This book draws on research in psychology and behavioral economics to show how striving to live up to our identity claims profoundly affects our daily lives. The author argues the claims we make about who we are and what we stand for powerfully influence us, and our social world. Asking questions such as: Why do people resist the temptation to cheat when cheating would benefit them greatly and no one would find out? Why do people express different beliefs about climate change when they are first reminded of their political affiliation? Why do people prefer to be compensated for donating blood with cholesterol screening than with money? Miller puts forth a novel and compelling argument regarding how strongly our identity claims affect our daily lives. The book provides explanations for many forms of puzzling behavior, such as why people sometimes act against their economic self-interest, how they avoid situations that test their moral identities, and how they respond to failures to live up to their moral identities. It paints an intriguing picture of people's investment in their identity claims by showing how they seek opportunities to demonstrate their validity, avoid actions and circumstances that challenge their legitimacy, and employ psychological defenses when others challenge their legitimacy. Based on extensive research in the fields of psychology, economics, and political science, this book is fascinating reading for students and academics interested in identity and the self. It also provides an expanded tool kit for those who seek behavioral change in their organization or community.

This book draws on research in psychology and behavioral economics to show how striving to live up to our identity claims profoundly affects our daily lives. The author argues the claims we make about who we are and what we stand for powerfully influence us, and our social world. Asking questions such as: Why do people resist the temptation to cheat when cheating would benefit them greatly and no one would find out? Why do people express different beliefs about climate change when they are first reminded of their political affiliation? Why do people prefer to be compensated for donating blood with cholesterol screening than with money? Miller puts forth a novel and compelling argument regarding how strongly our identity claims affect our daily lives. The book provides explanations for many forms of puzzling behavior, such as why people sometimes act against their economic self-interest, how they avoid situations that test their moral identities, and how they respond to failures to live up to their moral identities. It paints an intriguing picture of people's investment in their identity claims by showing how they seek opportunities to demonstrate their validity, avoid actions and circumstances that challenge their legitimacy, and employ psychological defenses when others challenge their legitimacy. Based on extensive research in the fields of psychology, economics, and political science, this book is fascinating reading for students and academics interested in identity and the self. It also provides an expanded tool kit for those who seek behavioral change in their organization or community.

This book contains essays in honour of Melvin J. Lerner, a pioneer in the psychological study of justice. The contributors to this volume are internationally renowned scholars from psychology, business, and law. They examine the role of justice motivation in a wide variety of contexts, including workplace violence, affirmative action programs, helping or harming innocent victims and how people react to their own fate. Contributors explore fundamental issues such as whether people's interest in justice is motivated by self-interest or a genuine concern for the welfare of others, when and why people feel a need to punish transgressors, how a concern for justice emerges during the development of societies and individuals, and the relation of justice motivation to moral motivation. How an understanding of justice motivation can contribute to the amelioration of major social problems is also examined.

The justice motive is a paradox. It can promote acts of great heroism as well as heinous crimes. This book describes how a concern for justice can affect people's judgments and behaviors. The contributors explain why people are motivated to believe in a just world and describe the role this belief plays in people's everyday lives. They also describe how an understanding of justice motivation can help ameliorate social problems such as workplace violence and the failure to help innocent victims. The Justice Motive in Everyday Life will be of interest to students and scholars in psychology, sociology, political science, law and business.