The Psychology of Survivor: Leading Psychologists Take an Unauthorized Look at the Most Elaborate Psychological Experiment Ever Conducted . . . Survivor! (Psychology of Popular Culture)

"The Psychology of Survivor" by Richard Gerrig (Editor) brings the innovative reality TV program, 'Survivor' to Ben Bella Book's excellent Psychology of Popular Culture series. Providing a popular forum for PhD-level psychologists, the series aims to make the sciences more accessible to the average person. Discussing how the contestant's actions on Survivor have supported various theories pertaining to cognition, sociopathy, arousal, deprivation, social comparison, identification and many other social psychology concepts, the sixteen thoughtful articles in this book serve to not only increase our appreciation for the TV series but also help us gain insight into how we might be able to better survive (and perhaps thrive) in our own daily environments.Many of the authors wax nostalgic about the first series, 'Borneo' in which an air of suspense hung around what the outcome of this bold, new experiment in group behavior might be. (In fact, readers should be advised that 'Borneo' contestants are frequently referenced, which probably makes one's knowledge of the classic first season requisite to gaining full benefit from the book.) Richard Hatch serves as a particularly important topic: Kevin Apple and Melissa Beers contending that Mr. Hatch's allied voting strategy befuddled the director's intent to produce a Darwinist struggle of the fittest; P.A. Hancock drills into Mr. Hatch's personality to find that he used an extraordinary mix of rational and intuitive thinking processes to persevere; and Vivian Hayas highlights the situational contexts that played to Mr. Hatch's advantage and led him to victory. Reflecting upon these and a number of other astute analyses, we can ponder the meaning of the Survivor contestants' struggles and relate the lessons learned to our own life experiences.Several authors go on to assess how contestant interpersonal dynamics have changed as the series has evolved. Brad Wolgast and Mario Lanza suggest that Brian Heidik's victory in 'Thailand' and Rob Cesternino's strategy in 'Amazon' served to validate a sociopathic style of play that has subsequently deprived the game of its original charm, with much less ethics and much more rational, cold-blooded calculation in evidence in later episodes than before; in another article, these same two authors propose that social role theory explains why non-threatening females have tended to fare better competitively than alpha males. But if one is still interested in competing, Stephanie deLuse offers tips on how an understanding of psychology can help you get the best result possible on the show, if not in one's own daily life.Interestingly, we learn that an experiment like Survivor would not be permitted in a laboratory setting due to the psychological community's ethical standards; nonetheless, many of the contributors clearly value the rare opportunity that the series provides to study the subject's behaviors. For example, Renee Engeln-Maddox is fascinated by the reversals in female body image on Survivor where the thin ideal becomes a sign of physical weakness and objectification becomes just another strategy to gain competitive advantage. Amanda Dykema-Engblade contends that Survivor's contrived situations can induce heightened states of arousal whose intensity is sometimes transferred between contestants, citing numerous instances of emotional bonding on the show. Ashley Hunt and Richard Heyman discuss how the fundamental attribution error is in ample evidence as contestants condemn others for behaviors that they themselves deploy as a means to advance in the competition.On the other hand, Anne Moyer believes that the stress induced by the promise of a $1 million prize and extreme competitiveness amounts to an unethical and unacceptable exploitation of Survivor contestants by its producers. And, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Robert Batsell proposes an outrageous reality TV program that should give us pause as to how far the public might be willing to allow the entertainment industry to go in attempting to justify highly-questionable scripts in pursuit of mass ratings.I highly recommend this entertaining and insightful book to everyone.

As a huge Survivor fan I was interested to see what Psychologists had to say about the game and the people that play it - and was facinated by the points the essay writers came up with. If you are interested in psychology or just interested in Suvivor you will love this book. Sometimes the observations made are really humorous and make you laugh, other times really infomative and make you think. Although a great recycler of books (by giving away or selling them on) I have kept this one so that when I watch the show in years to come either new seasons or old seaons I can refer back to the book for interest sake.

Helping to put the "pop" in popular psychology this compendium of essays about aspects of the human mind and behavior within the game show of Survivor has some fun moments to it but ultimately feels dated and doesn't stray into much territory outside of Social Psychology. That shouldn't surprise (and maybe I was looking for more?) as SP primarily deals with behaviors within and influenced by social settings and concerns, but there isn't much in this book that will inform a person beyond what they would encounter in a mediocre Social Psychology college textbook. The infamous Stanley Milgram "shock" study and the Stanford Prison Experiment get their mentions, and there comes to be a bit of discussion about the fundamental attribution error and cognitive dissonance. The book feels dated because there is so much focus on especially the first season (though seasons up through Vanuatu are discussed or referenced if I remember correctly) and on Richard Hatch in particular. Perhaps my favorite essay was the tongue-in-cheek "Quadruple-D" which was written as a mock note to a television producer encouraging the gameshow of the future that would utilize deception, disgust, depravation and danger.In conclusion I give the book 3.5 stars, but only because I won't be confined to Amazon's limited rating system! Now what does that say about me, students of psychology?

This a must read for all Survivor Fans (public acknowledged or closet fans). You really see why the show is so intriguing and dynamic maybe even a mirror into your own work or family life. People dynamics are fully explained from various authoritative angles. Must Read book.

I've watched almost every season of Survivor from the beginning and I've also studied a lot of social psychology, so this book was an interesting set of articles. Some of the theories work better than others, but they all add something to understanding how the game works.

I wonder what people are thinking when I watch the show or how they even got there.

Interesting if you try and understand the mental structure of a winner

love this show

The book is OK, and the delivery was very quick. Thanks + + + + + + + + +