Social Psychology

by Gilovich, Tom; Keltner, Dacher; Nisbett, Richard E.

• ISBN13: 9780393978759
• ISBN10: 0393978753
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-09
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Three major figures from the field of social psychology lead us on an exploration to better understand our social lives. This elegantly written book returns to the classic roots of the field by placing the focus on understanding phenomena from our everyday lives. Theories and experiments are then used to explain these everyday phenomena. Along the way, the authors draw on some of the classic ideas in the field like the power of the situation and the centrality of the fundamental attribution error to explain how we view our world and interact with others. Evolution, culture, emotion, gender, and social neuroscience resonate throughout to reveal how contemporary approaches are providing us with a more comprehensive understanding of the ways in which our social worlds work. This book is certain to be the standard survey for many years to come.

Author Biography

Dacher Keltner is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being at the University of California at Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Preface	xxi
Introduction	2	(43)
Characterizing Social Psychology	5	(3)
Explaining Behavior	5	(2)
Comparing Social Psychology to Related Disciplines	7	(1)
Proximal and Distal Influences in Social Psychology	8	(1)
The Power of the Situation	8	(6)
The Milgram Experiment	10	(2)
Seminarians as Samaritans	12	(1)
Channel Factors	12	(1)
The Fundamental Attribution Error	13	(1)
The Role of Construal	14	(5)
Interpreting Reality	4	(13)
Schemas	17	(1)
Stereotypes	18	(1)
Automatic and Controlled Processing	19	(3)
Types of Unconscious Processing	20	(1)
Functions of Unconscious Processing	21	(1)
Evolution and Human Behavior: How We are the Same	22	(6)
Human Universals	23	(2)
Group Living, Language, and Theory of Mind	25	(1)
Parental Investment	26	(1)
Avoiding the Naturalistic Fallacy	27	(1)
Culture and Human Behavior: How We are Different	28	(9)
Cultural Differences in Self-Definition	28	(4)
Individualism Versus Collectivism in the Workplace	32	(1)
Dick and Jane, Deng and Janxing	33	(1)
Who Are You?	34	(1)
Some Qualifications	35	(1)
Culture and Evolution as Tools for Understanding Situations	36	(1)
Doing Research	37	(5)
Theories and Hypotheses	37	(1)
Correlational and Experimental Research	37	(3)
Other Kinds of Research	40	(2)
Summary	42	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	42	(1)
Further Reading	43	(2)
PART ONE Connecting to Others	45	(166)
Groups	46	(40)
The Nature and Purpose of Group Living	48	(2)
Social Facilitation	50	(11)
Initial Research	50	(1)
Resolving the Contradictions	51	(5)
Mere Presence or Evaluation Apprehension?	56	(3)
Current Perspectives	59	(1)
Practical Applications	60	(1)
Deindividuation and the Psychology of Mobs	61	(10)
Emergent Properties of Groups	62	(1)
Deindividuation and the Group Mind	63	(7)
Self-Awareness and Individuation	70	(1)
Group Decision Making	71	(13)
Groupthink	72	(4)
Group Decisions: Risky or Conservative?	76	(3)
Group Polarization	79	(3)
Polarization in Modern Life	82	(2)
Summary	84	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	85	(1)
Further Reading	85	(1)
Attraction	86	(42)
Studying Attraction	88	(1)
Propinquity	89	(9)
Studies of Propinquity and Attraction	89	(3)
Explanations of Propinquity Effects	92	(6)
Similarity	98	(6)
Studies of Similarity and Attraction	98	(3)
But Don't ``Opposites Attract''?	101	(1)
Why Does Similarity Promote Attraction?	102	(2)
Physical Attractiveness	104	(18)
Impact of Physical Attractiveness	105	(3)
Why Does Physical Attractiveness Have Such Impact?	108	(7)
Sex Differences in Mate Preferences and Perceived Attractiveness	115	(7)
Theoretical Integration	122	(3)
The Reward Perspective on Interpersonal Attraction	123	(1)
The Social Exchange Perspective on Interpersonal Attraction	124	(1)
Summary	125	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	126	(1)
Further Reading	127	(1)
Relationships	128	(40)
Characterizing Relationships	131	(1)
The Importance of Relationships	132	(9)
The Need to Belong	133	(2)
Relationships and the Sense of Self	135	(3)
Relationships and Social Cognition	138	(2)
Relationships and Affective Life	140	(1)
The Origins of How We Relate to Others	141	(5)
Attachment Theory	142	(1)
Attachment Styles	143	(3)
Different Ways of Relating to Others	146	(10)
Basis of Different Kinds of Relationships	147	(2)
Exchange and Communal Relationships	149	(2)
Power and Hierarchical Relationships	151	(5)
Romantic Relationships	156	(10)
Marital Dissatisfaction	157	(4)
Creating Stronger Romantic Bonds	161	(5)
Summary	166	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	167	(1)
Further Reading	167	(1)
The Social Self	168	(43)
Foundations of the Self-Concept	171	(12)
Biological Dispositions	171	(3)
Family Influence and Sibling Dynamics	174	(3)
Context and the Sense of Self	177	(2)
Culture and the Self-Concept	179	(2)
Gender and the Self-Concept	181	(2)
Self-Knowledge	183	(8)
The Organizational Function of Self-Knowledge	183	(3)
The Motivational Function of Self-Knowledge	186	(1)
The Self as a Standard in Social Perception	186	(2)
Illusions and Biases About the Self	188	(3)
Self-Evaluation	191	(11)
Trait and State Self-Esteem	192	(1)
Contingencies of Self-Worth	193	(1)
Social Acceptance and Self-Esteem	194	(1)
Motives for Self-Evaluation	195	(3)
Culture and Self-Esteem	198	(2)
Culture Change and Self-Esteem	200	(1)
Possible Dangers of High Self-Esteem	201	(1)
Self-Presentation	202	(6)
Ideas About the Public Self	204	(1)
Self-Handicapping: Protecting Your Own Face	204	(2)
Self-Presentation and Language	206	(2)
Summary	208	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	209	(1)
Further Reading and Films	209	(2)
PART TWO Influencing Others	211	(124)
Social Influence	212	(44)
What is Social Influence?	215	(1)
Conformity	216	(14)
Automatic Mimicry and the Chameleon Effect	216	(2)
Informational Social Influence and Sherif's Conformity Experiment	218	(2)
Normative Social Influence and Asch's Conformity Experiment	220	(2)
Factors Affecting Conformity Pressures	222	(7)
The Influence of Minority Opinion on the Majority	229	(1)
Obedience to Authority	230	(10)
The Setup of the Milgram Experiments	231	(1)
Opposing Forces	232	(3)
Would You Have Obeyed?	235	(5)
Compliance	240	(11)
Reason-Based Approaches	241	(4)
Emotion-Based Approaches	245	(6)
Resisting Social Influence	251	(2)
Summary	253	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	254	(1)
Further Reading	255	(1)
Attitudes and Persuasion	256	(40)
The Basics of Attitudes	259	(3)
The Three Components of Attitudes	259	(2)
Measuring Attitudes	261	(1)
Functions of Attitudes	262	(7)
The Utilitarian Function of Attitudes	263	(1)
The Ego-Defensive Function of Attitudes	264	(2)
The Value-Expressive Function of Attitudes	266	(2)
The Knowledge Function of Attitudes	268	(1)
Persuasion and Attitude Change	269	(13)
A Two-Process Approach to Persuasion	270	(3)
The Who, What, and Whom of Persuasion	273	(9)
The Media and Persuasion	282	(5)
The Surprisingly Weak Effects of the Media	283	(2)
The Media and Conceptions of Social Reality	285	(2)
Resistance to Persuasion	287	(6)
Attentional Biases and Resistance	287	(3)
Previous Commitments and Resistance	290	(1)
Knowledge and Resistance	291	(1)
Attitude Inoculation	291	(2)
Summary	293	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	294	(1)
Further Reading and Films	295	(1)
Attitudes and Behavior	296	(39)
Predicting Behavior from Attitudes	299	(10)
Attitudes Sometimes Conflict with Other Powerful Determinants of Behavior	300	(2)
Attitudes Are Sometimes Inconsistent	302	(2)
Attitudes Are Sometimes Based on Secondhand Information	304	(1)
Mismatched Attitudes and Actual Attitude Targets	305	(2)
``Automatic Behavior'' That Bypasses Conscious Attitudes	307	(2)
Predicting Attitudes from Behavior	309	(15)
Cognitive Consistency Theories	309	(2)
Experiencing and Reducing Dissonance	311	(7)
When Does Inconsistency Produce Dissonance?	318	(3)
Self-Affirmation and Dissonance	321	(1)
Is Dissonance Universal?	321	(3)
Self-Perception Theory	324	(9)
Inferring Attitudes	324	(1)
Evidence of Self-Directed Inference	325	(2)
Testing for Arousal	327	(1)
Reconciling the Dissonance and Self-Perception Accounts	328	(4)
A Final Caution	332	(1)
Summary	333	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	334	(1)
Further Reading	334	(1)
PART THREE Social Thought	335	(136)
Causal Attribution	336	(44)
Why Social Psychologists Study Causal Attribution	340	(4)
The Pervasiveness and Importance of Attribution	340	(1)
Explanatory Style and Attribution	341	(3)
The Processes of Causal Attribution	344	(9)
Attribution and Single-Instance Observation	344	(2)
Attribution and Covariation	346	(2)
Attribution and Imagining an Alternate Chain of Events	348	(5)
Errors and Biases in Attribution	353	(17)
The Self-Serving Bias	353	(3)
The Fundamental Attribution Error	356	(10)
The Actor-Observer Difference in Causal Attributions	366	(4)
Culture and the Fundamental Attribution Error	370	(6)
Cultural Differences in Attending to Context	370	(2)
Causal Attribution for Independent and Interdependent Peoples	372	(1)
Priming Culture	373	(1)
Dispositions: Fixed or Flexible?	374	(2)
Beyond the Internal/External Dimension	376	(1)
Summary	377	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	378	(1)
Further Reading	379	(1)
Social Judgment	380	(48)
Why Study Social Judgment?	382	(1)
The Information Available for Judgment	383	(12)
Biases in Information Presented Firsthand	383	(6)
Biases in Information Presented Secondhand	389	(6)
How Information is Presented	395	(6)
Order Effects	395	(2)
Framing Effects	397	(4)
Prior Knowledge and Knowledge Structures	401	(8)
How Do Schemas Influence Judgment?	402	(2)
How Is Incoming Information Mapped onto Preexisting Schemas?	404	(5)
Reason, Intuition, and Heuristics	409	(16)
The Availability Heuristic	410	(4)
The Representativeness Heuristic	414	(9)
The Joint Operation of Availability and Representativeness	423	(2)
Summary	425	(2)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	427	(1)
Further Reading	427	(1)
Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination	428	(43)
Characterizing Intergroup Bias	432	(5)
Modern Racism and Sexism	433	(1)
Benevolent Racism and Sexism	434	(1)
Measures to Assess True Attitudes	435	(2)
The Economic Perspective	437	(6)
Realistic Group Conflict Theory	437	(1)
The Robbers Cave Experiment	438	(3)
Evaluating the Economic Perspective	441	(2)
The Motivational Perspective	443	(7)
The Minimal Group Paradigm	443	(1)
Social Identity Theory	444	(2)
Frustration-Aggression Theory	446	(4)
Evaluating the Motivational Perspective	450	(1)
The Cognitive Perspective	450	(16)
Stereotypes and Conservation of Mental Reserves	451	(1)
Construal Processes and Biased Assessments	452	(6)
Immunity to Disconfirmation	458	(2)
Automatic and Controlled Processing	460	(4)
Evaluating the Cognitive Perspective	464	(2)
Being a Member of a Stigmatized Group	466	(2)
Attributional Ambiguity	466	(1)
Stereotype Threat	467	(1)
Summary	468	(2)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	470	(1)
Further Reading	470	(1)
PART FOUR Social Sentiments	471
Emotion	472	(40)
Characterizing Emotion	475	(2)
Defining Emotion	475	(1)
The Components of Emotion	476	(1)
Universality and Cultural Specificity of Emotion	477	(10)
Darwin and Emotional Expression	478	(1)
Studies of the Universality of Facial Expression	479	(2)
Critiques of the Universality Studies	481	(1)
Cultural Specificity of Emotion	482	(5)
Emotion in the Mind and Body	487	(5)
William James and Emotion-Specific Physiology	487	(1)
Schachter and Singer's Two-Factor Theory of Emotion	488	(2)
Emotion in the Body: Evidence for ANS Specificity in Emotion	490	(2)
Unconscious and Conscious Elicitation of Emotion	492	(6)
Unconscious Processing in Split-Brain Patients	493	(1)
Automatic Processing and the Generation of Emotion	494	(1)
Complex Appraisal and the Generation of Emotion	495	(1)
Dealing with Emotions	496	(2)
The Rationality of Emotions	498	(7)
Emotions and the Maintenance of Social Bonds	498	(3)
The Effects of Emotion on Social Cognition	501	(1)
Accounts of the Influence of Emotion on Cognition	501	(4)
Happiness	505	(4)
The Determinants of Pleasure	505	(1)
Knowing What Makes Us Happy	506	(1)
The Happy Life	507	(2)
Summary	509	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	510	(1)
Further Reading	511	(1)
Aggression and Altruism	512	(40)
Aggression	516	(19)
Gender and Aggression	516	(1)
Situational Determinants of Aggression	517	(6)
Construal Processes and Aggression	523	(2)
Culture and Aggression	525	(6)
Evolution and Violence	531	(4)
Altruism	535	(15)
Situational Determinants of Altruism	535	(4)
Construal Processes and Altruism	539	(2)
Evolutionary Approaches to Altruism	541	(3)
Empathy-Based Altruism: A Case of Pure Altruism?	544	(4)
The Culture of Altruism	548	(2)
Summary	550	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	551	(1)
Further Reading	551	(1)
Morality, Justice, and Cooperation	552
The Evolution of Morality, Justice, and Cooperation	554	(2)
Morality	556	(11)
Defining Morality and Moral Judgment	557	(1)
Universality and Cultural Variation in Moral Judgment	558	(4)
A Two-System View of Morality	562	(5)
Justice	567	(9)
Distributive Justice	568	(4)
Procedural Justice	572	(1)
Restorative Justice	573	(3)
Cooperation	576	(9)
The Prisoner's Dilemma Game	577	(4)
Failure to Perceive Common Grounds for Cooperation	581	(3)
Tit for Tat and the Elements of Cooperation	584	(1)
Summary	585	(1)
Critical Thinking About Basic Principles	586	(1)
Further Reading	586
Glossary	1	(1)
References	1	(1)
Credits and Acknowledgments	1	(1)
Name Index	1	(1)
Subject Index	1