Social Psychology Fourth Edition

What makes this book different (and better) than other social psychology texts is the way it is organized around a set of fundamental principles of motivation and cognition. Rather than simply listing and describing the standard topics, the principles provide a framework for integrating them into a consistent and coherent understanding of all social psychology and behavior. This has an enormously positive effect on how the subject can be taught and on how it is understood by students.

--Jeffrey Sherman, Professor of Psychology, University of California-Davis

I use this textbook in my courses because not only is it well-written, it also highlights basic principles and themes rather than focusing on specific phenomena and effects. Rather than discussing each topic in isolation, Smith, Mackie, and Claypool explicitly link them together within and between chapters using these cross-cutting principles and themes. This provides students with a very useful conceptual framework or scaffold with which to understand and integrate what often appears to be an overwhelming amount of information. Many of my students have commented to me that this focus on basic principles was instrumental and valuable in their learning and understanding of the field.

This authoritative introduction to the science of social psychology constitutes a high-quality review of the social and social-cognitive processes pertaining to how people perceive and influence other individuals and other groups. Introducing fundamental axioms and core motivational and processing principles to the study of individuals and groups, the book bridges the boundaries between different traditions on how to approach the exciting discipline of social psychology. In this way, the book is a true invitation to the fascinating study of human social behavior and its underlying psychological processes.

I have been using this Social Psychology textbook since its first edition. Why? Because it is simply the best. It is thoughtful while still being fascinating. It covers classic research while still being completely up-to-date on new discoveries. It emphasizes ideas while still appreciating the research behind them. And, most important to me, it organizes social psychology in terms of the basic principles that underlie multiple phenomena at the personal, interpersonal, and group levels. Not easy to do...and brilliantly done.

This is a book not just for students of social psychology, or of the wider discipline of psychology: it is, rather, a book that speaks to students and practitioners in any field or profession concerned with our social interactions and identities. More than simply an academic textbook, it forms a clear and accessible applied guide for negotiating the complexities of the social world around us. In this new edition, Smith, Mackie and Claypool have continued to build their substantive and cohesive account of social psychology that brings together a range of classic experiments and theories with the most up-to-date research in the field.

--Thomas Grimwood, Program Leader for MA in Social Work, University of Cumbria

I've used the previous versions of this textbook for years and I think this is an excellent introduction to social psychology. The book offers an integrative approach throughout the chapters that connects them to one another, rather than treating the various research areas of social psychology as disparate and unrelated. In contrast to many other textbooks, the Smith, Mackie, and Claypool textbook pays homage to the work of social psychologists across the globe and contains a separate chapter on social identity. This new edition has been updated and includes recent developments in the field of social psychology. I highly recommend this textbook.

--Arjan Bos, Associate Professor of Psychology, Open University, the Netherlands