Social Psychology

Social Psychology Fourteenth Edition

Global Edition

Nyla R. Branscombe University of Kansas

Robert A. Baron Oklahoma State University

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Dedication To Phil Schlaman, my best friend and essential social support;

You make it all worthwhile.

—Nyla R. Branscombe

To the people I care about most and who care most about me— Rebecca, Ted, Melissa, Samantha, Randy, Paul and Leah;

And to the colleagues who helped make my life’s journey such a happy one— Donn Byrne, Roger Black, Jim Naylor, John Capaldi, and Mike Morris

—Robert A. Baron

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1 Social Psychology 17

2 Social Cognition 54

3 Social Perception 89

4 The Self 123

5 Attitudes 161

6 Causes and Cures of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination 200

7 Liking, Love, and Other Close Relationships 238

8 Social Influence 275

9 Prosocial Behavior 311

10 Aggression 339

11 Groups and Individuals 374

12 Dealing with Adversity and Achieving a Happy Life 414

Brief Contents

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Contents

Preface 10 Acknowledgements 15 About the Authors 16

1 Social Psychology The Science of the Social Side of Life 17

1.1: Social Psychology: What It Is and Is Not 20 1.1.1: Social Psychology Is Scientific in Nature 21 1.1.2: Social Psychology Focuses on the Behavior of Individuals 24 1.1.3: Social Psychology Seeks to Understand the Causes of Social Behavior 25 1.1.4: The Search for Basic Principles in a Changing Social World 28

1.2: Social Psychology: Advances at the Boundaries 30 1.2.1: Cognition and Behavior: Two Sides of the Same Social Coin 31 1.2.2: The Role of Emotion in the Social Side of Life 31 1.2.3: Social Relationships: How Important They Are for Well-Being 31 1.2.4: Social Neuroscience: The Intersection of Social Psychology and Brain Research 33 1.2.5: The Role of Implicit (Nonconscious) Processes 36 1.2.6: Taking Full Account of Social Diversity 37

1.3: How Social Psychologists Answer the Questions They Ask: Research as the Route to Increased Knowledge 38

1.3.1: Systematic Observation: Describing the World Around Us 38 1.3.2: Correlation: The Search for Relationships 40 1.3.3: The Experimental Method: Knowledge Through Systematic Intervention 42 1.3.4: Further Thoughts on Causality: The Role of Mediating Variables 46 1.3.5: Meta-Analysis: Assessing a Body of Knowledge 46

1.4: The Role of Theory in Social Psychology 47

1.5: The Quest for Knowledge and the Rights of Individuals: Seeking an Appropriate Balance 49

1.6: Getting the Most Out of This Book: A User’s Guide 52 Summary and Review 52

2 Social Cognition How We Think About the Social World 54

2.1: Heuristics: How We Employ Simple Rules in Social Cognition 57

2.1.1: Representativeness: Judging by Resemblance 58

2.1.2: Availability: “If I Can Recall Many Instances, They Must Be Frequent?” 59 2.1.3: Anchoring and Adjustment: Where You Begin Makes a Difference 61 2.1.4: Status Quo Heuristic: “What Is, Is Good” 63

What Research Tells Us About… People’s Preference for the Status Quo 64

2.2: Schemas: Mental Frameworks for Organizing Social Information 65

2.2.1: The Impact of Schemas on Social Cognition: Attention, Encoding, Retrieval 66 2.2.2: Priming: Which Schema Guides Our Thought? 66 2.2.3: Schema Persistence: Why Even Discredited Schemas Can Influence Thought and Behavior 67 2.2.4: Reasoning by Metaphor: How Social Attitudes and Behavior Are Affected by Figures of Speech 68

2.3: Automatic and Controlled Processing in Social Thought 70

2.3.1: Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior 71 2.3.2: Benefits of Automatic Processing: Beyond Mere Efficiency 72

2.4: Potential Sources of Error in Social Cognition: Why Total Rationality Is Rarer Than You Think 73

2.4.1: Our Powerful Tendency to Be Overly Optimistic 74 2.4.2: Situation-Specific Sources of Error in Social Cognition: Counterfactual Thinking and Magical Thinking 78

2.5: Affect and Cognition: How Feelings Shape Thought and Thought Shapes Feelings 81

2.5.1: The Influence of Affect on Cognition 82 2.5.2: The Influence of Cognition on Affect 83 2.5.3: Affect and Cognition: Social Neuroscience Evidence for Two Separate Systems 85

What Research Tells Us About… Why Not Controlling Ourselves Can Make Us Feel Good 86

Summary and Review 87

3 Social Perception Seeking to Understand Others 89

3.1: Nonverbal Communication: An Unspoken Language 91

3.1.1: Basic Channels of Nonverbal Communication 92 3.1.2: Nonverbal Cues in Social Life 96 3.1.3: Recognizing Deception 98

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What Research Tells Us About… The Role of Nonverbal Cues in Job Interviews 102

3.2: Attribution: Understanding the Causes of Behavior 103 3.2.1: Theories of Attribution: How We Attempt to Make Sense of the Social World 103 3.2.2: Basic Sources of Error in Attribution 108

What Research Tells Us About… Why Some People Conclude They Are Superior to Others 112

3.2.3: Applications of Attribution Theory: Interventions and Insights 113

3.3: Impression Formation and Management: Combining Information About Others 115

3.3.1: Impression Formation 116 3.3.2: Impression Management 119 Summary and Review 121

4 The Self Answering the Question “Who Am I?” 123

4.1: Self-Presentation: Managing the Self in Different Social Contexts 125

4.1.1: Self–Other Accuracy in Predicting Our Behavior 126 4.1.2: Self-Presentation Tactics 128

4.2: Self-Knowledge: Determining Who We Are 130 4.2.1: Introspection: Looking Inward to Discover the Causes of Our Own Behavior 130 4.2.2: The Self from the Observer’s Standpoint 132

4.3: Personal Identity Versus Social Identity 133 4.3.1: Who I Think I Am Depends on the Social Context 135 4.3.2: Who I Am Depends on Others’ Treatment 138

What Research Tells Us About… The Importance of Belonging and Group Ties 140

4.3.3: The Self Across Time: Past and Future Selves 141 4.3.4: Why Self-Control Can Be Difficult to Achieve 141

4.4: Social Comparison: How We Evaluate Ourselves 143 4.4.1: Self-Serving Biases and Unrealistic Optimism 146

4.5: Self-Esteem: Attitudes Toward Ourselves 147 4.5.1: The Measurement of Self-Esteem 148 4.5.2: How Migration Affects Self-Esteem 150 4.5.3: Do Women and Men Differ in Their Level of Self-Esteem? 152

What Research Tells Us About… Perceived Discrimination and Self-Esteem 153

4.6: The Self as a Target of Prejudice 154 4.6.1: Concealing Our Identity: How Well-Being Can Suffer 155 4.6.2: Overcoming the Effects of Stereotype Threat 156 Summary and Review 159

5 Attitudes Evaluating and Responding to the

Social World 161

5.1: Attitude Formation: How Attitudes Develop 168 5.1.1: Classical Conditioning: Learning Based on Association 168 5.1.2: Instrumental Conditioning: Rewards for the “Right” Views 170 5.1.3: Observational Learning: Learning by Exposure to Others 172

What Research Tells Us About… Social Modeling and Eating 173

5.2: When and Why Do Attitudes Influence Behavior? 174 5.2.1: Role of the Social Context in the Link Between Attitudes and Behavior 175 5.2.2: Strength of Attitudes 176 5.2.3: Attitude Extremity: Role of Vested Interests 176 5.2.4: Attitude Certainty: Importance of Clarity and Correctness 178 5.2.5: Role of Personal Experience 179

5.3: How Do Attitudes Guide Behavior? 180 5.3.1: Attitudes Arrived at Through Reasoned Thought 180 5.3.2: Attitudes and Spontaneous Behavioral Reactions 181

5.4: The Science of Persuasion: How Attitudes Are Changed 182

5.4.1: Persuasion: Communicators, Messages, and Audiences 183 5.4.2: The Cognitive Processes Underlying Persuasion 186