On the humanity of teaching social psychology: Representation, perspective and compassion

It is hardly novel to assert that the concept of humanity plays a central role in social psychology. But ‘humankind’ is only one of the dictionary definitions of the word. The central argument of this chapter is that the teaching of social psychology benefits from attending to other meanings of humanity as well. For one, instructors should emphasize the humanness of the research venture. By spotlighting the human beings who conduct the research our students learn about, we guide students to new discoveries and enable them to consider the representativeness (and lack thereof) of the field. Humanity also means humaneness, and there is an important role to be played by compassion in teaching. This refers to the consideration and flexibility we owe students during times of crisis, but also to capitalizing on the unique potential of social psychology for promoting coping, perspective-getting, empathy and prosocial action.