Bringing Conversations back in Social Psychology: theories and methods

Semester

Semester 2, 2025-2026

Type of course

Methodological and Practical Courses

Date

June 11, 2026

Location

Utrecht University

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Duration

1 day

Maximum number of participants

20

ECTS

0.5 EC will be appointed for participation in the complete course

Staff

Carla Roos (TiU), Namkje Koudenburg (RUG), Jorien de Keijzer (RUG)

Content

Social psychology examines social relationships and the ways in which behavior both shapes and is shaped by them. Everyday conversations play a central role in forming and maintaining these relationships. Although foundational research in the field (Lewin, Festinger) closely analyzed conversational behavior, more recent empirical work has often treated conversations as a “black box,” focusing mainly on inputs (e.g., relationship type, discussion topic) and outputs (e.g., disagreement, identification) rather than on the dynamics within the interaction itself. But this is changing: a renewed interest on the impact of online interactions on political and social developments (populism, polarization, radicalisation) brought conversations back on the agenda and social psychologists start to open the black box. This course is designed to further stimulate this development.

In this course, we will discuss recent theoretical perspectives on social interaction and explore the many factors that shape conversations, including social relationships, status, social norms, and the communication medium—especially as many interactions now occur through text-based online platforms. Students will learn how to conceptualize and operationalize conversational dynamics in relation to your own PhD projects and those of your peers. It is not necessary that you have collected or worked with conversational data before, the workshop is specifically designed as an introduction to working with conversations in social psychology.

In this course, we teach a range of methodologies for studying conversations, such as coding verbal and nonverbal behavior, administering pre- and post-interaction questionnaires, and using automated versus manual coding approaches. We also discuss ways to experimentally manipulate conversational dynamics. Students will evaluate when to use particular methods and gain hands-on experience applying them to specific research scenarios.

 

Time schedule 

10.00 coffee

10.15 Theories & methods in conversation research (prof. dr. Namkje Koudenburg)

11.00 Polarized discussions: Integrating communication studies and social psychology (Jorien de Keijzer)

11.15 Work session: Working with conversational data 

12.00 lunch

13.00 The social dynamics of online and offline conversations: regulating difficult conversations in various media (dr. Carla Roos)

13.45 coffee

14.00 student presentations 

15.00 Working on cases

16.00 presenting / discussion

17.00 The end

 

Learning goals

• Understanding theoretical frameworks around offline/online conversation in social psychology
• Understanding methods (quantitative and qualitative) for studying conversations in psychology
• Applying conversational methods to your own research (or that of a fellow student)

 

Preparation 

• Reading literature
• There is opportunity to present for a few students; we specifically welcome presentations of 1) students who either have already used conversations in their studies, or 2) presentations that raise questions that might be answered by looking into conversational data (which students may not have addressed yet). If you would like to present, please contact r.j.de.keijzer@rug.nl, before May 8th.

 

Compulsary literature

• Koudenburg, N., Kutlaca, M., & Kuppens, T. (2024). The experience and emergence of attitudinal consensus in conversations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 54(1), 66-80.https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2992
• Koudenburg, N., Postmes, T., & Gordijn, E. H. (2017). Beyond content of conversation: The role of conversational form in the emergence and regulation of social structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 21(1), 50-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868315626022
• Roos, C.A., Koudenburg, N., & Postmes, T. (2020). Online Social Regulation: When Everyday Diplomatic Skills for Harmonious Disagreement Break Down, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 25(6), 382–401, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaa011
• Roos, C. A., van der Linden, L., & Krahmer, E. (2025). Mitigating Perceived Polarization by Acknowledging Subjectivity: An Experimental Study of the Impact of Differently Phrasing Comments in Online News Discussions. Media Psychology, 28(6), 870–896. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2025.2456956