Social Psychology, 9th Edition

Book Preface

The world of the twenty-first century is an exciting and tumultuous place right now—more so, it seems, than any time in recent memory. On the one hand, thanks to Twitter, Skype, YouTube, and other social media, it has never been easier to talk or share information, opinions, pictures, music, and footage of live events as they occur with people from all corners of the world. On the other hand, deep social and political divisions, religious and ethnic conflicts all over the world, economic turmoil, and an ever-present threat of terrorism surround us. As Charles Dickens (1859) said in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Encircled by its place in science and by current world events, social psychology—its theories, research methods, and basic findings—has never been more relevant or more important. We used to think of social psychology as a discipline that is slow to change. As in other sciences, we thought, knowledge builds in small increments, one brick at a time. Social psychology has no “critical” experiments, no single study can “prove” a theory, and no single theory can fully explain the complexities of human social behavior. While all this remains true, the process of revising this textbook always seems to shows us how complex, dynamic, and responsive our field can be. As the world around us rapidly changes—socially, politically, technologically, and in other disciplines—so too does social psychology.

At the same time, social psychology was recently rocked by scandal and controversy. In 2011, a well-known social psychologist in the Netherlands was found to have falsified data that had appeared in several dozen articles. That case was followed by two other instances of fraud. In addition, an article purporting to provide evidence of extrasensory perception, or ESP, was published in social psychology’s top journal until questions were raised about the methods and statistical analyses. Then a controversy erupted over the question of whether social psychology research was inadvertently biased by political ideology. As a result of these recent events, the discipline is now undergoing a process of self-examination. Noting that crisis can beget opportunity, the  Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) has initiated new workshops, policies, and standards of responsible conduct—all designed to prevent future instances of intentional and unintentional bias.

Brief Contents:

PART 1 Introduction

chapter 1 What Is Social Psychology? 2
chapter 2 Doing Social Psychology Research 24

PART 2 Social Perception

chapter 3 Th e Social Self 52
chapter 4 P erceiving Persons 102
chapter 5 Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination 150

PART 3 Social Influence

chapter 6 A ttitudes 204
chapter 7 C onformity 252
chapter 8 Gr oup Processes 294

PART 4 Social Relations

chapter 9 ATT RACTION AND CLOSE RELATION SHIPS 338
chapter 10 HELPING OTHERS 390
chapter 11 AGGRESSION 432

PART 5 Applying Social Psychology

chapter 12 Law 484
chapter 13 Business 530
chapter 14 Health and Well-Being 570
Glossary G-1
References R-1
Name Index I-1
Subject Index I-13
Brief Contents