1. Self-Handicapping (Berglas & Jones, 1978)-- This theory is the idea that people create real or imagined obstacles to their success in order to have an excuse for failure. Additionally, if they succeed despite the obstacles they made for themselves, they look even better. Thus, in the event of success or failure, they are covered. This theory is sexy because it is an interesting way that people feel better about themselves and about their accomplishments. I have seen it in action many, many times and have even used it myself before learning that it was an actual psychological principle.
2. Actor-Observer Effect (Jones & Nisbett, 1972)-- This is the theory that people attribute their own personal behavior to situational factors and others' behavior to personal factors. This is interesting because it is completely based on perception and salience--the behavior of others is more salient than their environment, so of course their behavior is due to their own personal traits, while our own behavior is (obviously) due to the environment, because that is what we perceive and what affects us the most. It is interesting that we interpret the behavior of others differently than we interpret our own behavior, which sometimes leads us to interpret others incorrectly
3. Deindividuation (Zimbardo, 1969)-- The idea that we lose our inhibitions and feelings of constraint against deviant behavior when we feel that we cannot be identified is very interesting. It illustrates the constraints that we normally feel in our behavior such that we do not want to be viewed in a negative light. But, when we can't be identified and our deviant behavior does not reflect on us personally, we let loose and do things we would not normally do, regardless of the consequences.
4. Facial Feedback Hypothesis (Laird, 1974)-- This theory states that we can change our mood just by changing our facial expressions. That is, if you smile, you will become happier; if you frown, you will become more depressed. The fact that we can change our emotions by just altering our expressions is so interesting. It is also very useful to know that if you are in a bad mood, just smile! You will become happier :)
5. Spotlight Effect (Gilovich, 2000)-- This is the idea that people think the spotlight shines on them more than it actually does--that people notice little things about them more than they truly do. The Spotlight Effect illustrates how self-focused people truly are. We are constantly fixated on ourselves and we think that everyone else is too. It is actually quite a relief to know that people don't notice those little things (that zit or that food stain from lunch) that we are self-conscious about. However, that also means that they do not notice our successes as much as we think they should either. It is a trade off between the good and the bad.
5 Sexiest Social Psychologists:
1. Zimbardo-- I learned about the Stanford prison study in my high school Intro to Psych course, and I have been fascinated with it ever since. The fact that Zimbardo thought the whole thing up and created such a realistic scenario to illustrate such interesting concepts makes him a truly great researcher. Plus, his cheesiness made the prison study video so much more entertaining. He came up with studies that were so different and interesting, like the Grasshopper study, that Social Psychology is fun to learn about.
2. Zajonc-- Social Facilitation is such an interesting theory, and the psychologist that realized the effect that groups of people have on performance is someone who has made a huge contribution to the field of Social Psychology. Plus, anyone that uses cockroaches for scientific studies has to be an interesting guy.
3. Bem-- Self-Perception is such interesting contributions to the field of social psychology. It illustrates a great deal about how individuals interpret themselves based on their own behavior, which is a large part of the self-perception aspect of the field. Bem's theories were important additions to the field that influenced later studies and theories.
4. Milgram-- He conducted one of the most famous studies in Social Psychology, which is also one of the most interesting in the history of the field. He was able to conduct this study before research was regulated for ethicality. His study is sexy because it would not be allowed to be conducted today due to its lack of ethics. Despite the questionable morals involved, it was so effective in measuring what he was trying to measure and so revealing in terms of its results.
5. Festinger-- Cognitive Dissonance and Social Comparison are some of the sexiest, most interesting theories in Social Psychology. They illustrate quite a bit about how people interpret their own ideas and behavior and are important to the development of other theories in Social Psychology. Festinger contributed so much about self-perception and ideas to the field of psychology and was a large influence on later work.
