Strangers in a Strange Lab: How Personality Shapes Our Initial Encounters with Others - Softcover

Ickes, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019995089X ISBN 13: 9780199950898

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Winner of the 2012 International Association for Relationship Research Book Award

Can we predict how well -- or how poorly -- two strangers will get along? According to social psychologist William Ickes, the answer is yes. Drawing upon relevant research findings from his 30-year career, Ickes explains how initial interactions are shaped by gender, race, birth order, physical attractiveness, androgyny, the Big Five dimensions, shyness, and self-monitoring.

Ickes's work offers unprecedented insights on the links between personality and social behavior that have not previously been compiled in a single source: how sibling relationships during childhood affect our interactions with opposite-sex strangers years later; why Latinos have a social advantage in initial interactions; how men react to the physical attractiveness of a female stranger in a relatively direct and obvious way while women react to the attractiveness of a male stranger in a more indirect and subtle way; and how personality similarity is related to satisfaction in married couples.

About this title

About the Author

William Ickes is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. His 20-year program of research on empathic accuracy, which resulted in three international research awards, is summarized in his 2003 book Everyday Mind Reading. His 30-year program of research on personality influences on initial interactions is the topic of the present book. His more than 160 publications include books, book chapters, journal articles, commentaries, and reviews.

Review

"As well as being a joy to read, this book provides an exceptionally well-structured, coherent and compelling account , not just of the outcomes of Ickes' research, but importantly, of the research process itself...Each chapter is comprehensive referenced and ends with a list of recommended readings for further study...By the end of the book, I felt the author had become both a mentor and a friend...Overall, the book is an outstanding example of 'science writing' at its best..." --Relationship Research News

"Strangers in a Strange Lab summarizes over 30 years of empirical study by Bill Ickes, one of social psychology's most insightful and innovative scientists... Ickes adopts the role of a tour guide, intent on leading us on a unique journey over often challenging terrain, exploring the interpersonal dynamics in first meetings between strangers. Along the way, he draws our attention to the important roles that personality and other individual differences play in such interactions." -- Review in Journal of Social Psychology

The author's provocative and engaging accounts of research and life undoubtedly provoke the same sort of ironic pleasure as do the observations of daily life presented by comedians such as Larry David, Woody Allen, and George Carlin.Strangers in a Strange Lab provides a neat balance of research and popular psychology; it ends up being highly accessible and appealing to a wide audience. Ickes holds the reader's hand through the various methods and techniques, ensuring that even the most inexperienced readers will clearly comprehend the slightest details of the process. As such, Strangers in a Strange Lab could easily find a home in an undergraduate seminar in personality psychology, providing a lighthearted change of pace to the more traditional tools of instruction. Students should appreciate both the novel insights and their ease of mental digestion... A collection of interesting, fun facts about social interaction." -- Review in PsycCRITIQUES

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 019995089X
• ISBN 13: 9780199950898
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 232