01
Social Identity Theory
Personal and social identity, categorisation, identification, comparison, category salience, in-groups and out-groups, identity-based decisions, helping and behaviour change.
Unit Purpose
This unit examines how sociocultural, cognitive and biological processes shape group behaviour and interpersonal relationships. Students move from identity, social learning, conformity, compliance and culture into the study of love, attraction, communication and relationship improvement, using research evidence and an ethical survey practical throughout.
Curriculum Journey
02
Social Learning Theory
Cognitive dissonance, observational learning, modelling, attention, retention, self-efficacy, motivation, vicarious reinforcement and applications to group behaviour change.
03
Conformity
Informational and normative influence, the Asch paradigm, unanimity, public and private responses, pluralistic ignorance, resistance and critical interpretation of findings.
04
Compliance Techniques
Foot-in-the-door, self-perception, consistency, gradual escalation, lowballing, cultural influences and the responsible application of behaviour-change techniques.
05
Cultural Dimensions
Hofstede, individualism and collectivism, power distance, cultural comparison, ecological fallacy, emic and etic perspectives, and Paper 3 source analysis.
06
Survey/Questionnaire Practical
Qualities valued in close relationships, ethical self-report research, opportunity sampling, Likert ratings, top-three rankings, means, frequency counts and Paper 2 preparation.
07
What Is Love?
Operationalising love, passionate and companionate love, Sternberg's triangular theory, biological measures, self-report scales, behavioural observation and animal-model bias.
08
Chemical Messengers
Dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin, testosterone and estrogen across lust, attraction and attachment, with attention to causality, reductionism and bias.
09
Cognitive Explanations
Similarity-attraction, cognitive consistency, mere exposure, processing fluency, uncertainty reduction, cognitive associations, the halo effect and perceived similarity.
10
Communication
Communication styles, I-statements, attribution patterns, Social Penetration Theory, self-disclosure, Gottman's Four Horsemen and research on relationship satisfaction.
11
Improving Relationships
Exchange and communal relationships, the Sound Relationship House, the Investment Model, cultural strategies, intervention research and healthy relationship awareness.
Skills Developed
Theory & Application
Students explain sociocultural, cognitive and biological explanations, then apply them to behaviour change, attraction, communication, conflict and relationship maintenance.
Research Evaluation
Students evaluate experiments, surveys, observations, case studies, prospective studies and meta-analyses through bias, causality, change, measurement, perspective and responsibility.
Practical Research
Students administer an ethical questionnaire, use opportunity sampling and standardised instructions, operationalise relationship preferences, and analyse Likert and ranking data.
Data & Evidence
Students interpret means, frequency counts, medians, interquartile ranges, standard deviations and Mann-Whitney results while avoiding unsupported causal or cultural claims.
Communication & Wellbeing
Students use assertive communication, analyse interpersonal perspectives, recognise healthy and unhealthy patterns, and communicate advice responsibly without victim blaming.
Assessment Communication
Students construct Paper 1 explanations and discussions, document the survey practical for Paper 2, evaluate unseen research and, at HL, synthesise source evidence for Paper 3.
Assessment Connections
Aligned with the IB Psychology assessment model for first assessment in 2027.
Paper 1: Concepts, Content & Contexts
Students explain and apply relationship content, evaluate evidence and construct concept-based responses. Practice includes Social Identity Theory, Social Learning Theory, chemical messengers, cognitive explanations and communication.
Paper 2: Applying Research Methods
Human Relationships contributes the survey/questionnaire completed as one of the four course Class Practicals. Students describe its method, link concepts, compare methods and design an alternative study, while also evaluating unseen relationship research.
Paper 3: Data Analysis & Interpretation
The Cultural Dimensions sequence includes a complete culture-and-communication source task requiring graph and statistical interpretation, transferability analysis and synthesis of multiple forms of evidence.
Unit Activities
Human Relationships Survey
Students use an anonymous opportunity sample of at least ten participants to investigate qualities valued in close relationships. They collect Likert ratings and top-three rankings, calculate means and frequencies, evaluate the method and prepare it for Paper 2.
Identity, Decisions & Behaviour Change
Identity wheels, the Social Impact Grants ranking task, Berger and Heath analysis, a community vaccination campaign and correction of a weak Drury evaluation connect Social Identity Theory to real decisions.
Learning, Dissonance & Group Behaviour
Students apply cognitive dissonance and Social Learning Theory to environmental behaviour, hospital handwashing, team culture and adoption of a study application before completing mock Paper 1 work.
Conformity, Framing & Resistance
Students reinterpret Asch's statistics, identify cherry-picking and framing, debate ethics and emergency behaviour, reflect on self-silencing and evaluate Franzen and Mader.
Compliance & Behaviour-Change Design
Foot-in-the-door scenarios require students to design small and larger requests for sustainability, activity, fundraising and wellbeing, followed by concept-based evaluation of Dickerson et al.
Culture, Comparison & Paper 3
Students apply cultural dimensions to work, healthcare and sport, use Hofstede's comparison tool, evaluate Zhang et al., compare emic and etic perspectives and complete the culture-and-communication source paper.
Measuring Love & Animal Models
Students operationalise love, compare biological measures, self-report scales and observation, investigate love across the lifespan and critique anthropomorphism and reductionism in prairie-vole research.
Chemical Messenger Scenarios
A card sort and scenarios involving a blind date, friendship reunion and breakup develop application of six chemical messengers before students analyse causality, ethics and the simplified public story of oxytocin.
Similarity, Exposure & the Halo Effect
Mirror-and-mystery choices, partner-trait comparisons, a halo-effect video critique, Humberg et al. evaluation and a mere-exposure investigation connect cognitive mechanisms to attraction.
Conflict, I-Statements & Communication
Four interpersonal role-plays, assertive I-statement practice, communication-style analysis and video coding of the Four Horsemen develop applied communication and perspective-taking.
Disclosure & Research Evaluation
Students apply Social Penetration Theory, analyse attribution patterns, evaluate Lee et al. and compare communication explanations through bias, causality, measurement and responsibility.
Relationship Strategies & Safety
The relationship-house analogy, communal and exchange relationships, the Investment Model, cultural comparison, Davoodvandi evaluation and healthy-relationship cases connect evidence to practical and responsible strategies.