With Texas Tech University's social psychology program experiencing not only the usual year-to-year transitions of new, continuing, and finishing graduate students, but also a complete turnover of faculty in recent years, it seemed to me that a new generation of students and faculty needed to experience a social psychology musical. Thus, the April 29, 2015 brown-bag session has been designated for a musical, and I've written some new social psych songs for the first time since 2008. These latest songs are dedicated to some of the newer faculty members. We'll also perform some older songs.
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The first new song reflects Dr. Jessica Alquist's research interests in self-control and free-will beliefs...
Do You Believe in Free Will?
Lyrics by Alan Reifman
(May be sung to the tune of "Do You Believe in Magic?," John Sebastian, popularized by the Lovin' Spoonful)
Do you believe in free will?
That you're in control.
You can do, what's required,
To achieve your goal?
And with free will,
You're always, able to choose,
The result is on you,
Whether you win or you lose,
Philosophers see free will,
In a complex light,
But we are trying, to get the thinking,
In laypersons' minds,
If you believe in free will,
Dr. A has found,
To "what could have been" questions,
You can sure expound,
Deterministic,
Viewpoints shut down your thoughts,
No reason to ponder,
"Could have's," "what if's," or "oughts,"
Believers in free will,
Show some healthier signs,
Such as low stress,
And feeling satisfied,
(Instrumental)
If you believe in free will,
You'll do better work,
You're even less likely,
To act like a jerk,
Now, some studies,
Do show cause and effect,
Other times, correlation's,
What they reflect,
Further research,
May show which is chief,
Do beliefs precede actions,
Or actions precede belief?
Do you believe in free will?
Believe in the free will of your daily moods?
Believe in the free will of your taste in foods?
Believe in the free will of when you act rude?
Studying the free will...
The free will...
Do you believe in free will?...
Further Readings
Alquist, J. L., Ainsworth, S., Baumeister, R. F., Daly, M., & Stillman, T. F. (2015) The makings of might-have-beens: Effects of belief about free will on counterfactual thinking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41, 268-283.
Baumeister, R. F., & Brewer, L. E. (2012), Believing versus disbelieving in free will: Correlates and
consequences. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 736–745.
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The second new song reflects Dr. Amelia Talley's interest in studying the stress, substance use/misuse, and health of individuals with concealed stigma.
Stigma and Stress
Lyrics by Alan Reifman
(May be sung to the tune of "Paper in Fire," John Mellencamp)
There's a young scholar,
Of social groups, and drinking,
Studying people, on society's margins, she said, would be her quest,
She would investigate,
What these folks, were thinking,
She would, now study, hidden stigma and stress,
Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?
One example,
Of the groups, she studies,
Are sexual minorities, whose status, may not be expressed,
She would investigate,
What these folks, were thinking,
She would now study, hidden stigma and stress,
Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?
[Instrumental]
Our young scholar,
And her collaborators,
Study conditions, under which, disclosing may be best,
Self-perceived stigma,
And types of coping, may help,
Unlock the mysteries of, hidden stigma and stress,
Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?
Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?
Further Readings
Talley, A. & Bettencourt, A. (2011). The moderator roles of coping style and identity disclosure in the relationship between perceived stigma and psychological distress. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 2883-2903.
Talley, A. E., & Littlefield, A. K. (2014). Pathways between concealable stigmatized identities and substance misuse. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8, 569–582.
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I've also updated previous songs to encompass the research interests of Zach Hohman and Molly Ireland.
