Research Close-Ups reflect the real world of social psychology research. In these recurring features, Myers offers an in-depth look at scientific explorations of fascinating questions ranging from nervousness to how pedestrians in different cultures interact. The Research Close-Ups provide students with a detailed understanding of how social psychologists use various research methods—from laboratory studies, Internet experiments, and creating virtual realities to naturalistic observation and the harvesting of archival data—to explore puzzling questions and reveal important insights.
The Inside Story features reflect the world of practicing social psychologists. These first-person accounts provide students with insights into what motivated various social psychologists to study certain questions and phenomena.
"Focus On" features highlight examples of social psychology from students' worlds. These features have been updated to highlight high-interest topics in social psychology from the everyday world of students' media-rich lives.
Guest contributions reflect topics of particular interest to today's students. Jean Twenge has contributed greatly to Chapter 2, "The Self in a Social World." Drawing on her extensive knowledge and research on the self and cultural changes, the author of Generation Me and The Narcissism Epidemic collaborated on the revision of this chapter.
Margin Quotations reflect all social psychology students' interests regardless of major. Drawn from a wide range of sources, these quotations emphasize the book’s liberal arts theme by linking social psychology with literature, drama, statecraft, religion, sports, science, and popular culture.
The Eleventh Edition retains the same organization that helped make the Tenth Edition so popular with both professors and students. The text is split into the three familiar parts:
Part One: Social Thinking
Part Two: Social Influence
Part Three: Social Relations
Helpful pedagogy to aid student learning and retention reflects different levels of student preparedness. From the part openers with key questions addressed in the succeeding chapters to guiding chapter outlines and section-ending Summing Up bulleted summaries, Social Psychology provides a clear path for students to get the most from their reading.
Making the Social Connection links reflect students' desire for free multimedia resources beyond the book. Each chapter concludes with a section linking concepts covered in the chapter with video segments found on the free Online Learning Center for students.
2013