The Message Within - The Role of Subjective Experience In Social Cognition And Behavior (Paperback)

This provocative book provides the first comprehensive and informative overview of the role of various subjective experiences in social cognition and behavior, and argues that the study of such experiences may be one of the key unifying themes of social psychology. Based on recent theoretical and empirical developments in the discipline, this select group of leading international researchers surveys extensive evidence and shows that subjective experiences play a key role in most aspects of social cognition and social behavior. The book contains five main sections, discussing the role of subjective experiences in social information processing (Part 1), their influence on memory (Part 2) and their role in intergroup contexts (Part 3). The role of affective experiences in social thinking and behavior is analyzed (Part 4), and the influence of subjective experiences on the development and change of attitudes and stereotypes is also addressed (Part 5).
The subjective experiences discussed include affective states, metacognitive feelings, feelings of uncertainty, ease of retrieval, feelings of familiarity, feelings of knowing and primed prior experiences. Despite extensive recent research on these issues, a comprehensive survey and integration of the available empirical and theoretical evidence has been lacking. The Message Within seeks to link and integrate a variety of research areas, and to provide a new theoretical perspective based on subjective experience as a core integrative concept. It will be essential reading for researchers and students in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology, as well as those interested in subjective experience in other social sciences.

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