Social Psychology Textbooks

Science of Social Psychology  |  Social Psychology Basics  |  Principles of Social Psychology

Together: The Science of Social Psychology

    Rebecca Littman

• • An Introduction to the Science of Social Psychology

    By Robert Biswas-Diener
    The science of social psychology investigates the ways other people affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is an exciting field of study because it is so familiar and relevant to our day-to-day lives. Social psychologists study a wi…

• • Thinking like a Psychological Scientist

    By Erin I. Smith
    We are bombarded every day with claims about how the world works, claims that have a direct impact on how we think about and solve problems in society and our personal lives. This module explores important considerations for evaluating the tr…

• • Social Cognition and Attitudes

    By Yanine D. Hess and Cynthia L. Pickett
    Social cognition is the area of social psychology that examines how people perceive and think about their social world. This module provides an overview of key topics within social cognition and attitudes, including judgmental heuristics, soc…

  • Social Comparison

    By Stephen Garcia and Arnor Halldorsson
    When athletes compete in a race, they are able to observe and compare their performance against those of their competitors. In the same way, all people naturally engage in mental comparisons with the people around them during the course of da…

• • Love, Friendship, and Social Support

    By Debi Brannan and Cynthia D. Mohr
    Friendship and love, and more broadly, the relationships that people cultivate in their lives, are some of the most valuable treasures a person can own. This module explores ways in which we try to understand how friendships form, what attrac…

• • Conformity and Obedience

    By Jerry M. Burger
    We often change our attitudes and behaviors to match the attitudes and behaviors of the people around us. One reason for this conformity is a concern about what other people think of us. This process was demonstrated in a classic study in whi…

  • Persuasion: So Easily Fooled

    By Robert V. Levine
    This module introduces several major principles in the process of persuasion. It offers an overview of the different paths to persuasion. It then describes how mindless processing makes us vulnerable to undesirable persuasion and some of the …

• • The Psychology of Groups

    By Donelson R. Forsyth
    This module assumes that a thorough understanding of people requires a thorough understanding of groups. Each of us is an autonomous individual seeking our own objectives, yet we are also members of groups—groups that constrain us, gui…

• • Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotyping

    By Susan T. Fiske
    People are often biased against others outside of their own social group, showing prejudice (emotional bias), stereotypes (cognitive bias), and discrimination (behavioral bias). Biases can explicit (overt and conscious) or more implicit (auto…

• • Culture

    By Robert Biswas-Diener and Neil Thin
    Although the most visible elements of culture are dress, cuisine and architecture, culture is a highly psychological phenomenon. Culture is a pattern of meaning for understanding how the world works. This knowledge is shared among a group of …

• • Helping and Prosocial Behavior

    By Dennis L. Poepsel and David A. Schroeder
    People often act to benefit other people, and these acts are examples of prosocial behavior. Such behaviors may come in many guises: helping an individual in need; sharing personal resources; volunteering time, effort, and expertise; cooperat…

  • Aggression and Violence

    By Brad J. Bushman
    This module discusses the causes and consequences of human aggression and violence. Both internal and external causes are considered. Effective and ineffective techniques for reducing aggression are also discussed.

• • Research Methods in Social Psychology

    By Rajiv Jhangiani
    Social psychologists are interested in the ways that other people affect thought, emotion, and behavior. To explore these concepts requires special research methods. Following a brief overview of traditional research designs, this module intr…

  • Statistical Thinking

    By Beth Chance and Allan Rossman
    As our society increasingly calls for evidence-based decision making, it is important to consider how and when we can draw valid inferences from data. This module will use four recent research studies to highlight key elements of a statistica…

  • The Replication Crisis in Psychology

    By Edward Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener
    In science, replication is the process of repeating research to determine the extent to which findings generalize across time and across situations. Recently, the science of psychology has come under criticism because a number of research fin…

• • Theory of Mind

    By Bertram Malle
    One of the most remarkable human capacities is to perceive and understand mental states. This capacity, often labeled “theory of mind,” consists of an array of psychological processes that play essential roles in human social life. We review …

  • Motives and Goals

    By Ayelet Fishbach and Maferima Touré-Tillery
    Your decisions and behaviors are often the result of a goal or motive you possess. This module provides an overview of the main theories and findings on goals and motivation. We address the origins, manifestations, and types of goals, and the…

• • Relationships and Well-being

    By Kenneth Tan and Louis Tay
    The relationships we cultivate in our lives are essential to our well-being—namely, happiness and health. Why is that so? We begin to answer this question by exploring the types of relationships—family, friends, colleagues, and lo…

  • Positive Relationships

    By Nathaniel M. Lambert
    Most research in the realm of relationships has examined that which can go wrong in relationships (e.g., conflict, infidelity, intimate partner violence). I summarize much of what has been examined about what goes right in a relationship and …

  • Attraction and Beauty

    By Robert G. Franklin and Leslie Zebrowitz
    More attractive people elicit more positive first impressions. This effect is called the attractiveness halo, and it is shown when judging those with more attractive faces, bodies, or voices. Moreover, it yields significant social outcomes, i…
• ADDITIONAL TOPICS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

  • Cooperation

    By Jake P. Moskowitz and Paul K. Piff
    Humans are social animals. This means we work together in groups to achieve goals that benefit everyone. From building skyscrapers to delivering packages to remote island nations, modern life requires that people cooperate with one another. H…

  • Gender

    By Christia Spears Brown, Jennifer A. Jewell, and Michelle J. Tam
    This module discusses gender and its related concepts, including sex, gender roles, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexism. In addition, this module includes a discussion of differences that exist between males and females and how th…

  • Judgment and Decision Making

    By Max H. Bazerman
    Humans are not perfect decision makers. Not only are we not perfect, but we depart from perfection or rationality in systematic and predictable ways. The understanding of these systematic and predictable departures is core to the field of jud…

  • Functions of Emotions

    By Hyisung Hwang and David Matsumoto
    Emotions play a crucial role in our lives because they have important functions. This module describes those functions, dividing the discussion into three areas: the intrapersonal, the interpersonal, and the social and cultural functions of e…

  • Social Neuroscience

    By Tiffany A. Ito and Jennifer T. Kubota
    This module provides an overview of the new field of social neuroscience, which combines the use of neuroscience methods and theories to understand how other people influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The module reviews research m…

  • Evolutionary Theories in Psychology

    By David M. Buss
    Evolution or change over time occurs through the processes of natural and sexual selection. In response to problems in our environment, we adapt both physically and psychologically to ensure our survival and reproduction. Sexual sel…
• APPENDICES
  • Vocabulary

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Social Psychology Basics
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/socpsy.html

Cover Page
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/main.html
Introduction
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/intro.html
Person Perception
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/personpercept.html
Self Defense
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/selfdefense.html
Prejudice
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/prejudice.html
Social Expectation
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/socexpect.html
Conformity
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/conformity.html
Sociobiology
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/Darwin.html
Social Learning
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/soclearning.html
Social Economics
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/socecon.html
Persuasion
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/persuasion.html
Homepage
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree

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Principles of Social Psychology

1. Publisher Information

2. Chapter 1: Introducing Social Psychology

   1. 1.1 Defining Social Psychology: History and Principles

   2. 1.2 Affect, Behavior, and Cognition

   3. 1.3 Conducting Research in Social Psychology

   4. 1.4 Chapter Summary

3. Chapter 2: Social Learning and Social Cognition

   1. 2.1 Sources of Social Knowledge

   2. 2.2 How We Use Our Expectations

   3. 2.3 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Social Cognition

   4. 2.4 Chapter Summary

4. Chapter 3: Social Affect

   1. 3.1 Moods and Emotions in Our Social Lives

   2. 3.2 Emotions, Stress, and Well-Being

   3. 3.3 How to Feel Better: Coping With Negative Emotions

   4. 3.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Social Affect

   5. 3.5 Chapter Summary

5. Chapter 4: The Self

   1. 4.1 The Cognitive Self: The Self-Concept

   2. 4.2 The Feeling Self: Self-Esteem

   3. 4.3 The Social Self: The Role of the Social Situation

   4. 4.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About the Self

   5. 4.5 Chapter Summary

6. Chapter 5: Attitudes, Behavior, and Persuasion

   1. 5.1 Exploring Attitudes

   2. 5.2 Changing Attitudes Through Persuasion

   3. 5.3 Changing Attitudes by Changing Behavior

   4. 5.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Attitudes, Behavior, and Persuasion

   5. 5.5 Chapter Summary

7. Chapter 6: Perceiving Others

   1. 6.1 Initial Impression Formation

   2. 6.2 Inferring Dispositions Using Causal Attribution

   3. 6.3 Individual and Cultural Differences in Person Perception

   4. 6.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Person Perception

   5. 6.5 Chapter Summary

8. Chapter 7: Influencing and Conforming

   1. 7.1 The Many Varieties of Conformity

   2. 7.2 Obedience, Power, and Leadership

   3. 7.3 Person, Gender, and Cultural Differences in Conformity

   4. 7.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Conformity

   5. 7.5 Chapter Summary

9. Chapter 8: Liking and Loving

   1. 8.1 Initial Attraction

   2. 8.2 Close Relationships: Liking and Loving Over the Long Term

   3. 8.3 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Liking and Loving

   4. 8.4 Chapter Summary

11. Chapter 9: Helping and Altruism

    1. 9.1 Understanding Altruism: Self and Other Concerns

    2. 9.2 The Role of Affect: Moods and Emotions

    3. 9.3 How the Social Context Influences Helping

    4. 9.4 Other Determinants of Helping

    5. 9.5 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Altruism

    6. 9.6 Chapter Summary

12. Chapter 10: Aggression

    1. 10.1 Defining Aggression

    2. 10.2 The Biological and Emotional Causes of Aggression

    3. 10.3 The Violence Around Us: How the Social Situation Influences Aggression

    4. 10.4 Personal and Cultural Influences on Aggression

    5. 10.5 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Aggression

    6. 10.6 Chapter Summary

13. Chapter 11: Working Groups: Performance and Decision Making

    1. 11.1 Understanding Social Groups

    2. 11.2 Group Process: The Pluses and Minuses of Working Together

    3. 11.3 Improving Group Performance

    4. 11.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Social Groups

    5. 11.5 Chapter Summary

14. Chapter 12: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

    1. 12.1 Social Categorization and Stereotyping

    2. 12.2 Ingroup Favoritism and Prejudice

    3. 12.3 Reducing Discrimination

    4. 12.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

    5. 12.5 Chapter Summary

15. Chapter 13: Competition and Cooperation in Our Social Worlds

    1. 13.1 Conflict, Cooperation, Morality, and Fairness

    2. 13.2 How the Social Situation Creates Conflict: The Role of Social Dilemmas

    3. 13.3 Strategies for Producing Cooperation

    4. 13.4 Thinking Like a Social Psychologist About Cooperation and Competition

    5. 13.5 Chapter Summary

16. Question Bank and Slides

Fundamentals of Social Psychology
https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Bogardus/1924/1924_toc.html