Essentials of Social Psychology

By: Wind Goodfriend, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Wind Goodfriend

Every interaction you have with people, each day of your life, involves social psychology. For those of us who have struggled to fit in or wish we received more invitations to socialize, this relatively new field of study can be eye-opening when it comes to gaining a better understanding of the basics of human interactions.

In this illuminating Audible Original, Professor Wind Goodfriend explores the various facets of social psychology, including how we form personal identities, the importance of perceptions, the human need to be liked and respected, stereotypes and prejudices, and more.

Social psychology can be both fascinating in its own right and, ideally, applicable to your everyday life. It can offer you insights into how you relate to others in your friendships, how other people make judgments about you, how to get others to help you, how to manage your anger and aggression, what power of persuasion you have at your fingertips, and so much more.

©2022 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC

Worth a listen

This was an enjoyable overview of social psychology concepts. It made me interested in exploring some of the other topics in more detail.

The difference between social groups.

I enjoyed this lecture series. There were many things that were covered that I had heard about before, but the relevance to the topics were consistent and enjoyable to listen to.

Love the subject.

I found this book to be a good refresher of a social psychology course I took in college. I feel like the author narrated the story very well and you can tell she has passion for the subject. I also appreciated her transparency and references from real life stories, some of which were her own.

Great introduction

Overall a pretty thorough introduction into the fascinating topic of social psychology and gives a good overall overview into understanding behaviors. References to supporting studies and results were clearly explained.
The narrator is easy to understand and therefore listen to without being dull and monotonous like some other narrators on Great Courses.
Highly recommend as an introduction.

I learned so much

What a great lecture on why we do what we do as social beings. It was easy to listen to and loaded with fascinating insights.

Very insightful

Great presentation that is accessible and interesting. I was surprised how much I learned. I definitely recommend it.

I learned a lot

Fantastic. The final story was heartbreaking and bittersweet. I highly recommend this audiobook. I’m a psychology major and I’ll be using this as a source in some of my coursework.

Great listen

Wonderful listen for my morning walks/runs. Seemed balanced and evidence based. Thank You for sharing your expertise!

worth the time

Very interesting topic, put into simple understandable terms. I am going to look for her other title to start next.

A Solid Intro to an Important Field

Goodfriend provides a solid, easily followed, introduction to the field of social psychology. The best chapter was Lecture 7 on Conformity and Blind Obedience in which Goodfriend explores some well known experiments on people to see how far they would follow orders and what would happen when the “rules” were removed. It’s a disturbing lecture, but there was also some reassuring moments when she examines responses by people who bucked the majority and stood up for what they thought was right. The best single moment in the series is at the end of the final lecture when the author explores the very famous case of Kitty Genovese who was stabbed a very large number of times over a half an hour period while dozens of people—her neighbors—listened and did nothing. I’ve read about this case in textbooks and seen it pop up again and again in popular literature and shows. This was the first time, however, that I ever heard the counter story. Kitty was not ignored by everyone. One neighbor intervened shouting from his window until the assailant ran away. Another called the police (it was pre 911) only to be told the police already knew about the incident. And a third went out to hold her friend while she died waiting for medical help. Reporters apparently admitted to editing their stories to make the neighbors appear more callous and brutal so that they could sell more papers. This is a good set of lectures.