SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 12e SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 12e David G. Myers Hope College Jean M. Twenge San Diego State University SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, TWELFTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2013, 2010, and 2008. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Myers, David G. Social psychology / David G. Myers, Hope College, Holland, Michigan with Jean M. Twenge, San Diego State University.—12e [edition]. pages cm ISBN 978-0-07-786197-1 (alk. paper) ISBN 0-07-786197-3 (alk. paper) 1. Social psychology. I. Twenge, Jean M., 1971– II. Title. HM1033.M944 2016 302—dc23 2015022159 The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites. mheducation.com/highered For Kathy Adamski With gratitude for 34 years of friendship and support v vi Part One Social Thinking About the Authors S ince receiving his University of Iowa Ph.D., David Myers has professed psychology at Michigan’s Hope College. Hope College students have invited him to be their commencement speaker and voted him “outstanding professor.” With support from National Science Foundation grants, Myers’s research has appeared in some three dozen scientific books and periodicals, including Science, the American Scientist, Psychological Science, and the American Psychologist. He has also communicated psychological science through his articles appearing in four dozen magazines, from Today’s Education to Scientific American, and through his seventeen books, including The Pursuit of Happiness and Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. Myers’s research and writings have been recognized by the Gordon Allport Prize, by an “honored scientist” award from the Federation of Associations in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences, and by the Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Personality-Social Psychology. He has chaired his city’s Human Relations Commission, helped found a center for families in poverty, and spoken to hundreds of college and community groups. In recognition of his efforts to transform the way America provides assistive listening for people with hearing loss (see hearingloop.org), he has received awards from the American Academy of Audiology and ns the Hearing Loss Association of America. o elati He bikes to work year-round and plays pick-up basketball. R blic David and Carol Myers have three children and one grandchild. u P e g olle As Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, C e Jean M. Twenge has authored more than 120 scientific publica- p o H tions on generational differences, cultural change, social rejec- tion, gender roles, self-esteem, and narcissism. Her research has been covered in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, and The Washington Post, and she has been featured on Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Fox and Friends, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, and National Public Radio. She summarized this research for a broader audience in the books Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever Before and The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Enti- tlement (co-authored with W. Keith Campbell). She has written for general audiences on several websites and magazines, includ- ing a piece for The Atlantic that was nominated for a National Magazine Award. She frequently gives talks and seminars on generational differences to audiences such as college faculty and staff, military personnel, camp directors, and corporate executives. Jr. er, Dr. Twenge grew up in Minnesota and Texas. She holds a B.A. ak and M.A. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the Huff University of Michigan. She completed a postdoctoral research fel- dy lowship in social psychology at Case Western Reserve University. n Sa She lives in San Diego with her husband and three daughters. vi Brief Contents Preface xix Chapter 1 Introducing Social Psychology 1 Part One Social Thinking Chapter 2 The Self in a Social World 27 Chapter 3 Social Beliefs and Judgments 61 Chapter 4 Behavior and Attitudes 97 e RF at est g a m Part Two Social Influence ay/I D a n n Chapter 5 o Genes, Culture, and Gender 121 D © Chapter 6 Conformity and Obedience 153 Chapter 7 Persuasion 188 Chapter 8 Group Influence 218 F R k Part Three Social Relations Stoc h nc Chapter 9 Prejudice: Disliking Others 254 k/Pu Chapter 10 Aggression: Hurting Others 296 estoc ur Chapter 11 Attraction and Intimacy: Liking and ©P Loving Others 333 Chapter 12 Helping 375 Chapter 13 Conflict and Peacemaking 412 F R Part Four Applying Social Psychology g n hi Chapter 14 Social Psychology in the Clinic 448 Publis m Chapter 15 Social Psychology in Court 479 gra n ©I Chapter 16 Social Psychology and the Sustainable Future 506 McGraw-Hill Education Psychology APA Documentation Style Guide Epilogue 529 References R-1 Name Index NI-1 Subject Index/Glossary SI-1 vii Table of Contents Preface xix I Knew It All Along: Is Social Psychology Simply Common Sense? 11 CHAPTER 1 Focus On: I Knew It All Along 13 Introducing Social Psychology 1 Research Methods: How Do We Do Social Psychology? 14 What Is Social Psychology? 2 Forming and Testing Hypotheses 14 Correlational Research: Detecting What Are Social Psychology’s Big Ideas? 3 Natural Associations 15 We Construct Our Social Reality 3 Experimental Research: Searching for Our Social Intuitions Are Often Powerful Cause and Effect 21 but Sometimes Perilous 4 Generalizing from Laboratory to Life 24 Social Influences Shape Our Behavior 5 Personal Attitudes and Dispositions Postscript: Why We Wrote This Book 26 Also Shape Behavior 6 Social Behavior Is Biologically Rooted 6 Social Psychology’s Principles Are Applicable in Part One: Social Thinking Everyday Life 7 How Do Human Values Influence Social CHAPTER 2 Psychology? 8 Obvious Ways Values Enter Psychology 8 The Self in a Social World 27 Not-So-Obvious Ways Values Enter Psychology 9 Spotlights and Illusions: What Do They Teach Us About Ourselves? 28 Research Close-Up: On Being Nervous About Looking Nervous 29 Self-Concept: Who Am I? 31 At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self 31 Self and Culture 32 Self-Knowledge 37 The Inside Story: Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama on Cultural Psychology 38 What Is the Nature and Motivating Power of Self-Esteem? 42 Self-Esteem Motivation 43 The Trade-off of Low vs. High Self-Esteem 45 Self-Efficacy 47 What Is Self-Serving Bias? 48 Explaining Positive and Negative F Events 49 R es Can We All Be Better Than g ma Average? 50 nd I Focus On: Self-Serving Bias—How Do I Love Me? e Bl Let Me Count the Ways 50 nc/ Unrealistic Optimism 51 aez I False Consensus and Uniqueness 53 el P Explaining Self-Serving Bias 54 uis e L os ©J v iii How Do People Manage Their Self-Presentation? 55 Self-Handicapping 55 Impression Management 56 What Does It Mean To Have “Self-Control”? 58 Postscript: Twin Truths—The Perils of Pride, the ©Somos Photography/Veer RF Powers of Positive Thinking 60 CHAPTER 3 Role Playing 103 Saying Becomes Believing 105 Social Beliefs and Judgments 61 Evil and Moral Acts 105 Social Movements 107 How Do We Judge Our Social Worlds, Why Does Our Behavior Affect Consciously and Unconsciously? 62 Our Attitudes? 108 Priming 62 Intuitive Judgments 64 Self-Presentation: Impression Management 109 Overconfidence 66 Self-Justification: Cognitive Dissonance 109 Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts 68 The Inside Story: Leon Festinger on Dissonance Counterfactual Thinking 72 Reduction 112 Illusory Thinking 73 Self-Perception 113 Moods and Judgments 75 Comparing the Theories 118 The Inside Story: Joseph P. Forgas: Can Bad Postscript: Changing Ourselves Through Weather Improve Your Memory? 76 Action 120 How Do We Perceive Our Social Worlds? 77 Perceiving and Interpreting Events 77 Belief Perseverance 79 Part Two: Social Influence Constructing Memories of Ourselves and Our Worlds 79 CHAPTER 5 How Do We Explain Our Social Worlds? 82 Genes, Culture, and Gender 121 Attributing Causality: To the Person or the Situation 82 The Fundamental Attribution Error 84 How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity? 122 How Do Our Social Beliefs Matter? 90 Genes, Evolution, and Behavior 123 Focus On: The Self-Fulfilling Psychology of the Culture and Behavior 124 Stock Market 90 Focus On: The Cultural Animal 124 Teacher Expectations and Student Performance 91 Research Close-Up: Passing Encounters, Getting from Others What We Expect 92 East and West 127 What Can We Conclude About Social Beliefs and How Are Males and Females Alike and Judgments? 94 Different? 131 Gender and Genes 132 Postscript: Reflecting on Illusory Thinking 96 Independence Versus Connectedness 133 Social Dominance 136 Aggression 137 CHAPTER 4 Sexuality 138 Behavior and Attitudes 97 Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally? 140 How Well Do Our Attitudes Predict Our Behavior? 98 Gender and Mating Preferences 140 Reflections on Evolutionary When Attitudes Predict Behavior 99 Psychology 143 When Does Our Behavior Affect Focus On: Evolutionary Science and Religion 143 Our Attitudes? 103 Gender and Hormones 144 ix