''The Social Animal'' is an
APA-medal winning book about
social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...
by
Elliot Aronson
Elliot Aronson (born January 9, 1932) is an American psychologist who has carried out experiments on the theory of cognitive dissonance, and invented the Jigsaw Classroom, a cooperative teaching technique which facilitates learning while reducing ...
. Originally published in 1972, ''The Social Animal'' is currently in its twelfth
edition. In a style written for the general audience, the book covers what modern psychology knows about the reasons for some of the most important aspects of human behavior.
Contents
Aronson begins the book by citing a number of scenarios, real and constructed — reactions to the
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...
, the
Stanford prison experiments, and a four-year-old boy given a drum set among them — that illustrate a variety of human behaviors seen in real life. The rest of the book is spent primarily on explaining how human minds operate and interact with each other, using these situations as examples. The book covering topics include the causes of prejudice, aggression, and
cognitive dissonance
In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person's actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environment. ...
.
In explaining the reasons why people behave in unusual ways, Aronson cites his "first law":
People who do crazy things are not necessarily crazy.
Style and use of experimental method
As a scientist, Aronson leans on the importance of case work and
experimental study
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
. Thus, the ''Social Animal's'' explanations of human behavior are largely validated with citations of studies done by researchers of social psychology. Throughout the book, Aronson relies on the use of controlled experiments to validate empirical observation.
References
*Elliot Aronson: ''The Social Animal'', Palgrave Macmillan, 10th revised edition, 2007,
*Elliot Aronson (Ed.): ''Readings about the Social Animal'', W.H. Freeman & Co, 10th edition, 2007,
External links
Elliot Aronson - Social Psychology Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Animal, The
1972 non-fiction books
Books about social psychology
Sociology books