The production of this book, spanning over a decade, was very much a large-scale team effort, including not just the four of us, but many colleagues in our field and an entire team of talented people at Worth. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a small city to write a textbook!

First, we would like to thank the leader of the Worth team, Chris Cardone, Worth’s Senior Acquisitions Editor for Psychology. We greatly appreciate her passion for this project, her dedication to making it a success, and her wise guidance throughout the process. Although Chris has overseen the bulk of development and production of this book, we also owe a debt of gratitude to prior editors Marge Byers, who energetically first set us on the path toward this book, and Erik Gilg, who kept the ball rolling until Chris took over.

A critical moment in the progress of this book occurred when Valerie Raymond graciously agreed to become our development editor. She enthusiastically embraced our vision for this book and has in our view done a great job helping to turn our presentations of the field’s knowledge into a pedagogically sound textbook. Valerie was a sheer pleasure to work with, and we wouldn’t have wanted anyone else helping us cut our chapter drafts in half!

We have worked extensively with a number of other helpful, pleasant, and hardworking people at Worth who have had a hand in sculpting this textbook. Thanks to the very talented copy editor Barbara Curialle for improving our sentences, catching our typos, and generally polishing our writing. Thanks to Senior Project Editor Jane O’Neill for overseeing the transformation from Word documents into beautifully laid out textbook pages. Thanks to Photo Editor Cecilia Varas and Photo Researcher Teri Stratford for the great work they have done assisting with the visual highlights of the book.

Beyond these individuals, with whom we worked directly, many other people at Worth have helped with the production or marketing of the book. Thus, our thanks go out to Production Manager Sarah Segal, Digital Development Manager Adam Feil, Senior Tech Advisor Gayle Yamazaki, Associate Publisher Jessica Bayne, Executive Media Editor Rachel Comerford, Associate Media Editor Anthony Casciano, Director of Rights and Permissions Hilary Newman, Permissions Manager Jennifer MacMillan, Executive Marketing Manager Kate Nurre, Cover Designer Kevin Kall, Art Manager Matt McAdams, Assistant Editor Catherine Michaelsen, Stephanie Ellis and Carlise Stembridge in Market Development, Director of Advertising Todd Elder, Promotions Manager Iris Elam, and National Sales Specialist Kari Ewalt.

In our professional lives, our efforts in writing this book have been supported and improved by many people along the way. This book’s emphasis on conceptual organization and the fundamental motives that guide human behavior reflects the influence of Jack Brehm. Our vision for the book, especially the first two chapters, was helped substantially by the input of our colleagues Sheldon Solomon and Tom Pyszczynski. Many thanks also to current graduate student Uri Lifshin for his excellent work helping us to put together the massive reference section. Sincere thanks as well to Josh Hicks, Liz Pinel, Clay Routledge, Lyra Stein, Daniel Sullivan, and Meg Kozak Williams for their high-quality help with supplementary materials to accompany the text. Many others, too numerous to mention here—mentors, collaborators, faculty colleagues, and our own graduate students—have contributed to our understanding and knowledge of social psychology, and have enhanced our careers and our ability to produce this book. Thanks to all of them for the positive impact they have had on this textbook.

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In addition, we would like to thank the faculty and staff at the institutions that provided the foundation of our development as social psychologists, and the schools that currently support our work (in alphabetical order): Skidmore College; Southern Methodist University; the State University of New York at Buffalo; the University of Arizona; the University of British Columbia; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; the University of Kansas; the University of Missouri; the University of Pennsylvania; and Washington and Jefferson College.

And before we entered the halls of colleges and universities, the loving support and encouragement of our parents were instrumental for each of us in our pursuit of scholarly careers. So we wish to express our deep and sincere thanks to Murray and Edith Greenberg, Mary Alice and Len Schmader, Charles and Melinda Arndt, and Sara Landau.

Next, we would like to thank the faculty who reviewed our manuscript at various stages:

Kristin Anderson, University of Houston, Downtown

Shane Bench, Washington State University

Brooke Bennett-Day, Wesleyan College

John Bickford, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Ryan Brunner, Westminster College

Clara Cheng, Carlow University

Florette Cohen, College of Staten Island

Traci Craig, University of Idaho

Alex Czopp, Western Washington University

Danielle Dickens, University of Georgia

Scott Eidelman, University of Arkansas

Yuna Ferguson, Truman State University

Eli Finkel, Northwestern University

Kathleen Geher, State University of New York at New Paltz

Bryan Gibson, Central Michigan University

Peter Glick, Lawrence University

Lisa Harrison, California State University, Sacramento

William Hart, University of Alabama

Brian Harward, Palomar College

Elaine Hatfield, University of Hawaii

Mahzad Hojjat, University of Massachusetts

Alisha Janowsky, University of Central Florida

Stephen Kilianski, Rutgers University

Robin Kowalski, Clemson University

Jennifer Leszczynski, Eastern Connecticut State University

Jill Lorenzi, Virginia Tech

Keith Maddox, Tufts University

Keith Maddox, Tufts University

Lynda Mae, Arizona State University

Molly Maxfield, University of Colorado

Christopher Mazurek, Columbia College

Jared McGinley, Virginia Tech

James McNulty, Florida State University

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Kristin Mickelson, Kent State University

Lisa Molix, Tulane University

Matt Motyl, University of Illinois at Chicago

Paige Muellerleile, Marshall University

Matt Newman, Research Now Group, Inc.

Charles Nichols, Loyola University, New Orleans

Kathryn Oleson, Reed College

Karyn Plumm, University of North Dakota

Heather Price, University of Regina

Anila Putcha-Bhagavatula, California State University, Long Beach

Alan Roberts, Indiana University

Laura Scherer, University of Missouri

Brandon Schmiechel, St. Louis University

Dylan Selterman, University of Maryland

Nicole Shelton, Princeton University

Curt Sobolewski, The Pennsylvania State University

Mark Stewart, American River College

Michael Strube, Washington University in St. Louis

Heather Terrell, University of North Dakota

Margaret Thomas, Earlham College

Carol Toris, College of Charleston

John Updegraff, Kent State University

Anre Venter, University of Notre Dame

Matthew Vess, Ohio University

Ruth Warner, St. Louis University

Todd Williams, Grand Valley State

The following instructors graciously participated in Worth’s focus groups. We are very grateful for the feedback they provided:

Danny Axsom, Virginia Tech

Lauren Brewer, Stephen F. Austin State University

Ryan P. Brown, The University of Oklahoma

Amy Canevello, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Don Carlston, Purdue University

Corey L. Cook, Skidmore College

Kathleen Cook, Seattle University

Cinnamon Danube, University of California, Merced

Dorothee Dietrich, Hamline University

Christopher Downing, Virginia Tech

Miriam Eisenberg, National Institutes of Health

Sally Farley, University of Baltimore

Samuel Fung, Austin Peay State University

Amber Garcia, The College of Wooster

Donna Garcia, California State University, San Bernardino

Jonathan Gerber, Gordon College

James Gire, Virginia Military Institute

AnaMarie Guichard, California State University, Stanislaus

Tamara Hamai, Mount St. Mary’s College

Lisa Harrison, California State University, Sacramento

Robert Haynes, Rowan University

Dawn Howerton, Marshall University

Jaime Kurtz, James Madison University

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Justin J. Lehmiller, Harvard University

Dana Leighton, Hendrix College

Mercedes A. McCormick, Pace University NYC

Abigail Mitchell, Nebraska Wesleyan University

Matt Newman, Research Now Group, Inc.

Wade Rowatt, Baylor University

Marc Setterlund, Alma College

Ryan Smith, Virginia Tech

Lyra Stein, Rutgers University

Elena Stepanova, The University of Southern Mississippi

Ronald Stoffey, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Laura E. VanderDrift, Syracuse University

Todd Williams, Grand Valley State University

Monica Wilson, National University

Jennifer Zimmerman, DePaul University

We would also like to thank the following professors who class tested sample chapters:

Catherine Cottrell, New College of Florida

Lauren Coursey, University of Texas at Arlington

Karen Douglas, San Antonio College

Michael Ekema-Agbaw, Virginia Tech

Heather LaCost, Waubonsee Community College

Paige Muellerleile, Marshall University

Elena Reigadas, Los Angeles Harbor College

Amy Smith, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Stephanie Smith, Ohio University

Melissa Streeter, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Lora Vasiliauskas, Virginia Western Community College

Most sincerely,

Jeff, Toni, Jamie, and Mark