Arie W. Kruglanski

Paul A. M. Van Lange

E. Tory Higgins

Handbook of Basic Principles

Social Psychology, Third Edition

Mark P. Zanna

C. Peter Herman

Originally published in 1986, this book grew out of a symposium held in 1981 at the University of Toronto on physical appearance as a determinant of personality and social behavior. There is little doubt that one’s appearance has some impact on the way one is perceived and treated; and presumably, owing to the socially reflected nature of the self, one’s personality likewise will be affected by one’s appearance. The questions arising from these basic observations and assumptions are many, and the expert contributors were invited to discuss their research on some of the implications of individual differences in appearance as they ramify into personality and social interaction. The chapters in this volume are the outcome of those discussions and cover the areas of facial attractiveness; physique; impact on social behavior, and deviance. Still a topic of interest to this day, this book can now be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

The Ontario Symposium Volume 3

Physical Appearance, Stigma, and Social Behavior

This special issue features papers that offer deeply felt, valuable perspectives on diverse aspects of theory construction in social-personality psychology. The goal is to furnish a basis for starting a discussion about the considerable challenges of theorizing, the ways of meeting those challenges, and the great rewards that successful theorizing offers to the discipline as a whole.

Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned: A Special Issue of personality and Social Psychology Review

Theory Construction in Social Personality Psychology

While social psychology has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of basic principles that underlie social behavior, these principles themselves--including expectancies, goals, explanations, arousal, social influence, interdependence, social conflict, persuasion, and social standards--have never been directly reviewed in a comprehensive manner. Filling a significant gap in the literature, this authoritative reference and text illuminates the essential processes, mechanisms, and structures at different levels of analysis--biological, cognitive, motivational, interpersonal, and group/cultural--to provide access to the central principles that guide social psychological investigation. Formatted for easy reference and comparison, each chapter describes alternative conceptualizations of a particular principle and reviews research supporting (and failing to support) these different perspectives. Covering all the significant theories and research programs, the empirical literature is surveyed not for the traditional function of providing comprehensive reviews of content areas, but for its relevance to broad conceptual issues. This enables readers to get a better idea of the "big picture" concerning various social psychological principles, facilitating their ability to keep track of conceptual trends and developments in social psychology. An essential tool for all social psychologists, as well as professionals in related fields, this authoritative handbook also serves as an invaluable text for advanced classes in social psychology.

Social Psychology

How does motivation work? The classic answer is that people are motivated to approach pleasure and avoid pain, that they are motivated by "carrots and sticks." But to understand human motivation, it is necessary to go beyond pleasure and pain. What people want is to be effective in their life pursuits, and there are three distinct ways that people want to be effective. They want to be effective in having desired results (value), which includes having pleasure but is not limited to pleasure. They want to be effective in managing what happens (control) and in establishing what's real (truth), even if the process of managing what happens or establishing what's real is painful. These three distinct ways of wanting to be effective go beyond just wanting pleasure, but there is even more to the story of how motivation works. These ways of wanting to be effective do not function in isolation. Rather, they work together. Indeed, the ways that value, truth, and control work together is the central story of motivation. By understanding how motivation works as an organization of value, truth, and control motives, we can re-think basic motivational issues, such the nature of personality and culture, how the motives of others can be managed effectively, and what is "the good life."

How Motivation Works

Beyond Pleasure and Pain

Lewis Donohew

Howard E. Sypher

Originally published in 1988, the purpose of this book was to explore the interrelations among communication, social cognition and affect. The contributors, selected by the editors, were some of the best known in their fields and they significantly added to the knowledge of this interdisciplinary domain at the time. In late April 1986 the authors met at a conference centre at the University of Kentucky. They presented first drafts of their chapters and exchanged ideas. Out of these interactions came this book, which has a broad interest across several areas of psychology and communication. While answering a number of questions, the authors also posed others for future examination.

Communication, Social Cognition, and Affect (PLE: Emotion)

This definitive work--now extensively revised with virtually all new chapters--has introduced generations of researchers to the psychological processes that underlie social behavior. What sets the book apart is its unique focus on the basic principles that guide theory building and research. Since work in the field increasingly transcends such boundaries as biological versus cultural or cognitive versus motivational systems, the third edition has a new organizational framework. Leading scholars identify and explain the principles that govern intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup processes, in chapters that range over multiple levels of analysis. The book's concluding section illustrates how social psychology principles come into play in specific contexts, including politics, organizational life, the legal arena, sports, and negotiation. New to This Edition *Most of the book is entirely new. *Stronger emphasis on the contextual factors that influence how and why the basic principles work as they do. *Incorporates up-to-date findings and promising research programs. *Integrates key advances in such areas as evolutionary theory and neuroscience.

What does it mean to be human? Why do we feel and behave in the ways that we do? The classic answer is that we have a special kind of intelligence. But to understand what we are as humans, we also need to know what we are like motivationally. And what is central to this story, what is special about human motivation, is that humans want to share with others their inner experiences about the world--share how they feel, what they believe, and what they want to happen in the future. They want to create a shared reality with others. People have a shared reality together when they experience having in common a feeling about something, a belief about something, or a concern about something. They feel connected to another person or group by knowing that this person or group sees the world the same way that they do--they share what is real about the world. In this work, Dr. Higgins describes how our human motivation for shared reality evolved in our species, and how it develops in our children as shared feelings, shared practices, and shared goals and roles. Shared reality is crucial to what we believe--sharing is believing. It is central to our sense of self, what we strive for and how we strive. It is basic to how we get along with others. It brings us together in fellowship and companionship, but it also tears us apart by creating in-group "bubbles" that conflict with one another. Our shared realities are the best of us, and the worst of us.

What Makes Us Strong and Tears Us Apart

Shared Reality

How does motivation work? Scientific research shows that people are motivated to be effective in different ways that go beyond the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. In this text, E. Tory Higgins provides a new theory of motivation that argues that people are motivated by the pursuit of value, truth, and control, but the central story to motivation lies in how these elements work together.

E. Tory Higgins

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