
Focusing on research to introduce modern social psychology, Social Animal takes the patterns and motives of human behavior to analyze distinct topics like terrorism, conformity, obedience, politics, race relations, advertising, war, interpersonal attraction, and the power of religious cults.
"A classic work has been brought into the modern age, and the result is both timely and timeless. Expertly weaving sage wisdom and contemporary science, personal stories and hard-won facts, The Social Animal remains the single best book ever written about the field of social psychology."
- Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, Author of the international best-seller, Stumbling on Happiness
"This is my favorite book on the subject (and I'm the son of a social psychology professor!)
Aronson manages to speak to the layman (me) and the scholar (my father) with equal effectiveness. Though rooted in academia, The Social Animal feels as contemporary and entertaining as anything by Malcolm Gladwell and Chuck Klosterman."
- Jesse Eisenberg, actor and author
"When I read the initial edition of The Social Animal, I was struck by its wealth of deep insights. Count me double struck by the newest edition and the acute relevance of those insights to modern phenomena that didn't even exist then."
- Robert B. Cialdini, Author of Influence and Pre-Suasion
"This is the book that inspired many of today's eminent social psychologists... and helped thousands of students to think critically about their own minds and the minds of others. With its brilliant writing, this new edition has all the grace and wisdom of the earlier ones, but the social problems it addresses are the problems of today. ---"Phoebe Ellsworth, Frank Murphy Distinguished Professor of Law and Psychology, University of Michigan
"The Social Animal is one of social psychology's most venerable institutions. It has served as a vivacious host to generations of young scholars who are just arriving to the discipline, immersing them in gripping tales about the weird, wild, wonderful world of human sociality. In this newest edition, The Social Animal has perfected its unique ability to convey the power and importance of the scientific method with a narrative style that make the pages turn themselves. "
- Eli J. Finkel, PhD, professor in the psychology department and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and the author of The All-or-Nothing Marriage
"The ideas [Aronson] so eloquently presents are timeless in the field of social psychology...The Social Animal is a masterpiece."
- Contemporary Psychology
"The Aronsons write with an astonishing combination of passion, wisdom, and humor. The Social Animal is a great book. "
- Grażyna Wieczorkowska, Robert Zajonc Institute of Social Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland
"The bible of American Social Psychology"
- Revue des Questions Scientifiques