Theory and Explanation in Social Psychology

This volume provides the first authoritative explication of metatheoretical principles in the construction and evaluation of social-psychological theories. Leading international authorities review the conceptual foundations of the field’s most influential approaches, scrutinizing the range and limits of theories in various areas of inquiry. The chapters describe basic principles of logical inference, illustrate common fallacies in theoretical interpretations of empirical findings, and outline the unique contributions of different levels of analysis. An in-depth look at the philosophical foundations of theorizing in social psychology, the book will be of interest to any scholar or student interested in scientific explanations of social behavior.

Bertram Gawronski, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. His research investigates the mental underpinnings and behavioral consequences of spontaneous and deliberate evaluations of objects, individuals, groups, and social issues. Dr. Gawronski's work has been recognized with honors including the Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), the Early Career Award from the International Social Cognition Network, the Early Researcher Award from the Ministry of Research and Innovation of Ontario, and the Charlotte and Karl Bühler Award from the German Psychological Society. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), SESP, and SPSP.
 
Galen V. Bodenhausen, PhD, is Lawyer Taylor Professor of Psychology and Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University. Dr. Bodenhausen studies a wide variety of issues involved in social cognition, such as the origins, nature, and consequences of social attitudes, including both explicit and implicit attitudes; the role of identity concerns in judgment and behavior; the influence of prejudice and stereotypes on perception, judgment, memory, and behavior; how emotional states influence judgment and preference; and the nature and consequences of social and consumer values. He is a member of several editorial boards, including the [ital]Journal of Experimental Psychology: General[/ital], the [ital]Journal of Personality and Social Psychology[/ital], and [ital]Personality and Social Psychology Review[/ital]. He is a Fellow of APS, SPSP, the American Psychological Association, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

I. Basics
1. Theory Evaluation, Bertram Gawronski & Galen V. Bodenhausen
2. Levels of Analysis in Social Psychology, Jan De Houwer & Agnes Moors
3. Causal and Meaning Based Explanation, Yoshihisa Kashima
II. Mental State Theories
4. Social Cognitive Theories, Bertram Gawronski & Galen V. Bodenhausen
5. Emotion Theories, Antony S. R. Tony Manstead & Brian Parkinson
6. Motivational Theories, David Dunning
7. Duality Models in Social Psychology, Roland Deutsch
8. Personality Systems and Coherence of Social Behavior, Daniel Cervone, Tracy L. Caldwell, & Nicole D. Mayer
III. Biological Theories
9. Cognitive Neuroscience of Social Behavior, Jennifer S. Beer
10. Genetics of Social Behavior, Wendy Johnson & Lars Penke
11. Evolutionary Theories, Timothy Ketelaar
IV. Pragmatic Theories
12. Rational Actor Theories, David Trafimow
13. Social Functionalism, Philip E. Tetlock & Katrina Fincher
14. Socially Situated Cognition, Gün R. Semin & Margarida V. Garrido
V. Social Theories
15. Interdependence Theory and Related Theories, Harry T. Reis & Ximena B. Arriaga
16. Cultural Psychological Theory, Kimin Eom & Heejung S. Kim
VI. Formal Theories
17. Computer Simulation, Klaus Fiedler & Florian L. Kutzner
18. Mathematical Modeling, Karl Christoph Klauer
19. Agent Based Modeling, Eliot R. Smith & Asaf Beasley
Author Index
Subject Index