Motivational Science : Social and Personality Perspectives

"Motivational Science contains a wonderful collection of core readings organized in a fascinating way by two wise scholars of social psychology. This volume provides a motivational complement to the more typical cognitive approaches in this field and usefully connects social psychology to historically significant approaches to human behavior. Instructors will need and want to use this collection in their courses on motivation and emotion, personality, and social psychology."

--Professor Peter Salovey, Yale University

"This volume beautifully captures those advances that have gone the distance in refining our understanding of links between motivation and cognition. I can think of no better way to inspire interest and to educate in this growing arena."

--Professor Susan Andersen, New York University

"This excellent collection offers key readings in motivation science in one place. Together with the editors’ thoughtful and comprehensive introduction, it is an invaluable teaching resource at the graduate and advanced undergraduate levels."

--Professor Norbert Schwarz, University of Michigan

Psychology Press Web Site, May, 2001

Motivational science is concerned with the nature and functions of wanting and their relation to knowing, feeling and doing. Despite the central importance of motivational science to psychology, there is no current collection of articles that define the field. This reader provides an outstanding overview of classic and current articles in social-personality that address major issues in motivational science.

The articles in this reader were selected and edited for readability, interest, and centrality to motivational science. The reader provides an excellent introduction to social-personality contributions to motivational science at a level suitable for both advanced undergraduates and graduate students. It could be used both as a basic textbook for advanced courses in motivation and as a supplement to introductory courses in social-personality. Researchers, instructors, and practitioners in motivational science would also benefit from having these important articles readily available for the first time in a single sourcebook.

The reader begins with an original paper by the editors that introduces the social-personality perspective on motivational science and provides an integrated review of empirical and theoretical contributions. Major issues in motivational science are identified that form the basis for the organization of the book. Each section of the book also has a brief introduction, suggested additional readings, and questions for discussion.

Introduction. T. Higgins & A. Kruglanski, Motivational Science: The Nature and Functions of Wanting.

Part I Basic Wants
Introduction

T. A. Pyszczynski, J. Greenberg, & S. Solomon, Why do we need what we need?: A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation.

R. F. Baumeister & M. R. Leary, The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

M. B. Brewer,, The social self: On being the same and different at the same time.

A. Tesser, M. Millar, & J. Moore, Some affective consequences of social comparison and reflection processes: The pain and pleasure of being close.

Part II When Wants Change
Introduction

N. Cantor, Life task problem-solving: Situational affordances and personal needs.

S. Folkman, R. S. Lazurus, C. Dunkel-Schetter, A. DeLongis & R. Gruen, The dynamics of a stressful encounter.

E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, The support of autonomy and the control of behavior.

Part III Bridging the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Introduction

J. W. Atkinson, Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior.

I. Ajzen, & M. Fishbein, The prediction of behavior from attitudinal and normative variables.

A. Bandura & D. Cervone, Self-evaluative and self-efficacy mechanisms governing the motivational effects of goal systems.

R. R. Vallacher & D. M. Wegner, What do people think they are doing?: Action identification and human behavior.

W. Mischel & Y. Shoda, A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure.

Part IV Getting What You Want
Introduction

C. S. Carver & M. F. Scheier, Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view.

E. T. Higgins, Beyond pleasure and pain.

P. M. Gollwitzer, H. Heckhausen & B. Stellar, Deliberative vs. implemental mind-sets: Cognitive tuning toward congruous thoughts and information.

W. B. Swann Jr., Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet.

Part V Knowing From Wanting
Introduction

Z. Kunda, The case for motivated reasoning.

M. P. Zanna & J. Cooper, Dissonance and the pill: An attribution approach to studying the arousal properties of dissonance

R. M. Sorrentino, D. R. Bobocel, M. Z. Gitta, J. M. Olson, & E. L. Hewitt, Uncertainty orientation and persuasion: Individual differences in the effects of personal relevance on social judgments.

A. W. Kruglanski & D. M. Webster, Motivated closing of the mind: "Seizing" and "freezing".

Part VI Wanting from Knowing
Introduction

B. Weiner & A. Kukla, An attributional analysis of achievement motivation

C. S. Dweck & E. L. Leggett, A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality.

D. Zillmann, R. C. Johnson & K. D. Day, Attribution of apparent arousal and proficiency of recovery from sympathetic activation affecting excitation transfer to aggressive behavior.