Social Psychology
Individuals, Interaction, and Inequality
- Karen A. Hegtvedt - Emory University, USA
- Cathryn Johnson - Emory University, USA
Social Psychology
Social Psychology: Individuals, Interaction, and Inequality invites you to take a sociological approach to the study of the individual in relationship to society. This unique new text explains how social psychology provides varied, yet interrelated, explanations for individuals' experiences in groups and how the micro-level interactions of individuals have consequences for macro-level phenomena within society.
Karen A. Hegtvedt and Cathryn Johnson describe an array of processes that shape interaction given differences in status, power, or group memberships. Unlike other social psychology texts, theirs stresses the interconnections among these processes to create a story about how individuals perceive and then act in their social worlds. In addition to introducing the central theoretical approaches and important empirical studies, the authors also provide many examples that help students locate the substance of social psychology in their own experiences and social interactions. In the end, readers will gain an understanding of how their identities and perceptions shape what they do, how the structures in which they are embedded may constrain or facilitate their behaviors, and how these dynamics contribute to reinforcing or ameliorating inequalities in their social groups.
“The greatest strength of [Social Psychology] is the quality of social psychologists that are included and the organization. I think that with each chapter they bring in the 'big names' in research, and [that is] a very strong aspect of the text.”
“I really like the attention to small group processes (status and power processes get short-changed in most social psychology texts), the emphasis on theory, and the use of concrete examples to flesh out the theories [in Social Psychology].”
“I was especially happy to see an entire section dedicated to emotions and affect rather than including emotion at the end of another section. I likes that a greater portion of [Social Psychology] was dedicated to group processes than other available textbooks. I think that the final section of integration may be the strongest selling point for this book. Finally, the concrete examples anchoring each theory greatly appeal to me.”
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 3: The Individual in a Social World
Chapter 8: Status Processes in Groups