Psychology: Social Influence (track)
Why are emotional appeals in advertising campaigns sometimes effective and sometimes not? How do we encourage fewer people to cycle in pedestrian areas? How do we study the effectiveness of measures to prevent tax evasion? Many organisations and companies benefit from effectively influencing the behaviour of citizens or consumers: Public health agencies try to stimulate people to exercise regularly, advertising agencies try to increase sales of a particular product, and municipalities try to discourage littering in parks. But how can we develop a strategy that is effective in achieving these goals?
UvA online Open House
This year, you won’t be able to attend any busy on-campus events with lots of people. But our online Open House is the perfect way to get to know UvA study programmes and university life from the comfort of your own home.
Every study programme has an Open House page with videos, FAQs and live events. On the main Open House website you can discover all our programmes,explore the city and campus, and get inspired during our theme weeks.
Study programme
During this Master’s track you have the opportunity to deepen your social-psychological knowledge and hone your research skills as well as learn about systematic, critical approaches to applied problems when influencing behaviour. You work through various case studies to learn how to apply scientific knowledge and approaches to applied behavioural influence problems.
You learn how to analyse concrete human behaviour using social-psychological theory and how to generate valid and reliable measurements of (current) attitudes, emotions, motivation and behaviour. You also learn, step by step, how to develop interventions and how to evaluate those interventions using intervention mapping.
Careers
Organisations often call upon the expertise of advertising or marketing agencies, as well as research and consultancy firms. Some organisations even have such specialised departments in-house, such as strategy, communication or marketing departments. Students who graduate from this Master's track can be found in organisations or departments that are involved in behavioural influence in the broadest sense of the word.
- Strategists/Researchers at advertising agencies and consultancy firms.
- Advisers on influencing behaviour
- Policy and research positions
- Consumer behaviour advisors
| Degree programme | MSc |
|---|---|
| Mode | Full-time |
| Credits | 60 ECTS, 12 months |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Starts in | September |
| CROHO code | 66604 |