SPRG researchers investigate topics such as prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, morality, self-identity, social identity, group behavior, intergroup interactions, prosocial behavior, and interpersonal relationships.
 
Most research explores human behavior by investigating the interactions between intrapersonal processes (emotion, motivation, attitudes, belief systems) and social behavior (persuasion, communication, decision making, stereotyping, intergroup cooperation or conflict). Research in this area spans multiple levels of analysis, from the biological bases of social cognition and behavior to the larger cultural and social contexts in which people think, feel, and act. As such, SPRG researchers uses methods from neuroscience, cognitive science, physiology, and behavioral science to explore the proximate and ultimate causes of social phenomena.