MSc Social and Cultural Psychology

You’ll explore the complex relationships between social and cultural norms and individual human behaviour, and learn how we can apply this knowledge to tackle pressing social problems.

The programme blends sociological, anthropological and economic perspectives to investigate topics such as social identities, inter-group relations, and social representation.

You’ll gain a solid grounding in the theoretical aspects of social and cultural psychology while also completing comprehensive training in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

This master’s degree, offered at our campus in London, is unique in its blend of social and cultural psychology, covering both theoretical and applied issues. You can tailor your studies to suit your specific interests, with optional courses covering topics such as political psychology and conflict and negotiation.

The programme has a strong focus on real-world applications. You’ll have the chance to apply your theoretical insights and research skills to a dissertation that addresses a specific research question on social or cultural psychology.

When you graduate, you’ll be equipped with all the critical skills and tools for a career in policymaking, international development, and many other roles in NGOs, not-for-profits and academia.

Our department was recently ranked first in the UK for psychology (Complete University Guide 2025). So, you’ll be studying at a top-rated university.

• M Cole Cultural Psychology: a once and future discipline (Harvard University Press, 1996)
• S. Jovchelovitch Knowledge in Context: Representations, community and culture (Routledge Classics, 2019)
• S Kitayama and D Cohen Handbook of Cultural Psychology (Guilford Press, 2010)
• S Moscovici Social Representations: explorations in social psychology (Polity Press, 2000)
• R Schweder Why Men Barbecue: recipes for cultural psychology (Harvard University Press, 2003)
• M Tomasello The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition (Harvard University Press, 1999)

Selected readings of research by faculty:

• K Corti and A Gillespie Revisiting Milgram’s Cyranoid Method: experimenting with hybrid human agents (The Journal of Social Psychology, 2015)
• C Howarth, W Wagner, N Magnusson & G Sammut ‘It’s only other people who make me feel black’: acculturation, identity and agency in a multicultural community (Political Psychology, 2014)
• S Jovchelovitch and J Priego-Hernandez, Underground Sociabilities: identity, culture and resistance in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (Brasilia, 2013)