Review of Social psychology(4th ed.).

Reviews the book, Social Psychology (4th ed.) by Robert C. Williamson, Paul G. Swingle, and S. Stansfeld Sargent (1982). In an area where there are too many textbooks, the social psychology text by Williamson, Swingle, and Sargent contributes an important alternative to the mass look-a-like introductions to the field. What makes this book different is that it is an integrated work of a sociologist (Williamson) and two psychologists which presents the major concepts and issues in social psychology from both a sociological and a psychological perspective. Most introductions to social psychology are either psychological social psychology or sociological social psychology. The Williamson et al. book, which is in its fourth edition, continues to be an exception to such an insular and incomplete view of social psychology. The book is divided into four parts: the first section presents a discussion of culture and the development of the individual; part two deals with fundamental psychological processes; part three presents basic group processes; and part four is an application of social psychology to a number of social issues. In general, the book provides a good overview of topics, emphasizing the major theories, principles, and research studies on each of the topics. Because of the special nature of this book, it will appeal most to those instructors who wish to present a more balanced introduction to the interdisciplinary field of social psychology, including the developments from both psychology and sociology. It is particularly appropriate for courses which include both sociology and psychology students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychological factors and use of mass publicity.

Among the great multitude of psychological theories and hypotheses regarding road-user behavior and accident causation, social psychological principles have hitherto obtained relatively little attention. It is argued that the latter should be an integral part of any major conceptual framework in the field of road safety research. Some principles of socially induced motivation, cue function and social control of behavior are put forward and empirical examples from the literature and our own research on driver behavior are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social neuroscience: Understanding the pieces fosters understanding the whole and vice versa.

Social science and neuroscience perspectives represent two ends of a continuum of levels of organization studied in psychology. Human behavior as a whole unfolds at social levels of organization, whereas much of the research in psychology has focused on cognitive and biological pieces of this whole. Recent evidence underscores the complementary nature of social, cognitive, and biological levels of analysis and how research integrating these levels can foster more comprehensive theories of the mechanisms underlying complex behavior and the mind. This research underscores the unity of psychology and the importance of retaining multilevel integrative research that spans molar and molecular levels of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social justice in an accredited internship in professional psychology: Answering the call.

Calls from the psychological literature have highlighted a need for the integration of social justice training in APA-accredited internships in professional psychology. This article presents an example of how foundational principles of social justice can be integrated into predoctoral internships. The authors identified foundational principles of social justice from the literature and applied them to training, using the internship at the University of California San Diego's Psychological and Counseling Services as a case example. Ways in which these principles have shaped trainees, learning activities, and trainee perspectives are presented. Finally, recommendations for integration of these principles for teaching psychology trainees are underscored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology: Comparative, societal and universal.

Noting that social psychology is necessarily rooted in a societal system, it is proposed that it is both desirable and possible to explore these societal bases in a broad range of sociocultural systems and to integrate these local social psychologies into a wider based discipline. Such an enterprise should proceed by employing the comparative method to test the usefulness of current social psychology (which is largely a Euro-American Discipline) in other sociocultural settings, to develop new theories and data in these other settings, and then to generate a more nearly universal social psychology that recognizes both cross-cultural communalities and varieties in social behavior. (91 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science, ethnicity, and bias: Where have we gone wrong?

The quality, quantity, and funding of ethnic minority research have been inadequate. One factor that has contributed to this inadequacy is the practice of scientific psychology. Although principles of psychological science involve internal and external validity, in practice psychology emphasizes internal validity in research studies. Because many psychological principles and measures have not been cross-validated with different populations, those conducting ethnic minority research often have a more difficult time demonstrating rigorous internal validity. Thus, psychology's overemphasis of internal as opposed to external validity has differentially hindered the development of ethnic minority research. To develop stronger research knowledge on ethnic minority groups, it is important that (a) all research studies address external validity issues and explicitly specify the populations to which the findings are applicable; (b) different research approaches, including the use of qualitative and ethnographic methods, be appreciated; and (c) the psychological meaning of ethnicity or race be examined in ethnic comparisons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems.

Reviews the book, Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems edited by Frank W. Schneider, Jamie A. Gruman, and Larry M. Coutts (see record 2005-02098-000). Though I think the appeal of this text ought to extend well beyond the intended audience, Schneider et al. are marketing their book as an undergraduate level introductory text. It thus contains much of the pedagogy that instructors have come to expect in textbooks. Of course, the typical undergraduate text is written by a single author or group of authors. Schneider et al. opted for a different approach; Theirs is an edited volume, a collection of chapters written by specialists in a wide range of topic areas. Whereas it might have been natural in this case to expect problems with lack of consistency in style, organization, and content across the chapters, I was impressed by the effectiveness with which the editors maintained consistency throughout. One of the main strategies by which they achieved this level of success seems to have been by encouraging authors to use several classic theories and studies, where appropriate, in discussing the content relevant to their own areas of expertise. In total, there are 16 chapters. The first four chapters, which include an introductory chapter and chapters on theory, research methods, and intervention and evaluation, serve largely to set the context for the more focused, topic-driven material that comes later. Because this book is intended as a broad introduction to applied social psychology and because the chapters are rather short in length (20 to 25 pages on average), the coverage within any given chapter is selective rather than comprehensive in nature. I think Applied Social Psychology will make a substantial contribution as an undergraduate text--useful both as an introductory text in courses on applied social psychology and, where time will permit, as a secondary text to complement the main text in introductory or junior graduate-level survey courses on social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Les fondements de la psychologie sociale, 2e édition.

Reviews the book, Les fondements de la psychologie sociale, 2e édition edited by Robert J. Vallerand (2006). Social psychology is a fascinating field of research. It enables us to explain collective phenomena as well as interpersonal behaviors and group dynamics. Robert J. Vallerand proposes an exciting scientific voyage into the heart of human social behaviors, constantly stressing the psychological mechanisms which manage them. The scientific contribution of this book is singular; it was it in its first edition and remains with this one a "must" for whoever is interested in social psychology. The foundations of social psychology can definitively and without any doubt be classified as a "classic". (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a focus for integrative research in psychology.

Examines contemporary interest in the nature and health-protective effects of social support in light of the historical evolution of community psychology. Fostering of social support systems offers an avenue toward primary prevention, and the social network as a unit of social structure lends greater meaning and psychological import to the term community. Priorities for research on the topic of social support are discussed, with particular attention given to potential contributions from other branches of psychology, including the personality, social, developmental, and cognitive areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality.

Despite impressive advances in recent years with respect to theory and research, personality psychology has yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. In an effort to achieve that aim, the current article draws on the most promising empirical and theoretical trends in personality psychology today to articulate 5 big principles for an integrative science of the whole person. Personality is conceived as (a) an individual's unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of (b) dispositional traits, (c) characteristic adaptations, and (d) self-defining life narratives, complexly and differentially situated (e) in culture and social context. The 5 principles suggest a framework for integrating the Big Five model of personality traits with those self-defining features of psychological individuality constructed in response to situated social tasks and the human need to make meaning in culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology on television: Experimental programming.

The opportunity to present a series of psychology programs of a non-telecourse variety was an opportunity to investigate some of the experimental possibilities inherent in the presentation of social psychological content on television. "This paper describes certain aspects of the series: Techniques of presentation, the presentation of potentially controversial subject matter, and the problems involved in the evaluation of the series." One program dramatized social prejudice; another featured a discussion of basic propaganda techniques; still another focussed on worker morale. The experimental programming of social psychology on television "provides further evidence which suggests that educational television not only supplies a challenging experimental medium in social psychology, but also in the process provides a means of communicating significant psychological ideas to a greater representation of the population than has heretofore ever been possible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology and counseling psychology: The history, products, and promise of an interface.

For 3 decades, counseling psychologists have drawn ideas from social psychology about the social process of counseling, integrated the ideas into counseling theories, and assessed them in research. This article traces the history of this interface, examines its products, and projects its future. Three propositions have guided and have been supported by much of the research: (1) Successful counseling relationships generate psychological convergence between counselor and client through a systematic developmental process; (2) ideas counselors introduce that are discrepant from clients' understandings stimulate change; and (3) clients' responsiveness to counselors is a function of their dependence on the counselors. These social influence dynamics underlie the processes and outcomes of counseling relationships regardless of the clinical theory that guides the counselors' work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arbitrary metrics in psychology.

Many psychological tests have arbitrary metrics but are appropriate for testing psychological theories. Metric arbitrariness is a concern, however, when researchers wish to draw inferences about the true, absolute standing of a group or individual on the latent psychological dimension being measured. The authors illustrate this in the context of 2 case studies in which psychologists need to develop inventories with nonarbitrary metrics. One example comes from social psychology, where researchers have begun using the Implicit Association Test to provide the lay public with feedback about their "hidden biases" via popular Internet Web pages. The other example comes from clinical psychology, where researchers often wish to evaluate the real-world importance of interventions. As the authors show, both pursuits require researchers to conduct formal research that makes their metrics nonarbitrary by linking test scores to meaningful real-world events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lessons Learned from a Lifetime of Applied Social Psychology Research.

I started life as an experimental social psychologist but migrated to applied social psychology research. Each time I have been involved in a major applied project I have learned things that have helped in subsequent projects. Most of the time the lesson has been about research design (e.g., you must know how the study should be done before you deal with the reality of how it has to be done). Examples of other lessons include using appropriate research technology, and the importance of program planner awareness of psychological research. In this paper I describe some of the major studies in which I was the investigator and the lesson (s) I learned from each. I also touch on the relevance of the scientist/practitioner model for the applied researcher. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the limits of limiting instructions: Social psychological explanations for the failures of instructions to disregard pretrial publicity and other inadmissible evidence.

Inadmissible information may come in a variety of forms including pretrial publicity and in-court statements made by witnesses or attorneys. A number of remedies have been proposed for controlling the damaging effects of such evidence. When inadmissible information comes in the form of pretrial publicity, judges may issue a continuance or rely on voir dire to remove biased jurors. In addition, it has been argued that deliberations may serve as an effective remedy. Finally, judges may issue an admonition to disregard pretrial publicity or other inadmissible evidence presented in court. Empirical research has demonstrated that such safeguards are relatively ineffective and sometimes produce a backfire effect, resulting in jurors being more likely to rely on inadmissible information after they have been specifically instructed to disregard it. Several social psychological theories provide explanations for the failures of admonitions, including belief perseverance, the hindsight bias, reactance theory, and the theory of ironic processes of mental control. Existing inadmissible evidence research and relevant social psychological theories are reviewed. The article concludes with a discussion of theoretically based policy recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking.

Research on men's help seeking yields strategies for enhancing men's use of mental and physical health resources. Analysis of the assumptions underlying existing theory and research also provides a context for evaluating the psychology of men and masculinity as an evolving area of social scientific inquiry. The authors identify several theoretical and methodological obstacles that limit understanding of the variable ways that men do or do not seek help from mental and physical health care professionals. A contextual framework is developed by exploring how the socialization and social construction of masculinities transact with social psychological processes common to a variety of potential help-seeking contexts. This approach begins to integrate the psychology of men and masculinity with theory and methodology from other disciplines and suggests innovative ways to facilitate adaptive help seeking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of human possibility and constraint.

Reviews the book, The psychology of human possibility and constraint by J. Martin and J. Sugarman (see record 1999-02336-000). This wide-ranging, compact, dense, yet very readable little book presents many of the key elements of a badly needed, more credible philosophy of social science for academic and professional psychologists. The book gives no specific examples of theories or research findings that might illustrate what is meant by a better kind of "knowledge" or "theory" in psychology, so the reader is left somewhat high and dry concerning this question. Perhaps it is simply the case that these questions about what might be the best kind of social and psychological inquiry and what sense to make of the plethora of theories and findings to date, are difficult, murky, and on the frontier of a hermeneutic reenvisioning of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Countertransference: A Social Relations Perspective.

Countertransference (CT)-therapists' perceptions of and reactions to their clients-falls within the broader domains of interpersonal perception and relations. Therefore, social psychological paradigms may prove useful for studying this phenomenon. The authors demonstrate how D. A. Kenny's (1994a) social relations model (SRM) can provide a useful approach for studying CT. Specifically, the SRM distinctions among target, perceiver, and relationship variance were used to understand some of the theoretical developments within clinical CT literature. The authors also suggest that findings from prior SRM research may have implications for issues within the CT literature. A sample of prior empirical research on CT was reviewed from an SRM perspective, and the authors offer suggestions for future CT studies using the SRM. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of this approach for psychotherapy integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

One Hundred Years of Social Psychology Quantitatively Described.

This article compiles results from a century of social psychological research, more than 25,000 studies of 8 million people. A large number of social psychological conclusions are listed alongside meta-analytic information about the magnitude and variability of the corresponding effects. References to 322 meta-analyses of social psychological phenomena are presented, as well as statistical effect-size summaries. Analyses reveal that social psychological effects typically yield a value of r equal to .21 and that, in the typical research literature, effects vary from study to study in ways that produce a standard deviation in r of .15. Uses, limitations, and implications of this large-scale compilation are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)