Social psychology 8 ed

5 Defi ning Social Psychology 5 Social Psychological Questions and Applications 7 Th e Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology Experiment 7 Social Psychology an

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PSYCHOLOGY

EIGHTH EDITION

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an inspiration to us all

Preface

Brief Contents

PREFACE xix ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1

P A R T I I Social Perception

CHAPTER 3 THE SOCIAL SELF 55

CHAPTER 4 PERCEIVING PERSONS 101

CHAPTER 5 STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION 145

P A R T I I I Social Infl uence

CHAPTER 6 ATTITUDES 203

CHAPTER 7 CONFORMITY 251

CHAPTER 8 GROUP PROCESSES 293

P A R T I V Social Relations

CHAPTER 9 ATTRACTION AND CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS 339

CHAPTER 10 HELPING OTHERS 389

P A R T I Introduction

CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY? 3

CHAPTER 2 DOING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH 25

Preface

Contents

Preface xix

About the Authors 1

What Is Social Psychology? 5

Defi ning Social Psychology 5

Social Psychological Questions and Applications 7

Th e Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology Experiment 7

Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and Intersections 9

Social Psychology and Common Sense 11

From Past to Present: A Brief History of Social Psychology 12

Th e Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s–1920s 12

A Call to Action: 1930s–1950s 13

Confi dence and Crisis: 1960s–Mid-1970s 15

An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–1990s 15

Social Psychology in a New Century 16

Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition 17

Biological and Evolutionary Perspectives 18

Why Should You Learn About Research Methods? 26

Developing Ideas: Beginning the Research Process 27

Asking Questions 27

Searching the Literature 28

Hypotheses and Th eories 28

Basic and Applied Research 29

Refi ning Ideas: Defi ning and Measuring Social Psychological Variables 30

Conceptual Variables and Operational Defi nitions: From the Abstract to the Specifi c 30

Measuring Variables: Using Self-Reports, Observations, and Technology 31

Testing Ideas: Research Designs 34

Descriptive Research: Discovering Trends and Tendencies 34

Correlational Research: Looking for Associations 36

P A R T I Introduction

Experiments: Looking for Cause and Eff ect 39

Meta-Analysis: Combining Results Across Studies 46

Culture and Research Methods 46

Ethics and Values in Social Psychology 48

Institutional Review Boards and Informed Consent: Protecting Research Participants 48 Debriefi ng: Telling All 49

Values and Science: Points of View 49

Review 50

Key Terms 52

Media Resources 53

P A R T I I Social Perception

Putting Common Sense to the Test 55

The Self-Concept 56

Rudiments of the Self-Concept 56

Introspection 58

Perceptions of Our Own Behavior 60

Infl uences of Other People 65

Autobiographical Memories 67

Culture and the Self-Concept 69

Self-Esteem 72

Th e Need for Self-Esteem 72

Are Th ere Gender and Race Diff erences? 74

Self-Discrepancy Th eory 75

Th e Self-Awareness “Trap” 76

Self-Regulation and Its Limits 79

Ironic Mental Processes 80

Mechanisms of Self-Enhancement 81

Are Positive Illusions Adaptive? 88

Culture and Self-Esteem 89

Self-Presentation 90

Strategic Self-Presentation 91

Self-Verifi cation 92

Individual Diff erences in Self-Monitoring 93

Epilogue: The Multifaceted Self 95

Review 96

Key Terms 98

Media Resources 98

4 Perceiving Persons 101

Putting Common Sense to the Test 101

Observation: The Elements of Social Perception 102

Persons: Judging a Book by Its Cover 102

Situations: Th e Scripts of Life 105

Behavioral Evidence 105

Distinguishing Truth from Deception 110

Attribution: From Elements to Dispositions 112

Attribution Th eories 112

Attribution Biases 116

Culture and Attribution 121

Motivational Biases 123

Integration: From Dispositions to Impressions 125

Information Integration: Th e Arithmetic 126

Deviations from the Arithmetic 126

Confi rmation Biases: From Impressions to Reality 132

Perseverance of Beliefs 132

Confi rmatory Hypothesis Testing 134

Th e Self-Fulfi lling Prophecy 135

Social Perception: The Bottom Line 138

Putting Common Sense to the Test 145

The Nature of the Problem: Persistence and Change 147

Defi ning Our Terms 147

Racism: Current Forms and Challenges 148

Sexism: Ambivalence and Double Standards 155

Causes of the Problem: Intergroup and Motivational Factors 159

Fundamental Motives Between Groups 159

Robbers Cave: A Field Study in Intergroup Confl ict 160

Realistic Confl ict Th eory 161

Social Identity Th eory 162

Culture and Social Identity 164

Motives Concerning Intergroup Dominance and Status 165

Causes of the Problem: Cognitive and Cultural Factors 166

Social Categorization 166

How Stereotypes Survive and Self-Perpetuate 169

Culture and Socialization 172

Stereotype Content Model 177

Is Stereotyping Inevitable? Automatic Versus Intentional Processes 178

“41 Shots”: A Focus on the Tragic Shooting of Amadou Diallo 182

A Threat in the Air: Effects on the Targets of Stereotypes and Prejudice 186

Perceiving Discrimination 186

Stereotype Th reat 187

6 Attitudes 203

Putting Common Sense to the Test 203

The Study of Attitudes 203

How Attitudes Are Measured 204

How Attitudes Are Formed 209

Th e Link Between Attitudes and Behavior 211

Culture and Persuasion 234

Persuasion by Our Own Actions 234

Role Playing: All the World’s a Stage 235

Cognitive Dissonance Th eory: Th e Classic Version 236

Cognitive Dissonance Th eory: A New Look 240

Alternative Routes to Self-Persuasion 242

Cultural Infl uences on Cognitive Dissonance 245

Putting Common Sense to the Test 251

Social Infl uence as “Automatic” 252

Conformity 254

Th e Early Classics 255

Why Do People Conform? 257

Majority Infl uence 260

Minority Infl uence 263

Culture and Conformity 266

Reducing Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination 192

8 Group Processes 293

Putting Common Sense to the Test 293

Fundamentals of Groups 294

What Is a Group? Why Join a Group? 294

Socialization and Group Development 296

Roles, Norms, and Cohesiveness 297

Culture and Cohesiveness 300

Individuals in Groups: The Presence of Others 300

Social Facilitation: When Others Arouse Us 300

Social Loafi ng: When Others Relax Us 304

Culture and Social Loafi ng 306

Deindividuation 307

Group Performance: Problems and Solutions 310

Process Loss and Types of Group Tasks 310

Brainstorming 311

Group Polarization 312

Groupthink 314

Escalation Eff ects 317

Communicating Information and Utilizing Expertise 318

Strategies for Improvement 319

Virtual Teams 321

Diversity 322

Confl ict: Cooperation and Competition Within and Between Groups 323

Mixed Motives and Social Dilemmas 323

Culture and Social Dilemmas 326

Confl ict Escalation and Reduction 327

Negotiation 329

Culture and Negotiation 330

Finding Common Ground 332

Setting Traps: Sequential Request Strategies 270

Assertiveness: When People Say No 274

Obedience 275

Milgram’s Research: Forces of Destructive Obedience 276

Milgram in the Twenty-First Century 281

Defi ance: When People Rebel 283

The Continuum of Social Infl uence 284

Social Impact Th eory 285

Perspectives on Human Nature 287

Review 288

Key Terms 290

Media Resources 290

9 Attraction and Close

Relationships 339

Putting Common Sense to the Test 339

Being with Others: A Fundamental Human Motive 339

Th e Th rill of Affi liation 340

Th e Agony of Loneliness 342

The Initial Attraction 343

Familiarity: Being Th ere 344

Physical Attractiveness: Getting Drawn In 345

First Encounters: Getting Acquainted 352

Mate Selection: Th e Evolution of Desire 357

Close Relationships 363

Th e Intimate Marketplace: Tracking the Gains and Losses 364

Types of Relationships 367

How Do I Love Th ee? Counting the Ways 369

Culture, Attraction, and Close Relationships 374

Relationship Issues: Th e Male-Female Connection 375

Review 384

Key Terms 386

Media Resources 387

Putting Common Sense to the Test 389

Evolutionary and Motivational Factors: Why Do People Help? 391

Evolutionary Factors in Helping 391

Rewards of Helping: Helping Others to Help Oneself 397

Altruism or Egoism: Th e Great Debate 399

Situational Infl uences: When Do People Help? 404

Th e Unhelpful Crowd 405

Time Pressure 412

Location and Helping 413

Culture and Helping 414

Moods and Helping 416

Role Models and Social Norms: A Helpful Standard 419

Culture and Social Norms for Helping 420

Personal Infl uences: Who Is Likely to Help? 421

Are Some People More Helpful Th an Others? 421

What Is the Altruistic Personality? 421

Interpersonal Infl uences: Whom Do People Help? 423

Perceived Characteristics of the Person in Need 423

Th e Fit Between Giver and Receiver 425

Gender and Helping 426

P A R T I V Social Relations

Reactions to Receiving Help 427

Culture and Who Receives Help 428

The Helping Connection 429

Culture, Gender, and Individual Differences 437

Culture and Aggression 437

Gender and Aggression 442

Individual Diff erences 443

Origins of Aggression 444

Is Aggression Innate? 444

Is Aggression Learned? 448

Gender Diff erences and Socialization: “Boys Will Be Boys” 451

Culture and Socialization: Cultures of Honor 452

Nature Versus Nurture: A False Debate? 454

Situational Infl uences on Aggression 454

Frustration: Aggression as a Drive 454

Negative Aff ect 457

Arousal: “Wired” for Action 458

Th ought: Automatic and Deliberate 459

Situational Infl uences: Putting It All Together 462

Media Effects 462

Violence in TV, Movies, Music Lyrics, and Video Games 463

Pornography 470

Intimate Violence: Trust Betrayed 473

Sexual Aggression Among College Students 473

Domestic Violence: Partner and Child Abuse 474

12 Law 485

Putting Common Sense to the Test 485

Jury Selection 487

Trial Lawyers as Intuitive Psychologists 488

Scientifi c Jury Selection 489

Juries in Black and White: Does Race Matter? 491

Death Qualifi cation 492

The Courtroom Drama 494

Jury Size: How Small Is Too Small? 515

Less-Th an-Unanimous Verdicts 516

Posttrial: To Prison and Beyond 517

Th e Sentencing Process 517

Th e Prison Experience 519

Perceptions of Justice 521

Justice as a Matter of Procedure 521

Culture, Law, and Justice 522

Th e Typical Job Interview 531

“Scientifi c” Alternatives to Traditional Interviews 533

Affi rmative Action 537

Culture and Organizational Diversity 540

Leadership 545

Th e Classic Trait Approach 546

Contingency Models of Leadership 547

Transactional Leadership 548

Transformational Leadership 549

Leadership Among Women and Minorities 551

Motivation at Work 553

Economic Reward Models 553

Bonuses, Bribes, and Intrinsic Motivation 554

Equity Considerations 555

Economic Decision Making 558

Th e Symbolic Power of Money 558

Social Infl uences in the Stock Market 559

Commitment, Entrapment, and Escalation 562

Review 564

Key Terms 566

Media Resources 566

Putting Common Sense to the Test 569

Stress and Health 570

What Causes Stress? 571

Crises and Catastrophes 571

Major Life Events 573

Microstressors: Th e Hassles of Everyday Life 574

How Does Stress Affect the Body? 575

Th e General Adaptation Syndrome 575

What Stress Does to the Heart 577

What Stress Does to the Immune System 579

Th e Links Between Stress and Illness 581

Processes of Appraisal 583

Attributions and Explanatory Styles 583

Th e Human Capacity for Resilience 584

Culture and Coping 600

Treatment and Prevention 601

Treatment: Th e “Social” Ingredients 601

Prevention: Getting the Message Across 603

The Pursuit of Happiness 605

Review 609

Key Terms 612

Media Resources 612

Glossary G-1 References R-1 Credits C-1 Name Index I-1 Subject Index I-17

The world of the twenty-fi rst century is both an exciting and

tumultuous place right now—more so, it seems, than any time in recent memory On

the one hand, it’s never been easier to 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, we are surrounded by deep social and political divisions, ethnic

con-fl ict, economic turmoil, and an ever present threat of terrorism and other acts of

vio-lence 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 fi ndings—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 accumulates in small

incre-ments, one step at a time Social psychology has no “critical” experiincre-ments, 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

text-book always shows us how complex, dynamic, and responsive our fi eld can be As the

world around us rapidly changes—socially, politically, technologically, and in other

disciplines—so too does social psychology

As always, we had two main goals for this revision Our fi rst was to present the

most important and exciting perspectives in the fi eld as a whole To communicate the

depth of social psychology, we have self-consciously expanded our coverage to include

recent developments in social neuroscience and cultural infl uences, and in other ways

that we will soon describe Second, we want this book to serve as a good teacher

out-side the classroom While speaking the student’s language, we always want to connect

social psychology to current events in politics, sports, business, law, entertainment,

uses of the Internet, and other life domains

xix

Preface

As in the past, we have tried to capture some subtle but important shifts within the

fi eld so that the reader can feel the pulse of social psychology today in each and every

page of this textbook

The Content

Comprehensive, Up-to-Date Scholarship Like its predecessors, the eighth

edi-tion off ers a broad, balanced, mainstream look at social psychology Th us, it includes

detailed descriptions of classic studies from social psychology’s historical warehouse

as well as the latest research fi ndings from hundreds of new references In particular,

we draw your attention to the following topics, which are either new to this edition or

have received expanded coverage:

■ Introduction to social neuroscience and brain-imaging research (Chapter 1)

■ Introduction to cultural perspectives in social psychology (Chapter 1)

■ Th e challenges of doing research across cultures (Chapter 2)

■ Limitations of self report and its alternatives (Chapter 2)

■ Cultural diff erences in dialecticism (Chapter 3)

■ Self-regulation and its aftereff ects (Chapter 3)

■ Costs and benefi ts of self-esteem and its pursuit (Chapter 3)

■ Mind perception (Chapter 4)

■ Recent research on human lie detection (Chapter 4)

■ Implicit racism and other forms of implicit prejudice (Chapter 5)

■ Evolutionary perspectives on intergroup perception biases (Chapter 5)

■ Social neuroscience perspectives on intergroup perception biases (Chapter 5)

■ Cultural infl uences on social identity (Chapter 5)

■ Self regulation of prejudice (Chapter 5)

■ Stereotype threat eff ects in nonacademic domains (Chapter 5)

■ Political attitudes and the “political brain” (Chapter 6)

■ Links between implicit attitudes and behavior (Chapter 6)

■ Perceptual consequences of cognitive dissonance (Chapter 6)

■ Imitation in nonhumans and infants (Chapter 7)

■ Obedience in the twenty-fi rst century (Chapter 7)

■ fMRI images of conformity and exclusion (Chapter 7)

■ Cultural infl uences on group cohesiveness (Chapter 8)

■ Group dynamics in the economic collapse of 2008–09 (Chapter 8)

■ Th e under use of expertise in groups (Chapter 8)

■ Group dynamics challenges posed by “virtual teams” (Chapter 8)

■ Th e associative link between the color red and sexual attraction (Chapter 9)

■ Th e speed dating phenomenon and research paradigm (Chapter 9)

■ Cultural infl uences on romantic love (Chapter 9)

■ Longitudinal eff ects of having children on marital satisfaction (Chapter 9)

■ Intergroup biases in helping behavior (Chapter 10)

■ Biological and evolutionary approaches to helping (Chapter 10)

■ Empathy and helping among animals and human infants (Chapter 10)

■ Th e role of self esteem and narcissism in aggression (Chapter 11)

■ Social neuroscience perspectives on aggression and its control (Chapter 11)

■ Eff ects of social rejection and ostracism on aggression (Chapter 11)

■ Race eff ects in jury selection and decision making (Chapter 12)

■ New issues and debate over the Stanford Prison Experiment (Chapter 12)

■ Cultural perspectives on law and justice (Chapter 12)

■ Multicultural vs colorblind workplace eff ects on minority employees (Chapter 13)

■ Th e symbolic power of money (Chapter 13)

■ Th e American Psychological Association’s recent national survey of stress in America (Chapter 14)

■ Cultural diff erences in social support seeking as a means of coping (Chapter 14)

■ Positive emotions as the building blocks of emotion-focused coping (Chapter 14)

As this nonexhaustive list shows, this eighth edition contains a good deal of new

material In particular, you will see that we have zeroed in on developments within

four important domains: social neuroscience, implicit processes, evolutionary theory,

and cultural perspectives Across chapters, as always, we have also made it a point to

illustrate the relevance of social psychology to current events and to ask students to

stop and refl ect on their commonsense conceptions

Social Neuroscience Th e fi rst domain concerns social neuroscience and the fMRI

brain-imaging studies that are poised to enlighten our understanding of the human

social experience Social neuroscience has not fully arrived, and researchers are still

raising questions about how to interpret the newly observed links between brain

activ-ity and self-referential thoughts, social perceptions, motives, emotions, and behavior

While we acknowledge the current limitations, we also want to provide students with

a glimpse of this exciting new fusion of social psychology and neuroscience

Implicit Processes We have expanded coverage and integrated the increasingly

developed distinction between implicit and explicit processes In matters relating

to the unconscious, psychology owes a debt of gratitude to Freud After some

resis-tance, social psychologists have also come to realize the importance of the

conscious-unconscious distinction when it comes to self-esteem, priming, stereotyping,

prej-udice, attitudes, ambivalence, social infl uence, and other core topics Hence, we

describe recent work involving the Implicit Association Test, or IAT, and the ongoing

debate about what it measures, what it means, and what behaviors it predicts

Evolutionary Theory We continue in this edition to represent various evolutionary

perspectives on human nature, at the heart of which is the notion that we humans, like

other species, have an ancestral past that predisposes us, albeit fl exibly, to behave in

ways that are adapted to promote survival and reproduction Evolutionary

psycholo-gists today seek to explain a wide range of social phenomena—such as snap

judg-ments in social perception, prejudice, helping, aggression, beauty, mate selection, and

romantic jealousy To some extent, this perspective is still controversial To another

extent, it has become part of the mainstream, with respected journals fi lled with

stud-ies and critiques of evolutionary psychology Th is edition fully integrates the approach,

its fi ndings, and its limitations with the rest of social psychology

Cultural Perspectives On the heels of our highly expanded coverage of the last

edi-tion, we have continued in this edition not only to cover but to fully integrate current

research on cultural infl uences in social behavior Social psychologists have long been

fascinated by similarity and diff erence—among cultural groups and between racial and

ethnic groups within cultures As the people of the world have come into closer contact,

researchers have broadened their scope from the situational snapshot to a fuller account

of people in their cultural milieu Cultural phenomena, once marginalized, are now fully

integrated into social psychology As in our previous edition, every chapter now

con-tains one, two, or three sections on the role of culture Th ese sections appear within the

body of the text and are richly accompanied by photographs, not boxed or set apart

As social psychology is now a truly international discipline, this book also includes

many new citations to research conducted throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and

other parts of the world We believe that the study of human diversity—from the

per-spectives of researchers who themselves are a diverse lot—can help students become

better informed about social relations as well as about ethics and values

Connections with Current Events To cover social psychology is one thing; to use

its principles to explain events in the real world is quite another Th e events of 9/11

changed the world In diff erent ways not yet fully discernible, so did the more recent

and severe economic recession and the U.S presidential election of Barack Obama

More than ever, we remain convinced that connecting theory to real life is the single

best way to heighten student interest and involvement Over the years, teachers and students alike have told us how much they value the “newsy” features of our book.

Th e eighth edition, like other editions, is committed to making social psychology

relevant Almost every page includes a passage, a quote, a fi gure, a table, a photo, or a

cartoon that refers to people, places, events, social trends, and issues that are nent in contemporary culture Th e reader will fi nd stories about the purported racism, sexism, and ageism in the 2008 presidential election; the torture controversy; Bernie Madoff ’s elaborate Ponzi scheme; speed dating; Michael Phelps and his historic perfor-mance in the Beijing Olympics; the war in Afghanistan; the near economic collapse and

promi-its aftermath; the popular TV show American Idol; ongoing political debates over health

care reform, immigration policy, and gay marriage; the fatal shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.; the story of a New York City security guard who jumped

in front of an oncoming train to save a man lying on the tracks; the controversial police arrest of African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates; the 2009 election and massive protests in Iran; and Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites

As in our last edition, you will also fi nd—in the margins—various quotations, song lyrics, public opinion poll results, “factoids,” and website addresses Th ese high-interest items are designed to further illustrate the connectedness of social psychol-ogy to a world that extends beyond the borders of a college campus

Social Psychology and Common Sense In an earlier edition, we introduced a ture that we remain excited about Building on a discussion in Chapter 1 about the links (and lack thereof) between social psychology and common sense, each substan-

fea-tive chapter opens with Putting Common Sense to the Test, a set of true-false questions

designed to assess the student’s intuitive beliefs about material later contained in that chapter Some examples: “Sometimes the harder you try to control a thought, feeling,

or behavior, the less likely you are to succeed,” “People often come to like what they suff er for,” “Opposites attract,” and “Groups are less likely than individuals to invest more in a project that is failing.” Th e answers to these questions are revealed in a mar-ginal box after the topic is presented in the text Th ese answers are then explained at the end of each chapter We think that students will fi nd this exercise engaging It will also enable them, as they read, to check their intuitive beliefs against the fi ndings of social psychology and to notice the discrepancies that exist

The Organization

Of all the challenges faced by teachers and textbooks, perhaps the greatest is to put information together in a way that is accurate and easy to understand A strong orga-nizational framework helps in meeting this challenge Th ere is nothing worse for a student than having to wade through a “laundry list” of studies whose interconnec-tions remain a profound mystery A strong structure thus facilitates the development

of conceptual understanding

But the tail should not wag the dog Since organizational structure is a means to an end, not an end in itself, we wanted to keep it simple and unobtrusive Look through the Table of Contents, and you will see that we present social psychology in fi ve major parts—a heuristic structure that instructors and students have found sensible and easy to follow Th e book opens with two Introduction chapters on the history, subject

matter, and research methods of social psychology (Part I) As before, we then move to

an intraindividual focus on Social Perception (Part II), shift outward to Social Infl uence (Part III) and Social Relations (Part IV), and conclude with Applying Social Psychology

(Part V) We realize that some instructors like to reshuffl e the deck to develop a

chap-ter order that betchap-ter fi ts their own approach Th ere is no problem in doing this Each

chapter stands on its own and does not require that others be read fi rst

The Presentation

Even when the content of a textbook is accurate and up-to-date, and even when its

organization is sound, there is still the matter of presentation As the “teacher outside

the classroom,” a good textbook should facilitate learning Th us, every chapter

con-tains the following pedagogical features:

■ A narrative preview, chapter outline, and common-sense quiz (beginning with

Chapter 3)

■ Key terms highlighted in the text, defi ned in the margin, listed at the end of the

chapter, and reprinted in an alphabetized glossary at the end of the book Both

the list and the glossary provide page numbers for easy location of each term

■ Numerous bar graphs, line graphs, tables, sketches, photographs, fl owcharts,

and cartoons that illustrate, extend, enhance, and enliven material in the text

Some of these depict classic images and studies from social psychology’s history;

others, new to the eighth edition, are contemporary and often “newsy.”

■ At the end of each chapter, a comprehensive bulleted review summarizing the

major sections and points

Teaching and Learning Support Package

For the Instructor

Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test Bank Th is manual contains learning

objectives, detailed chapter outlines, discussion ideas, classroom activities, handouts,

and audiovisual resource suggestions Th e classroom exercises feature a unique and

popular “What If Th is Bombs?” section that off ers tips for making the most of every

activity—even if it does not work Th e test bank portion features an extensive set of

multiple-choice questions and essay questions with sample answers Th ree types of

objective questions are provided—factual, conceptual, and applied—and all answers

are keyed to learning objectives and text pages

PowerLecture with JoinIn and ExamView Th is one-stop lecture and class

prep-aration tool contains ready-to-use PowerPoint slides enabling you to assemble, edit,

publish, and present custom lectures for your course PowerLecture lets you bring

together text-specifi c lecture outlines and art from the eighth edition along with

vid-eos or your own materials, culminating in a powerful, personalized, media-enhanced

presentation PowerLecture also includes the JoinIn Student Response System that lets

you pose book-specifi c questions and display students’ answers seamlessly within the

PowerPoint slides of your own lecture Th e ExamView assessment and tutorial system

is also available, which guides you step by step through the process of creating tests

Book Companion Website Th is dynamic website gives students access to a

vari-ety of study tools, practice activities, web quizzes by chapter, and more to encourage

review and test preparation To visit the companion website, go to www.cengage.com/

psychology/kassin

Webtutor Toolbox WebTutor/ Toolbox for WebCT/ or Blackboard- provides access to all the content of this text’s rich Book Companion Website from within your course management system Robust communication tools—such as a course calen-dar, asynchronous discussion, real-time chat, a whiteboard, and an integrated e-mail system—make it easy for your students to stay connected to the course.

CengageNOW/ CengageNOW/ is an easy-to-use online resource that helps students study in less time to get the grade they want—NOW Featuring Cengage-NOW/ Personalized Study (a diagnostic study tool containing valuable text-specifi c resources), students focus on just what they don’t know and learn more in less time to get a better grade If the textbook does not include an access code card, students can

go to www.CengageBrain.com to get CengageNOW/

Revealing Psychology Th is feature provides a series of social psychology video segments that are informative, engaging, and fun Hidden cameras reveal people’s surprising and amusing reactions when social forces conspire against them How do you behave when people invade your personal space? Do you help a person who lies sprawled on a busy street? How often do you lie in a ten-minute conversation? Th ese real-world vignettes reveal human foibles and at the same time dramatically illus-trate underlying psychological principles Th ey are available to instructors on DVD for classroom presentation

Social Psych in Film DVD Th is DVD, with closed captioning, contains over 25 clips from popular fi lms and classic experiments that illustrate key concepts in social

psychology Clips from fi lms like Apollo 13, Schindler’s List, Snow Falling on Cedars, In the Name of the Father, and many others are combined with overviews and discussion

questions to help bring psychology alive for students and to demonstrate its relevance

to contemporary life and culture

ABC Video: Social Psychology, Volumes I & II ABC Videos feature short,

high-interest clips from current news events as well as historic raw footage going back 40 years Perfect for discussion starters or to enrich your lectures and spark interest in the material in the text, these brief videos provide students with a new lens through which to view the past and present, one that will greatly enhance their knowledge and understanding of signifi cant events and open up to them new dimensions in learning

Clips are drawn from such programs as World News Tonight, Good Morning America,

spe-cials and material from the Associated Press Television News and British Movietone News collections

Research in Action, Volumes I & II Research in Action features the work of

research psychologists to give students an opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research—not just who is doing it, but also how it is done, and how and where the results are being used By taking students into the laboratories of both established and up-and-coming researchers, and by showing research results being applied outside of the laboratory, these videos off er insight into both the research process and the many ways in which real people’s lives are aff ected by research in the fi elds of psychology and neuroscience

For the Student

Readings in Social Psychology: Th e Art and Science of Research, Fifth Edition Th is item contains original articles, each with a brief introduction, and questions to stimu-late critical thinking about “doing” social psychology Th e articles represent some of the most creative and accessible research, both classic and contemporary, on topics

of interest to students

Study Guide Th is print Study Guide facilitates student learning through the use

of a chapter outline, learning objectives, a review of key terms and concepts,

multiple-choice questions with explanations for why the correct answer is the best multiple-choice, and

a practice essay questions with sample answers

Book Companion Website Th is outstanding site features chapter outlines, fl

ash-cards, tutorial quizzes, and more to help you succeed in your social psychology course

To access the site, go to www.cengage.com/psychology/kassin

Acknowledgments

Textbooks are the product of a team eff ort We are grateful to Cengage Learning for its

commitment to quality as the fi rst priority First, we want to thank Tangelique Williams,

our developmental editor We also want to express our gratitude to Roman Barnes, our

photo researcher, who has helped to make this book so photographically interesting

Finally, we want to thank all those whose considerable talents and countless hours of

hard work can be seen on every page: Holly Rudelitsch and Pat Waldo, Senior Project

Managers; Kate Babbitt, Copyeditor; Jennifer Bonnar, Lachina Publishing Services,

Proj-ect Manager; Rebecca Rosenberg, Assistant Editor; Lauren Keyes, Media Editor; and

Alicia McLaughlin, Editorial Assistant We also thank Senior Sponsoring Editors Jane

Potter and Jon-David Hague, and Marketing Managers Liz Rhoden and Molly Felz

Several colleagues have guided us through their feedback on this and all prior

edi-tions Every one of these teachers and scholars has helped to make this a better book

For their invaluable insights, comments, and suggestions, we thank reviewers of the

eighth edition:

Craig Anderson, Iowa State University

Austin Baldwin, Southern Methodist University

Nicholas Christenfeld, University of California, San Diego

Jack Dovidio, Yale University

Donelson Forsyth, University of Richmond

Paul A Franco, Calumet College of St Joseph

MarYam G Hamedani, Stanford University

Alisha Janowsky, University of Central Florida

Rusty McIntyre, Wayne State University

Margo Monteith, Purdue University

Richard Moreland, University of Pittsburgh

Todd Shackelford, Florida Atlantic University

Nicole M Stephens, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Kari Terzino, Iowa State University

We also thank past edition reviewers:

Shelley N Aikman, Syracuse University

Scott Allison, University of Richmond

Th omas William Altermatt, Hanover College

Sowmya Anand, Th e Ohio State University

Robin A Anderson, St Ambrose University

C Daniel Batson, University of Kansas

Arnold James Benjamin, Jr., Oklahoma Panhandle

State University

Lisa M Bohon, California State University Bryan Bonner, Th e University of Utah Jennifer K Bosson, Th e University of Oklahoma Martin Bourgeois, University of Wyoming Nyla Branscombe, University of Kansas Brad J Bushman, University of Michigan Melissa A Cahoon, University of Dayton Nathaniel Carter, Lane College

Finally, we are very grateful to Billa Reiss, St John’s University, for helping to create

a top-of-the-line Study Guide We are also deeply indebted to Sam Sommers, Tufts University, author of the excellent Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test Bank; and

Tom Finn, Bentley University, author of the PowerPoint lecture outlines Th ese works have added a whole new dimension to this text

Saul Kassin Steven Fein Hazel Rose Markus

Serena Chen, University of California, Berkeley

James E Collins, Carson Newman College

Eric Cooley, Western Oregon University

Keith E Davis, University of South Carolina

Richard Ennis, University of Waterloo

Leandre R Fabrigar, Queen’s University

Mark A Ferguson, University of Kansas

Joseph R Ferrari, DePaul University

J H Forthman, San Antonio College

Timothy M Franz, St John Fisher College

Traci Giuliano, Southwestern University

Diana Odom Gunn, McNeese State University

Karen L Harris, Western Illinois University

Lora D Haynes, University of Louisville

James Hobbs, Ulster County Community College

L Rowell Huesmann, University of Michigan

Karen Huxtable-Jester, University of Texas at Dallas

Robert D Johnson, Arkansas State University

Warren H Jones, University of Tennessee

Cheryl Kaiser, Michigan State University

Steven J Karau, Southern Illinois University

Suzanne C Kieff er, University of Houston

William M Klein, University of Pittsburgh

LaRue Kobrin, College of the Redwoods

Vladimir J Konecni, University of California, San Diego

Doug Krull, Northern Kentucky University

Kevin Lanning, Florida Atlantic University

Patrick Laughlin, University of Illinois Herbert L Leff , University of Vermont Margaret A Lloyd, Georgia Southern University David C Lundgren, University of Cincinnati Judith McIlwee, Mira Costa College

Roque V Mendez, Southwest Texas State University Daniel Molden, Northwestern University

Cynthia R Nordstrom, Illinois State University Randall E Osborne, Indiana University East Patricia A Oswald, Iona College

Carol K Oyster, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Paul Paulus, University of Texas at Arlington David Pillow, University of Texas at San Antonio Louis H Porter, Westchester University of Pennsylvania Margaret M Pulsifer, Harvard Medical School

Sally Radmacher, Missouri Western State University Chris Robert, University of Missouri

Laura S Sidorowicz, Nassau Community College Paul Silvia, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Anthony Stahelski, Central Washington University Charles Stangor, University of Maryland

Jeff rey Stone, University of Arizona JoNell Strough, West Virginia University Courtney von Hippel, University of Queensland William von Hippel, University of Queensland Kipling D Williams, Purdue University Ann Zak, College of St Rose

Saul Kassin is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal

Justice, in New York, and Massachusetts Professor of Psychology at Williams College,

Williamstown, Massachusetts Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he received his

Ph.D from the University of Connecticut followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the

University of Kansas, a U.S Supreme Court Judicial Fellowship, and a visiting

profes-sorship at Stanford University In addition to authoring textbooks, he has co-authored

and edited Confessions in the Courtroom, Th e Psychology of Evidence and Trial

ago, Kassin pioneered the scientifi c study of false confessions, an interest that

con-tinues to this day He has also studied the impact of this and other evidence on the

attributions, social perceptions, and verdicts of juries Kassin is a Fellow of APS, APA,

and Divisions 8 and 41 He has testifi ed as an expert witness; lectures frequently to

judges, lawyers, and law enforcement groups; and has appeared as a media consultant

on national and syndicated news programs

Steven Fein is Professor of Psychology at Williams College, Williamstown,

Massachu-setts Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, he received his A.B from Princeton

University and his Ph.D in social psychology from the University of Michigan He has

been teaching at Williams College since 1991, with time spent teaching at Stanford

University in 1999 His edited books include Emotion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives,

Society of Personality and Social Psychology and as the social and personality

psy-chology representative at the American Psychological Association His research

inter-ests concern stereotyping and prejudice, suspicion and attributional processes, social

infl uence, and self-affi rmation theory

Hazel Rose Markus is the Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford

University She also co-directs the Research Institute of the Stanford Center for

Com-parative Studies in Race and Ethnicity Before moving to Stanford in 1994, she was a

pro-fessor at the University of Michigan, where she received her Ph.D Her work focuses on

how the self-system, including current conceptions of self and possible selves, structures

and lends meaning to experience Born in England of English parents and raised in San

Diego, California, she has been persistently fascinated by how nation of origin, region of

the country, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and social class shape self and identity With

her colleague Shinobu Kitayama at the University of Michigan, she has pioneered the

experimental study of how culture and self infl uence one another Markus was elected

to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994 and is a Fellow of APS, APA, and

Division 8 Some of her recent co-edited books include Culture and Emotion: Empirical

Liberal Democracies, Just Schools: Pursuing Equal Education in Societies of Diff erence, and

Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century.

About the Authors

What Is Social Psychology? (5)

Defi ning Social Psychology

Social Psychological Questions and Applications

The Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology Experiment

Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and Intersections Social Psychology and Common Sense

From Past to Present: A Brief History of Social Psychology (12)

The Birth and Infancy of Social

Psychology: 1880s–1920s

A Call to Action: 1930s–1950s

Confi dence and Crisis: 1960s–

Mid-1970s

An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–1990s

Social Psychology in a New

What Is Social

Psychology?

This chapter introduces you to the study of social psychology

We begin by defi ning social psychology and identifying how it

is distinct from but related to some other areas of study, both

outside and within psychology Next, we review the history of

the fi eld We conclude by looking forward, with a discussion of

the important themes and perspectives that are propelling social

psychology into a new century.

A few years from now, you may receive a letter in the mail inviting

you to a high school or college reunion You’ll probably feel a bit nostalgic, and you’ll

begin to think about those old school days What thoughts will come to mind fi rst?

Will you remember the poetry you fi nally began to appreciate in your junior year? Will

you think about the excitement you felt when you completed your fi rst chemistry lab?

Will a tear form in your eye as you remember how inspiring your social psychology

class was?

Perhaps But what will probably dominate your thoughts are the people you knew

in school and the interactions you had with them—the long and intense discussions

about everything imaginable: the loves you had, lost, or wanted so desperately to

expe-rience; the time you made a fool of yourself at a party; the eff ort of trying to be accepted

by a fraternity, sorority, or clique of popular people; the day you sat in the pouring rain

with your friends while watching a football game

We focus on these social situations because we are social beings We forge our

individual identities not alone but in the context of other people We work, play, and

live together We hurt and help each other We defi ne happiness and success for each

other And we don’t fall passively into social interactions; we actively seek them We

visit family, make friends, give parties, build networks, go on dates, pledge an

endur-ing commitment, decide to have children We watch others, speculate about them,

and predict who will wind up with whom, whether in real life or on “reality” TV shows

such as Th e Real World or Th e Bachelor Many of us text or twitter each other about

everything we’re up to, or we spend lots of time on social networking sites such as

Facebook, interacting with countless peers from around the world, adding hundreds

or even thousands of “friends” to our social networks

You’ve probably seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life When the hero, George

Bai-ley, was about to kill himself, the would-be angel Clarence didn’t save him by showing

him how much personal happiness he’d miss if he ended his life Instead, he showed

George how much his life had touched the lives of others and how many people would

be hurt if he was not a part of their world It was these social relationships that saved

George’s life, just as they defi ne our own

One of the exciting aspects of learning about social psychology is discovering how

basic and profoundly important these social relationships are to the human animal

And research continues to fi nd new evidence for and point to new implications of our social nature Consider, for example, this set of conclusions from recent research:

■ Having close friends and staying in contact with family members is associated

with health benefi ts such as protecting against heart disease, infection, diabetes, and cancer, and with living longer and more actively (Aggarwal et al., 2008; Kim

et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2009; Hawkley et al., 2009)

■ Children who are socially excluded from activities by their peers are more likely

than other children to suff er academically as well as socially in school several years later (Bush et al., 2006; Ladd et al., 2008)

■ Experiencing a social rejection or loss is so painful that it produces activity in

the same parts of the brain as when we feel physical pain Experiencing social rewards, on the other hand, such as being treated fairly, activates parts of the brain associated with physical rewards such as desirable food and drink (Lieber-man & Eisenberger, 2009; Takahasi et al., 2009)

Precisely because we need and care so much about social interactions and relationships, the social contexts in which we fi nd ourselves can infl uence us profoundly You can fi nd many examples of this kind of infl uence in your own life Have you ever laughed at a joke you didn’t get just because those around you were laughing? Do you present yourself in one way with one group of people and in quite a diff erent way with another group? Th e power of the situa-tion can also be much more subtle, and yet more powerful, than in these examples, as when another’s unspoken expec-tations about you literally seem to cause you to become a diff erent person

Th e relevance of social psychology is evident in everyday life, of course, such as when two people become attracted to each other or when a group tries to coordinate its eff orts on a project Dramatic events can heighten its signifi cance all the more, as is evident in people’s behavior during and after war, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters In these traumatic times,

a spotlight shines on how people help or exploit each other and we witness some of the worst and best that human relations have to off er Th ese events invariably call attention to the kinds of questions that social psychologists study—questions about hatred and violence, about intergroup confl ict and suspicion, as well as about hero-ism, cooperation, and the capacity for understanding across cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, and geographic divides We are reminded of the need for a better under-standing of social psychological issues as we see footage of death and destruction in the Middle East or Congo or are confronted with the reality of an all-too-violent world

as nearby as our own neighborhoods and campuses We also appreciate the majesty and power of social connections as we recognize the courage of a fi refi ghter, read about the charity of a donor, or see the glow in the eyes of a new parent Th ese are all—the bad and the good, the mundane and the extraordinary—part of the fascinat-ing landscape of social psychology

Th ink of some of the stories that have been in the news as you read this No doubt many concern issues about which social psychology can off er some insight For exam-ple, at the time of this writing, a controversy that has been debated in the news for several years concerns the role of torture in interrogation of prisoners of war and cap-tured terrorists Th ere are a whole host of legal, moral, and political questions inher-ent in this debate, but it is clear that social psychological research can speak to some

of the important issues In Chapters 8 and 12, for example, we discuss research that

Man is a social animal.

—Benedict Spinoza, Ethics

Millions of people tune in to watch

strangers relate to each other on

popular “reality” shows Pictured

here is a group who appeared in a

recent season of The Bachelor, as

viewers wondered which woman

might get engaged to the featured

bachelor The enormous popularity of

shows like these illustrates part of the

appeal of social psychology—people

are fascinated with how we relate to

one another.

The relevance of social psychology is evident both in everyday situations— such as the fun of socializing with fel- low fans at a basketball game, which even the president of the United States occasionally gets to do (left)— and in dramatic, life-changing events, such as the shootings at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007 (right) The scope of social psychology is part

of what makes it not only so ing, but also so applicable to many careers and interests.

fascinat-can help explain why good men and women may temporarily lose their own sense of

right and wrong and engage in horrifi c abuse of prisoners Chapter 12 also reports

studies that demonstrate how confessions that are extracted under extreme

condi-tions can be false, and what some of the most important factors are that make false

confessions more likely

Not only will you learn interesting and relevant research fi ndings throughout the

book, you also will learn how social psychologists have discovered this evidence It is

an exciting process and one that we are enthusiastic about sharing with you Th e

pur-pose of this fi rst chapter is to provide you with a broad overview of the fi eld of social

psychology By the time you fi nish it, you should be ready and (we hope) eager for what

lies ahead

What Is Social Psychology?

We begin by previewing the new territory you’re about to enter Th en we defi ne social

psychology and map out its relationship to sociology and some other disciplines

within the fi eld of psychology

Defi ning Social Psychology

Social psychology is the scientifi c study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in

a social context Let’s look at each part of this defi nition

Scientifi c Study Th ere are many approaches to understanding how people think,

feel, and behave We can learn about human behavior from novels, fi lms, history, and

philosophy, to name just a few possibilities What makes social psychology diff erent

from these artistic and humanistic endeavors is that social psychology is a science It

applies the scientifi c method of systematic observation, description, and measurement

to the study of the human condition How, and why, social psychologists do this is

explained in Chapter 2

social psychology

The scientifi c study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context.

Image not available due

to copyright restrictions

Our social relationships and

interac-tions are extremely important to us

Most people seek out and are

pro-foundly affected by other people This

social nature of the human animal is

what social psychology is all about.

How Individuals Think, Feel, and Behave Social psychology concerns an amazingly diverse set of topics People’s private, even nonconscious beliefs and attitudes; their most passionate emo-tions; their heroic, cowardly, or merely mundane public behav-iors—these all fall within the broad scope of social psychology

In this way, social psychology diff ers from other social sciences such as economics and political science Research on attitudes (see Chapter 6) off ers a good illustration Whereas economists and political scientists may be interested in people’s economic and political attitudes, respectively, social psychologists investigate

a wide variety of attitudes and contexts, such as individuals’ tudes toward particular groups of people or how their attitudes are aff ected by their peers or their mood In doing so, social psy-chologists strive to establish general principles of attitude forma-tion and change that apply in a variety of situations rather than exclusively to particular domains

atti-Note the word individuals in our defi nition of social

psychol-ogy Th is word points to another important way in which social psychology diff ers from some other social sciences Sociology, for instance, typically classifi es people in terms of their nationality, race, socioeconomic

class, and other group factors In contrast, social psychology typically focuses on the psychology of the individual Even when social psychologists study groups of people,

they usually emphasize the behavior of the individual in the group context

A Social Context Here is where the “social” in social psychology comes into play and how social psychology is distinguished from other branches of psychology As a

whole, the discipline of psychology is an immense, sprawling enterprise, the 800-pound gorilla of the social sciences, concerned with everything from the actions of neurotransmitters in the brain to the actions of music fans in a mosh pit What makes social psychology unique is its emphasis on the social nature of individuals

However, the “socialness” of social psychology varies In attempting to establish general principles of human behavior, social psychologists some-times examine nonsocial factors that aff ect people’s thoughts, emotions, motives, and actions For example, they may study whether hot weather causes people to behave more aggressively (Anderson, 2001) What is social about this is the behavior: people hurting each other In addition, social psychologists sometimes study people’s thoughts or feelings about non-social things, such as people’s attitudes toward Nike versus New Balance basketball shoes How can attitudes toward basketball shoes be of inter-est to social psychologists? One way is if these attitudes are infl uenced by something social, such as whether LeBron James’s endorsement of Nike makes people like Nike Both examples—determining whether heat causes

an increase in aggression or whether LeBron James causes an increase in

sales of Nike shoes—are social psychological pursuits because the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors either (a) concern other people or (b) are infl uenced

by other people.

Th e “social context” referred to in the defi nition of social psychology does not have to be real or present Even the implied or imagined presence of others can have important eff ects on individuals (Allport, 1985) For example, if people imag-ine receiving positive or negative reactions from others, their self-esteem can be aff ected signifi cantly (Smart Richman & Leary, 2009) And if college students imag-

A well-liked celebrity such as Oprah

Winfrey can infl uence the attitudes

and behaviors of millions of people

When Oprah recommends a book, for

example, sales of the book are likely

to skyrocket.

ine living a day in the life of a professor, they are likely to perform better later on

an analytic test; if they imagine instead being a cheerleader, however, they perform

worse (Galinsky et al., 2008)!

Social Psychological Questions and Applications

For those of us fascinated by social behavior, social psychology is a dream come true

Just look at Table 1.1 and consider a small sample of the questions you’ll explore in this

textbook As you can see, the social nature of the human animal is what social

psychol-ogy is all about Learning about social psycholpsychol-ogy is learning about ourselves and our

social worlds And because social psychology is scientifi c rather than anecdotal,

sys-tematic rather than haphazard, it provides

insights that would be impossible to gain

through intuition or experience alone

Th e value of social psychology’s

per-spective on human behavior is widely

rec-ognized Courses in social psychology are

often required for undergraduate majors in

business, education, and journalism as well

as in psychology and sociology Although

many advanced graduates with a Ph.D in

social psychology hold faculty

appoint-ments in colleges or universities, others

work in medical centers, law fi rms,

govern-ment agencies, and a variety of business

settings involving investment banking,

marketing, advertising, human resources,

negotiating, and social networking

Th e number and importance of these

applications continue to grow Judges are

drawing on social psychological research

to render landmark decisions, and lawyers

are depending on it to select juries and to

support or refute evidence Businesses are

using cross-cultural social psychological

research to operate in the global

market-place and group-dynamics research to

fos-ter the best conditions for their work forces

Health care professionals are increasingly

aware of the role of social psychological

factors in the prevention and treatment of

disease Indeed, we can think of no other

fi eld of study that off ers expertise that is

more clearly relevant to so many diff erent

career paths

The Power of the Social Context: An Example

of a Social Psychology Experiment

Th e social nature of people runs so deep that our perceptions of something can be

infl uenced more by the reactions of others to it than by the thing itself Consider a

Examples of Social Psychological Questions

Social Perception: What Affects the Way We Perceive Ourselves and Others?

■ Why do people sometimes sabotage their own performance, making it more likely that they will fail? (Chapter 3)

■ How do people in East Asia often differ from North Americans in the way they explain people’s behavior? (Chapter 4)

■ Where do stereotypes come from, and why are they so resistant to change?

(Chapter 5)

Social Infl uence: How Do We Infl uence Each Other?

■ Why do we often like what we suffer for? (Chapter 6)

■ How do salespeople sometimes trick us into buying things we never really wanted? (Chapter 7)

■ Why do people often perform worse in groups than they would have alone?

(Chapter 8)

Social Interaction: What Causes Us to Like, Love, Help, and Hurt Others?

■ How similar or different are the sexes in what they look for in an intimate tionship? (Chapter 9)

rela-■ When is a bystander more or less likely to help you in an emergency? (Chapter 10)

■ Does exposure to TV violence or to pornography trigger aggressive behavior? (Chapter 11)

Applying Social Psychology: How Does Social Psychology Help Us Understand Questions About Law, Business, and Health?

■ Can interrogators really get people to confess to serious crimes they did not commit? (Chapter 12)

■ How can business leaders most effectively motivate their employees? ter 13)

(Chap-■ How does stress affect one’s health, and what are the most effective ways of coping with stressful experiences? (Chapter 14)

TABLE 1.1

controversy concerning a major cable news network’s coverage of the 2008 tial debates between Barack Obama and John McCain While televising the debates live, CNN continuously showed a graph depicting the second-by-second opinions of a small group of undecided voters from Ohio Could these reactions of a couple dozen individuals infl uence the millions of viewers at home (Schechner, 2008)?

presiden-Some media stories addressed this issue by citing recent research conducted

by one of the authors of this text that relates to this point (Fein, Goethals, & Kugler, 2007) In one experiment, college students watched a tape of a 1984 debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, two candidates for the presidency of the United States During that debate Reagan fi red off a pair of one-liners that elicited a great deal

of laughter from the audience Political analysts have wondered whether those liners may have won the debate, and possibly the election, for Reagan Th e one-liners comprised only seconds of a 90-minute debate concerning the most important issues

one-of the day Could these few seconds have made such a diff erence?

To study this issue, we had students watch the debate under one of three tions One-third of the students saw the debate as it was, without any editing One-third of the students saw the debate with the one-liners and the ensuing audience reaction edited out By comparing these two conditions, we could see whether the presence versus absence of this pair of jokes could make a large diff erence in people’s impressions of Reagan from the debate However, there was also a third condition One-third of the students saw the debate with the one-liners intact but with the audi-ence reaction edited out Th at is, Reagan told his jokes but there appeared to be no audience response, and the debate continued uninterrupted

condi-After watching the debate, the students judged the performance of the candidates

on a scale ranging from 0 (terrible) to 100 (excellent) As you can see from the fi rst two bars in ▲

Figure 1.1, the students who saw the entire unedited tape did not rate gan much more positively than did the students who saw the debate without the one-liners Th is suggests that Reagan’s jokes did not have much impact on these viewers’

Rea-As Hillary Clinton speaks, people

watching on TV can see a graph

depicting the reactions of other

people During the 2008

presiden-tial election campaign in the United

States, some news networks

dis-played such graphs while

broadcast-ing important debates Could seebroadcast-ing

the reactions of others affect the

judgments of the millions of

view-ers watching at home? According to

social psychology research described

in this chapter, seeing or hearing

other people’s reactions can have a

strong infl uence on individuals.

perceptions of him But look at the third bar in the fi gure It illustrates

that the students who saw the version of the debate with the

one-liners kept in but the audience reaction edited out rated Reagan much

less positively than did either of the other groups What could explain

their negativity toward Reagan’s debate performance? Perhaps when

Reagan’s jokes appeared to elicit no reaction, the students

unknow-ingly used the lack of reaction as an indication that Reagan’s attempts

at wit were inept, and this conclusion caused them to see Reagan in a

much less positive light

What is interesting about these results from a social

psychologi-cal standpoint is that the students’ judgments were infl uenced more

by other people’s reactions to what Reagan said (that is, whether or

not the audience appeared to laugh) than by the content of what he

said (that is, whether or not the one-liners were edited out of the

tape) And it is important to note that these “other people” were not in

the room with the students; they were simply sounds on a videotape

recorded many years before Findings such as this demonstrate that

the “social context” can be very subtle and yet can have very powerful

eff ects on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Social Psychology and Related Fields:

Distinctions and Intersections

Social psychology is sometimes confused with certain other fi elds of

study Before we go on, it is important to clarify how social psychology

is distinct from these other fi elds At the same time, it is important to

illustrate some of the ways that interesting and signifi cant questions

can be addressed through interactions between social psychology and

these other fi elds (see Table 1.2 on page 10)

Social Psychology and Sociology Sociologists and social

psy-chologists share an interest in many issues, such as violence,

preju-dice, cultural diff erences, and marriage As noted, however, sociology

tends to focus on the group level, whereas social psychology tends to focus on the

indi-vidual level For example, sociologists might track the racial attitudes of the middle

class in the United States, whereas social psychologists might examine some of the

specifi c factors that make individuals more or less likely to behave in a racist way

toward members of some group

In addition, although there are many exceptions, social psychologists are more

likely than sociologists to conduct experiments in which they manipulate some

variable and determine the eff ects of this manipulation using precise, quantifi able

measures

Despite these diff erences, sociology and social psychology are clearly related

Indeed, many sociologists and social psychologists share the same training and

pub-lish in the same journals When these two fi elds intersect, the result can be a more

complete understanding of important issues For example, interdisciplinary research

on stereotyping and prejudice has examined the dynamic roles of both societal and

immediate factors, such as how particular social systems or institutional norms and

beliefs aff ect individuals’ attitudes and behaviors (Eagly & Fischer, 2009; Jost et al.,

2009; Rabinowitz et al., 2009; Smith & Collins, 2009)

FIGURE 1.1

Infl uence of Others’ Reactions

This graph shows the results of research in which participants saw different versions of a tape of a

1984 presidential debate between Ronald gan and Walter Mondale During the debate, Reagan had delivered a pair of witty one-liners that elicited a positive audience reaction Partici- pants who saw an unedited version of the tape and participants who saw a version with the jokes and the audience reaction edited out judged Rea- gan’s performance similarly Participants who saw

Rea-a version with the jokes left in but the Rea-audience reaction edited out (suggesting that the audience didn’t fi nd the jokes funny) rated Reagan much more negatively

Adapted from Fein, Goethals, & Kugler, 2007.

70

50 60

40

Unedited Jokes and

reaction edited out

Jokes left in, reaction edited out

Version of Tape of 1984 Presidential Debate

30

Social Psychology and Clinical ogy Tell people not very familiar with psychology that you are taking a social psychology class, and they are likely to say things like “Oh, great, now you’re going

Psychol-to start psychoanalyzing me” or “Finally, maybe you can tell me why everyone in my family is so messed up.” Th e assumption underlying these reactions, of course, is that you are studying clinical, or abnormal, psychology Clinical psychologists seek to understand and treat people with psy-chological diffi culties or disorders Social psychologists do not focus on disorders; rather, they focus on the more typical ways

in which individuals think, feel, behave, and infl uence each other

Th ere are, however, many fascinating ways in which clinical and social psychology intersect Both, for example, may address how people cope with anxiety or pressure

in social situations; how depressed and nondepressed individuals diff er in the way they perceive or act toward other people;

or how being bullied or stereotyped by others can aff ect individuals’ health and ings of self-worth (Amodio, 2009; Bosson, Pinel, & Th ompson, 2008; Brodish & Devine, 2009; Conklin et al., 2009; Kestilä et al., 2009)

feel-Social Psychology and Personality Psychology Both personality psychology and social psychology are concerned with individuals and their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors However, personality psychology seeks to understand diff erences between individuals that remain relatively stable across a variety of situations, whereas social

psychology seeks to understand how social

factors aff ect most individuals regardless of

their diff erent personalities

In other words, personality gists are interested in cross-situational consistency Th ey may ask, “Is this person outgoing and friendly almost all the time, in just about any setting?” Social psychologists are interested in how diff erent situations cause diff erent behaviors Th ey may ask,

psycholo-“Are people in general more likely to seek out companionship when they are made anxious by a situation than when they are made to feel relaxed?”

Th ese examples show the contrast between the fi elds; but in fact, personality psychology and social psychology are very closely linked Th e American Psychological Association has more than fi fty diff erent divisions, and yet personality psychologists

Distinctions Between Social Psychology and Related Fields:

The Case of Research on Prejudice

To see the differences between social psychology and related fi elds, consider an

example of how researchers in each fi eld might conduct a study of prejudice.

Field of Study Example of How a Researcher in the Field

Might Study Prejudice

Sociology Measure how prejudice varies as a function of social

or economic class Clinical psychology Test various therapies for people with antisocial per-

sonalities who exhibit great degrees of prejudice Personality psychology Develop a questionnaire to identify men who are very

high or low in degree of prejudice toward women Cognitive psychology Manipulate exposure to a member of some category

of people and measure the thoughts and concepts

that are automatically activated (A study of prejudice

in this fi eld would, by defi nition, be at the intersection

of cognitive and social psychology.)

Social psychology Manipulate various kinds of contact between

indi-viduals of different groups and examine the effect

of these manipulations on the degree of prejudice exhibited

TABLE 1.2

Do provocative, sexualized images in

advertisings, such as on the billboard

seen here (near the sign about

“stu-dent body cards”), make people more

sexist or prone to sexual aggression?

This is one of the questions that social

psychology addresses.

and social psychologists share the same division Many of these scholars belong to an

organization called the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, attend the same

conferences, and publish their research in the same journals So personality and social

psychologists see a lot of each other

Th e reason for the high degree of connection between social and personality

psy-chology is that the two areas complement each other so well For example, some social

psychologists examine how receiving negative feedback (a situational factor) can have

diff erent eff ects on people as a function of whether their self-esteem is high or low

(an individual-diff erence factor), or whether playing violent video games (a situational

factor) is especially likely to trigger aggressiveness in particular types of children (an

individual-diff erence factor) (Nije Bijvank et al., 2009; Park & Maner, 2009; Th omaes

et al., 2009)

Social Psychology and Cognitive Psychology Cognitive psychologists study

mental processes such as thinking, learning, remembering, and reasoning Social

psychologists are often interested in these same processes More specifi cally, though,

social psychologists are interested in how people think, learn, remember, and reason

with respect to social information and in how these processes are relevant to social

behavior

Th e last few decades have seen an explosion of interest in the intersection of

cog-nitive and social psychology Th e study of social cognition is discussed in more detail

later in this chapter, and it is a focus throughout this text, especially in Part II on Social

Perception

Social Psychology and Common Sense

After reading about a theory or fi nding of social psychology, you may sometimes think,

“Of course I knew that all along Anyone could have told me that.” Th is

“knew-it-all-along” phenomenon often causes people to question how social psychology is diff

er-ent from common sense, or traditional folk wisdom After all, why would any of the

following social psychological fi ndings be surprising?

■ Beauty and brains don’t mix: Physically attractive people tend to be seen as less

smart than physically unattractive people

■ People will like an activity more if you off er them a large reward for doing it,

causing them to associate the activity with the positive reinforcement

■ People think that they’re more unique than they really are: Th ey tend to

underes-timate the extent to which others share the same opinions or interests

■ Playing contact sports or violent video games releases aggression and makes

people less likely to vent their anger in violent ways

In a minute we will have more to say about each of these statements

Common sense may seem to explain many social psychological fi ndings after the

fact Th e problem is distinguishing commonsense fact from commonsense myth After

all, for most commonsense notions, there is an equally sensible-sounding notion that

says the opposite Is it “Birds of a feather fl ock together” or “Opposites attract”? Is it

“Two heads are better than one” or “Too many cooks spoil the broth”? Which are

cor-rect? We have no reliable way to answer such questions through common sense or

intuition alone

Social psychology, unlike common sense, uses the scientifi c method to put its

theories to the test How it does so will be discussed in greater detail in the next

chap-ter But before we leave this section, one word of caution: Th ose four “fi ndings” listed

above? Th ey are all false Although there may be sensible reasons to believe each of the

statements to be true, research indicates otherwise Th erein lies another problem with relying on common sense: despite off ering very compelling predictions and explana-tions, it is sometimes wildly inaccurate And even when it is not completely wrong, common sense can be misleading in its simplicity Often there is no simple answer to a question such as “Does absence make the heart grow fonder?” In reality, the answer is more complex than common sense would suggest, and social psychological research reveals how such an answer depends on a variety of factors

To emphasize these points and to encourage you to think critically about social

psychological issues before as well as after learning about them, this textbook

con-tains a feature called “Putting Common Sense to the Test.” Beginning with Chapter

3, each chapter opens with a few statements about social psychological issues that will be covered in that chapter Some of the statements are true and some are false

As you read each statement, make a prediction about whether it is true or false and think about why this is your prediction Marginal notes throughout the chapter will tell you whether the statements are true or false In reading the chapter, check not only whether your prediction was correct but also whether your reasons for the pre-diction were appropriate If your intuition wasn’t quite on the mark, think about what the right answer is and how the evidence supports that answer Th ere are few better ways of learning and remembering than through this kind of critical thinking

From Past to Present: A Brief History of Social Psychology

People have probably been asking social psychological questions for as long as humans could think about each other Certainly early philosophers such as Plato off ered keen insights into many social psychological issues But no systematic and scientifi c study

of social psychological issues developed until the end of the nineteenth century Th e

fi eld of social psychology is therefore a relatively young one Recent years have marked

a tremendous interest in social psychology and an injection of many new scholars into the fi eld As social psychology is now early in its second century, it is instructive

to look back to see how the fi eld today has been shaped by the people and events of its

he designed an experiment to study this phenomenon in a carefully controlled, precise way Th is scientifi c approach to studying the eff ects of the social context on individu-als’ behavior can be seen as marking the birth of social psychology

A case can also be made for the French agricultural engineer Max Ringelmann Ringelmann’s research was conducted in the 1880s but wasn’t published until 1913

In an interesting coincidence, Ringelmann also studied the eff ects of the presence

Psychology has a long past,

but only a short history.

—Herman Ebbinghaus, Summary of

Psychology