The Annual Finnish Social Psychology Conference 2023

THE ANNUAL FINNISH SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE  2023: CRITICAL INTERACTIONS

Social interactions are critical—in multiple senses of the word. It is through social interactions that all the fundamental social outcomes come about—both the most drastic and the mundane ones. Social interactions shape our individual experiences, motivations, and attitudes. They influence our relationships with each other and define the societal and institutional structures in which our everyday life is embedded. In teaching, health care, and other institutional contexts, as well as in everyday interactions in working life and among family members and friends, interaction is critical in influencing whether people feel helped and supported or manipulated and coerced. In short, social interactions are critical for our functioning both as individuals and as members of groups, organizations, cultures, and society at large.

Social interactions can also be “critical” in another sense. Critical thinking is at the heart of scientific inquiry. Instead of accepting authoritative claims as given, we should never stop asking why and how things happen the way they do. Such critique is best understood as a social and collective endeavor that is realized in and through interactions in diverse contexts and on multiple timescales, both addressing social and societal problems and facilitating scientific renewal.

Social Psychology Conference 2023 seeks to encourage all social psychologists and scholars in related fields to explore the criticality of social interactions. As the organizing committee we will be working hard to make the conference a site where various types of critical interactions may flourish. Welcome!

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Sosiaalipsykologipäivät ovat vuosittainen suomalainen sosiaalipsykologian konferenssi. Seuraavat järjestetään Tampereen Yliopistossa 4. ­­­­– 5. toukokuuta 2023. Tänä vuonna aiheena on CRITICAL INTERACTIONS. Konferenssi pidetään suomeksi ja englanniksi. Tervetuloa!