Photo credit: Geoff MacDonald
While numerous students and faculty from the Social-Personality area are members of SPRG, membership is open to interested social and personality psychologists throughout the University of Toronto community. The primary functions of the group are:
To disseminate new findings in social and personality psychology through a
weekly speaker series
comprised of
visiting scholars, current graduate students and post-docs, and current faculty.
To provide opportunities for graduate and post-doctoral students in the SP area to
present their work and obtain critical feedback
from faculty and peers throughout the research process.
To provide opportunities to
hold discussions and share information
on critical issues in the field (e.g., statistical/methodological advances, ethical issues, funding strategies, career development).
MEETINGS
The mission of the University of Toronto Social-Personality Research Group is to further the understanding of phenomena, theories, and methods in social and personality psychology through research, discussion, and graduate student training. Researchers in the Social Personality Research Group study the behavior of individuals and groups in social contexts. They share an interest in understanding why people behave the way they do in social situations, as well as how people think and feel about the broader social world. SPRG researchers investigate topics such as prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, morality, self-identity, social identity, group behavior, intergroup interactions, prosocial behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Most research explores human behavior by investigating the interactions between intrapersonal processes (emotion, motivation, attitudes, belief systems) and social behavior (persuasion, communication, decision making, stereotyping, intergroup cooperation or conflict). Research in this area spans multiple levels of analysis, from the biological bases of social cognition and behavior to the larger cultural and social contexts in which people think, feel, and act. As such, SPRG researchers uses methods from neuroscience, cognitive science, physiology, and behavioral science to explore the proximate and ultimate causes of social phenomena.
ABOUT
SPRG convenes every Tuesday from 3:00PM – 4:00PM during the academic year of the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies. Approximately 4 to 6 faculty members from across North America give invited talks at SPRG every year. During most meetings, SPRG graduate students give talks and receive feedback from the community as a part of graduate training. This page provides the meeting schedule for the current year. To view the schedule as a PDF, click here.
SPRG LISTSERV
SUBSCRIBING TO THE LISTSERV​
To subscribe to the SPRG Listserv, send an email to listserv@listserv.utoronto.ca (upper or lower case is acceptable). In the BODY of the message, type a command of the form:
subscribe SPRG-L [first name] [last name]
For example, Michael Inzlicht would type:
subscribe SPRG-L Michael Inzlicht
SENDING MESSAGES TO THE LISTSERV​
To send a message to everyone subscribed to the list, send an e-mail to
Remember, when you send e-mail to the list, everyone on the list will receive your message.
If you would like to unsubscribe from the Listserv, send a message to listserv@listserv.utoronto.ca. In the BODY of the message type a command of the form:
signoff SPRG-L
UNSUBSCRIBING FROM THE LISTSERV​
WHERE TO NEXT?
Interested in pursuing a PhD in social-personality psychology at the University of Toronto? Visit our DEPARTMENT WEBSITE for more information.
Visit our RESEARCH page for recent publications by SPRG members.