Roy Baumeister

Dr. Roy F. Baumeister is Francis Eppes Professor of Psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a social psychologist that is known for his work on the self, social rejection, belongingness, sexuality, self-control, self-esteem, self-defeating behaviors, motivation, and aggression. He has authored nearly 300 publications and has written or co-written 20 books including his most recent work, "The Cultural Animal". [Baumeister, R. (2005). "The Cultural Animal". New York: Oxford University Press.] He earned his A.B. summa cum laude from Princeton University and his M.A. from Duke University. He returned to Princeton University with his mentor Edward E. Jones and earned his Ph.D. from the university's Department of Psychology in 1978. He is a fellow of both the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. Baumeister was named an ISI highly cited researcher in 2003.

Topics of research

"The self". Professor Baumeister has conducted research on the self, including various concepts related to how people perceive, act, and relate to their selves. Baumeister wrote a chapter titled, "The Self" in "The Handbook of Social Psychology", and reviewed the research on the self-esteem in which he claimed that the importance of self-esteem is overrated.

"Self-defeating behavior." In a series of journal articles and books, Professor Baumeister inquired about the reasons for self-defeating behavior. His conclusions: there is no self-defeating urge as some have thought. Rather, self-defeating behavior is either a result of trade-offs (enjoying drugs now at the expense of the future), backfiring strategies (eating a snake to reduce stress only to feel more stressed), or the psychological strategy to escape the self - where various self-defeating strategies are rather directed to relieve the burden of selfhood. [ Baumeister R. (1991) "Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood". Basic Books. ]

"The need to belong" is a highly cited work from 1995, written with Mark Leary, showing that humans have a natural need to belong with others. Later, Baumeister published evidence that the way people look for belongingness differs between men and women. Women prefer a few close and intimate relationships, whereas men prefer many but shallower connections. Men realize more of their need to belong via a group of people, or a cause, rather than in close interpersonal relations.

"Self regulation" (aka self control). Baumeister also researched self-regulation. He coined the term Ego depletion about the finding that humans' ability to self-regulate is limited, and after using it there is less ability (or energy) to self-regulate. Baumeister also edited two academic books on self-regulation: "Losing Control" and "Handbook of Self-Regulation."

Books

Prof. Baumesiter has written or edited 20 books so far. The following is a partial listing of his works.

* "Your Own Worst Enemy: Understanding the Paradox of Self-Defeating Behavior"
* "Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty"
* "Social Psychology and Human Nature"
* "Losing Control: How and Why People Fail at Self-Regulation"
* "The Social Dimension of Sex"
* "Breaking Hearts: The Two Sides of Unrequited Love"
* "Masochism and the Self"
* "Identity: Cultural Change and the Struggle for Self"
* "Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood"
* "Meanings of life"
* "The Cultural Animal: Human Nature, Meaning, and Social Life"

ee also

*Ego depletion
*Negativity bias

References

External links

* [http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeister.dp.html Roy Baumeister's Page at Florida State University]
* [http://www.psy.fsu.edu The Psychology Department Florida State University]
* [http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/ Lab Website]
* [http://baumeister.socialpsychology.org/ Social Psychology Network Professional Profile]
* [http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm Is There Anything Good About Men?] (2007)