Arie W. Kruglanski - Böcker

This volume offers a crucial examination of right-wing extremism, supported by detailed empirical analyses of right-wing militants' experiences within and outside their organizations. The authors delve deeply into the motivations that prompt initial membership in these groups, the elements that make membership appealing, and the factors that ultimately cause members to leave. Interpreting the present empirical data within their psychological theory of radicalization, the authors determine the commonalities and differences between instances of radicalization and derive policy-relevant implications to combat right-wing extremism. In a turbulent global environment where this strain of extremist ideology has gained more mainstream popularity, this book is a critical and timely addition to scholarship on radicalization by leading experts in the field.

What fuels radicalization? Is deradicalization a possibility? The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks addresses these crucial questions by identifying the three major determinants of radicalization that progresses into violent extremism. The first determinant is the need: individuals' universal desire for personal significance. The second determinant is narrative, which guides members in their "quest for significance." The third determinant is the network, or membership in one's group that validates the collective narrative and dispenses rewards like respect and veneration to members who implement it. In this book, Arie W. Kruglanski, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Rohan Gunaratna present a new model of radicalization that takes into account factors that activate the individual's quest for significance. Synthesizing varied empirical evidence, this volume reinterprets prior theories of radicalization and examines major issues in deradicalization and recidivism, which will only become more relevant as communities continue to negotiate the threat of extremism.

Twenty years ago, a group of investigators joined forces to propose a new conceptual paradigm based on a cognitive approach to motivation. This approach, referred to as goal systems theory, offered a broad perspective on behavioral phenomena and inspired research programs in diverse domains of psychological science. This volume collects the rich body of insights and findings that the goal systemic approach has yielded over the last two decades. Using the major cognitive architectures of goal systems, leading researchers from some of the world's most renowned universities push the envelopes of their respective fields to discover new psychological phenomena and relationships through applications. These include fundamental topics such as attitude-behavior relations, intrinsic motivation, consumer behavior, violent extremism, addiction, and interpersonal relations among others. In all those domains, applications of goal systemic analyses provide novel insights and guide real world interventions. Chapters in this volume present the authors' work in these varied domains of application thus offering concrete illustrations of the theory's reach and usefulness.

Whatever your reasons, kind reader, for reading these words,-what­ ever your premises about forewords, whatever the epistemic motivation with which you approach them-Iet me urge you to turn immediately to Kruglanski's first chapter and skim it. If any enthusiasm for sodal psy­ chology flows in your veins, you will certainly proceed then to read further in this important book. It represents some dozen years of Arie's thought and of his and his colleagues' research. Its intellectual scope covers 50 years of sodal psychology-from attitudes and attitude change, to balance, disso­ nance, and the various other cognitive consistency theories, to causal attribution, and to current cognitive sodal psychology. Sodal psycholo­ gists have recently begun to leave the fireside coziness of scribbling textbook catalogues of our field and to venture out into the cold, outdoor adventure of detecting (or creating?) its underlying structure. Of these attempts at providing scope plus order, Kruglanski's must surely be the most ambitious. For his is no mere overarching theory, which, like a circus tent over a diverse set of sideshows, covers everything but does little to provide thematic structure. Rather, Kruglanski tries to produce a basic reorganization of our thinking about sodal psychology. To use his LEGO blocks metaphor for the modification of knowledge structures, he attempts to dismantle the current assembly of elements of our field and reassemble them into a simpler and more coherent configuration.

This collection, published in 1988, brings an innovative perspective to research in social cognition. It assembles fifteen chapters by many leading scholars in the field, which together provide an innovative and integrative analysis of the phenomenon of human knowledge. Three themes dominate the book. The first concerns the nature of knowledge and the way it differs from cognition. The second concerns the issue of generality versus specificity in conceptions of social knowledge. Finally, the third theme concerns the fundamental question of knowledge validity. The volume as a whole refreshingly broadens the scope of social psychological inquiry and opens up exciting areas of study.

This special issue features papers that offer deeply felt, valuable perspectives on diverse aspects of theory construction in social-personality psychology. The goal is to furnish a basis for starting a discussion about the considerable challenges of theorizing, the ways of meeting those challenges, and the great rewards that successful theorizing offers to the discipline as a whole.

This innovative two-volume handbook provides a comprehensive exploration of the major developments of social psychological theories that have taken place over the past half century, culminating in a state of the art overview of the primary theories and models that have been developed in this vast and fascinating field.

Authored by leading international experts, each chapter represents a personal and historical narrative of the theory's development including the inspirations, critical junctures, and problem-solving efforts that have effected the choices made in each theory's evolution as well as the impact each has had on the canon of social psychology. Unique to this handbook, these narratives provide a rich background for understanding how theories are created more generally; how they're nurtured and shaped over time: and how through examination we can better understand their unique contribution to society as a whole.

The Handbook also illustrates how the various theories contribute to understanding and solving critical social issues and problems.

The Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology is an essential resource for researchers and students of social psychology and related disciplines.

This innovative two-volume handbook provides a comprehensive exploration of the major developments of social psychological theories that have taken place over the past half century, culminating in a state of the art overview of the primary theories and models that have been developed in this vast and fascinating field.

Authored by leading international experts, each chapter represents a personal and historical narrative of the theory's development including the inspirations, critical junctures, and problem-solving efforts that have effected the choices made in each theory's evolution as well as the impact each has had on the canon of social psychology. Unique to this handbook, these narratives provide a rich background for understanding how theories are created more generally; how they're nurtured and shaped over time: and how through examination we can better understand their unique contribution to society as a whole.

The Handbook also illustrates how the various theories contribute to understanding and solving critical social issues and problems.

The Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology is an essential resource for researchers and students of social psychology and related disciplines.

The fundamental phenomenon of human closed-mindedness is treated in this volume. Prior psychological treatments of closed-mindedness have typically approached it from a psychodynamic perspective and have viewed it in terms of individual pathology. By contrast, the present approach stresses the epistemic functionality of closed-mindedness and its essential role in judgement and decision-making. Far from being restricted to a select group of individuals suffering from an improper socialization, closed-mindedness is something we all experience on a daily basis. Such mundane situational conditions as time pressure, noise, fatigue, or alcoholic intoxication, for example, are all known to increase the difficulty of information processing, and may contribute to one's experienced need for nonspecific closure. Whether constituting a dimension of stable individual differences, or being engendered situationally - the need for closure, once aroused, is shown to produce the very same consequences. These fundamentally include the tendency to 'seize' on early, closure-affording 'evidence', and to 'freeze' upon it thus becoming impervious to subsequent, potentially important, information.Though such consequences form a part of the individual's personal experience, they have significant implications for interpersonal, group and inter-group phenomena as well. The present volume describes these in detail and grounds them in numerous research findings of theoretical and 'real world' relevance to a wide range of topics including stereotyping, empathy, communication, in-group favouritism and political conservatism. Throughout, a distinction is maintained between the need for a nonspecific closure (i.e., any closure as long as it is firm and definite) and needs for specific closures (i.e., for judgments whose particular contents are desired by an individual).Theory and research discussed in this book should be of interest to upper level undergraduates, graduate students and faculty in social, cognitive, and personality psychology as well as in sociology, political science and business administration.

The reader begins with an original paper by the editors that introduces the social-personality perspective on motivational science and provides an integrated review of empirical and theoretical contributions. Major issues in motivational science are identified that form the basis for the organization of the book. Each section of the book also has a brief introduction, suggested additional readings, and questions for discussion.

The reader begins with an original paper by the editors that introduces the social-personality perspective on motivational science and provides an integrated review of empirical and theoretical contributions. Major issues in motivational science are identified that form the basis for the organization of the book. Each section of the book also has a brief introduction, suggested additional readings, and questions for discussion.

The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round is a fascinating exploration of why we all seek Significance – a fundamental human motivation – and how we can understand it to help us lead better lives.Renowned psychologist Arie Kruglanski and journalist Dan Raviv show how the Quest for Significance propels our actions, governs our feelings, and dominates our thoughts: pervasively affecting our happiness, pursuits, and relationships. Drawing on both academic research and the personal experiences of the authors, including Kruglanski’s childhood in Poland during the Holocaust, the authors help readers to understand themselves and people around them – to promote happiness, gain friendship, and find love.This one-of-a-kind book is fascinating reading for students, professionals, and anyone interested in how they can better appreciate themselves and those close to them, and live a fulfilling life.

The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round is a fascinating exploration of why we all seek Significance – a fundamental human motivation – and how we can understand it to help us lead better lives.Renowned psychologist Arie Kruglanski and journalist Dan Raviv show how the Quest for Significance propels our actions, governs our feelings, and dominates our thoughts: pervasively affecting our happiness, pursuits, and relationships. Drawing on both academic research and the personal experiences of the authors, including Kruglanski’s childhood in Poland during the Holocaust, the authors help readers to understand themselves and people around them – to promote happiness, gain friendship, and find love.This one-of-a-kind book is fascinating reading for students, professionals, and anyone interested in how they can better appreciate themselves and those close to them, and live a fulfilling life.

This innovative book addresses the need for significance and mattering as a universal human motivation. It examines the impact of significance and mattering, considering how they manifest across our lifespan and in different parts of our lives.Written by a team of eminent authors with expertise in diverse psychological fields, the book explores how significance and mattering extend to almost all social domains, including families, schools, colleges, groups, workplaces, communities, and nations. The book is divided into four main parts, which consider the impact of significance and mattering across the life span, across life domains, across societies and cultures, and in mental health. The chapters outline how significance and mattering power race and gender politics, shape attitudes toward immigration, drive violent extremism, and underlie mental health issues, such as loneliness, and narcissism. The book considers the quest for significance as a fundamental motive in our personal interactions and in how society operates as a whole.Providing a truly comprehensive coverage of a ubiquitous psychological dynamic that affects all aspects of our lives, this book will be highly relevant for researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in psychology, social sciences, education, social work, and therapeutic professions. In addition, the book should appeal to organizational, political, and community leaders and the general public interested in human behavior and social problems.

What does extremism mean? How does it show up in our daily lives? What drives people to extreme behaviors, and how can we learn to live and thrive in the age of overdrive?The Psychology of the Extreme provides an accessible introduction to extremism as a force that can affect all aspects of culture and people’s choices in everyday settings. It explores the underlying psychology behind what makes people act in extreme ways, whether this is in destructive ways (such as gambling, terrorism and political violence) or in constructive ways (such as successful creators and scientists). The book features an array of case studies that show how extremism can be both pro-social and anti-social and includes interventions to reduce extremism or redirect them toward more positive and constructive tendencies. Offering a new understanding of the individual psychology of extremism, the book will appeal to all those interested in how extremism plays out in people’s and cultures' day-to-day lives.

What does extremism mean? How does it show up in our daily lives? What drives people to extreme behaviors, and how can we learn to live and thrive in the age of overdrive?The Psychology of the Extreme provides an accessible introduction to extremism as a force that can affect all aspects of culture and people’s choices in everyday settings. It explores the underlying psychology behind what makes people act in extreme ways, whether this is in destructive ways (such as gambling, terrorism and political violence) or in constructive ways (such as successful creators and scientists). The book features an array of case studies that show how extremism can be both pro-social and anti-social and includes interventions to reduce extremism or redirect them toward more positive and constructive tendencies. Offering a new understanding of the individual psychology of extremism, the book will appeal to all those interested in how extremism plays out in people’s and cultures' day-to-day lives.

Why do we sometimes feel powerful, expansive, and driven—only to feel small, humbled, or overwhelmed moments later? This book proposes that much of human experience is shaped by a fundamental psychological rhythm between two states the authors call Bigness and Smallness.Blending psychology with insights from biology, development, culture, religion, history, and mental health, the book introduces a theory of Dynamic Magnitude—the idea that human flourishing depends on our ability to move fluidly between striving for significance and yielding to forces greater than ourselves. Through vivid examples drawn from everyday life, art, love, parenting, politics, extremism, ritual, and belief systems, the authors show how modern societies have come to privilege Bigness while neglecting the human need for Smallness. They explore how imbalance between these states fuels burnout, polarization, addiction, anxiety, depression, and radicalization, while their healthy alternation underlies creativity, intimacy, resilience, and meaning. Rather than offering self-help prescriptions or single-factor explanations, the book provides a unifying lens that connects personal psychology with larger cultural and historical patterns.Written for psychologists and social scientists, this book also speaks to a wider audience of intellectually curious readers—students of culture and history, philosophers, clinicians, and thoughtful observers of contemporary life—interested in how inner experience, social forces, and meaning-making intersect.

Why do we sometimes feel powerful, expansive, and driven—only to feel small, humbled, or overwhelmed moments later? This book proposes that much of human experience is shaped by a fundamental psychological rhythm between two states the authors call Bigness and Smallness.Blending psychology with insights from biology, development, culture, religion, history, and mental health, the book introduces a theory of Dynamic Magnitude—the idea that human flourishing depends on our ability to move fluidly between striving for significance and yielding to forces greater than ourselves. Through vivid examples drawn from everyday life, art, love, parenting, politics, extremism, ritual, and belief systems, the authors show how modern societies have come to privilege Bigness while neglecting the human need for Smallness. They explore how imbalance between these states fuels burnout, polarization, addiction, anxiety, depression, and radicalization, while their healthy alternation underlies creativity, intimacy, resilience, and meaning. Rather than offering self-help prescriptions or single-factor explanations, the book provides a unifying lens that connects personal psychology with larger cultural and historical patterns.Written for psychologists and social scientists, this book also speaks to a wider audience of intellectually curious readers—students of culture and history, philosophers, clinicians, and thoughtful observers of contemporary life—interested in how inner experience, social forces, and meaning-making intersect.

The fundamental phenomenon of human closed-mindedness is treated in this volume. Prior psychological treatments of closed-mindedness have typically approached it from a psychodynamic perspective and have viewed it in terms of individual pathology. By contrast, the present approach stresses the epistemic functionality of closed-mindedness and its essential role in judgement and decision-making. Far from being restricted to a select group of individuals suffering from an improper socialization, closed-mindedness is something we all experience on a daily basis. Such mundane situational conditions as time pressure, noise, fatigue, or alcoholic intoxication, for example, are all known to increase the difficulty of information processing, and may contribute to one's experienced need for nonspecific closure. Whether constituting a dimension of stable individual differences, or being engendered situationally - the need for closure, once aroused, is shown to produce the very same consequences. These fundamentally include the tendency to 'seize' on early, closure-affording 'evidence', and to 'freeze' upon it thus becoming impervious to subsequent, potentially important, information.Though such consequences form a part of the individual's personal experience, they have significant implications for interpersonal, group and inter-group phenomena as well. The present volume describes these in detail and grounds them in numerous research findings of theoretical and 'real world' relevance to a wide range of topics including stereotyping, empathy, communication, in-group favouritism and political conservatism. Throughout, a distinction is maintained between the need for a nonspecific closure (i.e., any closure as long as it is firm and definite) and needs for specific closures (i.e., for judgments whose particular contents are desired by an individual).Theory and research discussed in this book should be of interest to upper level undergraduates, graduate students and faculty in social, cognitive, and personality psychology as well as in sociology, political science and business administration.

This special issue features papers that offer deeply felt, valuable perspectives on diverse aspects of theory construction in social-personality psychology. The goal is to furnish a basis for starting a discussion about the considerable challenges of theorizing, the ways of meeting those challenges, and the great rewards that successful theorizing offers to the discipline as a whole.

The study of stereotyping and prejudice is a study of human nature, group mem­ bership, and intergroup relationships. It sheds light on each of these aspects of social psychology. With respect to the first two, it has been observed that since groups provide the best framework for satisfying various human needs, individuals continuously organize themselves in collectives. They belong to a variety of groups-many of which they voluntarily select and some to which they are ascribed. Group membership, therefore, is one of the most salient and important of an indi­ vidual's characteristics. The implication of this characteristic is that human beings not only constantly classify other people into group categories, either by identifying membership or constructing their own categories, but also judge and evaluate them on this basis. The stereotypes and prejudice are outcomes of this process. They are the beliefs and attitudes toward members of another group. In addition, the study of stereotyping and prejudice reflects an interest in inter­ group relationships. While we recognize that a discussion of intergroup relation­ ships may focus on behaviors describing actions such as confrontations, violence, wars, cooperation, alliance, negotiation, or coordination, we also believe that each of these intergroup behaviors is mediated by perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. In the case of intergroup behaviors, the listed actions are not performed instinctively or mindlessly, but are preceded by cognitive processes which, among other outputs, involve the formation of stereotypes and prejudice toward the other group.

This definitive work--now extensively revised with virtually all new chapters--has introduced generations of researchers to the psychological processes that underlie social behavior. What sets the book apart is its unique focus on the basic principles that guide theory building and research. Since work in the field increasingly transcends such boundaries as biological versus cultural or cognitive versus motivational systems, the third edition has a new organizational framework. Leading scholars identify and explain the principles that govern intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup processes, in chapters that range over multiple levels of analysis. The book's concluding section illustrates how social psychology principles come into play in specific contexts, including politics, organizational life, the legal arena, sports, and negotiation.New to This Edition*Most of the book is entirely new.*Stronger emphasis on the contextual factors that influence how and why the basic principles work as they do.*Incorporates up-to-date findings and promising research programs.*Integrates key advances in such areas as evolutionary theory and neuroscience.

This definitive work--now extensively revised with virtually all new chapters--has introduced generations of researchers to the psychological processes that underlie social behavior. What sets the book apart is its unique focus on the basic principles that guide theory building and research. Since work in the field increasingly transcends such boundaries as biological versus cultural or cognitive versus motivational systems, the third edition has a new organizational framework. Leading scholars identify and explain the principles that govern intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup processes, in chapters that range over multiple levels of analysis. The book's concluding section illustrates how social psychology principles come into play in specific contexts, including politics, organizational life, the legal arena, sports, and negotiation.New to This Edition*Most of the book is entirely new.*Stronger emphasis on the contextual factors that influence how and why the basic principles work as they do.*Incorporates up-to-date findings and promising research programs.*Integrates key advances in such areas as evolutionary theory and neuroscience.

Whatever your reasons, kind reader, for reading these words,-what­ ever your premises about forewords, whatever the epistemic motivation with which you approach them-Iet me urge you to turn immediately to Kruglanski's first chapter and skim it. If any enthusiasm for sodal psy­ chology flows in your veins, you will certainly proceed then to read further in this important book. It represents some dozen years of Arie's thought and of his and his colleagues' research. Its intellectual scope covers 50 years of sodal psychology-from attitudes and attitude change, to balance, disso­ nance, and the various other cognitive consistency theories, to causal attribution, and to current cognitive sodal psychology. Sodal psycholo­ gists have recently begun to leave the fireside coziness of scribbling textbook catalogues of our field and to venture out into the cold, outdoor adventure of detecting (or creating?) its underlying structure. Of these attempts at providing scope plus order, Kruglanski's must surely be the most ambitious. For his is no mere overarching theory, which, like a circus tent over a diverse set of sideshows, covers everything but does little to provide thematic structure. Rather, Kruglanski tries to produce a basic reorganization of our thinking about sodal psychology. To use his LEGO blocks metaphor for the modification of knowledge structures, he attempts to dismantle the current assembly of elements of our field and reassemble them into a simpler and more coherent configuration.

Substate terrorism now represents one of the gravest threats to human civilizations. As the frequency of interstate wars has declined since the end of the Second World War, terrible violence against innocent civilians is increasingly perpetrated by non-state groups with extreme agendas and virtually no restraints. Why do people become terrorists? Are terrorists crazy? Simply evil? Normal people driven to extremes? What social factors and tensions are most likely to provoke terrorist behaviors? And how can we use our rapidly growing understanding of the psychology of terrorism to anticipate oming attacks and protect the international community? Psychology of Terrorism is a collection of the best classic and contemporary writings about the mind of the terrorist. Carefully selected by a panel of world-renowned authorities for value and readability, this collection provides the reader with deep knowledge and unique insights into the ideas, feelings, and social influences of modern terrorist groups. General readers who wish to understand this deadly phenomenon, students and scholars of human psychology or political science, and decision makers facing the challenge of designing effective counterterrorism policies will enjoy and profit from these essential readings and the inescapable conclusion they suggest: By ignoring the psychology of terrorism, Western nations have been making grave errors in the so-called war on terrorism. Understanding the deep roots of terrorist behaviors gives us tools that are absolutely vital to any effort in reducing this escalating threat.

Substate terrorism now represents one of the gravest threats to human civilizations. As the frequency of interstate wars has declined since the end of the Second World War, terrible violence against innocent civilians is increasingly perpetrated by non-state groups with extreme agendas and virtually no restraints. Why do people become terrorists? Are terrorists crazy? Simply evil? Normal people driven to extremes? What social factors and tensions are most likely to provoke terrorist behaviors? And how can we use our rapidly growing understanding of the psychology of terrorism to anticipate oming attacks and protect the international community? Psychology of Terrorism is a collection of the best classic and contemporary writings about the mind of the terrorist. Carefully selected by a panel of world-renowned authorities for value and readability, this collection provides the reader with deep knowledge and unique insights into the ideas, feelings, and social influences of modern terrorist groups. General readers who wish to understand this deadly phenomenon, students and scholars of human psychology or political science, and decision makers facing the challenge of designing effective counterterrorism policies will enjoy and profit from these essential readings and the inescapable conclusion they suggest: By ignoring the psychology of terrorism, Western nations have been making grave errors in the so-called war on terrorism. Understanding the deep roots of terrorist behaviors gives us tools that are absolutely vital to any effort in reducing this escalating threat.

Providing a comprehensive exploration of the major developments of social psychological theories that have taken place over the past half century, this innovative two-volume handbook is a state of the art overview of the primary theories and models that have been developed in this vast and fascinating field. Authored by leading international experts, each chapter represents a personal and historical narrative of the theory′s development including the inspirations, critical junctures, and problem-solving efforts that effected theoretical choices and determined the theory′s impact and its evolution. Unique to this handbook, these narratives provide a rich background for understanding how theories are created, nurtured, and shaped over time, and examining their unique contribution to the field as a whole. To examine its societal impact, each theory is evaluated in terms of its applicability to better understanding and solving critical social issues and problems.

For the first time in the history of social psychology, we have a handbook on the history of social psychology. In it, leading luminaries in the field present their take on how research in their own domains has unfolded, on the scientists whose impact shaped the research agendas in the different areas of social psychology, and on events, institutions and publications that were pivotal in determining the field’s history.Social psychology’s numerous subfields now boast a rich historical heritage of their own, which demands special attention. The Handbook recounts the intriguing and often surprising lessons that the tale of social psychology’s remarkable ascendance has to offer. The historical diversity is the hallmark of the present handbook reflecting each of this field’s domains unique evolution.Collectively, the contributions put a conceptual mirror to our field and weave the intricate tapestry of people, dynamics and events whose workings combined to produce what the vibrant discipline of social psychology is today. They allow the contemporary student, scholar and instructor to explore the historical development of this important field, provide insight into its enduring aims and allow them to transcend the vicissitudes of the zeitgeist and fads of the moment.The Handbook of the History of Social Psychology provides an essential resource for any social psychologist’s collection.

This book provides an up-to-date integration of some of the most recent developments in social psychological research on social conflict and aggression, one of the most perennial and puzzling topics in all of psychology. It offers an informative, scholarly yet readable overview of recent advances in research on the nature, antecedents, management, and consequences of interpersonal and intergroup conflict and aggression. The chapters share a broad integrative orientation, and argue that human conflict is best understood through the careful analysis of the cognitive, affective, and motivational processes of those involved in conflict situations, supplemented by a broadly-based understanding of the evolutionary, biological, as well as the social and cultural contexts within which social conflict occurs.