The Social Mind: Cognitive and Motivational Aspects of Interpersonal Behavior

Effective social interaction requires sophisticated mental and motivational strategies. The Social Mind reviews and integrates psychological research on the relationship between people’s thoughts and motives - their ‘social mind’ - and their interpersonal strategies. The research shows that success in personal relationships, group behaviour and strategic interaction are all significantly influenced by how individuals interpret and explain the social world around them. The implications of this research for personal adjustment, organizational effectiveness and clinical, counselling and health psychology are also explored.

• Contributors are high-profile researchers who have made a significant impact on the field • Covers a wide range of issues concerned with the role of social cognition and motivation in interpersonal behavior • Advances original, theoretical frameworks and reports extensive empirical data

Contributors; Preface; 1. The social mind: introduction and overview Joseph P. Forgas, Kipling D. Williams and Ladd Wheeler; Part I. The Social Mind: Basic Issues and Processes: 2. Dimensions of the social mind: size, asymmetries, congruence and sex differences in thought systems focused on self or other persons William J. McGuire and Claire V. Mcguire; 3. Affect and the \'social mind\': affective influences on strategic interpersonal behaviours Joseph P. Forgas; 4. Motivating cognitive change: the self-standards model of dissonance Joel Cooper; 5. The motivational and cognitive dynamics of day-to-day social life John B. Nezlek; Part II. The Social Mind of Individuals: The Role of the Self and Individual Differences: 6. The social self: the quest for identity and the motivational primacy of the individual self Constantine Sedikides and Lowell Gaertner; 7. Cognitive and motivational processes in self-presentation Dianne M. Tice and Jon Faber; 8. Self-esteem and interpersonal strategies Astrid Schütz; 9. The social mind of the narcissist: cognitive and motivational aspects of interpersonal self-construction Frederick Rhodewalt; 10. Uncertainty orientation and the social mind: individual differences in the interpersonal context Richard M. Sorrentino, Gordon Hodson and Günter L. Huber; Part III. The Social Mind in Personal Relationships and Interpersonal Behaviours: 11. Perceiving, feeling and wanting: experiencing prior relationships in present-day interpersonal relations Susan M. Andersen and Kathy R. Berenson; 12. Ideal standards in close relationships Garth J. O. Fletcher and Jeffry A. Simpson; 13. Victims and perpetrators provide discrepant accounts: motivated cognitive distortions about interpersonal transgressions Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen Catanese; 14. Inside the social mind of the ostraciser Kipling D. Williams, Ladd Wheeler and Joel A. R. Harvey; Part IV. The Social Mind of Groups: Group Representations and Group Behaviour: 15. Self-categorisation and subjective uncertainty resolution: cognitive and motivational facets of social identity and group membership Michael A. Hogg; 16. Motivation gains in performance groups: aspects and prospects Norbert L. Kerr; 17. The social influence of automatic responding: controlling the uncontrollable Pascal Huguet, Marie P. Galvaing, Florence Dumas and Jean-M. Monteil; 18. Directed social influence William D. Crano; 19. Cognitive and social motivation in group decision making Martin F. Kaplan and Henk Wilke; Author index; Subject index.

‘At last here is a volume that provides a compelling answer to the question of what is ‘social’ about social cognition. The editors have assembled a stellar cast of social psychology researchers to address this question head-on and the result is eye-opening and mind-expanding. From intraindividual to interpersonal to group processes, the consistent message throughout the chapters of the volume is that of the inextricable connections between human cognition and social behavior. Empirically and conceptually the contributors to this project make a convincing case that, for human beings, mental life is social life.’ Marilynn B. Brewer, Ohio State University