Get Inspired
Ideas, inspiration, and event fuel for psychology societies.
The blog covers psychology movie nights, quiz ideas, social deduction games, and other PsychSoc-friendly ways to build events people might actually remember. It is here to help with planning, theming, and rescuing committees from the ancient student tradition of announcing something vague and hoping excitement appears on its own.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Childhood, Belonging, and the Psychology of the Outsider
A psychology and sociology reading of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, exploring childhood, attachment, empathy, family change, othering, institutions and belonging.
Moonrise Kingdom: Adolescent Attachment, Belonging, and the Psychology of Running Away
Explore Moonrise Kingdom through psychology: adolescent identity, attachment, belonging, family systems, fantasy and why Sam and Suzy run away.
12 Angry Men: Conformity, Doubt, and the Psychology of Changing a Room
Explore 12 Angry Men through psychology: conformity, minority influence, prejudice, persuasion and how groups learn to make room for reasonable doubt.
The Dark Knight: Fear, Moral Identity, and the Psychology of Keeping Order
Explore The Dark Knight through psychology: fear, moral identity, social trust, vigilantism, trauma and what happens when order starts to justify compromise.
The Shawshank Redemption: Hope, Institutionalisation, and the Psychology of Surviving a System
Explore The Shawshank Redemption through psychology: hope, institutionalisation, identity, resilience and how people survive systems that shrink their world.
The Little Mermaid: Voice, Body, and the Cost of Wanting Another Life
A psychology movie night guide to The Little Mermaid, exploring adolescent identity, body politics, voice, agency, gender roles, parental control, transformation, and how the animated and live-action versions frame the cost of wanting another life.
Dancer in the Dark Movie Night: Watching With Audio Description On
A psychology society movie night idea using Dancer in the Dark with audio description turned on, exploring access, perception, disability, poverty, vulnerability, musical fantasy and how cinema changes when it has to describe itself.
Bend It Like Beckham: Gender, Culture, and the Trouble With Wanting Your Own Life
A psychology movie night guide to Bend It Like Beckham, exploring gender norms, family expectations, cultural identity, women’s football, role conflict, sexuality, belonging and the difficulty of wanting your own life without losing your people.
Borat: The Psychology of Going Along With It
A psychology movie night guide to Borat, exploring social norms, prejudice, politeness, embarrassment, satire, audience complicity, social permission and the uncomfortable psychology of going along with it.
Tropic Thunder: When Performance Becomes Permission
A psychology movie night guide to Tropic Thunder, exploring satire, role absorption, moral licensing, celebrity narcissism, racial performance, disability performance, masculinity, and what happens when performance becomes permission.
Forrest Gump: Innocence, Difference, and the Comfort of Not Understanding
A psychology movie night guide to Forrest Gump, exploring cognitive difference, stigma, nostalgia, trauma, innocence, cultural memory and how the film frames American history through a character who does not fully interpret it.
Jacob’s Ladder: When Reality Stops Agreeing With You
A psychology movie night guide to Jacob’s Ladder, exploring trauma, grief, reality testing, institutional betrayal, bodily fear, and what happens when the world stops confirming what is real.
Best Films for a Psychology Movie Night
Best films for a psychology movie night, from social psychology and media themes to trauma, identity, group behaviour, and films beyond the usual clinical thrillers.
How to Choose Films for a Psychology Movie Night
How to choose films for a psychology movie night, from clinical thrillers and identity films to comedies, social psychology favourites, and media picks that work better for student events.