Scott Plous
Scott L. Plous joined the Wesleyan University faculty in 1990. His research interests include the psychology of prejudice and discrimination, international security, decision making, and the human use of animals and the environment.
Among social psychologists, Professor Plous is perhaps best known as the founder and Executive Director of Social Psychology Network, a suite of nonprofit web sites supported by the National Science Foundation, several other organizations, and members from more than 65 countries. Collectively, these sites have received more than 350 million page views.
Professor Plous is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has served on the FABBS Foundation Board of Directors, the Institute for Humane Education Curriculum Advisory Board, and SPSSI Council. He is a former recipient of the American Psychological Foundation Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching of Psychology as well as several APA division awards, including the William James Book Award (for his book The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making), the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, the Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award, the SPSSI Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring, an APA Division 1 Presidential Citation for developing Social Psychology Network, and the SPSP Award for Distinguished Service to the Society.
He has twice received the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Wesleyan University (in 1998 and 2011), and in 2006 he was named "Connecticut Professor of the Year" by the Carnegie Foundation and Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In addition to teaching at Wesleyan, Professor Plous has taught summer school for the Harvard University Program in Trento, Italy (2011); summer school at Beijing Normal University in China (2014); and courses on social psychology, social justice, and human rights on Semester at Sea (2015 and 2018). He also teaches a free online Social Psychology course that was first offered in 2013 and 2014 and has now received a cumulative total of 1.2 million enrollments from students in approximately 200 countries.
Primary Interests:
- Aggression, Conflict, Peace
- Applied Social Psychology
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Ethics and Morality
- Internet and Virtual Psychology
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Political Psychology
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
Research Group or Laboratory:
- Social Psychology Laboratory
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Image Gallery
Presentations
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Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire!
- Linked publication: No authorship indicated. (2008). Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching of Psychology. American Psychologist, 63, 357-359.
- Linked publication: Plous, S. (2000). Responding to overt displays of prejudice: A role-playing exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 198-200.
- Linked publication: Plous, S. (2012). Action teaching. In D. Christie (Ed.)., The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology (pp. 1-5). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Linked publication: Plous, S. (2009, Winter). Are you an action teacher? Win $1,000 while making the world a better place. Psychology Teacher Network, 18(4), pp. 1, 4, 8, 10, 11.
Data Files
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IACUC Study Data File
- Linked publication: Plous, S., & Herzog, H. A., Jr. (2001). Reliability of protocol reviews for animal research. Science, 293, 608-609.
- Linked publication: Plous, S., & Herzog, H. A., Jr. (1999, June). Should the AWA cover rats, mice, and birds? The results of an IACUC survey. Lab Animal, pp. 38-40.
Books:
- Plous, S. (1993). The psychology of judgment and decision making. New York: McGraw-Hill. [Translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, and Russian; hardbound edition concurrently published by Temple University Press.]
- Plous, S. (Ed.). (2003). Understanding prejudice and discrimination. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Journal Articles:
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No authorship indicated. (2008). Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching of Psychology. American Psychologist, 63, 357-359.
- Linked presentation: Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire!
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Plous, S. (2000). Responding to overt displays of prejudice: A role-playing exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 198-200.
- Linked presentation: Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire!
- Plous, S. (2000). Tips on creating and maintaining an educational web site. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 63-70.
- Plous, S. (1998). Signs of change within the animal rights movement: Results from a follow-up survey of activists. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 112, 48-54.
- Plous, S. (1996). Attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological research and education: Results from a national survey of psychologists. American Psychologist, 51, 1167-1180.
- Plous, S. (1996). Attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological research and education: Results from a national survey of psychology majors. Psychological Science, 7, 352-358.
- Plous, S. (1996). Ten myths about affirmative action. Journal of Social Issues, 52, 25-31.
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Plous, S., & Herzog, H. A., Jr. (2001). Reliability of protocol reviews for animal research. Science, 293, 608-609.
- Linked data: IACUC Study Data File
-
Plous, S., & Herzog, H. A., Jr. (1999, June). Should the AWA cover rats, mice, and birds? The results of an IACUC survey. Lab Animal, pp. 38-40.
- Linked data: IACUC Study Data File
- Plous, S., & Neptune, D. (1997). Racial and gender biases in magazine advertising: A content-analytic study. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 627-644.
- Plous, S., & Williams, T. (1995). Racial stereotypes from the days of American slavery: A continuing legacy. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 795-817.
- Takooshian, H., Gielen, U. P., Plous, S., Rich, G. J., & Velayo, R. S. (2016). Internationalizing undergraduate psychology education: Trends, techniques, and technologies. American Psychologist, 71, 136-147.
Other Publications:
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Plous, S. (2012). Action teaching. In D. Christie (Ed.)., The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology (pp. 1-5). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Linked presentation: Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire!
-
Plous, S. (2009, Winter). Are you an action teacher? Win $1,000 while making the world a better place. Psychology Teacher Network, 18(4), pp. 1, 4, 8, 10, 11.
- Linked presentation: Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire!
- Plous, S., Myers, D. G., Kite, M., & Dunn, D. S. (2021). Teaching social psychology effectively: A practical guide. In J. Zumbach, D. Bernstein, S. Narciss, and P. Marsico (Eds.), International Handbook of Psychology Learning and Teaching. Springer.
- Plous, S., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2004, September 10). How social science can reduce terrorism. Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. B9-B10.
Courses Taught:
- Computer Laboratory in Psychological Statistics
- Psychological Statistics
- Research Methods in Social Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Social Psychology MOOC
- The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination
Scott Plous
Department of Psychology
Wesleyan University
207 High Street
Middletown, Connecticut 06459
United States of America
- Phone: (860) 685-2368