This page intentionally left blank Why Do You Need This New Edition? If you’re wondering why you should buy this new edition of Social Psychology, here are 10 good reasons! 1. Engaging online resources to help you succeed! The new MyPsychLab provides you with online study resources to help make your study time more effective, it includes: Pearson eText, Audio Text, a personalized study plan to help you succeed in the course, and more. 2. A brand new chapter: Chapter 12, “Social Psychology: A Guide to Dealing with Adversity and Achieving a Happy Life.” This new chapter explores research by social psychologists that offers insights into the causes and effects of personal adversity and suggests means to overcoming it for a rich and meaningful life. 3. New feature essay: “EMOTIONS and . . . .” Appearing in every chapter, these new essays emphasize recent research on emotion, ensuring that coverage of this important topic is integrated into every chapter. Some examples include: “Cultural Differences in Inferring Others’ Emotions,” “Emotional Contagion,” and “Mood, Feelings of Elevation, and Helping.” 4. New feature essay: “SOCIAL LIFE in a CONNECTED WORLD.” Appearing in every chapter, these new essays show how the discipline of social psychology is working to understand the nature and scope of the recent dramatic changes we are facing in our social world brought about by the Internet and a vast array of electronic devices that connect people to each other in many new ways. Some examples include: “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, But Help Is Available,” “Working with Others via Computer-Mediated Communication,” and “Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Marketing and Persuasion.” 5. Every chapter is updated with new research, new findings, and new theoretical perspectives; instructors will include this information on your exams. 6. Chapter 3, “Social Perception,” includes: A new section on scent as a nonverbal clues a new discussion of fate attributions (concluding that negative events were somehow “meant to be”); and a new section on the accuracy of first impressions. 7. Chapter 4, “The Self,” includes: New research which addresses the question of whether or not others close to us can predict our behavior better than we can; new research on why introspection fails (why we apparently don’t know that spending our money on others makes us happier than spending it on ourselves); and a new section on how people can successfully engage in self control. 8. Chapter 7, “Interpersonal Attraction, Close Relationships, and Love” includes: A new section examining recent findings on the attractive properties of the color red; a new discussion of what we seek in romantic partners; and new data on the use of cooperative strategies in mate selection and attraction. 9. Chapter 8, “Social Influence,” includes: New information on “facades” of conformity (instances in which people pretend to conform in order to make a good impression); a new section on “How much do we conform?”; and an entirely new section on why we choose, sometimes, not to go along with others. 10. Chapter 10, “Aggression,” includes: New research on the effects of social exclusion as a cause of aggression; recent findings on the effects of exposure to media violence and playing violent video games; and new research on sexual jealousy and its foundations in evolutionary processes. This page intentionally left blank T H I R T E E N T H E D I T I O N Social Psychology Robert A. Baron Oklahoma State University Nyla R. Branscombe University of Kansas Boston • Columbus • Indianapolis • New York • San Francisco • Upper Saddle River Amsterdam • Cape Town • Dubai • London • Madrid • Milan • Munich • Paris • Montreal • Toronto Delhi • Mexico City • Sao Paulo • Sydney • Hong Kong • Seoul • Singapore • Taipei • Tokyo Editorial Director: Craig Campanella Editor in Chief: Jessica Mosher Executive Editor: Jeff Marshall Senior Sponsoring Editor: Amber Mackey Editorial Assistant: Samantha Solano VP, Director of Marketing: Brandy Dawson Executive Marketing Manager: Jeanette Koskinas Marketing Manager: Nicole Kunzmann Managing Editor: Maureen Richardson Project Manager, Production: Shelly Kupperman Operations Supervisor: Mary Fischer Operations Specialist: Diane Peirano Creative Director: Blair Brown Art Cover Director: Leslie Osher Interior and Cover Designer: Ilze Lemesis Cover Image: BBMWF4 Alamy; ARPMGG Alamy; AEG1IRR Alamy Director, Digital Media: Brian Hyland Senior Digital Media Editor: Michael Halas Full-Service Project Management and Composition: Amy L. Saucier, Laserwords Printer/Binder: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Cover Printer: Lehigh-Phoenix Text Font: Janson Text 9.75/12 Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on page 483. Copyright © 2012, 2008, 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 or you may fax your request to 201-236-3290. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baron, Robert A. Social psychology / Robert A. Baron, Nyla R. Branscombe. -- 13th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-205-20558-5 ISBN-10: 0-205-20558-5 1. Social psychology. I. Branscombe, Nyla R. II. Title. HM1033.B35 2011 302--dc23 2011031291 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Student Edition ISBN-10: 0-205-20558-5 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-20558-5 Instructor’s Review Copy ISBN-10: 0-205-20627-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-20627-8 Books à la Carte ISBN-10: 0-205-20626-3 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-20626-1 Dedication To Donn Byrne, my truest lifelong friend; Rebecca, the essential ingredient in my happiness, And Jessica, Ted, Samantha, and Melissa, the heart of my small family —Robert A. Baron To Rose Croxall, Howard Branscombe, Marlene Boyd, and Elaine Haase— all of whom have known and cared about me the longest. Here’s to surviving and overcoming the hardships! —Nyla R. Branscombe This page intentionally left blank Brief Contents 1 Social Psychology The Science of the Social Side of Life 2 2 Social Cognition How We Think About the Social World 34 3 Social Perception Perceiving and Understanding Others 68 4 The Self Answering the Question “Who Am I?” 102 5 Attitudes Evaluating and Responding to the Social World 138 6 The Causes, Effects, and Cures of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination 176 7 Interpersonal Attraction, Close Relationships, and Love 214 8 Social Influence Changing Others’ Behavior 252 9 Prosocial Behavior Helping Others 28 10 Aggression Its Nature, Causes, and Control 320 11 Groups and Individuals The Consequences of Belonging 358 12 Social Psychology A Guide to Dealing with Adversity and Achieving a Happy Life 396 vii This page intentionally left blank