Social Psychology : Individuals, Interaction, and Inequality

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.