A colleague recently recounted a conversation she had had with a group of graduate students. For reasons that she cannot recall, the discussion had turned to the topic of "old-fashioned" ideas in psychology-perspectives and beliefs that had once enjoyed widespread support but that are now regarded as quaint curiosities. The students racked their brains to outdo one ofthe historical trivia of psychology: Le Bon's another with their knowledge fascination with the "group mind," Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism, the short-lived popularity of "moral therapy," Descartes' belief that erec­ tions are maintained by air from the lungs, and so on. When it came his tum to contribute to the discussion, one student brought up an enigmatic journal he had seen in the library stacks: the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. He thought that the inclusion of abnormal and social psychology within the covers of a single journal seemed an odd combination, and he wondered aloud what sort of historical quirk had led psychologists of an earlier generation to regard these two fields as somehow related. Our colleague then asked her students if they had any ideas about how such an odd combination had found its way into a single journal.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- Why So Longs?.- The Emerging Interface.- Current Topics at the Interface.- 1. Interpersonal Origins of Dysfunctional Behavior.- 2. Attributional Processes.- Maladaptive Attributions.- Adaptive Attributions.- Conclusions.- 3. Attributions, Perceived Control, and Depression.- Learned Helplessness.- Therapeutic Implications of Learned Helplessness Theory.- Egotism as an Alternative Explanation of Helplessness.- Reactance as a Reaction to Loss of Control.- Individual Differences in Response to Loss of Control.- Negative Reactions to Control.- Conclusions.- 4. Self-Processes and Behavioral Problems.- Self-Esteem Maintenance.- Self-Awareness.- Conclusions.- 5. Self-Presentational Aspects of Maladaptive Behavior.- An Introduction to Self-Presentation.- Impression Management and Mental Illness.- Self-Presentations of Physical Illness.- Aggression and Criminality.- Theoretical Integrations.- Conclusions.- 6. Anxiety and Inhibition in Interpersonal Relations.- Theories of Social Anxiety.- Self-Presentation Theory.- Inhibited and Avoidant Behavior.- Implications for Treatment.- Conclusions.- 7. Troubled Relationships.- Personal Dysfunctions.- Interactive Dysfunctions.- Relationship Dysfunctions.- Conclusions.- II. Interpersonal Processes in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychological Problems.- 8. Clinical Inference.- Statistical Versus Intuitive Decision Making.- The Limits of Introspection.- Personalistic Biases in Judgment.- The Constraints of Preconceptions.- Belief Perseverance.- The Confirmatory Bias.- Illusory Correlations.- Overconfidence.- The Behavioral Confirmation of Erroneous Inferences.- Improving Clinical Inference.- Conclusions.- 9. The Social Influence Model in Counseling and Psychotherapy.- Social Psychological Foundations.- Counselor Characteristics.- Message Characteristics.- Client Characteristics.- Critique of the Social Influence Model of Counseling.- Theoretical Considerations.- Conclusions.- 10. Behavioral Compliance and Psychological Change.- Attitude-Discrepant Behavior and Psychological Change.- Clinical Applications.- Conclusions.- 11. Expectancies and Behavior Change.- Therapist Expectancies.- Client Expectations.- Common Features of Strategies of Behavior Change.- Conclusions.- 12. Areas and Issues.- Other Topics of Interest.- Social Psychologists as Therapists?.- To the Future.- References.- Author Index.