Handbook of Social Psychology

This third edition of the highly successful handbook is presented for the first time in two volumes, covering the field of social psychology more comprehensively than earlier, including applying social psychology to different areas in sociology. It showcases the dynamics of social psychological phenomena across the micro level (Volume 1), and meso and macro levels of social reality (Volume 2). The reader will see how social psychology can be leveraged at the interactive level, within groups and larger units, and across many aspects of society, thus showing the expansiveness of social psychology in understanding social behavior, social organization, and social structures. Volume 2 highlights the relevance of social psychological principles and processes to social categories, groups, and organizations at the meso level, and to institutions and inequality that reflect social life at the macro level. Chapters pertaining to the meso level analyze individuals’ memberships in social categories such as gender, race, class, age, and sexuality. Additionally, meso-level concerns spotlight the context of work and organizations. Chapters at the macro level consider social psychologically oriented work in such institutions as the family, education, and religion and examine other areas such as crime and deviance, the media, immigration, and health. Together, the two volumes provide the reader with theoretical tools useful in understanding the basics of individual behavior while highlighting how social psychological processes emerge in a variety of contexts. The connections among micro, meso, and macro levels, through the lens of social psychology, forge new pathways to understanding the various forms of inequality plaguing the social world.