Social psychology in the Master’s program

With the basic course Social Interaction, social psychology is an integral part of the curriculum in the Master’s degree in Psychology, so that Master’s students of all specializations gain an insight into social psychological theories and phenomena. If you would like to deepen your own social psychological skills, you can apply for one of the 24 places on the Social Interaction specialization module at the start of the Master’s degree course. As part of the specialization module, students deepen their skills in the socio-psychological field of social interactions in business and society. The Social Interaction specialization is one of four possible specializations in the Master’s degree program, each of which comprises 120 ECTS credits. An information event on the specializations will take place at the beginning of October of the current year.

 

Master’s specialization module “Social Interaction”

The importance of social interaction in today’s (professional) world

The world is becoming increasingly complex. It is described by buzzwords such as VUCA (an abbreviation for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) or BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible). This makes it clear that we are currently living in a world that is characterized by a high level of dynamic change and uncertainty. Turbulence seems to be the order of the day. And we humans have to deal with it. How do we want to shape our lives in the face of all these challenges? How do we want to live and work together with others? How can we adapt to the challenges of the future?

Social psychological findings can help us to understand phenomena and processes that characterize current social problems. However, they also help people to find their own way and actively shape the future in conjunction with others. With the appropriate socio-psychological knowledge, you will learn:

  • Providing people with good support, advice and guidance in change processes
  • Work better with others in teams, organizations and institutions
  • Better support for social change

A sound understanding of the psychological processes that underlie social interactions is therefore not only an advantage, but essential for success in many professions. They help you to cope better with change and to move confidently in a changing professional environment.

 

Learning content of the specialization

With the Master’s specialization “Social Interaction in Business and Society”, we want to contribute to your well-founded university education by systematically combining the development of knowledge and action skills:

Coaching training: Develop practical skills, get to know yourself better and try out your role as a coach, but also as a coachee. Use coaching as an example to learn how processes of social interaction can be shaped in a very concrete, practical and proactive way. These skills are invaluable in today’s constantly changing world of work and are taught, for example, in the seminars “Accompanying change: Coaching I and II” (see Accompanying change: Coaching) in Module 5.2 “Change processes in theory and practice”. By working independently with coachees, initially in a protected, group-internal setting and later with real clients, you will experience self-effective work and gain your first professional experience in the concept of self-management coaching (Jonas, Braumandl, Mühlberger & Zerle, 2024).  

Research-oriented specialization (empirical seminar in the 1st semester): Deal with current problem situations in society and carry out an empirical study on them, e.g. on topics such as resilience, sustainability, future skills, collective threats such as climate change, marginalized groups, empowerment. Learn how to build a scientific basis for understanding current problems of our time.

Transfer-oriented consolidation (case seminar in the 2nd semester): Apply your psychological expertise to a concrete problem. Get to know the PATH model (P=problem, A=analysis, T=theory/test, H=help) and work in small project teams to develop concrete help, new approaches and interventions to solve real social challenges based on the following leitmotifs:

    • Explore yourself (Who are we? What do we need? What can we do?):
      • What does Generation Z need?
      • E-portfolio for the acquisition of future skills during studies
      • Chatbot in PlusOnline
    • Train yourself (Try yourself! Experience yourself!):
      • Design events (e.g. Fuck-up night)
      • Training (e.g. Flex your Feels – media competence against affective polarization)
      • Add coaching tools
    • Be resilient (You in the world – dealing with global crises):
      • What to do about loneliness?
      • Mentally healthy
      • Designing future workshops
      • Climate change

Practice-oriented consolidation (practical seminar in the 3rd semester, optional): Gain further concrete experience, reflect on this in a team. Try out different roles for yourself.  Get involved as a co-trainer, moderator or change agent. Analyze further aspects of social interactions, learn to incorporate the psychological needs and specific requirements of target groups into the planning and implementation of interventions. Test yourself in the practice-oriented specialization, e.g.

    • as a co-trainer in the coaching seminar (with supervision),
    • work on specific change projects at the university (e.g. as part of PLUSTRACK)
    • implement your practical product from the transfer-oriented specialization,
    • gain further coaching experience or
    • Become part of a cooperation with the Career Center.

Content seminars: Deepen your knowledge on topics in other content seminars, such as difficult conversations, future viability in companies, theories of motivation or future skills. Discuss current developments in business with management consultants.

Case seminar: Training & transfer: In this seminar, which is designed as a practical workshop, the focus is primarily on self-awareness and feedback to the participants. Conduct training sessions and improve your own skills as a trainer through video analysis and peer feedback.

 

What skills can I acquire in the specialization?

The Master’s specialization “Social Interaction” helps students to become aware of their core competencies and future skills (such as analytical and problem-solving skills) and to develop these further. This enables them to take their place in interdisciplinary teams with self-understanding and self-confidence as psychologists. In addition, graduates are enabled to critically reflect on their skills, apply them in a targeted manner and continuously develop them further – essential aspects for assuming responsibility and independence. Many courses have a workshop character. A joint learning process takes place in which students have the opportunity to contribute and pursue their own interests. Intensive dialog with a lively feedback culture is central to this. There is a lot of discussion and reflection, often in networking with experts from research and practice. Working in small teams with close personal supervision is helpful for individual learning progress.  

 

What would we like to convey to you?

  • Awareness of their own expertise: After graduating, it is crucial for many psychologists to fully recognize the value of their skills in the context of business and society. Although their training is strongly empirical and characterized by well-founded theories and a scientific orientation, the diverse application possibilities outside therapeutic contexts often remain in the background. At a time when future skills and psychological change management are becoming increasingly important, we want to make these potential applications more visible for psychologists.
  • Target group-oriented transfer of specialist knowledge: In professional fields outside of traditional therapy, psychologists are in competition with graduates from related disciplines such as business administration or communication sciences. They often fail to present their specialized knowledge in a way that is understandable and relevant for different target groups. This hinders the effective transfer of psychological knowledge into society, business and politics. As part of the specialization, you will acquire the ability to network your knowledge, prepare it for specific target groups and continuously develop it further. This will enable you to position yourself as a competent specialist expert and successfully make your voice heard in an increasingly interdisciplinary environment.
  • Diverse career prospects: Career opportunities for psychologists are expanding rapidly! In addition to traditional clinical work, psychologists are finding increasingly exciting fields of work in business, non-profit organizations and public and social institutions. With the specialization “Social Interaction in Business and Society” at the University of Salzburg, you will be optimally prepared for a successful professional career in various organizations or as an independent consultant. This specialization offers the ideal basis for getting started in new, high-growth areas.

 

Master’s theses in the Department of Social Psychology

In the Department of Social Psychology, we supervise Master’s theses on a variety of topics and methods. You can find out more on the page Information on Master’s theses.

 

Testimonials

The social specialization not only expanded my skills through practical learning, it also encouraged my creative thinking and strengthened our social fabric. The coaching training got us into action and trying things out and also helped us grow together enormously as a group . The decision to specialize and the training was exactly right for me, I learned an incredible amount about myself and how to deal with others – I can honestly recommend it to anyone. I can now finish my Master’s degree with a lot of new knowledge, skills and great memories. (Amelie, Master’s student)

The Master’s specialization opened up a variety of perspectives for me and encouraged me to see how multifaceted psychological work can be. I was helped to find my place in psychology. (Mia, Master’s student)

In just two years, the “Social Interaction” specialization has given me the opportunity to develop my potential and continue to grow. While the Bachelor’s degree course is predominantly theoretical, this specialization offers the opportunity to apply what I have learned in practice. Through seminars such as the “practice-oriented specialization” (POV) or the coaching training, I was able to acquire many practical skills. The specialization is characterized by a lot of collaborative work in teams and getting to know fellow students intensively, especially through the personal depth of the coaching training. In the two years of the Master’s program, I greatly expanded my personal reflection skills and social skills. However, my progress in my professional and practical skills, such as research-based work, the translation of research results into tangible applications and critical and innovative thinking, is particularly striking. (Sabrina, Master’s student)

The Social Interaction specialization is more than just theory – it is pure practice. There are people at work here who bring university knowledge to life with passion and dedication and meet us students at eye level. They build bridges between studying and the world of work, making us fit for the future. I am happy to be part of this dynamic and inspiring community. (Nadine, Master’s student)

Overall, the Social Interaction specialization exceeded my expectations. For me personally, it has closed gaps in the content of the subject area ‘Motivation’ from the Bachelor’s degree and the courses have created the practical relevance that I have always lacked in my studies so far. I also feel that contact with the lecturers has changed. The students are held in high regard and there is contact at eye level. The coaching training, which is part of the specialization, reinforced my self-efficacy through and through. At the beginning, I started the training with a lot of uncertainty about my own abilities, but from block seminar to block seminar it became increasingly clear to us: “We can do this”. I say ‘we’ because that’s another thing that’s so great about specialization: it creates a sense of community that’s reminiscent of a school class. And that is rather unique in the university context. In addition to the coaching training, there are also the courses FoV (research-oriented specialization) and ToV (transfer-oriented specialization), which are an elementary part of the specialization. Both were labor-intensive, but rewarding. For me, this is mainly due to the freedom we students were given in selecting the topics and issues to work on. In the ToV, in which solutions for a socio-psychological problem were developed, this freedom of choice was really maximum – true to the motto: “Deal with something that interests you – what you are passionate about”. The specialization Social Interaction is inspiring and brings a breath of fresh air to the course. I can therefore highly recommend it! (Julian, Master’s student)