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On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had denied federal medical and other job-related benefits to spouses in same-sex marriages. This decision, along with recent related efforts in many states to allow same-sex couples to marry, form civil unions, and obtain other privileges accorded to heterosexual couples across the nation, reignited longstanding debates in the United States about same-sex attraction. President Barack Obama extended health and other benefits to gay partners of federal employees one year later, in June 2014. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges issued on June 26, 2015, gay marriage is now allowed throughout the United States. People in the United States and around the globe—including both those who embrace and those who object to same-sex relations—have struggled to understand it. Is same-sex attraction “normal”? Or is it deviant, perhaps the product of character, spiritual, or genetic defects? The way a given culture explains the origins of social behavior impacts how it is handled in the media, by its government, and by its religious institutions. Are same-sex relations encouraged, tolerated, or outlawed? Are homosexuals persecuted, prosecuted, institutionalized, or just left alone? If it is a mental illness, can it be cured?

Like many laypeople, social psychologists have wondered about the nature and origins of sexual attraction, including between individuals of the same sex. However, social psychologists are different than laypeople because we examine such social behaviors more systematically and bring to the table a wealth of theories and research in our efforts to explain them. For instance, we may ask whether the principles underlying opposite-sex attraction and relationships apply to all people, regardless of their sexual preferences. In addition, social psychologists would consider a wide range of possible explanatory factors, including variation across cultures, social influences, genetic factors, and a person’s learning history. In fact, these types of factors are the same ones that we’ll look to when we try to understand other social behavior. We will return more specifically to the topic of sexual attraction later in this chapter and again in Chapter 11 on affiliation and love.

More broadly, social psychologists utilize a multilevel approach that incorporates several types of explanatory mechanisms as we try to understand human social behavior. This book provides a wide-ranging survey of the most important social psychological theories, approaches, and research findings in an effort to show you, the reader, how social psychologists have sought and continue to seek answers to fundamental questions of human existence, such as free will, human sociality, independence, and moral behavior. Rather than provide an overly detailed and exhaustive coverage of social psychology, I focus on the core of our field: delivering only the most important and useful concepts, theories, and research. I do not want readers to get lost in the forest by focusing too much on the trees! Along our path to achieving that goal, we’ll touch on many fascinating topics and themes, including how we think about ourselves and other people, the roles of biology and culture in shaping human thought and behavior, attitudes and attitude change, aggression, romantic love, and prejudice, among others. Hold on for an exciting tour of the social psychology of human behavior!