13.1 Chapter Introduction

Social Psychology

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  • Social Behaviour: Interacting with People

    Survival: The Struggle for Resources

    HOT SCIENCE Mouse Over

    Reproduction: The Quest for Immortality

    THE REAL WORLD Making the Move

    Breaking Up: When the Costs Outweigh the Benefits

  • Social Influence: Controlling People

    The Hedonic Motive: Pleasure Is Better Than Pain

    CULTURE & COMMUNITY Free Parking

    The Approval Motive: Acceptance Is Better Than Rejection

    OTHER VOICES 91% of All Students Read This Box and Love It

    The Accuracy Motive: Right Is Better Than Wrong

  • Social Cognition: Understanding People

    HOT SCIENCE The Wedding Planner

    Stereotyping: Drawing Inferences from Categories

    Attribution: Drawing Inferences from Actions

TERRY, ROBERT, AND JOHN HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON: They have all been tortured. Terry was an British hostage negotiator working in Lebanon when he was kidnapped by Hezbollah guerrillas; Robert was a semi-pro boxer living in Louisiana when he was arrested and sent to prison; and John was an American naval aviator when he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. All three men experienced a variety of tortures, and all agree about which was the worst.

Terry:

 I soon realized that if I was to survive it was essential to maintain a strong inner life…because the threat of dissolving into madness was ever present.

Robert:

It was a nightmare. I saw men so desperate that they ripped prison doors apart, starved and mutilated themselves…it takes every scrap of humanity to stay focused and sane.

John:

It’s an awful thing. It crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment.

The cruel technique that these three men are describing has nothing to do with electric shock or waterboarding. It does not require wax, rope, or razor blades. It is a remarkably simple technique that has been used for thousands of years to break the body and destroy the mind. It is called solitary confinement. Terry Waite spent 4 years in a cell by himself, Robert King spent 29, and John McCain spent 2.

When we think of torture, we usually think of techniques designed to cause pain by depriving people of something they desperately need, such as oxygen, water, food, or sleep. But the need for social interaction is every bit as vital. Studies of prisoners show that extensive periods of isolation can induce symptoms of psychosis (Grassian, 2006), and even in smaller doses, social isolation takes a toll. Ordinary people who are socially isolated are more likely to become depressed, to become ill, and to die prematurely. In fact, social isolation is as bad for your health as being obese or smoking (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008; House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988).

Terry Waite, Robert King, and John McCain each spent years in isolation and described it as the worst form of torture.
SAMIR HUSSEIN/GETTY IMAGES and © ANN HARKNESS and © BROOKS KRAFT/CORBIS

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WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL GETS SICK OR GOES CRAZY WHEN LEFT ALONE? Our kind. Human beings are the most social species on the planet and everything about us—from the structure of our brains to the structure of our societies—is influenced by that fact. Social psychology is the study of the causes and consequences of sociality. We will start our tour of this field by examining social behaviour (how people interact with each other) and see how social behaviour solves problems that every living creature faces. Next we will examine social influence (how people change each other) and see that people have three basic motivations that make them responsive to the actions of others. Finally, we will examine social cognition (how people think about each other) and see how people use information to make judgments about others.