Exploring Social Psychology 9th

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 page i

Exploring Social
Psychology
NINTH EDITION

David G. Myers
Hope College

Jean M. Twenge
San Diego State University
 page ii

EXPLORING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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 page iii

About the Authors

Since receiving his Whitworth University BA and his University of

Iowa PhD, David Myers has professed psychology at Michigan’s Hope
College. Hope College students have invited him to be their
commencement speaker and voted him “outstanding professor.”
With support from National Science Foundation grants, Myers’s
research has appeared in some three dozen scientific books and
periodicals, including Science, the American Scientist, Psychological
Science, and the American Psychologist.
He has also communicated psychological science through his
articles appearing in four dozen magazines, from Today’s Education
to Scientific American, and through his 17 books, including The
Pursuit of Happiness and Intuition: Its Powers and Perils.

Photo by Steven Herppich, courtesy of Hope College Public Affairs and

Marketing For more information, or to contact David Myers, visit
davidmyers.org.
 Myers’s research and writings have been recognized by the
Gordon Allport Prize, by an “honored scientist” award from the
Federation of Associations in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences, and
by the Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Personality-
Social Psychology.
He has chaired his city’s Human Relations Commission, helped
found a center for families in poverty, and spoken to hundreds of
college and community groups. In recognition of his efforts to
transform the way America provides assistive listening for people
with hearing loss (see hearingloop.org), he has received awards
from the American Academy of Audiology, the Hearing Loss
Association of America, and the hearing industry.
David and Carol Myers have three children and one grandchild.

As Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, Jean M.

Twenge has authored in more than 150 scientific publications on
generational differences, cultural change, technology and well-being,
social rejection, gender roles, self-esteem, and narcissism. Her
research has been covered in Time, Newsweek, the New page iv
York Times, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, and
the Washington Post; she has been featured on Today, Good
Morning America, CBS This Morning, Fox and Friends, NBC Nightly
News, Dateline NBC, and National Public Radio.
 Photo courtesy of Sandy Huffaker, Jr.

She summarized this research for a broader audience in the

books iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less
Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared
for Adulthood; Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are
More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever
Before; and The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of
Entitlement (coauthored with W. Keith Campbell). She has written
for general audiences on several websites and magazines, including
a piece for The Atlantic that was nominated for a National Magazine
Award. She frequently gives talks and seminars on generational
differences to audiences such as college faculty and staff, high
school students and their parents, military personnel, camp
directors, and corporate executives.
Dr. Twenge grew up in Minnesota and Texas. She holds a BA and
MA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from the University of
Michigan. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in social
psychology at Case Western Reserve University. She lives in San
Diego with her husband and three daughters.
 page v

Brief Contents

Preface xvi

PART ONE

Introducing Social Psychology 1

MODULE 1 Doing Social Psychology 3
MODULE 2 Did You Know It All Along? 13

PART TWO

Social Thinking 17
MODULE 3 Self-Concept: Who Am I? 19
MODULE 4 Self-Serving Bias 31
MODULE 5 Narcissism and the Limits of Self-Esteem 39
MODULE 6 The Fundamental Attribution Error 45
MODULE 7 The Powers and Perils of Intuition 53
MODULE 8 Reasons for Unreason 61
MODULE 9 Behavior and Belief 71
MODULE 10 Clinical Intuition 83
MODULE 11 Clinical Therapy: The Powers of Social Cognition
89
PART THREE

Social Influence 101

MODULE 12 Biology and Culture 103
MODULE 13 Gender Similarities and Differences 119
MODULE 14 How Nice People Get Corrupted 131

page vi

MODULE 15 Two Routes to Persuasion 145

MODULE 16 Indoctrination and Inoculation 159
MODULE 17 Social Facilitation: The Mere Presence of Others
165
MODULE 18 Social Loafing: Many Hands Make
Diminished Responsibility 171
MODULE 19 Deindividuation: Doing Together What We
Would Not Do Alone 177
MODULE 20 How Do Groups Intensify Decisions? 183
MODULE 21 Power to the Person 199

PART FOUR

Social Relations 207

MODULE 22 The Reach of Prejudice 209
MODULE 23 The Roots of Prejudice 223
MODULE 24 The Nature and Nurture of Aggression 247
MODULE 25 Does Media Use Influence Social Behavior? 265
MODULE 26 Who Likes Whom? 279
MODULE 27 The Ups and Downs of Love 299
MODULE 28 Causes of Conflict 317
MODULE 29 Blessed Are the Peacemakers 331
MODULE 30 When Do People Help? 347
MODULE 31 Social Psychology and the Sustainable Future
357
References R-1

Name Index NI-1

Subject Index SI-1

 page vii

Contents

Preface xvi

PART ONE

Introducing Social Psychology 1

MODULE 1 Doing Social Psychology 3
Forming and Testing Theories 3
Correlational Research: Detecting Natural Associations 5
Correlation and Causation 6
Experimental Research: Searching for Cause and Effect 7
Random Assignment: The Great Equalizer 7
Control: Manipulating Variables 8
The Ethics of Experimentation 9
Generalizing from Laboratory to Life 11

MODULE 2 Did You Know It All Along? 13

PART TWO

Social Thinking 17
MODULE 3 Self-Concept: Who Am I? 19
At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self 19
Self and Culture 20
Growing Individualism Within Cultures 21
Culture and Self-Esteem 24
Self-Knowledge 25
Predicting Our Behavior 25

page viii

Predicting Our Feelings 26

The Wisdom and Illusions of Self-Analysis 28

MODULE 4 Self-Serving Bias 31

Explaining Positive and Negative Events 31
Can We All Be Better Than Average? 32
Unrealistic Optimism 34
False Consensus and Uniqueness 36
Self-Esteem Motivation 37

MODULE 5 Narcissism and the Limits of Self-Esteem 39

The Trade-off of Low Versus High Self-Esteem 39
Narcissism: Self-Esteem’s Conceited Sister 41
Self-Efficacy 44

MODULE 6 The Fundamental Attribution Error 45

The Fundamental Attribution Error in Everyday Life 46
Why Do We Make the Attribution Error? 48
Perspective and Situational Awareness 49
Cultural Differences 50
How Fundamental is the Fundamental Attribution Error? 50

MODULE 7 The Powers and Perils of Intuition 53

The Powers of Intuition 53
The Limits of Intuition 55
We Overestimate the Accuracy of Our Judgments 56
Remedies for Overconfidence 57
Constructing Memories of Ourselves and Our Worlds 58
Reconstructing Our Past Attitudes 58
Reconstructing Our Past Behavior 60

MODULE 8 Reasons for Unreason 61

Our Preconceptions Control Our Interpretations 61
We Are More Swayed By Memorable Events Than Facts 63
We Misperceive Correlation and Control 65
Illusory Correlation 65

page ix

Our Beliefs Can Generate Their Own Confirmation 67

Do Teacher Expectations Affect Student Performance? 67
Do We Get from Others What We Expect? 68
Conclusions 70

MODULE 9 Behavior and Belief 71

Do Attitudes Influence Behavior? 71
Does Behavior Influence Attitudes? 72
Role Playing 72
Saying Becomes Believing 74
Evil Acts and Attitudes 75
Interracial Interaction and Racial Attitudes 77
Brainwashing 78
Why Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? 79

MODULE 10 Clinical Intuition 83

Illusory Correlations 83
Hindsight 84
Self-Confirming Diagnoses 85
Clinical Intuition Versus Statistical Prediction 86
Implications for Better Clinical Practice 87

MODULE 11 Clinical Therapy: The Powers of Social Cognition

Social Cognition and Depression 8989
Distortion or Realism? 90
Is Negative Thinking a Cause or a Result of Depression? 91
Social Cognition and Loneliness 94
Social Cognition and Anxiety 96
Social-Psychological Approaches to Treatment 97
Inducing Internal Change Through External Behavior 98
Breaking Vicious Cycles 98

PART THREE

Social Influence 101

MODULE 12 Biology and Culture 103
Evolution and Behavior 103
Biology and Gender 105

page x

Gender and Hormones 109

Reflections on Evolutionary Psychology 109
Culture and Behavior 110
Cultural Diversity 111
Cultural Similarity 114
Culture and Gender 115

MODULE 13 Gender Similarities and Differences 119

How Are Females and Males Alike and Different? 119
Independence Versus Connectedness 120
Social Dominance 124
 Aggression 126
Sexuality 126
What Can We Conclude About Biology, Culture, and Gender? 128

MODULE 14 How Nice People Get Corrupted 131

Asch’s Studies of Conformity 131
Milgram’s Obedience Studies 134
What Breeds Obedience? 137
Institutional Authority 139
Reflections on the Classic Studies 139
Behavior and Attitudes 140
The Power of Social Norms 141

MODULE 15 Two Routes to Persuasion 145

The Two Routes 145
The Elements of Persuasion 147
Who Says? The Communicator 147
What Is Said? The Message Content 148
Message Context 151
To Whom Is It Said? The Audience 153
The Two Routes to Persuasion in Therapy 156

MODULE 16 Indoctrination and Inoculation 159

Resisting Persuasion: Attitude Inoculation 160
Attitude Inoculation 160
Implications of Attitude Inoculation 164

page xi

MODULE 17 Social Facilitation: The Mere Presence of Others

The Mere Presence of Others 165165
Crowding: The Presence of Many Others 168
Why Are We Aroused in the Presence of Others? 168
Evaluation Apprehension 169
Driven by Distraction 169
Mere Presence 169

MODULE 18 Social Loafing: Many Hands Make Diminished

Responsibility 171
Many Hands Make Light Work 171
Social Loafing in Everyday Life 173

MODULE 19 Deindividuation: Doing Together What We

Would Not Do Alone 177
Deindividuation 178
Group Size 178
Anonymity 179
Arousing and Distracting Activities 181
Diminished Self-Awareness 182

MODULE 20 How Do Groups Intensify Decisions? 183

The Case of the “Risky Shift” 183
Do Groups Intensify Opinions? 185
Group Polarization Experiments 185
Group Polarization in Everyday Life 187
Explaining Group Polarization 191
Informational Influence 192
Normative Influence 192
Groupthink 193
Symptoms of Groupthink 195
Groupthink in Action 196
Preventing Groupthink 197

MODULE 21 Power to the Person 199

Resisting Social Pressure 199
 Reactance 199
Asserting Uniqueness 200

page xii

Minority Influence 202

Consistency 202
Self-Confidence 203
Defections from the Majority 203
Is Leadership Minority Influence? 204

PART FOUR

Social Relations 207

MODULE 22 The Reach of Prejudice 209
What Is Prejudice? 210
Prejudice: Implicit and Explicit 212
Racial Prejudice 213
Gender Prejudice 216
LGBT Prejudice 219

MODULE 23 The Roots of Prejudice 223

Social Sources of Prejudice 223
Socialization 224
Motivational Sources of Prejudice 227
Frustration and Aggression: The Scapegoat Theory 227
Social Identity Theory: Feeling Superior to Others 229
Cognitive Sources of Prejudice 232
Categorization: Classifying People into Groups 233
Distinctiveness: Perceiving People Who Stand Out 235
Attribution: Is It a Just World? 238
The Consequences of Prejudice 240
 Self-Perpetuating Prejudgments 241
Discrimination’s Impact: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 242
Stereotype Threat 243

MODULE 24 The Nature and Nurture of Aggression 247

Theories of Aggression 248
Is Aggression an Instinct? 248
Neural Influences 249

page xiii

Genetic Influences 250

Blood Chemistry 250
Psychological Influences on Aggression 253
Frustration and Aggression 253
The Learning of Aggression 255
Environmental Influences on Aggression 257
Painful Incidents 258
Heat 258
Attacks 259
Crowding 260
Reducing Aggression 260
Catharsis? 260
A Social Learning Approach 262
Culture Change and World Violence 264

MODULE 25 Does Media Use Influence Social Behavior? 265

Pornography and Sexual Violence 265
Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality 266
Aggression Against Women 266
Television, Movies, and the Internet 267
Media’s Effects on Behavior 268
Another Media Influence: Video Games 272

MODULE 26 Who Likes Whom? 279

Proximity 279
Interaction 280
Anticipation of Interaction 280
Mere Exposure 281
Physical Attractiveness 285
Attractiveness and Dating 285
The Matching Phenomenon 287
The Physical-Attractiveness Stereotype 288
Who Is Attractive? 290

page xiv

Similarity Versus Complementarity 292

Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? 292
Do Opposites Attract? 293
Liking Those Who Like Us 294
Our Need to Belong 295
How Important is the Need to Belong? 296

MODULE 27 The Ups and Downs of Love 299

Passionate Love 299
A Theory of Passionate Love 300
Variations in Love: Culture and Gender 303
Companionate Love 303
Maintaining Close Relationships 305
Equity 305
Self-Disclosure 306
Ending Relationships 311
Who Divorces? 311
 The Detachment Process 312

MODULE 28 Causes of Conflict 317

Social Dilemmas 317
The Prisoner’s Dilemma 318
The Tragedy of the Commons 319
Resolving Social Dilemmas 321
Competition 323
Perceived Injustice 325
Misperception 325
Mirror-Image Perceptions 327
Shifting Perceptions 328

MODULE 29 Blessed Are the Peacemakers 331

Contact 331
Does Contact Predict Attitudes? 331
Does Desegregation Improve Racial Attitudes? 332
When Does Desegregation Improve Racial Attitudes? 334

page xv

Cooperation 337
Common External Threats Build Cohesiveness 337
Superordinate Goals Foster Cooperation 338
Cooperative Learning Improves Racial Attitudes 339
Communication 340
Bargaining 340
Mediation 341
Arbitration 343
Conciliation 344

MODULE 30 When Do People Help? 347

Why Do People Help? 348
When Do People Help? 349
Number of Bystanders 350
Noticing 350
Interpreting 352
Assuming Responsibility 353

MODULE 31 Social Psychology and the Sustainable Future

Psychology and Climate Change 361357
Psychological Effects of Climate Change 361
Public Opinion About Climate Change 362
Enabling Sustainable Living 365
New Technologies 365
Reducing Consumption 366
The Social Psychology of Materialism and Wealth 368
Increased Materialism 368
Wealth and Well-Being 369
Materialism Fails to Satisfy 373
Toward Sustainability and Survival 377

References R-1

Name Index NI-1

Subject Index SI-1

 page xvi

Preface

This is a book I (David) secretly wanted to write. I have long

believed that what is wrong with all psychology textbooks (including
those I have written) is their overlong chapters. Few can read a 40-
page chapter in a single sitting without their eyes glazing and their
mind wandering. So why not organize the discipline into digestible
chunks—say forty 15-page chapters rather than fifteen 40-page
chapters—that a student could read in a sitting, with a sense of
completion?
Thus, when McGraw-Hill psychology editor Chris Rogers first
suggested that I abbreviate and restructure my 15-chapter, 600-
page Social Psychology into a series of crisply written modules, I
said “Eureka!” At last a publisher willing to break convention by
packaging the material in a form ideally suited to students’ attention
spans. By presenting concepts and findings in smaller bites, we also
hoped not to overload students’ capacities to absorb new
information. And, by keeping Exploring Social Psychology slim, we
sought to enable instructors to supplement it with other reading.
As the playful module titles suggest, my coauthor, Jean Twenge,
and I have also broken with convention by introducing social
psychology in an essay format. Each is written in the spirit of
Thoreau’s admonition: “Anything living is easily and naturally
expressed in popular language.” Our aim in the parent Social
Psychology, and even more so here, is to write in a voice that is both
solidly scientific and warmly human, factually rigorous and
intellectually provocative. We hope to reveal social psychology as an
investigative reporter might, by providing a current summary of
important social phenomena, by showing how social psychologists
uncover and explain such phenomena, and by reflecting on their
human significance.
In selecting material, we have represented social psychology’s
scope, highlighting its scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another. We also emphasize material
that casts social psychology in the intellectual tradition of the liberal
arts.

page xvii

By the teaching of great literature, philosophy, and science,

liberal education seeks to expand our thinking and awareness and to
liberate us from the confines of the present. Social psychology can
contribute to these goals. Many undergraduate social psychology
students are not psychology majors; most will enter other
professions. By focusing on humanly significant issues such as belief
and illusion, independence and interdependence, love and hate, we
aim to present social psychology in ways that inform and stimulate
all students.
The new ninth edition features updated coverage throughout.
This includes, for example, the following:

New organization of material on genes, culture, and gender

More coverage of the role of technology in social interaction
Updated statistics throughout
New material on gender fluidity and transgender individuals
New material on who is more likely to help
Updated coverage of climate change and the social psychology
of sustainability

The ninth edition of Exploring Social Psychology is now available

online with Connect, McGraw-Hill Education’s integrated assignment
and assessment platform. Connect also offers SmartBook 2.0 for the
new edition, which is an adaptive reading experience proven to
improve grades and help students study more effectively. All of the
title’s website and ancillary content is also available through
Connect, including:

A full Test Bank of multiple-choice questions that test students

on central concepts and ideas in each module
An Instructor’s Manual for each module with full module
outlines, sample test questions, and discussion topics
Lecture Slides for instructor use in class
 page xviii

Social Psychology
harnesses the power of data to
improve the instructor and student
course experiences:

BETTER DATA, SMARTER REVISION,

IMPROVED RESULTS
For this new edition, data were analyzed to identify the concepts
students found to be the most difficult, allowing for expansion upon
the discussion, practice, and assessment of challenging topics. The
revision process for a new edition used to begin with gathering
information from instructors about what they would change and
what they would keep. Using these reviews to provide guidance,
authors would revise the material. But now, a new tool has
revolutionized that model. McGraw-Hill Education authors now have
access to student performance data to analyze and to inform their
revisions. The data are anonymously collected from the many
students who use SmartBook® 2.0, the adaptive learning system
that provides students with individualized assessment of their own
progress. Because virtually every text paragraph is tied to several
questions that students answer while using SmartBook 2.0, the
specific concepts with which students are having the most difficulty
are easily pinpointed through empirical data in the form of a “heat
map” report.
The Heat Map Story
STEP 1. Over the course of three years, data points
showing concepts that caused students the
most difficulty were anonymously collected
from McGraw-Hill Connect® for Social
Psychology’s McGraw-Hill SmartBook 2.0
adaptive learning system.

STEP 2. Dave Myers and Jean Twenge were provided

with data from SmartBook 2.0 that graphically
illustrated “hot spots” in the text impacting
student learning.

STEP 3. The authors used this “heat map” data to

refine content and reinforce student
comprehension in the new edition. Additional
quiz questions and assignable activities were
created for use in Connect to further support
student success.

RESULT: With empirically based feedback at the

paragraph and even sentence level, the
authors developed the new edition using
precise student data to pinpoint concepts that
caused students to struggle.

page xix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are indebted to the community of scholars who have guided and
critiqued the evolution of this material through thirteen editions of
Social Psychology, and thus through nine editions of Exploring Social
Psychology. These caring colleagues, acknowledged individually in
Social Psychology, 13th Edition, have enabled a better book than we,
alone, could have created.
We are grateful not only to Chris Rogers, for venturing this book,
but also to product developer Elisa Odoardi, editorial coordinator
Emily Schlapp, and development editor Sarah Paratore, and the
entire ansrsource development team for supporting us throughout
the revision process.
At Hope College, Kathryn Brownson helped organize the Social
Psychology, 13th Edition material into these modules and prepare
them for production. Her leadership and editorial skill enriched this
book and eased our task.
Finally, we pay tribute to two significant people. Were it not for
the invitation of McGraw-Hill’s Nelson Black, it surely never would
have occurred to me [DM] to try my hand at text writing. Poet Jack
Ridl, my Hope College colleague and writing coach, helped shape the
voice you will hear in these pages.
To all in this supporting cast, we are indebted. Working with all
these people has made our work a stimulating, gratifying
experience.

David G. Myers
davidmyers.org
@DavidGMyers

Jean M. Twenge
jeantwenge.com
@jean_twenge
 page xx

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page xxi

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Download the free ReadAnywhere app and access your online eBook
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page xxii
page 1
 PART ONE

Introducing Social Psychology

“W
e cannot live for ourselves alone,” remarked novelist
Herman Melville, “for our lives are connected by a
thousand invisible threads.” Social psychologists
study those connections by scientifically exploring how we think
about, influence, and relate to one another.
In the first two modules, we explain how we do that exploring—
how we play the social psychology game. As it happens, the ways
that social psychologists form and test ideas can be carried into life
itself, enabling us to think smarter as we analyze everyday social
thinking, social influences, and social relations.
If intuition and common sense were utterly trustworthy, we
would be less in need of scientific inquiry and critical thinking. But
the truth, as Module 2 relates, is that whether we are reflecting on
research results or on everyday events, we readily succumb to a
powerful hindsight bias, also called the I-knew-it-all-along
phenomenon.

page 2
 page 3

MODULE
1

Doing Social Psychology

T here once was a man whose second wife was a vain and selfish
woman. This woman’s two daughters were similarly vain and
selfish. The man’s own daughter, however, was meek and unselfish.
This sweet, kind daughter, whom we all know as Cinderella, learned
early on that she should do as she was told, accept poor treatment
and insults, and avoid doing anything to upstage her stepsisters and
their mother.
But then, thanks to her fairy godmother, Cinderella was able to
escape her situation for an evening and attend a grand ball, where
she attracted the attention of a handsome prince. When the love-
struck prince later encountered Cinderella back in her degrading
home, he failed to recognize her.
Does this seem hard to believe? The folktale demands that we
accept the power of the situation. In the presence of her oppressive
stepmother, Cinderella was meek and unattractive. At the ball,
Cinderella felt more beautiful—and walked and talked and smiled as
if she were. In one situation, she cowered. In the other, she
charmed.
French philosopher-novelist Jean-Paul Sartre (1946) would have
had no problem accepting the Cinderella premise. We humans are
“first of all beings in a situation,” he wrote. “We cannot be
distinguished from our situations, for they form us and decide our
possibilities” (pp. 59–60, paraphrased).

FORMING AND TESTING THEORIES

As we social psychologists wrestle with human nature to pin down
its secrets, we organize our ideas and findings into theories. A
theory is an integrated set of principles that explain and predict
observed events. Theories are a scientific shorthand.

page 4

In everyday conversation, theory often means “less than fact”—a

middle rung on a confidence ladder from guess to theory to fact.
Thus, people may dismiss Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as
“just a theory.” Indeed, noted Alan Leshner (2005), chief officer of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “Evolution
is only a theory, but so is gravity.” People often respond that gravity
is a fact—but the fact is that your keys fall to the ground when
dropped. Gravity is the theoretical explanation that accounts for such
observed facts.
To a scientist, facts and theories are apples and oranges. Facts
are agreed upon statements about what we observe. Theories are
ideas that summarize and explain facts. “Science is built up with
facts, as a house is with stones,” wrote French scientist Jules Henri
Poincaré, “but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap
of stones is a house” (1905, p. 101).
Theories not only summarize but also imply testable predictions,
called hypotheses. Hypotheses serve several purposes. First, they
allow us to test a theory by suggesting how we might try to falsify it.
Second, predictions give direction to research and sometimes send
investigators looking for things they might never have considered.
Third, the predictive feature of good theories can also make them
practical. A complete theory of aggression, for example, would
predict when to expect aggression and how to control it. As
pioneering social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1951) declared, “There is
nothing so practical as a good theory.”
Consider how this works. Suppose we observe that people who
loot property or attack others often do so in groups or crowds. We
might therefore theorize that being part of a crowd, or group, makes
individuals feel anonymous and lowers their inhibitions. How could
we test this theory? Perhaps we could ask individuals in groups to
administer punishing shocks to a hapless victim who wouldn’t know
which person was actually shocking him or her. Would these
individuals, as our theory predicts, administer stronger shocks than
individuals acting alone?
We might also manipulate anonymity: Would people deliver
stronger shocks if they were wearing masks? If the results confirm
our hypothesis, they might suggest some practical applications.
Perhaps police brutality could be reduced by having officers wear
large name tags and drive cars identified with large numbers, or by
videotaping their arrests. Sure enough, all of these have become
common practice in many cities.
But how do we conclude that one theory is better than another?
A good theory

effectively summarizes many observations, and

makes clear predictions that we can use to
confirm or modify the theory,
generate new exploration, and
suggest practical applications.

When we discard theories, it is not usually because they have been

proved false. Rather, like old cars, they are replaced by newer, better
models.

page 5

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH: DETECTING NATURAL

ASSOCIATIONS
Let’s now go backstage and see how social psychology is done. This
glimpse behind the scenes should help you understand the findings
discussed later. Understanding the logic of research can also help
you think critically about everyday social events and better
comprehend studies you see covered in the media.

Activity

1.1

Social psychological research can be laboratory research (a

controlled situation) or field research (everyday situations). And it
varies by method—whether correlational (asking whether two or
more factors are naturally associated) or experimental
(manipulating some factor to see its effect on another). If you want
to be a critical reader of psychological research reported in the
media, it helps to understand the difference between correlational
and experimental research.
Let’s first consider correlational research, which has both a major
advantage (examining important variables in natural settings) and a
major disadvantage (difficulty determining cause and effect). In
search of possible links between wealth and health, Douglas Carroll
and his colleagues (1994) ventured into Glasgow, Scotland’s old
graveyards and noted the life spans of 843 individuals. As an
indication of wealth, they measured the height of the grave pillars,
reasoning that height reflected cost and therefore affluence. As
Figure 1-1 shows, wealth (taller grave markers) predicted longer
lives—a key indicator of health.
 FIGURE 1-1
Correlating Wealth and Longevity. Tall grave pillars, indicating
wealth, commemorated people who also tended to live longer. Source:
Carroll, Smith, and Bennett (1994).

page 6

Data from other sources have confirmed the wealth–health

correlation: Scottish postal-code regions with the least overcrowding
and unemployment (the most affluent) also have the longest
average lifespans. In the United States, income correlates with
longevity (poor and lower-status people are more likely to die
sooner). Another study followed 17,350 British civil service workers
over 10 years. Compared with high-status administrators, lower-
status administrators were 1.6 times more likely to have died. Even
lower-status clerical workers were 2.2 times more likely to have died,
and laborers were 2.7 times more likely (Adler et al., 1993, 1994).
Across times and places, the wealth–health correlation seems
reliable.
CORRELATION AND CAUSATION
The wealth–health question illustrates the most irresistible thinking
error made by both amateur and professional social psychologists:
When two factors such as wealth and health go together, it is
tempting to conclude that one causes the other. Wealth, we might
presume, somehow protects a person from health risks. But maybe
it’s the other way around: Perhaps healthy people are more likely to
succeed economically, or people who live longer have more time to
accumulate wealth. A third variable might also cause both health and
wealth—for example, perhaps those of a certain race or religion are
both healthier and more likely to become wealthy. In other words,
correlations indicate a relationship, but that relationship is not
necessarily one of cause and effect. Correlational research allows us
to roughly predict one variable from another, but it cannot tell us
whether one variable (such as wealth) causes another (such as
health). When two variables (let’s call them X and Y) are correlated
with each other, there are three possibilities: X causes Y, Y causes X,
or a third variable (Z) causes both.
The correlation–causation confusion is behind much muddled
thinking in popular psychology. Consider another very real
correlation—between self-esteem and academic achievement.
Children with high self-esteem tend also to have high academic
achievement. (As with any correlation, we can also state this the
other way around: High achievers tend to have high self-esteem.)
Why do you suppose that is true?
Some people believe self-esteem contributes to achievement.
Thus, boosting a child’s self-esteem may also boost school
achievement. Believing so, 30 U.S. states have enacted more than
170 self-esteem–promoting statutes.
But other people, including psychologists William Damon (1995),
Robyn Dawes (1994), Mark Leary (2012), Martin Seligman (1994,
2002), Roy Baumeister and John Tierney (2011), and one of us
(Twenge, 2013, 2014), doubt that self-esteem is really “the armor
that protects kids” from underachievement (or drug abuse and
delinquency). Perhaps it is the other way around: Perhaps doing well
builds self-esteem. Some studies suggest this is true; children who
do well and are praised for it develop high self-esteem (Skaalvik &
Hagtvet, 1990).

page 7

It is also possible that self-esteem and achievement correlate

because both are linked to underlying intelligence, family social
status, or parental behavior. In one study of over 2,000 people, the
correlation between self-esteem and achievement evaporated when
researchers mathematically removed the predictive power of
intelligence and family status (Bachman & O’Malley, 1977; Maruyama
et al., 1981). In another study, the correlation between self-esteem
and delinquency disappeared when factors such as drug use by
parents were controlled (Boden et al., 2008). In other words, low
self-esteem and poor behavior are both caused by the same thing:
an unfortunate home environment. Both may be symptoms of a bad
childhood rather than being caused by each other.
The great strength of correlational research is that it tends to
occur in real-world settings where we can examine factors such as
race, gender, and social status—factors that we cannot manipulate in
the laboratory. Its great disadvantage lies in the ambiguity of the
results. This point is so important that even if it fails to impress
people the first 25 times they hear it, it is worth repeating a 26th
time: Knowing that two variables change together (correlate)
enables us to predict one when we know the other, but correlation
does not specify cause and effect.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH: SEARCHING FOR CAUSE

AND EFFECT
The difficulty of determining cause and effect in correlational studies
often prompts social psychologists to create laboratory simulations of
everyday processes whenever this is feasible and ethical. These
simulations are akin to aeronautical wind tunnels. Aeronautical
engineers do not begin by observing how flying objects perform in
various natural environments. The variations in both atmospheric
conditions and flying objects are too complex. Instead, they
construct a simulated reality in which they can manipulate wind
conditions and wing structures. Due to their use of a simulated
reality, experiments have two major advantages over correlational
studies: random assignment and control.

Random Assignment: The Great Equalizer

Consider a research study finding that children who watched more
violent TV shows were more likely to behave aggressively in later life
(Huesmann et al., 2003). However, that’s a correlational finding, so
it’s difficult to tell if violent TV shows cause aggression, children who
are already aggressive watch more violent TV shows, or a third
variable causes violent TV watching and later aggressive behavior. A
survey researcher might measure and statistically control for some
possible third variables and see if the correlations survive. But one
can never control for all the factors that might distinguish people
who love violent TV shows and those who don’t. Maybe they differ in
personality, intelligence, self-control—or in dozens of ways the
researcher has not considered.

page 8

In one fell swoop, random assignment eliminates all such

extraneous factors. For example, a researcher might randomly
assign people to watch violent TV or nonviolent TV shows, and then
measure their aggressive behavior. With random assignment, each
person has an equal chance of viewing the violent TV or the
nonviolent TV shows. Thus, the people in both groups would, in
every conceivable way—family status, intelligence, education, initial
aggressiveness, hair color—average about the same. Highly
aggressive people, for example, are equally likely to appear in both
groups. Because random assignment creates equivalent groups, any
later difference in aggressive behavior between the two groups will
almost surely have something to do with the only way they differ—
whether or not they viewed violence (Figure 1-2).

FIGURE 1-2
Random Assignment. Experiments randomly assign people either to
a condition that receives the experimental treatment or to a control
condition that does not. This gives the researcher confidence that any
later difference is somehow caused by the treatment.

Control: Manipulating Variables

Social psychologists experiment by constructing social situations that
simulate important features of our daily lives. By varying just one or
two factors (called independent variables) at a time, the
experimenter pinpoints their influence. As the wind tunnel helps the
aeronautical engineer discover principles of aerodynamics, so the
experiment enables the social psychologist to discover principles of
social thinking, social influence, and social relations.
How exactly is this done? Let’s continue with the example of
violent TV shows and aggression.
To study this question using an experimental method, Chris
Boyatzis and colleagues (1995) showed some elementary
schoolchildren, but not others, an episode of the most popular—and
violent—children’s television program of the 1990s, Power Rangers.
Thus, the researchers controlled the situation by having some
children do one thing and other children not, an example page 9
of how researchers manipulate variables through control.
Whether the children watched the Power Rangers show was the
independent variable in this experiment.
Immediately after viewing the episode, the children who watched
Power Rangers committed seven times as many aggressive acts as
those who did not. The observed aggressive acts were the
dependent variable—the outcome being measured—in this study.
Such experiments indicate that television can be one cause of
children’s aggressive behavior.

Replication: Are the Results Reproducible?

A handful of unreliable findings, some from researchers who
committed fraud by faking data, have raised concerns about the
reproducibility of medical and psychological research. Although
“mere replications” of others’ research are unglamorous—they
seldom make headline news—today’s science is placing greater value
on replication studies. Researchers must precisely explain their
stimuli and procedures so that others can match them. Many now
file their methods and their detailed data in a public, online, “open
science” archive (Brandt et al., 2014; Miguel et al., 2014).
Additionally, teams of researchers have formed international
collaborative efforts to replicate the results of published research
papers. One such effort sought to replicate 100 studies published in
three prominent psychology journals. About half of the replication
studies produced effects similar in strength to the original study
(Open Science Collaboration, 2015). Another replication effort (the
“Many Labs” project) involving more studies on each question found
more encouraging results, with 85% of studies replicating (Klein et
al., 2014). More recent initiatives replicated 54% and 62% of prior
studies (Camerer et al., 2018; Moshontz et al., 2018). Such
replication forms an essential part of good science. Any single study
provides some information—it’s one estimate. Better is the
aggregated data from multiple studies (Stanley & Spence, 2014):
Replication = confirmation.
The Ethics of Experimentation
Our television example illustrates why experiments can raise ethical
issues. Social psychologists would not, over long periods, expose one
group of children to brutal violence. Rather, they briefly alter
people’s social experience and note the effects. Sometimes the
experimental treatment is a harmless, perhaps even enjoyable,
experience to which people give their knowing consent. Occasionally,
however, researchers find themselves operating in a gray area
between the harmless and the risky.
Social psychologists often venture into that ethical gray area
when they design experiments that engage intense thoughts and
emotions. Experiments do not need to have mundane realism
(Aronson et al., 1985). That is, laboratory behavior need not be like
everyday behavior, which is typically mundane, or page 10
unimportant. But the experiment should have
experimental realism—it should engage the participants.
Experimenters do not want participants consciously play-acting or
bored; they want to engage real psychological processes. An
example of such engagement would be delivering electric shocks as
part of an experiment on aggression. Forcing people to choose
whether to give intense or mild electric shock to someone else can
be a realistic measure of aggression. It functionally simulates real
aggression, much as a wind tunnel simulates atmospheric wind.
Achieving experimental realism sometimes requires deceiving
people with a plausible cover story. If the person in the next room is
actually not receiving the shocks, the experimenter does not want
the participants to know that. That would destroy the experimental
realism. Thus, approximately one-third of social psychological studies
in past decades used deception (Korn & Nicks, 1993; Vitelli, 1988),
in which participants did not know the study’s true purpose.
Researchers often walk a tightrope in designing experiments that
will be involving yet ethical. To believe that you are hurting
someone, or to be subjected to strong social pressure, may be
temporarily uncomfortable. Such experiments raise the age-old
question of whether ends justify means. Do the risks exceed those
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
under. The pole appears to end in a fork, and to be attached to the
axle bed.
On the decline of the Roman power, many of the arts of civilisation
which they had been instrumental in forwarding fell into disuse. The
skilled artisans died and left no successors, there being no demand
for them. This will account for no mention being made of carriages or
chariots for some centuries. Of course there were various primitive
contrivances in use to which the name of cart was given, but the
great and wealthy moved about the cities or travelled on horseback,
or if they were incapable of this, they used litters carried by men or
horses. The great bar to the general adoption of wheeled carriages
was undoubtedly the very bad state of the roads.
An evident improvement in construction was made by the Saxons.
In the Cotton Library there is a valuable illuminated manuscript,
supposed to be the work of Elfricus, Abbot of Malmesbury. The
subject is a commentary on the Books of Genesis and Exodus, with
accompanying illustrations. In one of these is represented the first
approach to a slung carriage; and it may be interesting to the lovers
of historical coincidence that it is given in an illustration of the
meeting of Joseph and Jacob, and in that part of the Bible which first
makes mention of vehicular conveyance. The chariot in which
Joseph is seated is a kind of hammock (most probably made of
leather, which was much used by the Anglo-Saxons), suspended by
iron hooks from a framework of wood. It moves upon four wheels,
the construction of which is not clear, owing to the decorative license
taken with them by the artist. The father of Joseph is placed in a cart,
which we doubt not, from its extreme simplicity, is a faithful type of
those of the time. This proves the illuminator to have been true to his
subject and the custom of the period in which he lived, as the chariot
was monopolised by the great men, while the people rode in carts.
With the Normans came the horse litter, a native originally of
Bithynia, and from thence introduced into Rome, where it is still used
by the Pope on state occasions, and also among the mountain
passes of Sicily, as well as in Spain and Portugal. Malmesbury
records that the dead body of Rufus was placed upon a rheda
caballaria, a kind of horse litter. King John, in his last illness, was
conveyed from the Abbey of Swinstead in lectica equestre. These
were for several succeeding reigns the only carriages in use for
persons of distinction. Froissart writes of Isabel, the second wife of
Richard II., as “La june Royne d’Angleterre en une litieré moult riche
qui etoit ordonèe pour elle.” These litters were seldom used except
on state occasions. When Margaret, daughter of Henry II., went into
Scotland, she is described as journeying on a “faire palfrey,” but after
her was conveyed by two footmen “one very riche litere, borne by
two faire coursers vary nobly drest; in which litere the sayd queene
was borne in the intryng of the good towns or otherwise to her good
playsher.”
Carriages proper were first introduced on the continent. Italy,
France, Spain, and Germany contend with each other for the honour
of the first introduction. The earliest record we have is on the
authority of Beckmann, who says that, when at the close of the
thirteenth century Charles of Anjou entered Naples, his queen rode
in a caretta, the outside and inside of which were covered with sky-
blue velvet interspersed with golden lilies.
The English were not long before they adopted this new
innovation. In an early English poem called the “Squyr of Low
Degree,” supposed to be before the time of Chaucer, the father of
the Princess of Hungary thus makes promise:—

“To-morrow ye shall on hunting fare,

And ride my daughter in a chare.
It shall be covered with velvet red,
And cloths of fine gold all about your head,
With damask white and azure blue,
Well diapered with lilies new:
Your pomelles shall be ended with gold,
Your chains enamelled many a fold.”

The pomelles were doubtless the handles to the rods affixed

towards the roof of the “chariette,” and were for the purpose of
holding by when deep ruts or obstacles in the roads caused an
unusual jerk in the vehicle.
 On the continent, there seems to have been a great deal of
opposition to the use of carriages. In 1294, Philip, King of France,
issued an ordinance prohibiting the citizens’ wives the use of cars or
chars; and later on, Pope Pius IV. exhorted his cardinals and bishops
not to ride in coaches, according to the fashion of the time, but to
leave such things to women; and it really was thought infra dig. for a
man to travel other than on horseback. Even his Holiness the Pope
rode upon a grey horse; though to indemnify him for the exertion, his
horse was led, and his stirrup held by kings and emperors.
These exhortations had about the same effect as James I.’s
“Counterblast to Tobacco;” they created an increased demand, and
the people showed their sense in preferring the ease that does no
injury to the self-denial that does no good, in spite of the opposition
of their superiors.
The first coach made in England was for the Earl of Rutland, in
1555, and Walter Rippon was the builder. He afterwards made one
for Queen Mary. Stow’s “Summerie of the English Chronicle” is the
authority upon which this statement is made.
In a postscript to the life of Thomas Parr, written by Taylor, the
Water Poet (and a mortal enemy to land carriages), we find the
following note: “He (Parr) was eighty-one years old before there was
any coach in England (Parr was born in Edward IV.’s reign in 1483);
for the first ever seen here was brought out of the Netherlands by
one William Boonen, a Dutchman, who gave a coach to Queen
Elizabeth, for she had been seven years a queen before she had
any coach; since when they have increased with a mischief, and
ruined all the best housekeeping, to the undoing of the watermen, by
the multitudes of Hackney coaches. But they never swarmed so
much to pester the streets as they do now till the year 1605; and
then was the gunpowder treason hatched, and at that time did the
coaches breed and multiply.” Taylor is to be thanked, not only for his
information, but for his capital though unconscious burlesque upon
those fancied philosophers who talk of cause and effect, where
events, because they happen in sequence, are made to depend one
on the other, when the fact of their being two things apart makes
them independent existences.
 We have not space to dwell upon these old specimens at length.
Queen Elizabeth’s coach is called by an old author “a moving
temple.” It had doors all round, so that when the people desired, and
the virgin queen was agreeable, they might feast their eyes on the
beauty of its trimming or linings.
The following entry in Sir William Dugdale’s diary may be
interesting: “1681. Payd to Mr. Meares, a coachmaker in St. Martin’s
Lane, for a little chariot wch I then sent into the country, £23 13s. 0d.,
and for a cover of canvas £01 00s. 00d.: also for harness for two
horses £04 00s. 00d.”
The opposition on the part of the watermen to the introduction of
coaches assumed rather serious proportions, more especially as the
populace sided with them; to such a height did the antagonism run
that a movement was made to introduce a Bill into Parliament to
prevent the increase of coaches; the apology for its introduction
being, that in war time it would be a matter of great difficulty to mount
the troops if so many horses were monopolised for these coaches.
Luckily, however, it came to nothing, and the antipathy gradually died
out.
Coaches and vehicles of all descriptions now became general,
and in 1635 a patent was granted to Sir Saunders Duncombe for the
introduction of sedans; their purpose being “to interfere with the too
frequent use of coaches, to the hindrance of the carts and carriages
employed in the necessary provision of the city and suburbs.” A
rivalry now sprung up between coach and sedan, and gave rise to a
humorous tract, in which they hold a colloquy as to which should
take precedence, a brewer’s cart being appointed umpire.
The coaches at this period were fearfully and wonderfully made.
There are several examples of them scattered about in the various
museums. The people who used them at this time had no great
ideas of them, for so formidable an affair was the undertaking of a
journey reckoned, that even from Birmingham to London a departure
was the signal for making a will, followed by a solemn farewell of
wife, children, and household!
 Towards the end of the seventeenth century improvements began
to take place. In Wood’s diary mention is made of a machine called
the “Flying Coach,” which performed the journey between Oxford
and London in thirteen hours! This was express rate for that age,
especially as there was some talk of making a law to limit the ground
covered by a coach to thirty miles a day in summer, and twenty-five
miles a day in winter. Oh, those good old times! The outcry lessened,
and the imperfect vehicles and bad roads were left to passengers
unmolested. What the latter were may be imagined from the fact
that, when Charles III. of Spain visited England, and Prince George
of Denmark went out to meet him, both princes were so impeded by
the badness of the roads that their carriages were obliged to be
borne on the shoulders of the peasantry, and they were six hours in
performing the last nine miles of their journey.
In the eighteenth century improvements were made in the
construction of coaches, but they were still heavy lumbering
contrivances, so that little or no progress was made in the rate at
which they travelled. Even so late as 1760 a journey from Edinburgh
to London occupied eighteen days, a part of the roads being only
accessible by pack horses. There is a very good specimen of the
vehicle of the early part of the eighteenth century in the South
Kensington Museum, belonging to the Earl of Darnley’s family, and is
well worthy of study as being one of the lightest examples known of
this period.
In the Museum of South Kensington is also an excellent example
of the fully developed coach of 1790. It is a very massive-looking
affair, and belonged to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland; it looks very
much like a faded edition of the City state coach now, though when
new it doubtless had a very good appearance. It consists of a very
large body, suspended from upright or whip springs by means of
leather braces; the standing pillars slope outwards, making the sides
longer at the roof than at the elbow line. The wheels are of good
height, and the carriage part is very massively constructed, the
upper part being finished off with scroll ironwork, and on this in the
front the coachman’s hammercloth is raised. The panels are painted
with landscapes, &c., by Hamilton, R.A., and no doubt altogether it
cost a deal of money.
Vehicles now began to assume that variety of shape and form of
which we have in our own time so many specimens. There were
Landaus, introduced from a town of that name in Germany; these
were, like the coaches, only made to open in the centre of the roof
just as they do now, but instead of the covering falling into a
horizontal line it only fell back to an angle of 45 degrees, and this
pattern was maintained for a number of years. Landaulets were
chariots made to open. Generally speaking, the difference between a
coach and a chariot was that the former had two seats for the
accommodation of passengers, and the latter but one, and in
appearance was like a coach cut in half. Then came phaetons,
barouches, sociables, curricles, gigs, and whiskies, which, in their
general form and attributes, were similar to the vehicles of the
present day which bear these names. In those days fast driving was
all the “go,” and young men vied with each other in driving the loftiest
and most dangerous gigs and phaetons. Contemporary literature
teemed with romantic tales of spills and hairbreadth ’scapes from
these vehicles, and yet dilated on the fearful pleasure there was in
driving them.
The larger wheeled vehicles were hung upon framed carriages,
with whip springs behind and elbow springs in front, like the
gentlemen’s cabriolets of the present day. When drawn by two
horses they were called curricles, or by one horse, chaises. There
was a little variation in the shape of the body, viz. the full curricle
pattern and the half curricle, with or without a boot, similar to a
Tilbury or a gig body. The wheels were 4 feet 3 inches to 5 feet in
height. Lancewood was then used for shafts.
It is at the beginning of the nineteenth century that real progress is
to be found in coaches and other carriages. In 1804, Mr. Obadiah
Elliott, a coachmaker of Lambeth, patented a plan for hanging
vehicles upon elliptic springs, thus doing away with the heavy perch,
as the longitudinal timber or iron connecting the hind-carriage with
the fore carriage is called. Perches are still used, but are chiefly
confined to coaches proper, or those hung upon C springs. Elliott
also considerably lightened the carriage part of the vehicles he
turned out. This was the first step to a grand revolution in the
manufacture of carriages, which was to affect every variety of
vehicle, great or small. Elliott’s enterprise was rewarded by the gold
medal of the Society of Arts, and by his business becoming a very
prosperous one, for the public were not slow in discovering the
advantages arising from great lightness in vehicles.
A print, published in 1816, shows a landaulet hung on elliptic
springs, four in number, with a square boot framed to the body, and
the driving seat supported on ironwork high above the boot. Behind
there is a footboard supported on the pump-handles. The distance
between the axletrees is very short, only 6 feet 6 inches from centre
to centre. The body is rather small, and the wheels are 3 feet 8
inches and 4 feet 8 inches high respectively, and the bottom of the
body is 3 feet 6 inches above the ground. The span or opening of the
springs is 10 inches.
In 1814 there were 23,400 four-wheeled vehicles paying duty to
Government, 27,300 two-wheeled, and 18,500 tax-carts in Great
Britain, showing a total of 69,200 vehicles. The later returns will
show how much a reduction in the duties and the use of elliptic
springs have promoted the increase of vehicles of all kinds.
A vehicle much in fashion at this period was the curricle, which
had been in use for some time in Italy, where it was suspended from
leather braces. Springs were added by the French, and, on its being
introduced here, the English altered the shape, giving the back a
graceful ogee curve, improved the hood, and added a spring bar
across the horses’ backs. It was a vehicle of easy draught, and could
be driven at great speed. Unfortunately it was rather dangerous if the
horse shied or stumbled, and this tended to reduce the demand for
it, and it was gradually superseded by the cabriolet, though Charles
Dickens used one as soon as he could afford it, and Count D’Orsay
had one made as late as 1836.
The vehicle called the briska, or britchka, was introduced about
1818 from Austria. It was hung both upon C springs and elliptic
springs, and was made in various sizes for different requirements. It
was nearly straight along the bottom. The hind panel was ogee
shaped, and the front terminated in a square boot. There was a
rumble behind, and the back seat was fitted with a hood which could
be raised or lowered at pleasure, and the knees were covered by a
folding knee flap. This was an inconvenient vehicle for our climate,
as only half the number could be sheltered in wet weather that could
be accommodated in dry. It was very fashionable for a time, but died
out about 1840.

Fig. 5.—Stanhope.

The “Stanhope” takes its name from being first built to the order
and under the superintendence of the Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope, by
Tilbury, the builder of the vehicle bearing that name. It was shaped
like the old ribbed gig, but was hung upon four springs, two of which
were bolted between the shaft and axle, and the other two
crossways, parallel to the axle at either end of the body, and
shackled to the side springs. Stanhopes are an easy kind of vehicle,
and do not rock so much as other gigs behind a rough-trotting horse.
At the same time they are rather heavy, owing to the large amount of
iron plating used to strengthen the shafts, &c.
 Fig. 6.—Tilbury.
The “Tilbury” was very much like the Stanhope, but had no boot,
and like it was heavily plated with iron. It was hung by two elbow
springs in front, with leather braces to the shafts or front cross bar,
and behind by two elbow springs passing from beneath the seat to a
cross spring raised to the level of the back rail of the body by three
straight irons from the hind part of the cross bar. Later, two more
springs were added between the axletree and the shafts, by scroll
irons. The Tilbury was a very good-looking and durable vehicle, but
its weight took away the public favour, and it went out of fashion
about 1850. It was, however, adopted with great success by Italy and
other continental countries, where the roads are bad, and solidity of
construction is the first consideration.
Dog-carts and Tandem-carts are too well known to need
description. The former were so called from their being used for the
conveyance of sporting dogs, such as greyhounds or pointers, and
the slats or louvre arrangement of the sides was for the purpose of
admitting air to the animals; though scarcely ever used for this
purpose now, the original plan has been pretty closely adhered to,
except that the boot is considerably reduced and made to harmonise
more with the other parts.
Some of the greatest improvements in the shape and style of
various vehicles were effected by a celebrated maker named
Samuel Hobson, who remodelled and improved pretty nearly every
vehicle which came under his hands. He particularly directed his
attention to the true proportion of parts, and artistic form of carriages.
He lowered the bodies, and lengthened the under or “carriage” part.
The curves and sweeps also received due attention. In fact, he
carefully studied those “trifles” (as Michael Angelo’s friend would
have termed them) on which depended the success of the
production as a work of art. Imitation being the sincerest form of
flattery, the other coachmakers soon showed their sense by copying
his best ideas, though, to give these other coachmakers their due,
they greatly assisted Mr. Hobson with suggestions for improvements,
and as a reward availed themselves of his superior talent for working
on these ideas.
As our interior trade and manufactures increased, the custom
arose of sending commercial travellers throughout England to call
attention to the various goods, and it was found very convenient to
send these travellers in light vehicles which could convey samples of
the various articles. This led to a very great increase in the number
of gigs; and about 1830 one coach factory of London supplied
several hundreds of these vehicles to travellers at annual rentals.
And though on the introduction of the railway system long journeys
by road were unnecessary, these gigs were found of great use in
town and suburban journeys, and in London they may be seen by
hundreds daily, and they are scarcely used by any one else but
commercial travellers. They are too familiar to need detailed
description.
In 1810 a duty was levied by Government upon vehicles for sale. It
was repealed in 1825, but the returns give the number of vehicles
built for private use in 1814 as 3,636, and in 1824 as 5,143, whilst
the number of carriages in use in 1824 had grown to 25,000 four-
wheeled, and 36,000 two-wheeled, besides 15,000 tax-carts; an
increase since 1814 of 20,000 vehicles.
In 1824 there was built for George IV. a low phaeton, called a pony
phaeton, which has since become very common, and has undergone
but very little change from the original. It was a cab shape, half-
caned, with a skeleton bottom side hung upon four elliptical springs,
with crane ironwork back and front. It was drawn by two ponies; the
wheels were only 21 and 33 inches high.
A carriage had been introduced from Germany, called a droitska or
droskey—an open carriage with a hood, on a perch, and suspended
from C springs. The peculiarity was, that the body was hung very
near the perch, so that the seat was only 12 inches above the hind
axletree, and the place for the legs was on either side of the perch.
The chief merits of this vehicle consisted in its lightness as
compared with barouches and briskas, and its shortness.
The cab phaeton was invented by Mr. Davies, of Albany Street,
about 1835; it consisted of a cab body with a hood, hung upon four
elliptic springs, and a low driving seat and dasher, for one horse. It
met with great success and was soon in general use. It was
introduced on the continent, where it became known under the name
of “Milord,” and became the common hack carriage, after which it
went out of fashion with the upper circles. It has, however, been
recently revived under the name of “Victoria.” The Prince of Wales
and Baron Rothschild set the fashion by using Victorias about 1869,
and it really is a very elegant and useful vehicle.
In 1839 the first Brougham was built by Mr. Robinson, of Mount
Street, for Lord Brougham, since when this has become the most
common and the most fashionable vehicle in use. The size of the
first brougham was in its chief dimensions similar to those now
manufactured; it was hung on elliptic springs in front, and five
springs behind. Coachmakers seemed to have lavished the greatest
care and attention on these vehicles, in order to turn out the lightest,
and at the same time the most artistic contrivance, and great
success has attended their efforts.
The foregoing is a brief history of vehicular conveyances from the
earliest times to the present. During the last ten or fifteen years
many further improvements have been added, tending to produce
more perfect vehicles in every respect; but these improvements have
been more in matters of detail than those at the commencement of
the century, and hence are more likely to escape ordinary
observation; but the critical eye will soon discover these changes,
and marvel at the short space of time in which the real work has
been done.
A glance at public carriages may not be out of place. Hackney
coaches were first used in England in 1605. These were similar to
the coaches used by fashionable people, but they did not ply for hire
in the streets, but remained at the hiring yards until they were
wanted. Their number soon increased, owing to there being a
greater number of persons who wished to hire than could afford to
keep a conveyance of their own. In 1635 the number was limited to
fifty, but in spite of the opposition of the King they continued to
increase in number, and in 1640 there were 300 in London. In Paris
they were introduced by Nicholas Sauvage, who lived in a street at
the sign of St. Fiacre, and from this circumstance hackney carriages
are called “fiacres” in France. In 1772 the hire of a fiacre in Paris was
one shilling for the first hour and tenpence for the second. There
were 400 hackney coaches in London in 1662, and the Government
then levied a yearly duty of £5 each upon them. In spite of this their
number had in 1694 increased to 700, a substantial proof of their
usefulness.
In 1703 a stage coach performed the journey from London to
Portsmouth, when the roads were good, in fourteen hours. From this
time there was a gradual increase in the number and destinations of
stage coaches.
In 1755 stage coaches are described as being covered with dull
black leather, studded with broad-headed nails by way of ornament,
and oval windows in the quarters, with the frames painted red. On
the panels the destination of the coach was displayed in bold
characters. The roof rose in a high curve with a rail round it. The
coachman and guard sat in front upon a high narrow boot,
sometimes garnished with a hammercloth ornamented with a deep
fringe. Behind was an immense basket supported by iron bars, in
which passengers were carried at a cheaper rate than in other parts
of the vehicle. The wheels were painted red. The coach was usually
drawn by three horses, on the first of which a postillion rode, dressed
in green and gold, and with a cocked hat. This machine groaned and
creaked as it went along, with every tug the horses gave, though the
ordinary speed was somewhere about four miles an hour.
One hundred years ago news and letters travelled very slowly, the
post-boys to whom the letter bags were intrusted progressing at the
rate of three and a half miles an hour! In 1784 a proposal was laid
before Government by Mr. John Palmer, the originator of mail
coaches, to run quicker vehicles, though at much dearer rates of
postage. This scheme was at first opposed by Parliament, but after a
struggle of some two years, Palmer’s coaches were adopted for the
conveyance of the mails, though the rate at which these travelled
was only six miles an hour for a long time after their introduction.
A great impetus was given to the production of better forms of
stage coaches by gentlemen taking to drive them as an amusement,
and two clubs were soon formed of noblemen and gentlemen who
took an interest in four-in-hand driving and in vehicles in general.
Several clubs of this kind are now flourishing to encourage manly
sport, and with the capacity to promote improvements in the form of
the “drag,” as it is now called.
It is to an architect that we owe the invention of the Hansom cab.
The safety consisted in the arrangement of the framework at the
nearest part to the ground, so as to prevent an upset if the cab tilted
up or down. The inventor was Mr. Hansom, the architect of the
Birmingham Town Hall. Numberless improvements have been made
on this idea, but the leading principles are the same.
In 1829 the first omnibus was started in London by Mr. Shillibeer,
who some time previously had been a coachmaker in Paris. It was
drawn by three horses, and carried twenty-two passengers, all
inside. The fare was a shilling from the “Yorkshire Stingo,” in
Marylebone Road, to the Bank. This vehicle was found too large for
the streets of London, so a smaller one was started, drawn by two
horses and carrying twelve passengers inside. In 1849 an outside
seat was added along the centre of the roof, and by 1857 the
omnibus had become pretty nearly the same form as we now know
it. Our present omnibus is probably the lightest vehicle of its kind for
carrying such a large number of passengers. Its average weight is
about 25 cwt. The London General Omnibus Company have, on an
average, 626 omnibuses running on week-days, and 6,935 horses to
work them. They build their own vehicles, and each runs about sixty
miles a day, at a speed of about six miles an hour, and nearly all are
supplied with brake retarders, worked by the foot, which effect a
great saving in the strain put upon the horses in stopping.
 CHAPTER II.

PREPARATION OF THE DESIGN AND

SETTING OUT THE FULL-SIZED DRAUGHT.
In coach-building, as in building construction, the first thing to be
done is to prepare a design of the vehicle proposed to be built
according to the requirements of the customer. A scale of one inch to
a foot is a very good one for the purpose, though the scale drawings
are more often made to a scale of one and a half or two inches to a
foot. These drawings (or draughts as they are technically termed),
are prepared by specially trained draughtsmen, and it requires no
mean skill to produce, on a small scale, a pictorial representation of
the future vehicle, truly proportioned in all its parts, and a delicacy of
touch in order that the parts may not look coarse. These drawings, if
well made (and they generally are), give a very accurate picture of
the carriage, and a purchaser is generally able from this to say what
peculiar feature he requires, or where he thinks it should be altered;
if he can do this it saves a great deal of trouble in the future, whilst
the coach is being built.
For this work the draughtsman requires a drawing-board and T
square, and two set squares; as he never has to prepare very large
drawings, a board of imperial size will be amply sufficient, and the T
square to have a corresponding length of blade. T squares are made
of a variety of woods, but the most serviceable is one made of
mahogany, with an ebony edge; the most important consideration
being that the edge should be truly “shot” from end to end. The set
squares should either be vulcanite or skeleton mahogany with ebony
edges; the latter are preferable, as they work more cleanly than the
vulcanite, which, unless kept very clean, are apt to make black
smears across the drawing. In order to fasten the paper down to the
drawing board, drawing pins will be required; they are simple pins of
iron or steel, with a large flat brass head; four is the number required
for each sheet of paper, one at each corner. A very much better way
to fix the paper down is to “strain” it to the board. It is done in the
following way:—The sheet of paper to be fastened down is
thoroughly well wetted, by means of a sponge or large flat brush, on
one side (which, it does not matter, but see that your board is
perfectly clean before starting); it should then be left for five or ten
minutes for the water to well soak into the pores of the paper; when
this is done, the paper will be quite limp. Now take a perfectly clean
straight edge, or the back edge of the T square, and turn up one of
the edges of the paper ¼ or ½ an inch against it; along this edge run
a brush charged with glue from the glue pot, or a piece of ordinary
glue dipped into boiling water and rubbed along the edge will do just
as well, and when you think there is enough sticky matter to promote
adhesion between the paper and the board, turn the edge of the
paper back on the board (without removing the straight edge or T
square), and quickly rub it with the tips of the fingers until it goes
down flat all along without any air bubbles: do this to all four edges of
the paper, and place in a perfectly flat position to dry; and if the
operation has been carefully conducted the paper will be beautifully
flat to draw upon, and there can be no fear of its shifting. When the
drawing is finished, all that has to be done is to cut round the edges
of the paper just inside the glued edge, and take it off. A little hot
water will take off the glued strip, and take care to wash all the glue
off at the same time, otherwise a smaller piece of paper might stick
in some important part, and the drawing spoilt in order to detach it.
 Fig. 7.—Coach.
The draughtsman will do well to have a few French curves, for
drawing the “sweeps” or curved lines of the carriage bodies, and
scales of various sizes, which are slips of boxwood or ivory, on which
are marked at the edges various scales, from ¹⁄₁₆th of an inch to a
foot up to 3 inches to a foot; and last, though not by any means
least, a good box of compasses or mathematical instruments. We
shall not discuss the merits of the various kinds of instruments here,
but any one wishing to go into the matter may do so by reading
“Mathematical Instruments” in Weale’s Series. But we should
strongly advise the draughtsman to go to some good maker, as bad
drawing instruments only lead to bad drawing.
The drawing paper used should be of a kind having a slight gloss
on the surface, like “hot-pressed” paper, but without its granular
texture. This kind of paper is usually called a “board,” as Bristol
board, and kept in various sizes, and sold by all colour dealers.
Various names are given to it, but it is all pretty nearly alike.
The paper being fastened, the drawing is commenced by drawing
the ground line a (Fig. 7); from that set off the height that the body is
to be from the ground, indicated by the dotted line b, and draw the
line c, which is the depth of the rocker. This latter is the real bottom
of the vehicle, and from it is measured the height of the seat, about
12 inches, shown by the dotted lines on the body. Then from the seat
measure 42 inches, the length of the roof d. Lay off 23 inches for the
width of the door, and draw e and f. From f measure 28 inches, the
depth of the back quarter g, and from e measure 25 inches, which
will give the front quarter h. Now the curves or sweeps of the body
can be put in by means of French curves. From the hinge pillar
measure 26 inches, shown by dotted line i, and this is the centre of
the hind wheel, which is 4 feet 3 inches high. The spring is 1¼
inches thick, and consists of 5 plates 42 inches long. The opening
between the springs is 12½ inches, the lower one being clipped
beneath the axle. Measure 12½ inches from the underside of the
axle, which will give the underside of the top spring. 1¼ inches must
also be allowed for the back bar j, and the pump-handle k will be ½
an inch thick. Then draw the boot l in such a position that the front
wheels will lock or turn under it freely. This may be found by drawing
a plan of the wheel as shown, and with the centre of the lock bolt
produced to n, strike the lines m, and it will be seen that the wheels
will just clear the body, which is all that is necessary. From this it will
be noticed that the centre on which the fore carriage turns is not in
the same plane as the axle. This is more particularly discussed in the
chapter on wheel-plates. The front wheel is 42 inches high, the
springs the same size as the back springs. The draught may be now
completed from Fig. 7, after having settled on the various heights
and sizes, and can be inked in with Indian ink. The dotted lines,
being merely constructional, are rubbed out when the drawing is
inked in. To complete the drawing, the spokes of the wheels must be
shown. These should be neither too many nor too few, but there is
no rule which regulates their number, except that there should be
two to each felloe. Having inked the parts in and cleaned the pencil
lines off, the drawing is ready to be coloured. The colours applied to
the drawing are the same as will be used for painting the carriage, so
we shall not detail them here.
From this drawing is constructed the full-size draught, which is
prepared before a tool is touched. On the walls of the body-making
shop are large black-boards, 10
or 12 feet square, and on these
the draughts are prepared just
in the same way as described
for the scale drawing, except
that all the heights are marked
up a vertical line which runs
through the centre of the
doorway, and from this the
various widths are also set off.
This and the ground line are the
first two lines drawn, and it is
imperative that they should
make a perfect right angle with
each other, otherwise the
draught will not be true, and the
material worked from it will be
wasted. This full-sized draught
requires the greatest care in
preparation, as all the patterns
to which the materials are cut or Fig. 8.—Brougham with Cant-Board. s,
shaped are taken from it, even Standing pillar (developed). b, Bottom
to the smallest parts. bar. r, Rocker. l, Seat.
The full-size draught also
differs from the scale draught, inasmuch as all the details of the
construction of the vehicle are shown as in the accompanying cut
(Fig. 8), which shows the construction of a small doctor’s brougham,
and Fig. 9, which shows the construction of a landau. This latter is a
representation of the working draught for the vehicle, and, in fact, is
a reduced copy of what would be drawn upon the black-board in the
shop, except that some of the minor details are omitted to avoid
confusion.
Fig. 9.—Landau.