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

by Richard J. Gerrig (Editor)

Survivor has proven to be one of the most popular shows to ever hit television screens. What has this pop culture phenomenon shown us — by placing a few hundred people on islands around the world — about the psychological make-up of the average American? In Psychology of Survivor, the third installment of BenBella Books's Psychology of Popular Culture series, leading psychologists — and fans of Survivor — unite to offer up their expertise on the show that started the reality show craze. From why macho alpha males rarely win to stress and body image, from situational ethics to the dreaded Rob Cestaries factor, Psychology of Survivor is a broad look at cutting-edge psychological issues through the lens of Survivor. The tribe has spoken — Psychology of Survivor is the best book for Survivor fans and psychology enthusiasts alike!

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Tv, Pop Culture, Essays

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2007

About the author

Richard J Gerrig earned his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Stanford University. His academic career began at Yale University, where he was awarded the Lex Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences. He moved to Stony Brook University in 1994, where he is currently a professor of psychology. At Stony Brook, he has been actively involved in initiatives focused on innovations in undergraduate education. His research on cognitive psychological aspects of language use has been widely published. One line of work examines the mental processes that underlie efficient communication. A second research program considers the cognitive and emotional changes readers experience when they are transported to the worlds of stories. He has served as an associate editor for the journals Psychonomic Bulletin & Review and Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. He has been named a fellow of the Society for Text & Discourse, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. His book Experiencing Narrative Worlds was published by Yale University Press.

Reviews

[MK Wildeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated but entertaining

[Brittney Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book on & off for months until I finally finished it. It was so boring - not fun to read at all. I am a fan of Survivor & a sucker for psychology, yet this book fell short.

[Reid Engfennatich · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who dreams almost every hour of every day about getting his shot to one day play this game that I’ve adored watching for years, and as someone who is thoroughly fascinated by psychology, this book was a must read. Going into it I was expecting it to be a thorough manual of how to excel on the show. It turned out to me be more of an in depth psychological explanation for a lot of basic, common sense strategy of the show. Is it what I expected? Not exactly. Was I still gleefully entertained by the new insight and psychology I learned? Absolutely. My only knock (if you can call it that) is that as this only covers the first 12-13 seasons of the show, a lot of data and some strategic arguments have not aged the best, but all I have to say about that is… Psychology of Survivor 2 when?

[Kristin Dahlman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not finish one of the essays in this book, as they were sad that regaulations had been put on experiments, since the Standford Prison experiment. The other essays, I kinda enjoyed, but since this book is so outdated in relation to where Surivor is at now, their points fall flat. One essay in particular about why more WOMEN win Survivor (at the time) was written by two MEN. In this essay they state that women go on Survivor for the process and not to win. I don't think so. I would also put more stock in one of the writers being a woman for that essay. I have little desire to reread this book and it is very much out of date regarding Survivor.

[Nadhilla Melia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might be interesting to someone who's completely new to psychology but I found it pretty basic and boring. I was hoping that I would get a book that used psychology to explain Survivor but instead I got one that used Survivor to explain psychology. The focus seemed to be more on the psychological concepts instead of Survivor phenomena and that's not exactly what I wanted from this book. The authors' thoughts on Survivor are also pretty outdated and I found a lot of their personalities somewhat offputting. There were some interesting insights but overall, not a book for me.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as a pallette cleanser for a longer series and because I'm a huge fan of the central topic: Survivor. This was not a great read. As a collection of short essays it was easy to put down constantly. Most chapters relied far too heavily on analyzing season 1 and Richard Hatch, when even at the time of the book's release was clearly a different game. For fans of today's version of Survivor, this is more of a time capsule than entertaining. Probably worth a read at release, but in 2022 it can be skipped

[Dan Rheingans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this look at the psychological principles behind the social experiment of the show Survivor. One of the well done parts of the book was the discussion of how change in the way the game is perceived and played on various levels ranging from the Fundamental Attribution Error, to the advantages and disadvantages between gendered players. An interesting short read that applies psychological principles to a show we are quite familiar with as a culture.

[Lizzie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of these papers felt very "duh" but a few were really interesting reads. This is also fairly old, it only covers up to season 12, so it would be cool to have an updated version that includes more seasons.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of psychology essays which use the TV show Survivor as examples. As such, it appeals to Survivor fans as well as people who like to read psychology books. Since I'm both, I found it an interesting read! Some of my favorite essays dealt with the psychology of being an outcast, the effects of malnutrition and stress on behavior, and how people resolve the cognitive dissonance between what they know is right and what they have to do to progress in the game.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was based on the first 10 or 12 episodes of Survivor, and so a lot of the information was out of date. It is a series of separate articles written by different types of psychologists. Some of them are interesting, and some are too into the science of psychology, and not as fun to read. All in all, I didn't think it was that good.

[Myles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a better work of scholarship than "Tribal Warfare," I learned a lot about psychology from this book! Especially the "fundamental attribution error."

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As probably the biggest fan of this show that I know, I just had to read this book! It was fun to relive all those moments and I will reread it if I ever get on the show :-)

[PastAllReason · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's already a little bit dated, but on the whole it was worth reading if you're a fan of the show.