Institutional Background

Social psychology is a discipline concerned with the systematic study of humans in interaction with their social environment. The discipline seeks to describe, understand and explain human action and relations within a social context.

Typically, the problems that social psychology deals with lie somewhere between the fields of sociology and psychology. The main areas of social psychological theory include the influence of social factors on individual development, the formation and change of attitudes, beliefs and social consciousness, the shaping of personality and identity in society, the regularities of interpersonal face-to-face interaction, small group processes and intergroup relations.

The Department of Social Psychology, established in 1962 within the Faculty of Social Sciences, is one of the few departments in Europe which is specialised exclusively into social psychology, with a fullscale curriculum in the discipline. In Scandinavia it is unique, being the only independent department of social psychology.

History of the Department

The department was established in 1962 in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The first professor of social psychology (in Finland, too) was Kullervo Rainio (1962-1986), a pioneer in the computer simulation of social interaction by means of learning teories. Rainio has also been a member of Parliament (1971-1979) and a poet (Valitut runot (Collected poetry), 2000). Another, initially associate, professorship was created in 1986, and a Swedish-language chair in 1993 (permanent since 2003). The number of faculty has been 6-7 since the 70s but the junior positions have been gradually been transformed into more senior ones. Of the four instructors (or assistant teachers) in the 70s none have been left, as the last two were abolished to form a lecturer's position in 2002. Doctoral training now takes place within research projects and in the graduate schools funded by the Ministry of Education.

The study of social interaction has been one of the dominant research topics since the 60s and 70s. Rauni Myllyniemi, who has worked at the department since the beginning and retired as a professor in 2001, has focused on social orientations, conversation, and emotions. Socialisation, and moral socialisation in particular, ethnic identity and intergroup relations, and the social psychology of health emerged as new areas of research in the 70s, everyday thinking in the 80s. The department coordinated a large-scale Nordic interdisciplinary research project on energy consumption in the early 90s. Rural Studies is the most recent new domain of research, for which a chair was established in 2003.

The number of graduates with social psychology as the major subject from the Faculty of Social Sciences remained around 10-12 per year from the 60s to the early 90s but has recently increased. Among the first students of the department was Paavo Lipponen, the present Speaker of the Parliament (SDP). Most of the alumni active in politics belong to the Green Party, including an MP and several members of communal councils.

The department has traditionally put a lot of emphasis on student-centred methods of teaching and experimentation with new forms of active learning. In 1989, the department won the award of "the Department of the Year", bestowed by the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. The association of the students of social psychology, "Status", founded in 1966, has always participated in the planning of the curriculum and other decisions made at the department.

Teaching

There are five main routes for students to enter the department:

• Through the entrance exam of the Faculty of Social Sciences (n=18). In recent years, 6-7% of the applicants have been admitted.
• Through the entrance exam for those who have studied abroad (n=2-4).
• From the Open University and from the other faculties of Helsinki University or other universities in Finland, on the basis of academic achievement (n=4).
• From the Swedish School of Social Science (Svenska Social- och Kommunalhögskolan) after having the BA degree (n=8-10).
• From the other departments of the Faculty of Social Sciences (n=1-4).

In teaching, emphasis is laid on active, collaborative learning involving a lot of essay writing and group work. Also internationalism is stressed, and several courses are taught in English, in addition to the courses in Finnish and Swedish.

At the advanced level, the students can specialize into the following domains:

• health and mental health
• work and organizations
• immigrants, refugees and other minorities, acculturation
• environmental issues and food
• religion
• rural studies (as part of a national interdisciplinary programme).

In 2000-2003, the mean number of social psychology graduates was 35. Over the four year period 1999-2004, the total number of doctoral theses was 21. In 2005, 6 doctoral theses are expected. The relative number of minor subject students in social psychology is one of the highest in the whole university. As an example, in 2004, the introductory social psychology course is attended by 170 students (from 6 faculties, representing 44 different majors).

In 1999, the department was selected as one of the national centres of excellence in teaching for 1999-2000, and in 2001 Helsinki University awarded it as one of the units with high quality teaching.

The social psychology graduates are likely to get employed in jobs that correspond to their qualifications. According to the most recent survey, 27% were employed in research and teaching, 21% in social and health care, 16% in administration , and 10% in communications and consulting. About one thrid of the graduates are employed in the private sector.

The department has extensive student and teacher exchange. It coordinates the NORDPLUS network among 6 Nordic universities, and has exchange agreements with 14 other European universities. The number of foreign exchange students has annually been around 30, and some 12-20 Finnish students have studies abroad.

In post-graduate training, the department participates in the national social science graduate school, SOVAKO, and coordinates a multidisciplinary doctoral programme in ethnic relations, funded by Helsinki University. It is one of 14 members of the European Ph. D. programme in social representations, centred around Serge Moscovici's theory. The department is also part of the Marie Curie Training Site network funded by the EU.

High-quality Teaching Unit

The interaction between staff and students at the Department is reputed to be smooth and friendly, and teaching methods have continuously been developed in a more student-centred direction. As a visible recognition the Ministry of Education awarded 1998 the Department the title High quality teaching unit as one of 18 in the whole country. The basis of the choice was innovative teaching and good cooperation between the Department and the students.

International Cooperation

The Department has research cooperation mainly within Europe but also with social psychologists from North America, Israel, Russia and Africa. A number of international meetings, symposia and congresses have been organised at the initiative of the Department. The first European Summer School on Social Representations in August 1995 attracted 50 students from 14 countries to Finland.

The Department also participates in the European PhD Programme on Social Representations.The Department of Social Psychology was involved in two ERASMUS networks and it participates in the SOCRATES programmes. The Scandinavian Nordplus programme is coordinated by the Department within the field of social psychology.