The Scope of Social Psychology

Social psychology attempts to understand, explain, predict and, when needed, change people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours. For a relatively young discipline it has already made great strides toward this awe-inspiring goal. Pioneers such as Lewin, Asch, Kelley and Festinger began groundwork in the 1940s and 1950s, but it was only in the late 1960s that social psychology came of age. Since then it has blossomed, both in investigating the basics of the discipline and in applying the insights from fundamental social psychology to different fields related to the area. This volume is devoted to the development of understanding in the field of social psychology over the last four decades, focusing on both basic and applied social psychology. Contributions are gathered under five main areas: attitudes and attitude change; social cognition and emotions; interpersonal and group processes; health behavior; and bereavement and coping. These five domains not only illustrate the scope of social psychology, but also pay tribute to one of the key figures in modern social psychology, Wolfgang Stroebe. Remarkably, he has made significant contributions across all five of these areas, and his research achievements exemplify the progress, prospects and problems faced by modern social psychology over the last 40 years. This volume includes contributions from some of the most distinguished names in the field, and all authors provide an overview or critical look at their specific area of expertise, tracing historical developments where appropriate. The Scope of Social Psychology provides a broad-ranging, illustrative review of the field of modern social psychology.

Miles Hewstone is Professor of Social Psychology and Fellow of New College, University of Oxford. Henk Schut is Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at Utrecht University. John B.F. de Wit is Associate Professor in Social Psychology of Health at Utrecht University. Kees van den Bos is Professor of Social Psychology at Utrecht University. Margaret S. Stroebe is Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at Utrecht University.

Introduction. K. van den Bos, M. Hewstone, M.S. Stroebe, H.A.W. Schut, J.B.F. de Wit, On the Scope of Social Psychology: An Introduction. Section 1: Attitudes and attitude change. R.Eiser, Positive accentuation: Or why a good product still needs an advertisement. K. Jonas, Attitudinal Ambivalence. I. Ajzen, T. Manstead, Changing Health-Related Behaviors: An Approach Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A. Eagly, In Defense of Ourselves: The Effects of Defensive Processing on Attitudinal Phenomena. Section 2: Social cognition and emotion. D. Hamilton, M. Hewstone, Conceptualizing Group Perception: A 35-Year Evolution. A. Kruglanski, G. Semin, The Epistemic Bases of Interpersonal Communication. F. Strack, N. Schwarz, Thinking About Your life: Healthy Lessons From Social Cognition. Section 3: Interpersonal and group processes. C. Insko, Situational Variance in Intergroup Conflict: Matrix Correlations, Matrix Interactions, and Social Support. B. Nijstad, J. Levine, Group Creativity and the Stages of Creative Problem Solving. K. Stroebe, R. Spears, H. Lodewijkx, Contrasting and Integrating Social Identity and Interdependence Approaches to Intergroup Discrimination in the Minimal Group Paradigm. Section 4: Health behavior (change). S. Folkman, J. Moskowitz, Positive Affect and Meaning-Focused Coping during Significant Psychological Stress. J.B.F. de Wit, E. Das, N. de Hoog, Self-Regulation of Health Communications: A Motivated Processing Approach to Risk Perception and Persuasion. A.B. Bakker, W.B. Schaufeli, E. Demerouti, M.C. Euwema, An Organizational and Social Psychological Perspective on Burnout and Work Engagement. Section 5: Bereavement and coping. R. Weiss, Reflections on Extended Bowlby Theory. E. Zech, B. Rimé, J. Pennebaker, The Effects of Emotional Disclosure During Bereavement. G. Abakoumkin, K. Gergen, M. Gergen, R. Hansson, H.A.W. Schut, M.S. Stroebe, A Scientist's Role in Bereavement Research: The Case of Wolfgang Stroebe. Section 6: Psychology in context. K. Opp, Social Psychology is not Enough: The Interdisciplinary Social Science Working Group. Epilogue. L. Strickland, J. Rabbie, R. van der Vegt, L. Hoekert, Impressions of Wolfgang Stroebe.