Social Psychology

Description

For undergraduate courses in Social Psychology.

Generations of college students have learned social psychology from this text—it provides balanced, up-to-date, and accurate coverage of basic topics, research, and theories. Balancing cutting-edge findings and classic work in the field, the user-friendly Social Psychology shows how its methods and theories can be applied to everyday experiences and current social issues.

Contents

1. Theories and Methods in Social Psychology.

I.

2. Person Perception: Forming Impressions of Others.

3. Social Cognition: Understanding the Social World.

4. The Self: Learning About the Self.

II.

5. Attitudes and Attitude Change.

6. Prejudice.

7. Social Influence.

III.

8. Interpersonal Attraction.

9. Personal Relationships.

10. Behavior in Groups.

11. Gender.

IV.

12. Helping Behavior.

13. Aggression.

V.

14. Social Psychology and Health.

15. Social Psychology and the Law.

Glossary.

References.

Photo Credits.

Author Index.

Features

Q: How do you help your students see the connection between social psychology and the world around them?
A: "In the News" chapter openings help students comprehend the relevance of social psychology principles to current events.

• See Chapter 2, pg. 32 "Man on a leash or Woman holding a leash"
• See Chapter 13, pg. 404 "Terrorism in Spain"

Q: How do you convey that social psychology is built upon a solid and important research foundation?
A: Research Highlight boxes are featured in many chapters and help students to better understand the concepts as well as current "hot topics" and research. In addition, there is strong coverage of sociocultural issues which includes issue on race and ethnicity. Coverage of cultural psychology topics have been integrated into the text to encourage students to consider the diversity of human experiences and compare/contract cultures.

Research Highlight boxes

• See pg. 428, "Do Video Games Increase Aggression?"
• See pg. 252, "Does the Internet Build Social Connections or Increase Social Isolation?"

Sociocultural Issues

• See pg. 414, section titled "Culture and Aggression"

This edition has an increased emphasis on social cognition, the self, personal relationships and evolutionary psychology, highlighting for students ideas that are relevant to them (such as greater coverage of emotion and mood on inference covered in the Social Cognition chapter).

Additionally, an updated and revised chapter on law, written by Jennifer Hunt and Eugene Borgida, two recognized experts in the field. New topics include:

• the influence of pretrial publicity on jurors
• how jurors use character evidence
• the use of amicus curiae briefs to convey social psychological research to the course

New research included in this chapter also addresses:

• eyewitness identification, false confessions, jury selection and jury decision making.

Q: How many chapters do you cover in a term?
A: The text is now 15 rather than 16 chapters. The chapter on Politics has been deleted, making for a shorter, more easily accessible text.

Author

Shelley E. Taylor is professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Taylor received her B.A. in psychology from Connecticut College and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University. She taught at Harvard University until 1979, when she joined the faculty at UCLA. She has won a number of awards for her work, including the Donald Campbell Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Social Psychology, the Outstanding Scientific Contribution Award in Health Psychology, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association, and the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. She has served on the editorial boards of many journals. Her other books include Social Cognition (with Susan T. Fiske), Health Psychology, Positive Illusions, and The Tending Instinct. She has published numerous articles and book chapters in social cognition, health psychology, and social neuroscience.

Letitia Anne Peplau is professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Peplau received her B.A. in psychology from Brown University and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University. Since 1973, she has taught at UCLA, where she has served as chair of the social psychology program and co-director of the Center for the Study of Women. She was elected president of the International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships and received the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Her other books include Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research, and Therapy (edited with Daniel Perlman), Close Relationships (with Harold H. Kelley et al.), and Gender, Culture, and Ethnicity (edited with Rose Veniegas et al.) She has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as loneliness, friendship, gender roles in heterosexual dating and marriage, the relationships of lesbians and gay men, and the development of sexual orientation.

David O. Sears is professor of psychology and political science, former dean of social sciences, and current director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Sears received his B.A. in history from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University. Since 1962, he has taught at UCLA. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, president of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, and president of the International Society of Political Psychology. His other books include Public Opinion (with Robert E. Lane), The Politics of Violence: The New Urban Blacks and the Watts Riot (with John B. McConahay), Tax Revolt: Something for Nothing in California (with Jack Citrin), Political Cognition (edited with Richard R. Lau), Racialized Politics: The Debate About Racism in America (edited with Jim Sidanius and Lawrence Bobo), and the Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology (edited with Leonie Huddy and Robert Jervis). He has published articles and book chapters on a wide variety of topics, including attitude change, mass communications, ghetto riots, political socialization, voting behavior, racism in politics, and the politics of multiculturalism.