PROGRAM PRESENTATION

The Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Program in Social Psychology – PPGPS, from the Federal University of Paraíba, linked to the Department of Psychology and the Center for Human Sciences, Letters, and Arts – CCHLA, Campus I, began in 1976. Currently, governed by CONSEPE Resolution 50/2015, it has the Academic Master and Doctorate levels, offered in a single area of concentration: Social Psychology.

The PPGPS is made up of 17 permanent professors, the majority of whom are scholarship holders of PQ productivity from CNPQ, all advisors of master's and doctoral degrees. It also has two collaborators from Brazil and abroad, who contribute to the diversification of our theoretical and methodological approaches and, thus, help to promote scientific advancement in the area. The PPGPS is formed by a team of teachers who seek to strengthen the lines and centers of research, integrate undergraduate and society, besides collaborating with national and international research networks, aiming to contribute in a relevant way to the improvement of social issues, not only regional but also national and international.

 

General objective of the PPGPS: to train highly qualified personnel to carry out research and higher education in the field of Social Psychology, with a view to intervention in society to propose measures to improve society. This objective has been achieved through basic and applied research projects in the field of Social Psychology of Health, Social Psychology of Work, Social Psychology of Human Development, Social Psychology of Values, and Social Psychology of legitimation processes of social inequalities.

Specific objectives:

1) Train qualified researchers to carry out scientific research in the various fields of application of Social Psychology;

2) Train highly qualified personnel to carry out undergraduate and postgraduate education, thus contributing to mitigate regional asymmetries in the qualification of higher education professors, especially in the Northeast Region where we operate;

3) Promote an intellectual environment that favors the development of the necessary skills for the training of proactive and dynamic professionals, capable of leading multi and interdisciplinary work teams in the field of Social Psychology;

4) Promote the training of professionals trained to meet the demands of local communities;

5) Internationalize the production of the knowledge of Social Psychology carried out in Brazil, integrating it with its diffusion in the regional and national spheres.

 

CONCENTRATION AREAS

PPGPS offers a single area of concentration, called Social Psychology, with three lines of research: a) Social Psychology of Development; b) Social Psychology of Health and Work; and c) Social Psychology of Social Values and Inequalities.

 

LINES OF RESEARCH: The PPGPS consists of three lines of research and associated research groups/centers:

 

LINE OF RESEARCH: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT. This line of research is dedicated to the study of psychosocial factors associated with all stages of human development. It analyzes these factors in the context of childhood and adolescence in situations of risk and social vulnerability, in the domain of socio-moral development and the most diversified forms of social interaction.

Research Group: Social Interaction and Child Development (Prof. Dr. Nádia Maria Ribeiro Salomão and Prof. Dr. Fabiola Braz Aquino): Based on the principle that language development is fundamentally interactional and within the social interaction approach, the objective of this group is to investigate which aspects of the child's linguistic environment are important to promote language development. This type of investigation is basic not only for a better understanding of the nature of the interaction between adult and child but also to provide useful information in structuring interventions.

Research Group: Sociomoral Development (Prof. Dr. Cleonice Pereira dos Santos Camino and Prof. Dr. Júlio Rique Neto): From a socio-constructivist point of view, this line of research seeks to understand how sociomoral development occurs. In this sense, it is considered that psychogenetic processes can also be influenced by sociocultural, psychosocial, and demographic factors. The research is theoretical and empirical and aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on various topics, for example, moral values, empathy, human rights, parental styles of socialization, ecological values, forgiveness, and emotion. Research on these topics is carried out with children, adolescents, adults, and older people.

Research Group: Childhood and Adolescence Development in situations of personal and social risk (Prof. Dr. Maria de Fátima Pereira Alberto): Based on Vigotski's historical-cultural model, themes are studied in the development-education interface. The objective is to analyze the adult-child interaction and its role in the linguistic development of children with typical and atypical development. This investigation is basic not only for a better understanding of the nature of adult-child interaction but it should also provide useful information to structure interventions. The objective is also to study the socio-communicative dimension of language and its possible relationships with child development in different interactive contexts. It also highlights the interest in analyzing parenting and educator cognitions, especially their beliefs about child development and parenting practices. Research is carried out to know and analyze the concepts and practices of school psychologists in formal learning contexts, such as early childhood education institutions and schools.

 

 

LINE OF RESEARCH: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF HEALTH AND WORK. This line of research is dedicated to the study of the psychosocial processes of the health-disease relationship, as well as to the investigation of the various types of production of subjectivities in the context of work. It analyzes the socio-neurological mechanisms underlying the health care, the role of the social context in the vulnerability and promotion of collective health, as well as the subjective factors associated with health in the context of work. The research projects are carried out in the context of the following research groups, which develop research linked to themes and theoretical perspectives of social psychology specific to each group, they are:

2.1. Research Group: Psychosocial Aspects of Prevention and Public Health (Prof. Dr. Maria da Penha de Lima Coutinho): It aims to develop research related to the biopsychosocial and cultural aspects of different social groups and ethnicities within the scope of public health. Such research includes affective, cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral attributes concerning the health-disease process, quality of life and subjective well-being in the different stages of human development, anchored in the theory of Social Representations.

2.2. Research Group: Vulnerabilities and Health Promotion (Prof. Dr. Ana AlaydeWerba Saldanha): Based on the assumptions of Social Psychology in interface with Collective Health, it seeks to analyze contents and strategies necessary for professional training in health and to carry out studies that seek to support the formulation, implementation of strategies or planning of actions in health promotion, using different methodological perspectives for such purposes.

2.3. Research Group: Social Cognitive Neuroscience (Prof. Dr. Natanael Antonio dos Santos): Studies the role of the social context in the relationship between mind, brain, and behavior, seeking to articulate an investigative view of the neurocognitive and neuropsychological bases of relevant social phenomena or processes. This perspective can focus both the mind in a balanced social context and a pathological social context. It can also improve research techniques, develop software, and develop non-invasive instruments. Systematic investigations can contribute to the empowerment and interdisciplinarity of social cognitive neuroscience.

2.4. Research Group: Social Psychology, Subjectivity, and Work (Prof. Dr. Paulo Cesar Zambroni de Souza and Prof. Dr. Anísio José da Silva Araújo): Analyzes the production of knowledge about different work processes and exclusion, having as a horizon the positive transformation of these realities in the context of the health-work relationship. It contributes to the development of research methodologies that articulate the workers' experience with the researchers' concepts. Its main interests are linked to the articulation of work activity with quality, productivity, health, safety, competence, and professional training inside and outside public and private organizations.

2.5. Research Group: Mental Health of Chemical Dependence (Prof. Dr. Silvana Carneiro Maciel): this research group aims to study aspects related to Mental Health, mental disorders, and Chemical Dependence from the perspective of Social Psychology with the study of beliefs and attitudes towards people with mental disorders and drug addicts in the current Psychiatric and Social Inclusion reform policy. It studies the discrimination processes of these groups in the current society, articulating in the analyses some theories of Social Psychology such as prejudice, Social Representation, and the perception of threat. The productions of this research group aim to reduce knowledge gaps related to drugs and mental health and generating new knowledge focusing, among other themes: prejudice, social exclusion, social representations, psychosocial aspects, vulnerability/risk factors, consumption patterns, and protective factors; to improve social inclusion and generate data that favor new mental health policies.

 

3. LINE OF RESEARCH: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF VALUES AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES. This line of research is dedicated to the study of normative and socio-political factors that motivate social attitudes and behaviors. It analyzes the normative bases of social behavior and the group and intergroup processes underlying the legitimation of the various forms of manifestation of social inequalities in contemporary societies. The research projects are carried out in the context of the following research groups, which develop research linked to themes and theoretical perspectives of social psychology specific to each group, they are:

3.1. Research Group: Research Group on Political Behavior (Prof. Dr. Leoncio Camino; Prof. Dr. Ana Raquel Rosas Torres; Prof. Dr. Cicero Roberto Pereira): It aims to analyze how political behavior is produced in intergroup relations. The main topics of study are as follows: determinants of electoral behavior; determinants of political activism; agents and factors of political socialization; psychosocial analysis of prejudice and social discrimination phenomena; and human rights and psychology; values and legitimization of social inequalities.

3.2 Research Group: Normative Bases of Social Behavior (Prof. Dr. Valdiney Veloso Gouveia; Prof. Dr. Carlos Eduardo Pimentel; Prof. Dr. Patricia Nunes da Fonseca): This group aims to understand the role of human values in explaining social behavior. It adopts as main research topics: the structure, socialization, and change of human values; human values and pro-social behaviors (altruism, cooperation, social responsibility, etc.); social problems (prejudice, selfishness, delinquency, drug addiction); family issues (parental alienation, adoption, marriage, divorce, parenting practices, marital relationship; family resilience, family satisfaction, parental engagement); social issues (consumption, stalking) and valuation guidelines; social structure and normative orientations (individualism, interdependence, post-materialism), research techniques and elaboration of instruments on normative values and dimensions.