valle, C. & van Dierendonck, D. (2006) Adaptación española de las escalas de bienestar psicológico de Ryff. Psicothema. 18, 572-577.

Diener, E. (1994). Assessing Subjective Well-Being: Progress and Opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31, 103-157.

Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal fora national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.

Diener, E.D., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J. y Griffin, G. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale.Journalof Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

Diener, E., Oishi, S. y Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425.

Diener, E. y Suh, E. (2001). Culture and Subjective Well- Being. Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press.

Drobnič, S.,  Beham, B. & Präg, P. (2010). Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe. Social Indicators Research. 99 (2), 205-225.

Eid, M. & Larsen, R. J..(2008). The science of subjective wellbeing. Hove: Guilford Press.

Gale, A. & Chapman, A.J. (eds). (1984). Psychology and social problems. An introduction to applied psychology. New York: Wiley.

Layard R. (2005). Happiness: lessons from a new science. New York: Penguin.

<pclass=\"catedra\">Mikherjee, R.M. (1989). Thequality of life. Valuation in social research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Ryff, C., &  Keyes, C. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719-727.

Rubington, E. & Weinberg, M.S. (Eds.). (1995). The study of social problems. Five perspectives  (5ª ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Free Press.

Smigel, E. (ed). (1971). Handbook of the study of social problems. Chicago. Rand McNally.

Strack, F., Argile, M. y Schwartz, N. (Eds.). (1991). Subjective Well-Being. Oxford: Pergamon.

Veenhoven, R. (1984). Conditions of Happiness. Dordrecht: Reidel.

Veenhoven, R. (1994). El estudio de la satisfacción con la vida. Intervención Psicosocial, 3, 87-116.

Veenhoven,R. (1995). Developments in Satisfaction Research. Social Indicators Research, 37, 1-46.

Veenhoven R (1996). Happy life expectancy: a comprehensive measure of quality-of-life in nations. Social Indicators Research 39, 1-58.

Walker, S. R. & Rosser, R.M.  (Eds) . (1988). Quality of Life: assessment and applications. Lancaster: MTP.

Warr, P. (2007). Work, Happiness, and Unhappiness. Mahwah, NJ: LEA.

WHO (1984). Underlying processes of becoming socially vulnerable. Copenhagen. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe.

Specialized sources

Basic and Applied Social Psychology

Community, work and family

European Review of Applied Psychology

Intervención Psicosocial

International Journal of Psychology

Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

Journal of Conflict Resolution

Journal of Progressive Human Services

Journal of Social Issues

Journal of Social Policy

Journal of Social Service Research

Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community

Revista de Psicología Social Aplicada

Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y las Organizaciones. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

Psychology & Developing Societies

Social Psychology Quarterly

The Journal of Social Psychology

Software

This subject encourages the use of free software for ethical and political reasons. We recommend that students use free operating systems and to develop their work in free software.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 11 Spanish first semester morning-mixed