Social Psychology and the Unconscious: The Automaticity of Higher Mental Processes

by John A. Bargh

Overview

Evidence is mounting that we are not as in control of our judgments and behavior as we think we are. Unconscious or ‘automatic’ forms of psychological and behavioral processes are those of which we tend to be unaware, that occur without our intention or consent, yet influence us on a daily basis in profound ways. Automatic processes influence our likes and dislikes for almost everything, as well as how we perceive other people, such as when we make stereotypic assumptions about someone based on their race or gender or social class. Even more strikingly, the latest research is showing that the aspects of life that are the richest experience and most important to us - such as emotions and our close relationships, as well as the pursuit of our important life tasks and goals - also have substantial unconscious components.

Social Psychology and the Unconscious: The Automaticity of Higher Mental Processes offers a state-of-the-art review of the evidence and theory supporting the existence and the significance of automatic processes in our daily lives, with chapters by the leading researchers in this field today, across a spectrum of psychological phenomena from emotions and motivations to social judgment and behavior.

The volume provides an introduction and overview of these now central topics to graduate students and researchers in social psychology and a range of allied disciplines with an interest in human behavior and the unconscious, such as cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind, political science, and business.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138010000
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/11/2014
Series:	Frontiers of Social Psychology
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

J.A. Bargh, Introduction. A. Moors, J. De Houwer, What is Automaticity? An Analysis of Its Component Features and Their Interrelations. A. Dijksterhuis, T.L. Chartrand, H. Aarts, Effects of Priming and Perception on Social Behavior and Goal Pursuit. S. Chen, G.M. Fitzsimons, S.M. Andersen, Automaticity in Close Relationships. L. Feldman Barrett, K.N. Ochsner, J.J. Gross, On the Automaticity of Emotion. M.J. Ferguson, The Automaticity of Evaluation. B.A. Nosek, A.G. Greenwald, M.R. Banaji, The Implicit Association Test at Age 7: A Methodological and Conceptual Review. B.K. Payne, B.D. Stewart, Automatic and Controlled Components of Social Cognition: A Process Dissociation Approach.

Editorial Reviews

"Over the past 25 years, research on the unconscious discovered that automatic processes can operate many complex functions commonly believed to require the involvement of consciousness. As impressive as these research findings were and still are, they are mute to the question of how automatic processes achieve their impressive effects. The principal authors of the chapters in Social Psychology and the Unconscious are of the next generation of automaticity researchers that addresses the question of ‘how’ head on. This is a vital resource for anybody who wishes to uncover why it is that higher mental processes benefit so much from automatic processes." - Peter Gollwitzer, Ph.D., Professor of Social–Personality Psychology, New York University

"The single greatest change in the landscape of social psychology in the last two decades has undoubtedly been the study of the unconscious, and of automatic processing of social information. In this book John Bargh, social psychology’s foremost ‘guru’ of automaticity, has assembled a blue-chip group of authors whose chapters provide state-of-the-art commentaries on what we have learned about automaticity and its effects in diverse domains of social life. Highly readable and enlightening, this book will be invaluable for researchers, teachers, and scholars throughout social psychology." - David L. Hamilton, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara

"John Bargh's edited book Social Psychology and the Unconscious: The Authomaticity of Higher Mental Processes provides a detailed summary of state-of-the-art research into the role of automaticity in higher mental processes and, in doing so, the extent to which the fundamental attribution error has led us to see self-control and free choice where something else entirely is in operation" - Catherine Scott, PsycCRITIQUES

"Over the past 25 years, research on the unconscious discovered that automatic processes can operate many complex functions commonly believed to require the involvement of consciousness. As impressive as these research findings were and still are, they are mute to the question of how automatic processes achieve their impressive effects. The principal authors of the chapters in Social Psychology and the Unconscious are of the next generation of automaticity researchers that addresses the question of ‘how’ head on. This is a vital resource for anybody who wishes to uncover why it is that higher mental processes benefit so much from automatic processes." - Peter Gollwitzer, Ph.D., Professor of Social–Personality Psychology, New York University

"The single greatest change in the landscape of social psychology in the last two decades has undoubtedly been the study of the unconscious, and of automatic processing of social information. In this book John Bargh, social psychology’s foremost ‘guru’ of automaticity, has assembled a blue-chip group of authors whose chapters provide state-of-the-art commentaries on what we have learned about automaticity and its effects in diverse domains of social life. Highly readable and enlightening, this book will be invaluable for researchers, teachers, and scholars throughout social psychology." - David L. Hamilton, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara

From the Publisher