Description
Book SynopsisIn this book twenty--five of the worlda s most eminent social psychologists address what they see as the principal lessons to be learned from the study of social psychology.
Trade Review"The contributors include notable social psychologists representing several generations, several theoretical perspectives, and a variety of content areas. Thus, the volume does a nice job of giving the reader a number of different, yet generally representative, opinions to consider. For students with some background in social psychology... the volume is likely to be informative and interesting, and it could serve as the impetus for thought and discussion. The chapters are likely to spark discussion, either by telling readers what has been learned from social psychology or by telling them what social psychology should be. Either way, the volume will stimulate graduate students, teachers, and researchers to reconsider some basic issues and perhaps see their own and other investigators' research in a broader context."
Contemporary PsychologyTable of ContentsIntroduction and a short history of social psychology, C. McGarty and S.A. Haslam; the theory of cognitive dissonance - the evolution and vicissitudes of an idea, E. Aronson; discursive, rhetorical and ideological messages, M. Billig; on the social origins of human nature, M.B. Brewer; organizing social psychological explanations - W. Doise; predicting, understanding and changing socially relevant behaviours - lessons learned, M. Fishbein; let social psychology be faddish or, at least, heterogeneous, S.T. Fiske and J-Ph. Leyens; social psychology as social construction - the emerging vision, K.J. Gergen; social life as rule-governed patterns of joint action, R. Harre; beliefs, knowledge and meaning from the perspective of the perceiver - need for structure-order, O.J. Harvey; three lessons from social psychology - multiple levels of analysis, methodological pluralism and statistical sophistication, M. Hewstone; biases in social cognition - aboutness as a general principle, E.T. Higgins; dynamic social impact - the societal consequences of human interaction, B. Latane; going beyond limitation of Bubbapsychology - a perspectivist social psychology, W.J. McGuire; situations, belongingness, attitudes and culture - four lessons learned from social psychology, A.S.R. Manstead; non-material beliefs - theory and research in cultural social psychology, A. Pepitone; evolution of persuasion theory - from single to multiple, R.E. Petty; the relevance of language for social psychology, G.R. Semin; integrating the psychological and the social to understand human behaviour, E.R. Smith and D.M. Mackie; "in the beginning there is society" - lessons from a sociological social psychology, S. Stryker; the social psychology of "Invictus" - conceptual and methodological approaches to indomitability, P. Suedfeld; a cross-cultural perspective on social psychology, H.C. Triandis; the socially structured mind, J.C. Turner and P.J. Oakes.
