Anthony R. Pratkanis - The Science of Social Influence: Advances and Future Progress

FRONTIERS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Series Editors:

Arie W. Kruglanski , University of Maryland at College Park

Joseph P. Forgas , University of New South Wales

Frontiers of Social Psychology is a series of domain-specific handbooks. The purpose of each volume is to provide readers with a cutting-edge overview of the most recent theoretical, methodological, and practical developments in a substantive area of social psychology, in greater depth than is possible in general social psychology handbooks. The editors and contributors are all internationally renowned scholars, whose work is at the cutting edge of research.

Scholarly, yet accessible, the volumes in the Frontiers series are an essential resource for senior undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and practitioners, and are suitable as texts in advanced courses in specific sub-areas of social psychology.

Published titles

Negotiation Theory and Research , Thompson

Close Relationships , Noller & Feeney

Evolution and Social Psychology , Schaller, Simpson, & Kenrick

Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior , Forgas

Social Psychology and the Unconscious , Bargh

Social Communication , Fiedler

Forthcoming titles

The Self , Sedikides & Spencer

Personality and Social Behavior , Rhodewalt

Explorations in Political Psychology , Krosnick & Chiang

Culture and Social Psychology , Chiu & Mallorie

Social Cognition , Strack & Frster

For continually updated information about published and forthcoming titles in the Frontiers of Social Psychology series, please visit: www.psypress.com/frontiers

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Copyright 2007 by Psychology Press

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

The science of social influence : advances and future progress / edited by Anthony R. Pratkanis.

p. cm. (Frontiers of social psychology)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84169-426-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Social influenceResearch.

I. Pratkanis, Anthony R.

HM1176.S35 2007

302.13dc22

2007008423

ISBN: 978-1-84169-426-9 (hbk)

Anthony R. Pratkanis earned his Ph.D. in 1984 from the famed social psychology program at the Ohio State University. His research program has investigated such topics as the delayed effects of persuasion, attitudes and memory, group-think, affirmative action, subliminal persuasion, mass communications, source credibility, persuasion and democracy, economic fraud, the use of influence in international conflicts, and a variety of influence tactics such as the pique technique, phantoms, the projection tactic, the 1-in-5 prize tactic, and altercasting.

He has appeared in the mass media over 500 times as an expert on social influence processes, has been called as an expert witness in numerous advertising deceptiveness cases, and served as a consultant to AARP, NASD, and other law enforcement and civic groups on countering the undue influence used in fraud crimes and to the United States military on countering the propaganda of terrorists and dictators.

He is the co-author (with Elliot Aronson) of Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion and (with Doug Shadel) of Weapons of Fraud: A Source Book for Fraud Fighters .

Anthony Pratkanis is the founding editor of Social Influence , a new scientific journal from Psychology Press.

Elliot Aronson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology

University of California in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Prashant Bordia

School of Management

University of South Australia

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Jerry M. Burger

Department of Psychology

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA, USA

Robert B. Cialdini

Regents Professor of Psychology

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ, USA

Carsten K. W. De Dreu

Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology

Department of Psychology

University of Amsterdam

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Nicholas DiFonzo

Department of Psychology

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, NY, USA

Dariusz Dolinski

Professor and Dean of Wrocaw Campus

Warsaw School of Social Psychology

Wrocaw, Poland

Noah J. Goldstein

Department of Psychology

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ, USA

Eric S. Knowles

Department of Psychology

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR, USA

Roderick M. Kramer

William R. Kimball Professor of Organizational Behavior

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford, CA, USA

Geoff MacDonald

Department of Psychology

University of Toronto

Toronto, ON, Canada

Paul R. Nail

Department of Psychology and Counseling

University of Central Arkansas

Conway, AR, USA

Anthony R. Pratkanis

Department of Psychology

University of California

Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Dan D Riner

Department of Psychology

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR, USA

Brad J. Sagarin

Department of Psychology

Northern Illinois University

DeKalb, IL, USA

Christina K. Struckman

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA, USA

Marlene E. Turner

Department of Organization and Management

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA, USA

Sarah E. Wood

Department of Psychology

University of Wisconsin-Stout

Menomonie, WI, USA

D o you ever wonder why people do things? For example, why, all of a sudden, is everyone wearing the same purple shirt or the same hairstyle or using the same cool, groovy, or is it spot-on jargon to describe what they like and agree with? How can a group of people watch someone else commit acts of violence on another human being and not intervene? How can a person be urged on to commit such acts of violence in the first place? Why does a seemingly normal person give his or her money to a con criminal? What happens to get us to purchase things on the used car lot or the cosmetic counter or the infomercial, among other places? How can a leader of a nation move us to accomplish great things? What social forces cause groups and leaders to make brilliant decisions one minute, and bad choices with disastrous consequences the next? How does a small group (and sometimes just one person) come to change the behavior and folkways of an entire community, nation, or world? And, perhaps most importantly, how can we resist unwanted and undesirable social influence attempts?