Frontiers of Social Psychology – serie

This ground-breaking new volume reviews and extends theory and research on the psychology of justice in social contexts, exploring the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Perceptions of fairness, and the factors that cause and are caused by fairness perceptions, have long been an important part of social psychology. Featuring work from leading scholars on psychological processes involved in reactions to fairness, as well as the applications of justice research to government institutions, policing, medical care and the development of radical and extremist behavior, the book expertly brings together two traditionally distinct branches of social psychology: social cognition and interpersonal relations. Examining how people judge whether the treatment they experience from others is fair and how this effects their attitudes and behaviors, this essential collection draws on theory and research from multiple disciplines as it explores the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Integrating theory on interpersonal relations and social cognition, and featuring innovative biological research, this is the ideal companion for senior undergraduates and graduates, as well as researchers and scholars interested in the social psychology of justice.

This ground-breaking new volume reviews and extends theory and research on the psychology of justice in social contexts, exploring the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Perceptions of fairness, and the factors that cause and are caused by fairness perceptions, have long been an important part of social psychology. Featuring work from leading scholars on psychological processes involved in reactions to fairness, as well as the applications of justice research to government institutions, policing, medical care and the development of radical and extremist behavior, the book expertly brings together two traditionally distinct branches of social psychology: social cognition and interpersonal relations. Examining how people judge whether the treatment they experience from others is fair and how this effects their attitudes and behaviors, this essential collection draws on theory and research from multiple disciplines as it explores the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Integrating theory on interpersonal relations and social cognition, and featuring innovative biological research, this is the ideal companion for senior undergraduates and graduates, as well as researchers and scholars interested in the social psychology of justice.

This ground-breaking book introduces a new model of extremism that emphasizes motivational imbalance among individual needs, offering a unique multidisciplinary exploration of extreme behaviors relating to terrorism, dieting, sports, love, addictions, and money. In popular discourse, the term ‘extremism’ has come to mean largely ‘violent extremism’, but this is just one of many different types: extreme sports, extreme diets, political and religious extremisms, extreme self-interest, extreme attitudes, extreme devotion to a cause, addiction to substances, or behavioral addiction (to videogames, shopping, pornography, sex, and work). But do these descriptions have a deeper meaning? Do they reveal a common psychological dynamic? Or are they merely a mode of things about phenomena that have little in common? Bringing together world-leading psychologists from a variety of disciplines, the book uses a brand-new model to examine different expressions of extremism, at different levels of analysis (brain, hormones, and behavior), in order not merely to describe such behaviors but also to explain their occurrence, and the conditions under which they may be likely to emerge.Also including suggestions for ways in which extremism could be counteracted, and to what extent it appears to be harmful to individuals and society, this is essential reading for students and academics in psychology and behavioral sciences.

This ground-breaking book introduces a new model of extremism that emphasizes motivational imbalance among individual needs, offering a unique multidisciplinary exploration of extreme behaviors relating to terrorism, dieting, sports, love, addictions, and money. In popular discourse, the term ‘extremism’ has come to mean largely ‘violent extremism’, but this is just one of many different types: extreme sports, extreme diets, political and religious extremisms, extreme self-interest, extreme attitudes, extreme devotion to a cause, addiction to substances, or behavioral addiction (to videogames, shopping, pornography, sex, and work). But do these descriptions have a deeper meaning? Do they reveal a common psychological dynamic? Or are they merely a mode of things about phenomena that have little in common? Bringing together world-leading psychologists from a variety of disciplines, the book uses a brand-new model to examine different expressions of extremism, at different levels of analysis (brain, hormones, and behavior), in order not merely to describe such behaviors but also to explain their occurrence, and the conditions under which they may be likely to emerge.Also including suggestions for ways in which extremism could be counteracted, and to what extent it appears to be harmful to individuals and society, this is essential reading for students and academics in psychology and behavioral sciences.

The study of the relationship between the person and the situation has had a long history in psychology. Many theories of personality are set on an interpersonal stage and many social phenomena are played out differently as the cast of characters change. At times the study of persons and situations has been contentious, however, recent interest in process models of personality and social interaction have focused on the ways people navigate, influence, and are influenced by their social worlds.Personality and Social Behavior contains a series of essays on topics where a transactional analysis of the person and situation has proved most fruitful. Contributions span the personality and social psychology spectrum and include such topics as new units in personality; neuroscience perspectives on interpersonal personality; social and interpersonal frameworks for understanding the self and self-esteem; and personality process analyses of romantic relationships, prejudice, health, and leadership.This volume provides essential reading for researchers with an interest in this core topic in social psychology and may also be used as a text on related upper-level courses.

This comprehensive and updated new edition offers scholarly summaries of theory and research on the social psychological influences on subjective well-being and life satisfaction.Among the topics covered are types of relationships (e.g., romantic relationships, friendships, online relationships) and types of interactions with others (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, helping behavior). It also examines broader social issues such as culture, socioeconomic status, religion, and well-being in the workplace. The latest edition includes new chapters on economic inequality, psychedelic social psychology, singlehood, social worth, and identity.Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction: A Social Psychological Perspective is a rich and focused resource for graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, and researchers in positive psychology and social psychology. It should also be of interest to social neuroscientists, mental health researchers, clinical and counselling psychologists, and anyone interested in the science of well-being.

This comprehensive and updated new edition offers scholarly summaries of theory and research on the social psychological influences on subjective well-being and life satisfaction.Among the topics covered are types of relationships (e.g., romantic relationships, friendships, online relationships) and types of interactions with others (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, helping behavior). It also examines broader social issues such as culture, socioeconomic status, religion, and well-being in the workplace. The latest edition includes new chapters on economic inequality, psychedelic social psychology, singlehood, social worth, and identity.Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction: A Social Psychological Perspective is a rich and focused resource for graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, and researchers in positive psychology and social psychology. It should also be of interest to social neuroscientists, mental health researchers, clinical and counselling psychologists, and anyone interested in the science of well-being.

Negotiation is the most important skill anyone in the business world can have today, because people must continually negotiate their jobs, responsibilities, and opportunities. Yet very few people know strategies for maximizing their outcomes in everyday and in more formal business situations.This volume provides a comprehensive overview of this emerging topic through original contributions from leaders in social psychology and negotiation research. All topics covered are core to the understanding of the negotiation process and include: decision-making and judgment, emotion and negotiation, motivation, and game theory.

Why do we think about and interact with other people in the particular ways that we do? Might these thoughts and actions be contemporary products of our long-ago evolutionary past? If so, how might this be, and what are the implications? Research generated by an evolutionary approach to social psychology issues profound insights into self-concept, impression formation, prejudice, group dynamics, helping, aggression, social influence, culture, and every other topic that is fundamental to social psychology. Evolution and Social Psychology is the first book to review and discuss this broad range of social psychological phenomena from an evolutionary perspective. It does so with a critical and constructive eye. Readers will emerge with a clear sense of the intellectual challenges, as well as the scientific benefits, of an evolutionarily-informed social psychology. The world-renowned contributors identify new questions, new theories, and new hypotheses—many of which are only now beginning to be tested. Thus, this book not only summarizes the current status of the field, it also sets an agenda for the next generation of research on evolution and social psychology. Evolution and Social Psychology is essential reading for evolutionary psychologists and social psychologists alike.

The contributions to this volume capture the thrill of current work on social influence, as well as providing a tutorial on the scientific and technical aspects of this research. The volume teaches the student to:Learn how to conduct lab, field and case research on social influence through example by leading researchersFind out about the latest discoveries including the status of research on social influence tactics, dissonance theory, conformity, and resistance to influenceDiscover how seemingly complex issues such as power, rumors, group and minority influence and norms can be investigated using the scientific methodApply knowledge to current influence campaigns to find out what works and what does not.The Science of Social Influence is the perfect core or complementary text for advanced undergraduate or graduate students in courses such as Attitudes and Attitude Change, Communications, Research Methods and, of course, Social Influence.

Close Relationships: Functions, Forms and Processes provides an overview of current theory and research in the area of close relationships, written by internationally renowned scholars whose work is at the cutting edge of research in the field. The volume consists of three sections: introductory issues, types of relationships, and relationship processes. In the first section, there is an exploration of the functions and benefits of close relationships, the diversity of methodologies used to study them, and the changing social context in which close relationships are embedded. A second section examines the various types of close relationships, including family bonds and friendships. The third section focuses on key relationship processes, including attachment, intimacy, sexuality, and conflict.This book is designed to be an essential resource for senior undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, and practitioners, and will be suitable as a resource in advanced courses dealing with the social psychology of close relationships.

This volume is devoted to the fascinating topic of social communication - fascinating because communication is ubiquitous, in that one cannot not communicate. And yet, the art of effective communication can be extremely demanding and elusive, because a tricky trade-off problem has to be solved. For communication to be successful, it must be at once informative - somehow indicating an intended direction of thought or action - as well as subtle - somehow concealing intentions and instrumental goals. Failure to meet the former criterion renders communication uncontrolled and haphazard; failure to meet the latter raises suspicion and reactance. The chapters in this volume focus on the tools and repertoires evolved by social communication in order to deal with this demanding trade-off. They represent prominent paradigms of current research at the interface of communication and social psychology, presented by leading scholars who have played crucial roles in the development of those paradigms.The sixteen chapters are grouped into four major sections: communication within and between groups and cultures; strategic communication; social communication, affect, and behaviour regulation; and social communication and adaptive behaviour regulation. Individual chapters are devoted to such intriguing topics as stereotypes and intergroup affairs, language and culture, deception and lie detection, persuasion, discussions in groups, logic of conversation, nonverbal cues, conversational implicatures, the impact of conversation situations and social distance, and the evolution of verbal communication. The volume is framed by an introduction and an epilog.Social Communication is essential reading for senior undergraduates, graduates, and researchers working in the field of social communication, language and social psychology, and related areas in social science such as communication science, linguistics, and gender studies.

This volume provides a cutting-edge exposition to research on the self. Sixteen authoritative overviews highlight the role of the self around four themes. The first theme is Brain and Cognition, which includes a social neuroscience perspective on the self, implicit self-cognition, the structure of the self and autobiographical memory. The next theme is Motivation, in which chapters include social comparison, self-regulation, narcissism, and modesty. The third theme is Self-esteem and Emotions, covered by chapters on the measurement of self-esteem, terror management theory, sociometer theory, and self-conscious emotions. The final theme concerns the Interpersonal, Intergroup and Cultural Context, containing chapters on intimate relationships, social exclusion, the collective self, and culture.Throughout the volume, the exposition is both scholarly and accessible. It also offers critical assessments along with thoughtful discussions of challenges and problems ahead, as well as the generation of novel hypotheses. As such, the book aspires to influence the research agenda for several years to come.The Self will serve as an essential reference volume for active researchers in the field, while also being appropriate for use as a textbook in advanced courses on the self.

The role of affect in how people think and behave in social situations has been a source of fascination to laymen and philosophers since time immemorial. Surprisingly, most of what we know about the role of feelings in social thinking and behavior has been discovered only during the last two decades. Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior reviews and integrates the most recent research and theories on this exciting topic, and features original contributions reviewing key areas of affect research from leading researchers active in the area.The book covers fundamental issues, such as the nature and relationship between affect and cognition, as well as chapters that deal with the cognitive antecedents of emotion, and the consequences of affect for social cognition and behavior.This volume offers a highly integrated and comprehensive coverage of this field, and is suitable as a core textbook in advanced courses dealing with the role of affect in social cognition and behavior.

Evidence is mounting that we are not as in control of our judgments and behavior as we think we are. Unconscious or ‘automatic’ forms of psychological and behavioral processes are those of which we tend to be unaware, that occur without our intention or consent, yet influence us on a daily basis in profound ways. Automatic processes influence our likes and dislikes for almost everything, as well as how we perceive other people, such as when we make stereotypic assumptions about someone based on their race or gender or social class. Even more strikingly, the latest research is showing that the aspects of life that are the richest experience and most important to us - such as emotions and our close relationships, as well as the pursuit of our important life tasks and goals - also have substantial unconscious components.Social Psychology and the Unconscious: The Automaticity of Higher Mental Processes offers a state-of-the-art review of the evidence and theory supporting the existence and the significance of automatic processes in our daily lives, with chapters by the leading researchers in this field today, across a spectrum of psychological phenomena from emotions and motivations to social judgment and behavior.The volume provides an introduction and overview of these now central topics to graduate students and researchers in social psychology and a range of allied disciplines with an interest in human behavior and the unconscious, such as cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind, political science, and business.

This volume assembles a distinguished group of international scholars whose chapters on classic and emerging issues in research on attitudes provide an excellent introduction for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The book’s chapters cover all of the most critical features of attitude measurement, attitude development, and attitude change. Implicit and explicit approaches to measurement and conceptualization are featured throughout, making this one of the most up-to-date treatments of attitude theory and research currently available.The comprehensive coverage of the central topics in this important field provides a useful text in advanced courses on persuasion or attitude change.

It is impossible to understand human behavior without understanding the critical role that groups play in people’s lives. Most of us belong to a range of formal and informal groups, including families, work teams, and friendship cliques. These groups absorb a great deal of our time and energy and are instrumental in satisfying our most fundamental needs. In addition, they connect us to larger social aggregates (e.g., political parties, business organizations, religious denominations) that influence our lives in important ways.This volume provides a comprehensive overview of classic and contemporary issues in the field of group processes. Chapters are written by internationally known experts who have made major theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of groups. The broad and up-to-date coverage of the book makes it an essential resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and practitioners. The volume will be of interest to scholars in various disciplines, including social and organizational psychology, sociology, communication, economics, and political science.

The quality of people’s relationships with and interactions with other people are major influences on their feelings of well-being and their evaluations of life satisfaction. The goal of this volume is to offer scholarly summaries of theory and research on topics at the frontier of the study of these social psychological influences—both interpersonal and intrapersonal—on subjective well-being and life satisfaction. The chapters cover a variety of types of relationships (e.g., romantic relationships, friendships, online relationships) as well as a variety of types of interactions with others (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, helping behavior, self-presentation). Also included are chapters on broader social issues such as materialism, sexual identity and orientation, aging, spirituality, and meaning in life. Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction provides a rich and focused resource for graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, and researchers in positive psychology and social psychology, as well as social neuroscientists, mental health researchers, clinical and counselling psychologists, and anyone interested in the science of well-being.

The quality of people’s relationships with and interactions with other people are major influences on their feelings of well-being and their evaluations of life satisfaction. The goal of this volume is to offer scholarly summaries of theory and research on topics at the frontier of the study of these social psychological influences—both interpersonal and intrapersonal—on subjective well-being and life satisfaction. The chapters cover a variety of types of relationships (e.g., romantic relationships, friendships, online relationships) as well as a variety of types of interactions with others (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, helping behavior, self-presentation). Also included are chapters on broader social issues such as materialism, sexual identity and orientation, aging, spirituality, and meaning in life. Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction provides a rich and focused resource for graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, and researchers in positive psychology and social psychology, as well as social neuroscientists, mental health researchers, clinical and counselling psychologists, and anyone interested in the science of well-being.

This volume is a comprehensive review of theoretical and empirical contributions to positive psychology. It provides a scientific understanding of how human strengths help people psychologically and physically, showing how stressful circumstances do not inexorably lead to negative prognoses. It examines how individuals confront challenges, appreciate others, and regard daily experiences as meaningful. Many of the chapters also challenge the negative, disease-model approach that dominates much of the research concerning health and well-being. Chapters also address applications and future directions for the field. The broad scope makes it a key resource for undergraduates, graduates, researchers, and practitioners in social, clinical, and positive psychology.

This volume is a comprehensive review of theoretical and empirical contributions to positive psychology. It provides a scientific understanding of how human strengths help people psychologically and physically, showing how stressful circumstances do not inexorably lead to negative prognoses. It examines how individuals confront challenges, appreciate others, and regard daily experiences as meaningful. Many of the chapters also challenge the negative, disease-model approach that dominates much of the research concerning health and well-being. Chapters also address applications and future directions for the field. The broad scope makes it a key resource for undergraduates, graduates, researchers, and practitioners in social, clinical, and positive psychology.

In recent decades, research in political psychology has illuminated the psychological processes underlying important political action, both by ordinary citizens and by political leaders. As the world has become increasingly engaged in thinking about politics, this volume reflects exciting new work by political psychologists to understand the psychological processes underlying Americans’ political thinking and action.In 13 chapters, world-class scholars present new in-depth work exploring public opinion, social movements, attitudes toward affirmative action, the behavior of political leaders, the impact of the 9/11 attacks, and scientists’ statements about global warming and gasoline prices. Also included are studies of attitude strength that compare the causes and consequences of various strength-related constructs.This volume will appeal to a wide range of researchers and students in political psychology and political science, and may be used as a text in upper-level courses requiring a scholarly and contemporary review of major issues in the field.

This book provides a broad and contemporary overview of aggression and violence by some of the most internationally renowned researchers in the field. It begins with an integrative theoretical understanding of aggression and shows how animal models shed light on human aggression and violence.Individual risk factors for aggression and violence from different research perspectives are then examined. First, there is a cognitive neuroscientific, neuropsychological, and psychophysiological study of the brain. It then explores the developmental psychological factors in aggressive behavior, incorporating work on gender and the family. Other perspectives include the role of testosterone, individual differences, and whether humans are innately wired for violence.The following sections moves from the individual to the contextual risk factors for aggression, including work on the effects of adverse events and ostracism, guns and other aggressive cues including violent media, and drugs and alcohol.Targets of aggression and violence are covered in the next section, including violence against women and loved ones; aggression between social groups; and the two very contemporary issues of cyberbullying and terrorism.The book concludes with work showing how we may make the world a more peaceful place by preventing and reducing aggression and violence.The volume is essential reading for upper-level students and researchers of psychology and related disciplines interested in a rigorous and multi-perspective overview of work on aggression and violence.

This book provides a broad and contemporary overview of aggression and violence by some of the most internationally renowned researchers in the field. It begins with an integrative theoretical understanding of aggression and shows how animal models shed light on human aggression and violence.Individual risk factors for aggression and violence from different research perspectives are then examined. First, there is a cognitive neuroscientific, neuropsychological, and psychophysiological study of the brain. It then explores the developmental psychological factors in aggressive behavior, incorporating work on gender and the family. Other perspectives include the role of testosterone, individual differences, and whether humans are innately wired for violence.The following sections moves from the individual to the contextual risk factors for aggression, including work on the effects of adverse events and ostracism, guns and other aggressive cues including violent media, and drugs and alcohol.Targets of aggression and violence are covered in the next section, including violence against women and loved ones; aggression between social groups; and the two very contemporary issues of cyberbullying and terrorism.The book concludes with work showing how we may make the world a more peaceful place by preventing and reducing aggression and violence.The volume is essential reading for upper-level students and researchers of psychology and related disciplines interested in a rigorous and multi-perspective overview of work on aggression and violence.

Social cognition is an area of social psychology that has been flourishing over the past two decades. It has harnessed basic concepts from cognitive psychology and developed and refined them to explain human thinking, feeling, and acting in a social context. Moreover, social cognition has integrated emotional influences and unconscious processes to reach a more complete understanding of social psychological phenomena.In this volume, the reader will find a representative sample of outstanding research in the field of social cognition. The chapters address its central themes, roughly organized along the temporal axis of information processing. They include basic operations like perception, categorization, representation, and judgmental inferences. Other chapters focus on issues like social comparison, emotion, language and culture. All of the contributors are internationally-renowned experts who share with the reader their accounts of the research experience in each of their domains.Social Cognition: The Basis of Human Interaction is an invaluable resource for researchers requiring a comprehensive, yet concise, overview of the field, and may also be used by intermediate and advanced students of social cognition.

The Social Psychology of Consumer Behavior brings together the most promising and theoretically fruitful research developments by internationally renowned scholars, whose work is at the cutting edge of research. Experts from both fields – social psychology and consumer behavior – provide an informed, up-to-date overview, from an original integrative perspective.The aim of this volume is two-fold. On the one hand, the application of social psychology to consumer behavior is meant to broaden the horizon of social psychologists. On the other hand, students and researchers of consumer behavior will be offered an advanced account of relevant theories tailored to their interests. While the range of topics is rather broad – including the construal of judgments and decisions, affective and cognitive feelings, social and media influences, and goals and self-regulation – each chapter is focused on one specific theoretical or methodological perspective and thereby gives a comprehensive and penetrative account of the relevant issues and the respective research.The volume provides an invaluable resource to students, researchers, and instructors in social psychology, consumer psychology, consumer behavior, and marketing.

Although best known for experimental methods, social psychology also has a strong tradition of measurement. This volume seeks to highlight this tradition by introducing readers to measurement strategies that help drive social psychological research and theory development.The books opens with an analysis of the measurement technique that dominates most of the social sciences, self-report. Chapter 1 presents a conceptual framework for interpreting the data generated from self-report, which it uses to provide practical advice on writing strong and structured self-report items. From there, attention is drawn to the many other innovative measurement and data-collection techniques that have helped expand the range of theories social psychologists test. Chapters 2 through 6 introduce techniques designed to measure the internal psychological states of individual respondents, with strategies that can stand alone or complement anything obtained via self-report. Included are chapters on implicit, elicitation, and diary approaches to collecting response data from participants, as well as neurological and psychobiological approaches to inferring underlying mechanisms. The remaining chapters introduce creative data-collection techniques, focusing particular attention on the rich forms of data humans often leave behind. Included are chapters on textual analysis, archival analysis, geocoding, and social media harvesting.The many methods covered in this book complement one another, such that the full volume provides researchers with a powerful toolset to help them better explore what is "social" about human behavior.

Although best known for experimental methods, social psychology also has a strong tradition of measurement. This volume seeks to highlight this tradition by introducing readers to measurement strategies that help drive social psychological research and theory development.The books opens with an analysis of the measurement technique that dominates most of the social sciences, self-report. Chapter 1 presents a conceptual framework for interpreting the data generated from self-report, which it uses to provide practical advice on writing strong and structured self-report items. From there, attention is drawn to the many other innovative measurement and data-collection techniques that have helped expand the range of theories social psychologists test. Chapters 2 through 6 introduce techniques designed to measure the internal psychological states of individual respondents, with strategies that can stand alone or complement anything obtained via self-report. Included are chapters on implicit, elicitation, and diary approaches to collecting response data from participants, as well as neurological and psychobiological approaches to inferring underlying mechanisms. The remaining chapters introduce creative data-collection techniques, focusing particular attention on the rich forms of data humans often leave behind. Included are chapters on textual analysis, archival analysis, geocoding, and social media harvesting.The many methods covered in this book complement one another, such that the full volume provides researchers with a powerful toolset to help them better explore what is "social" about human behavior.

Social scientists have long known that political beliefs bias the way they think about, understand, and interpret the world around them. In this volume, scholars from social psychology and related fields explore the ways in which social scientists themselves have allowed their own political biases to influence their research. These biases may influence the development of research hypotheses, the design of studies and methods and materials chosen to test hypotheses, decisions to publish or not publish results based on their consistency with one’s prior political beliefs, and how results are described and dissemination to the popular press. The fact that these processes occur within academic disciplines, such as social psychology, that strongly skew to the political left compounds the problem. Contributors to this volume not only identify and document the ways that social psychologists’ political beliefs can and have influenced research, but also offer solutions towards a more depoliticized social psychology that can become a model for discourse across the social sciences.