ABSTRACT
Because I have already thanked my former and present associates-teachers, fellow graduate students, colleagues, graduate and undergraduate students, yes, and wives, mentioning names of many of them at the 1999 meeting of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology-I need only say here that my research has been a great adventure and it could not have been so without the help of all these people. Having thus made at least a downpayment on my debt, I would like here to move on to a few comments about the general field of study in which I have spent my time. Early on when I reluctantly agreed to write something for this book, I thought about doing a piece called "Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Social Psychology." And as I thought of one problem after another to complain about, it occurred to me that I was taking on the role of a crotchety old has-been who has nothing more of interest to say. So, although I have a few things to say about problems in the field of social psychology, I aim primarily at leaving you with a sketch of a new theory about social influence and the general direction in which our understanding of human behavior could move.
