Attribution (Psychology)

Inglehart synthesizes previous research on reactions to critical life events and proposes a new generalized principle of cognitive consistency, which integrates elements of cognitive consistency theory and attribution theory. This new theoretical approach offers several significant advantages over existing theories of reactions to critical life events, Inglehart argues, particularly in terms of its contribution to our understanding of the importance of specific moderator variables such as social support and individual differences.

A comprehensive overview of the mechanisms involved in how cognitive processes determine thought and behavior toward the social world, Cognitive Social Psychology: *examines cognition as a motivated process wherein cognition and motivation are seen as intertwined; * reviews the latest research on stereotyping, prejudice, and the ability to control these phenomena--invaluable information to managers who need to prevent against bias in the workplace; and *provides a current analysis of classic problems/issues in social psychology, such as cognitive dissonance, the fundamental attribution error, social identity, stereotyping, social comparison, heuristic processing, the self-concept, assimilation and contrast effects, and goal pursuit. Intended for psychology and management students, as well as social, cognitive, and industrial/organizational psychologists in both academic and applied settings. This new book is also an ideal text for courses in social cognition due to its cohesive structure.