In this intriguing study, two social psychologists and an intellectual historian describe the people and intellectual currents which have given rise to the complex discipline of American social psychology. The authors examine the influence of British evolutionary theory, French social theory, American pragmatism, and the ideas of Freud, Marx and Lewin on the evolution of social psycholgical theory, and explain how these traditions contributed to later developments such as group dynamics, cognitive social psychology, and symbolic interaction. American social psychology during this century has shifted back and forth from a focus on individual psychological processes to a concern with the role of the broader social context and social interaction. This has resulted in the development of several quite distinct social psychologies, which are all valid rather than mutually exclusive, and it should be possible to build a discipline in which all aspects of social interaction are considered. Students and professionals in social psychology, sociology, and related areas, as well as those interstd in the history of the social sciences, will find this important and comprehensive appraisal of the field useful.

Gary Collier's profile page

Henry Minton's profile page

Graham Reynolds' profile page

Gary Collier is at University College of Cape Breton. Henry Minton is at University of Windsor.

"This is a well-written and intelligent book, most useful probably for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, and in parts stimulating and provocative for professionals." --Theory and Psychology

"It is an extremely impressive and useful contribution . . . . pages of illuminating cultural analysis, knowledgeable depictions of institutional and social contexts, and engaging biographical anecdotes about the lives of our forebears. I would like to stress again the very high quality of the scholarship displayed throughout this volume and the straightforward clarity of the writing. The authors do a remarkable job of summarizing complex positions in a page or two." -- Contemporary Psychology

"It is an extremely impressive and useful contribution . . . . pages of illuminating cultural analysis, knowledgeable depictions of institutional and social contexts, and engaging biographical anecdotes about the lives of our forebears. I would like to stress again the very high quality of the scholarship displayed throughout this volume and the striaghtforward clarity of the writing. The authors do a remarkable job of summarizing complex positions in a page or two." -- Contemporary Psychology

"It is an extremely impressive and useful contribution . . . . pages of illuminating cultural analysis, knowledgable depictions of institutional and social contexts, and engaging biographical anecdotes about the lives of our forebears. I would like to stress again the very high quality of the scholarship displayed throughout this volume and the striaghtforward clarity of the writing. The authors do a remarkable job of summarizing complex positions in a page or two." -- Contemporary Psychology