Brent Simpson
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of South Carolina
I am a sociologist, broadly interested in social psychology and social networks.
Much of my work addresses issues of social order and various aspects of prosocial behavior
(altruism, trust, generosity, and cooperation).This page contains links to selected papers. For a more detailed list of publications
and professional activities, please see my CV.
Publications
Forthcoming Brent Simpson, Barry Markovsky, and Mike Steketee. “Power and Perception of Social Networks.”
Forthcoming in Social Networks.Forthcoming Brent Simpson, Barry Markovsky, and Mike Steketee. “Network Knowledge and the Use of Power.”
Forthcoming in Social Networks.Forthcoming Irena Stepanikova, Jennifer Triplett, and Brent Simpson. “Implicit Racial Bias and Prosocial Behavior.”
Social Science Research.2011 Kimmo Eriksson and Brent Simpson. “Perceptions of Unfairness in Allocations between Multiple Recipients.”
Cognitive Psychology 62:225-44.2010 Eriksson and Brent Simpson. “Emotional Reactions to Losing Explain Gender Differences in Risky Behavior.”
Journal of Judgment and Decision Making 5: 159-63.2009 Suzanne Sutphin and Brent Simpson. "The Role of Self-Evaluations in Legitimizing Social Inequality."
Social Science Research 38: 608-21.
2009 Brent Simpson and Kimmo Eriksson. "The Dynamics of Contracts and Generalized Trustworthiness."
in Rationality & Society 21: 59-80.
2008 Kyle Irwin, Tucker McGrimmon, and Brent Simpson. "Sympathy and Social Order." Social Psychology Quarterly
71:379-97.2008 Brent Simpson and Robb Willer. "Altruism and Indirect Reciprocity: The Interaction of Person and Situation in
Prosocial Behavior." Social Psychology Quarterly 71: 37-52.2008 Brent Simpson and Tucker McGrimmon. "Trust and Embedded Markets." Social Networks 30:1-15.
2007 Brent Simpson, Tucker McGrimmon, and Kyle Irwin. "Are Blacks Really Less Trusting than Whites? Revisiting
the Race and Trust Question." Social Forces 86:525-52.
2007 Kimmo Eriksson and Brent Simpson. "Social Embeddedness and Price-Signaling in Markets." Journal of
Judgment and Decision Making 2:23-28.2006 Brent Simpson. "Social Identity and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas." Rationality and Society 18:444-70.
2006 Brent Simpson. "Rational Choice Theories." In George Ritzer (ed.) Encyclopedia of Sociology. Blackwell Publishing
2006 Brent Simpson, Kyle Irwin, and Peter Lawrence. "Does a 'Norm of Self-Interest' Discourage Prosocial Behavior?
Rationality and Quid Pro Quo in Charitable Giving." Social Psychology Quarterly 69:3296-306.2006 Brent Simpson. "The Poverty of Trust in the Southern United States." Social Forces. 84: 1625-38.
2005 Brent Simpson and David Willer. "The Structural Embeddedness of Collective Goods: Connection and Coalitions
in Exchange Networks." Sociological Theory 23: 387-407.2005 Brent Simpson and Casey Borch. "Does Power Affect Perception in Social Networks?: Two Arguments and an
Experimental Test." Social Psychology Quarterly 68:278-87.2004 Brent Simpson. "Social Values, Subjective Transformations, and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas." Social
Psychology Quarterly 67:385-95.2004 Brent Simpson. "Exchange Coalitions." In George Ritzer (ed.) Encyclopedia of Social Theory. London: Sage
Publications.2004 Brent Simpson and Michael Macy. "Power, Identity, and Collective Action in Social Exchange." Social Forces
82:1375-1411.2003 Brent Simpson. "Sex, Fear and Greed: A Social Dilemma Analysis of Gender and Cooperation." Social Forces
82:35-52.2002 Brent Simpson and David Willer. "Applications of Elementary Theory to Social Structures of Antiquity." Pp. 231-54
in Sing C. Chew and J. David Knottnerus (eds.) Structure, Culture and History. New York: Rowen and Littlefield.2002 David Willer, Henry Walker, Barry Markovsky, Robb Willer, Michael J. Lovaglia, Shane Thye and Brent Simpson.
"Network Exchange Theory." Pp. 109-44 in Joseph Berger and Morris Zelditch, Jr. (eds.) New Directions in
Sociological Theory: The Growth of Contemporary Theories. New York: Rowen and Littlefield.2002 Brent Simpson and Henry A. Walker. "Status Characteristics and Performance Expectations: A Reformulation."
Sociological Theory 20:24-40.2001 Brent Simpson and Michael W. Macy. "Collective Action and Power Inequality: Coalitions in Exchange Networks."
Social Psychology Quarterly 64:88-100.2000 Henry A. Walker, Shane R. Thye, Brent Simpson, David Willer, Michael J. Lovaglia and Barry Markovsky.
"Network Exchange Theory: Recent Developments and New Directions." Social Psychology Quarterly 63:
324-37.2000 Henry A. Walker and Brent Simpson. "Equating Characteristics and Status-Organizing Processes." Social
Psychology Quarterly. 63:175-85.1999 Brent Simpson and David Willer. "A New Method for Finding Power Structures." Pp. 270-84 In D. Willer (ed.)
Networ Exchange Theory. Westport, CT: Praeger.1997 Barry Markovsky, David Willer, Brent Simpson and Michael J. Lovaglia. "Power in Exchange Networks: Critique
of a New Theory." American Sociological Review. 62: 833-37.1996 David Willer, Brent Simpson, Jacek Szmatka and Joanna Mazur. "Social Theory and Historical Explanation."
Humboldt Journal of Social Relations. 22: 63-84.
Department of Sociology
Sloan College, University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Email: bts [at] sc [dot] edu
Phone: (803) 777-6848
Fax: (803) 777-5251