Prologue

The goal of social psychology is to understand and explain how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real, imagined, and implied presence of other people. A core tenet of social psychology is the acknowledgment that people are highly influenced by social situations and that how we act, feel, and think is not solely a byproduct of our personalities. This collection of modules in this book provides an overview of research and theories in social psychology and reveals the broad spectrum of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions that are influenced by the social context. In addition, this book aims to provide a selective introduction into the main themes of social psychology such as research methods and theories related to the self-concept, social cognition, attitudes, prejudice, and social influence. Moreover, this collection also shares what social psychology has uncovered about helping, aggression, law, and close relationships. Social psychology applies to everyday behavior and therefore, has many connections to other areas of psychology and related disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science) yet this module will help readers distinguish between social psychology and other fields within the social sciences.  As readers learn about the field of social psychology, they are encouraged to apply social psychological theories to real-world events and broad social problems.

-Diana T. Sanchez