Social Psychology Faculty

Self and identity, emotion, social rejection and belongingness, aggression, sexuality, self-control, self-esteem, interpersonal processes, defensiveness and self-deception, self-defeating behaviors, quest for meaning, motivated cognition, interdisciplinary approaches to psychology.

(1) Self-control, choice, decision making. We have investigated how people regulate their emotions, resist temptation, break bad habits, and perform up to their potential -- and why they often fail to do so. Related work shows how stressful and draining it can be to make choices. (2) The need to belong. We have worked on how people respond to being rejected or excluded from social groups, as well as romantic heartbreak. Also, many psychological processes are based on the desire to connect with other people. (3) A series of studies of human sexuality has addressed questions such as how nature and culture influence people's sex drive, rape and sexual coercion, the cultural suppression of female sexuality, and how couples negotiate their sexual patterns. (4) Consciousness, volition, emotion, and "free will." We are beginning to do studies on the role of conscious processes in how people decide their actions. Does emotion cause behavior? Is the conscious experience of free choice an illusion? (5) Irrationality and self-destructive behavior. An enduring theme of my work is why people do stupid things. Self-defeating behavior is the essence of irrationality and thus shows the limits of human rationality.

BOOKS:

Baumeister, R. F. (1986) Identity: Cultural Change and the Struggle for Self. New York: Oxford University Press.

Baumeister, R. F. (1986) (Editor) Public Self and Private Self. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Baumeister, R. F. (1989) Masochism and the Self. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Baumeister, R. F. (1991)  Meanings of Life. New York: Guilford Press.

Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood. New York: Basic Books.

Baumeister, R.F., & Wotman, S.R. (1992). Breaking Hearts: The Two Sides of Unrequited Love. New York: Guilford Press.

Baumeister, R.F. (1993) (Editor) Self-Esteem: The Puzzle of Low Self-Regard. New York: Plenum.

Berglas,S.C., & Baumeister, R.F. (1993). Your Own Worst Enemy: Understanding the Paradox of Self-Defeating Behavior. New York: Basic Books.

Baumeister, R.F., Heatherton, T.F., & Tice, D.M. (1994). Losing Control: How and Why  People Fail at Self-Regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Baumeister, R.F. (1997). Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Baumeister, R.F. (Ed.) (1999). The Self in Social Psychology. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press (Taylor & Francis).

Baumeister, R.F., & Tice, D.M. (2000). The Social Dimension of Sex. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Baumeister, R.F. (Ed.) (2001). Social Psychology and Human Sexuality. Philadelphia,PA: Psychology Press (Taylor & Francis).

Miracle, A., Miracle, T., & Baumeister, R.F. (2002). Human Sexuality: Meeting Your Basic Needs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall/Pearson.

TRANSLATED BOOKS:

Berglas, S., & Baumeister, R.F. (1994). Selbst-Sabotage: Warum Sie selbst Ihr ärgster Feind sind (R. Höner, trans.).Hamburg, Germany: Ernst Kabel.

Baumeister, R.F. (1994). S'aimer sans se fuir: Comprendre notre insoutenable besoin d'évasion (R. Bélisle, trans.) Montreal, Canada: Le Jour.

Berglas, S., & Baumeister, R.F. (1995). Seu Pior Inimigo: Compreendendo o Comportamento Autoderrotista. (O. Palavras, trans.).Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Ediouro.

Berglas, S., & Baumeister, R.F. (1996). Il tuo peggior nemico: Paradossi del comportamento autodistruttivo. (V. Guglielmi, trans.).Roma-Bari, Italy: Laterza.

Baumeister, R.F., Heatherton, T.F., & Tice, D.M. (2000). Utrata Kontroli: Jak i Dlaczego Tracimy Zdolnosc Samoregulacji. (L. Swiecicki, trans.) Warsaw (Warszawa), Poland: Panstwowa Agencja Rozwiazywania Problemow Alkoholowych.

ARTICLES:

Baumeister, R.F., Stillwell, A.M., & Heatherton, T.F. (1994). Guilt: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 243-267.

Baumeister, R.F., & Leary, M.R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

Baumeister, R.F., Smart, L., & Boden, J.M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological Review, 103, 5-33.

Baumeister, R.F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D.M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252-1265.

Baumeister, R.F. (1998). The self. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed.; pp. 680-740). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Baumeister, R.F. (2000). Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 347-374.

Baumeister, R.F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K.D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323-370.

Baumeister, R.F. (2001: April). Violent pride: Do people turn violent because of self-hate, or self-love? Scientific American, 284 (No. 4), 96-101.

Baumeister, R.F., Twenge, J.M., & Nuss, C. (in press/2002). Effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes: Anticipated aloneness reduces intelligent thought. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.