Eddie Harmon-Jones

"Tell any smoker that his habit is unhealthy, and he most likely will agree. What mental process does a person go through when he or she continues to do something unhealthy? When an honest person tells a "white lie," what happens to his or her sense of integrity?"--BOOK JACKET. "In 1954 Dr. Leon Festinger drafted a version of a theory describing the psychological phenomenon that occurs in these situations. He called it cognitive dissonance: the feeling of psychological discomfort produced by the combined presence of two thoughts that do not follow from one another. Festinger proposed that the greater the discomfort, the greater the desire to reduce the dissonance of the two cognitive elements. The elegance of this theory has inspired psychologists over the past four decades. Cognitive Dissonance: Perspectives on a Pivotal Theory in Social Psychology documents the ongoing research and debate provoked by this influential theory."--BOOK JACKET.

Comprehensively examining the relationship between cognition and emotion, this handbook brings together leading investigators from multiple psychological subdisciplines. Biological underpinnings of the cognition-emotion interface are reviewed, including the role of neurotransmitters and hormones. Contributors explore how key cognitive processes--such as attention, learning, and memory--shape emotional phenomena, and vice versa. Individual differences in areas where cognition and emotion interact--such as agreeableness and emotional intelligence--are addressed. The volume also analyzes the roles of cognition and emotion in anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, and other psychological disorders.