Extending Psychological Frontiers

Leon Festinger's forty-year scrutiny of that "curious animal, the modern human being" fundamentally transformed psychological thinking and shaped an entire scientific field, that of social psychology. The twenty-four papers brought together for the first time in Extending Psychological Frontiers encompass the classic contributions and critical turning points of Festinger's long career. Spanning the post-war decades, this unprecedented volume reveals the full scope, diversity, and import of Festinger's work. Its thematic arrangement clarifies the complex network of problems that preoccupied Festinger and the unique imaginative style that characterized his intellect. Whether examining the voting behavior of Catholics and Jews, the meaning of minute eye movements, the decisions of maze-running rats, or the proselytizing behavior of cultists, Festinger consistently transcended the traditional bounds of the discipline. His theory of cognitive dissonance, which describes how people attempt to resolve the tensions that result when they hold simultaneously two inconsistent beliefs, challenged preexisting psychological theories and produced more important ideas and experimentation than any other development in social psychology. Major writings on group dynamics, decision making, and perceptual processes further underscore the impact of Festinger's research not only on psychology, but also on a wide range of intellectual fronts, from literary theory to ethnology and from historical studies to contemporary political analysis. Extending Psychological Frontiers is an invaluable resource, providing a comprehensive and coherent picture of an extraordinary body of work.

The Biographical Dictionary of Psychology provides biographical information and critical analysis of the influences and reception of over 500 people who have made a significant contribution to the field of psychology. Written by an international team of contributors, this volume charts the development of the practice of psychology worldwide from its emergence in the 1850s up to the present day. Biographies range from important historical figures to those who have had a more recent impact on the field, including: * Chris Argyris * Donald Broadbent * Kay Deaux * Leon Festinger * Sigmund Freud * Erich Fromm * Francis Galton * Eleanor Gibson * Doreen Kimur * Ulric Neisser * Jean Piaget * Herbert A. Simon * B.F. Skinner * Amos Tversky Entries are alphabetically organized and similarly structured for ease of access and allowing comparison of information. Introductory biographical details cover main fields of interest, nationality, principal appointments, honours, and places and dates of birth and death. This is followed by full bibliographic details of principal publications, as well as secondary and critical literature which provide a useful route into further research. Following on from there is an invaluable critical appraisal of the major achievements, influences and reception of the psychologists themselves. Thorough indexing allows the reader to access information by American Psychological Association subject division, key concepts, name and institution.

The social psychology of science is a compelling new area of study whose shape is still emerging. This erudite and innovative book outlines a theoretical and methodological agenda for this new field, and bridges the gap between the individually focused aspects of psychology and the sociological elements of science studies. Presenting a side of social psychology that, until now, has received almost no attention in the social sciences literature, this volume offers the first detailed and comprehensive study of the social psychology of science, complete with a large number of empirical and theoretical examples. The volume's introductory section provides a detailed analysis of how modern social psychology might apply to the study of science. Chapters show how to analyze science in terms of social cognition, attribution theory, attitudes and attitude change, social motivation, social influence and social conformity, and intergroup relations, weaving extensive illustrations from the science studies literature into the theoretical analysis. The nature and role of experimentation are discussed, as are metaanalytic methods for summarizing the results of multiple studies. Ways to facilitate the generalization of causal inferences from experimental work are also examined. The book focuses on such topics as interactions among small groups of scientists, and the impact of social motivation, influence, and conformity on scientific work. Also covered are scientists' responses to ethical issues in research, differences in cognitive style distribution, creativity in research and development, and the sociologists's view of the social psychology of science and technology. In addition, the book provides two annotated bibliographies, one on the philosophy of science and the other on social psychology, to guide readers in both disciplines to salient recent works. Valuable to the entire science studies community, this text will be of special interest to philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and historians of science interested in the nature of knowledge development in science. Because of its novel application of social psychological theories and methods, this book will be useful as a primary text or a secondary text in courses on science studies in psychology, sociology, or philosophy departments.

Some psychologists think it is almost always wrong to deceive research subjects, while others think the use of deception is essential if significant human problems are to receive scientific study. Illusions of Reality shows how deception is used in psychological research to create illusions of reality—situations that involve research subjects without revealing the true purpose of the experiment. The book examines the origins and development of this practice that have lead to some of the most dramatic and controversial studies in the history of psychology. Social psychology may be the only area of research where the research methods sometimes are as interesting as the results. The most impressive experiments in this field produce their impact by creating situations that lead research subjects to believe that they are taking part in something other than the true experiment, or situations where subjects are not even aware that an experiment is being conducted. These illusions of reality are created by using various forms of deception, such as providing false information to people about how they perform on tests or by using actors who play roles. The research described in Illusions of Reality includes significant and controversial experiments in the history of psychology that sometimes took on the characteristics of dramatic stage productions. The ethical issues raised by this research are discussed, and the practice of using deception in research is placed in the context of American cultural values.

The apocalypse is a motif that lies behind many religious beliefs and practices. 'War in Heaven/Heaven on Earth' theorizes the apocalyptic as it has arisen in a variety of religious traditions, from Native American religion to Islam in Northern Nigeria and new terrorist movements. Millennial theory and history are explored from the perspective of social psychology, sociology and post-modern philosophy. The volume is unique in applying an analysis of millennial themes to a comparative study of religion.

Leon Festinger’s 1957 A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance is a key text in the history of psychology – one that made its author one of the most influential social psychologists of his time. It is also a prime example of how creative thinking and problem solving skills can come together to produce work that changes the way people look at questions for good. Strong creative thinkers are able to look at things from a new perspective, often to the point of challenging the very frames in which those around them see things. Festinger was such a creative thinker, leading what came to be known as the “cognitive revolution” in social psychology. When Festinger was carrying out his research, the dominant school of thought – behaviorism – focused on outward behaviors and their effects. Festinger, however, turned his attention elsewhere, looking at “cognition:” the mental processes behind behaviors. In the case of “cognitive dissonance”, for example, he hypothesized that apparently incomprehensible or illogical behaviors might be caused by a cognitive drive away from dissonance, or internal contradiction. This perspective, however, raised a problem: how to examine and test out cognitive processes. Festinger’s book records the results of the psychological experiments he designed to solve that problem. The results helped prove the existence for what is now a fundamental theory in social psychology.

This Research Topic explores issues that are central to the continued relevance of organizational and vocational psychology, and equally central to the well-being of individuals and communities. The cohering theme of this publication revolves around the question of how people can establish meaningful lives and meaningful work experiences in light of the many challenges that are reducing access to decent work. Another essential contextual factor that is explored in this volume is the Decent Work Agenda (International Labour Organization, 2008), which represents an initiative by the International Labour Organization. In this book, we hope to enrich the Decent Work Agenda by infusing the knowledge and perspectives of psychology into contemporary discourses about work, and well-being. Another inspiration for this project emerged from the UNESCO Chair in Lifelong guidance and counseling, recently established in Poland in 2013 under the leadership of Jean Guichard, which has focused on advancing research and policy advocacy about decent work. This new era calls for an innovative perspective in constructing decent work and decent lives: the passage from the paradigm of motivation to the paradigm of meaning, where the sustainability of the decent life project is anchored to a meaningful construction. During this period when work is changing so rapidly, leaving people yearning for a sense of connection and meaning, it’s fundamental to create a framework for an explicitly psychological analysis of decent work.