About the Book
Of the many conceptual distinctions present in psychology today, the approach-avoidance distinction stands out as one of, if not the, most fundamental and basic. The distinction between approach and avoidance motivation has a venerable history, not only within but beyond scientific psychology, and the deep utility of this distinction is clearly evident across theoretical traditions, disciplines, and content areas. This volume is designed to illustrate and highlight the central importance of this distinction, to serve as a one-stop resource for scholars working in this area, and to facilitate integration among researchers and theorists with an explicit or implicit interest in approach and avoidance motivation.
The main body of this volume is organized according to seven broad sections that represent core areas of interest in the study of approach and avoidance motivation, including neurophysiology and neurobiology, and evaluative processes. Each section contains a minimum of four chapters that cover a specific aspect of approach and avoidance motivation. The broad applicability of the approach-avoidance distinction makes this Handbook an essential resource for researchers, theorists, and students of social psychology and related disciplines.
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Introduction; Introduction and Overview; Chapter 01 Approach and Avoidance Motivation, Andrew J. Elliot; Part 03 Neurophysiology and Neurobiology; Brain Systems and Mechanisms; Chapter 02 Emotional Processing and Motivation: In Search of Brain Mechanisms, Christopher K. Cain, Joseph E. LeDoux; Cortical Asymmetry; Chapter 03 Effects of Early Experience on the Development of Cerebral Asymmetry and Approach–Withdrawal, Nathan A. Fox, Bethany C. Reeb; Cortex-Reflex Connections; Chapter 04 Appetitive and Defensive Motivation Is the Substrate of Emotion, Peter J. Lang, Margaret M. Bradley; Subcortical Processes; Chapter 05 Dopamine and SEEKING: Subcortical “Reward” Systems and Appetitive Urges, Jaak Panksepp, Joseph Moskal; Neurotransmitters; Chapter 06 An Accumbens Dopamine–Acetylcholine System for Approach and Avoidance, Bartley G. Hoebel, Nicole M. Avena, Pedro Rada; Hormones; Chapter 07 The Role and Mechanisms of Steroid Hormones in Approach–Avoidance Behavior, Cheryl A. Frye, Madeline E. Rhodes; Olfaction; Chapter 08 Development of Olfactory Modulated Approach and Avoidance Motivated Behaviors, Regina M. Sullivan, Donna J. Toufexis, Donald A. Wilson; Part 11 Basic Dispositions, Goals, and States; Basic Personality Dispositions; Chapter 09 Basic Personality Dispositions Related to Approach and Avoidance: Extraversion/Neuroticism, BAS/BIS, and Positive/Negative Affectivity, Randy J. Larsen, Adam A. Augustine; Basic Dispositions in Nonhuman Animals; Chapter 10 Individual Differences in Approach and Avoidance Motivation in Animals, Amanda C. Jones, Samuel D. Gosling; Behavioral Genetics; Chapter 11 Genetic Influences on Individual Differences in Approach and Avoidance, H. Hill Goldsmith, Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant; Social Motives and Goals; Chapter 12 Making Connections and Avoiding Loneliness: Approach and Avoidance Social Motives and Goals, Shelly L. Gable, Elliot T. Berkman; Achievement Motives and Goals; Chapter 13 Approach and Avoidance Motivation in the Achievement Domain: Integrating the Achievement Motive and Achievement Goal Traditions, Todd M. Thrash, Anne L. Hurst; Motivational States; Chapter 14 Activation and Measurement of Motivational States, Ronald S. Friedman, Jens Förster; Part 18 Evaluative Processes; Evolution of Evaluative Processes I; Chapter 15 Internal Regulatory Variables and the Design of Human Motivation: A Computational and Evolutionary Approach, John Tooby, Leda Cosmides, Aaron Sell, Debra Lieberman, Daniel Sznycer; Evolution of Evaluative Processes II; Chapter 16 Approach and Avoidance Motivation(s): An Evolutionary Perspective, Douglas T. Kenrick, Michelle N. Shiota; Immediacy and Automaticity of Evaluation; Chapter 17 Evaluative Readiness: The Motivational Nature of Automatic Evaluation, Melissa J. Ferguson, John A. Bargh; Structure of Evaluation; Chapter 18 The Functional Neuroarchitecture of Evaluative Processes, Gary G. Berntson, John T. Cacioppo; Evaluation Asymmetry; Chapter 19 How Approach and Avoidance Decisions Influence Attitude Formation and Change, J. Richard Eiser, Russell H. Fazio; Part 24 Emotion and Well-Being; Structure of Emotions; Chapter 20 Motivations and Emotivations: Approach, Avoidance, and Other Tendencies in Motivated and Emotional Behavior, Ira J. Roseman; Function of Emotions; Chapter 21 Functions of Emotions and Emotion-Related Dysfunction, Eric Youngstrom, Carroll E. Izard; Distinct Emotional Experience; Chapter 22 Approach, Avoidance, and Emotional Experiences, Charles S. Carver, Yael E. Avivi, Jean-Philippe Laurenceau; Anger; Chapter 23 Anger and Approach–Avoidance Motivation, Eddie Harmon-Jones, Carly Peterson, Philip A. Gable, Cindy Harmon-Jones; Well-Being; Chapter 24 Approach–Avoidance Goals and Well-Being: One Size Does Not Fit All, Maya Tamir Diener; Part 30 Cognition; Challenge and Threat Appraisal; Chapter 25 Challenge and Threat, Jim Blascovich; Mental Control; Chapter 26 Thought Suppression and Psychopathology, Sadia Najmi, Daniel M. Wegner; Orienting and Attentional Processes; Chapter 27 Motivational and Attentional Components of Personality, Douglas Derryberry, Marjorie Reed; Framing; Chapter 28 How Persons and Situations Regulate Message Framing Effects: The Study of Health Behavior, Alexander J. Rothman, Jhon T. Wlaschin, Roger D. Bartels, Amy Latimer, Peter Salovey; Part 35 The Self; Self-Regulation; Chapter 29 Distinguishing Levels of Approach and Avoidance: An Analysis Using Regulatory Focus Theory, Abigail A. Scholer, E. Tory Higgins; Self-Esteem and Self-Concept; Chapter 30 Approach and Avoidance Motivations in the Self-Concept and Self-Esteem, Dianne M. Tice, E. J. Masicampo; Self-Knowledge; Chapter 31 Secrets of Resilience: Approaching Negative Self-Aspects Without Aversion, Carolin J. Showers, Kristy L. Boyce; Self-Access; Chapter 32 The Functional Architecture of Approach and Avoidance Motivation, Julius Kuhl, Sander L. Koole; Part 40 Social Context; Culture; Chapter 33 Approach and Avoidance Motivation Across Cultures, Takeshi Hamamura, Steven J. Heine; Stereotyping; Chapter 34 Interracial Interactions: Approach and Avoidance, E. Ashby Plant, Patricia G. Devine; Social Comparison; Chapter 35 A Reunion for Approach–Avoidance Motivation and Social Comparison, Jerry Suls, Ladd Wheeler; Social Exclusion; Chapter 36 I Am Approaching the Decision to Avoid You: An Approach and Avoidance Perspective on Research on Social Exclusion and Rejection, Roy F. Baumeister, Seth Gitter; Sexual Behavior; Chapter 37 A Dyadic Perspective on Approach and Avoidance Motives for Sexual Behavior, M. Lynne Cooper, Amelia E. Talley, Meli S. Sheldon, Ash Levitt, Lindsay L. Barber;
About the Author :
Andrew J. Elliot
Review :
'Elliot's Handbook is the A to Z of approach and avoidance. The list of authors reads like a 'who's who' of the very best leaders in psychology and neuroscience today. The topics include brain mechanisms of fear and desire, basic elements of emotion and personality, evaluation and self-regulation, and social and achievement motives. Everything one could want in an up-to-date analysis of motivation and emotion is here. In short, the Handbook is sure to be required reading for anyone who wants to understand feelings or motives.' -- Kent Berridge, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan, USA 'A clear understanding of the approach-avoidance distinction is as important in setting the scientific course for psychology as determination of the periodic table was for chemistry. This enormously ambitious book, containing work by the leading scholars in the field, is a landmark effort in reaching that goal.' -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University, USA 'Approach and avoidance motivation are central to key issues at all levels in the biobehavioral sciences. This Handbook brings all of these levels together for the first time, and does so in impressive fashion. It is a comprehensive, essential resource for all students of motivation in the social sciences, psychology, and neuroscience.' -- Richard J. Davidson, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
