Overview

This compelling work brings together an array of distinguished scholars to explore key concepts, theories, and findings pertaining to some of the most fundamental issues in social life: the conditions under which people are kind and helpful to others or, conversely, under which they commit harmful, even murderous acts. Covered are such topics as the complex interaction of individual, societal, and situational factors underpinning good or evil behavior; the role of guilt and the self-concept; and issues of responsibility and motivation, including why good people do bad things. The volume also examines whether aggression and violence are inescapable aspects of human nature, and how cooperative interaction can break down stereotyping and discrimination.

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9781572309890

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Reviews

Miller has corralled a refreshing mix of social psychological voices to examine the nature of kindness and cruelty. A classical social psychological emphasis on situational influences forms a common thread that blends standard approaches, theories, and findings with less expected, but welcome, contributions. This eighteen-chapter volume offers a bit of something for everyone. Graduate students and advanced undergraduates will find helpful literature reviews and discussions of conceptual approaches. Instructors will find several essays that are especially accessible to students. Those teaching interdisciplinary courses on the topic of good and/or evil will find a broad representation of social psychological perspectives. For seasoned scholars conducting research on good and evil, this book offers some new empirical evidence, but perhaps more valuable still are the unexpected insights generated by relating classic topics to the theme of good and evil. -- Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology The editor and contributors--all prominent researchers and theorists--clearly enjoyed crafting these chapters, which mix theory and empirical findings with critical, often personal, reflections on their topics. Their passion for the work makes the book extremely engaging, even when the topics are disturbing or disquieting....Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty. -- Choice <br> A fine book, rich in scholarship and argument, rarely tendentious and often stimulating, clear and perceptive. It is to be recommended to scholars and the interested reader alike. It is timely and welcome. -- Metapsychology <br> An accomplished text that makes an importantcontribution to social psychology. In nursing, the book will be useful for those studying abuse and for lecturers working in nursing ethics. -- Nursing Standard <p> This excellent anthology can be recommended to a wide variety of audiences....Anyone who is interested in the social psychological literature on these topics could not find a better compilation of contemporary conceptions regarding these concerns....This is an excellent compilation of the most recent research by some of the more distinguished experts illuminating genuinely important social psychological questions. -- The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease Includes chapters from renowned researchers and will be widely read by followers of experimental social psychology....A useful resource. -- British Journal of Sociology <br>

Author Information

Arthur G. Miller, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He received his doctorate in social psychology from Indiana University in 1967 and spent 1979-1980 at Princeton University on a National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship, studying with Ned Jones. Dr. Miller's primary teaching and research interests include stereotyping and stigma, biases in attribution and social judgement, and judgmental reactions to diverse explanations of evil and violence.

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