Department of Psychology

Social Psychology Labs

UHallSocial psychology is the study of human social behavior. Accordingly, social psychologists study a broad range of issues including persuasion, aggression, prejudice, deception, helping behavior, and close relationships. Social psychology is an empirically-based discipline that focuses on both theoretically-oriented basic research and problem-oriented applied research.

The Social Psychology Program at the University of Toledo is a research-based training program leading to the Ph.D. degree. We believe that the training graduate students receive prepares them well for a variety of careers, principally in academic institutions, business settings, and other settings where strong skills in research methodology and statistical analysis are desirable.

The program emphasizes close student-faculty interactions and an apprenticeship atmosphere. Graduate students are expected to be actively involved in on-going research. Over time, such involvement produces joint projects, provides opportunities for generating and pursuing collaborative research ideas, and leads to the thesis and dissertation. Individualized programs of study, worked out jointly between the student and members of his or her graduate committee, permit flexibility in constructing a graduate experience that fits the student's goals and interests.

Drs. Jason Rose and Andrew Geers have a combined research lab team, called the InSPHIRe lab. The lab conducts research on health behavior and other health outcomes using social psychological principles. Some of the common themes in the research include the placebo effect, risk perception, patient choice, and social comparison. 

Please visit the Integrating Social Psychology and Health in Research lab webpage for more information.

Last Updated: 6/27/22