Table of Contents

Introduction
Theoretical Foundations
Social Perception
Attitudes
Attributions
Self and Identity
Prejudice
Ideology
Conclusion

About the Author

Martha Augoustinos is Professor of Psychology at the University of Adelaide and Co-Director of the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender. Iain Walker is a Senior Research Scientist with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, where he leads the Social & Behavioural Sciences Group. He is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Western Australia, and 3 other Australian universities. Ngaire Donaghue is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Murdoch University in Western Australia.

Reviews

"This is a unique book. There are many books that tackle one perspective or another, but no other that lays out all four approaches and illustrates clearly how they would explain the major phenomena of interest. This book is clearly written in an engaging style that will make it a pleasure for students to read. This is a provocative and persuasive guide to the major approaches to social psychological phenomena. It is beautifully written, conveys the excitement and possibilities of the discipline, and is thought provoking throughout. The time is ripe for this unique integration of the formerly disparate major approaches to social psychological issues. I highly recommend this readable and exciting review of social cognition topics. The core principles of the social cognition, social identity, social representations, and discursive approaches are clearly outlined in such a way that students will truly engage with the theories."
*Nyla R. Branscombe*

"This book, now in its Second Edition, represents the globalization of social cognition.  Like the earlier edition, this text offers the reader a broad analysis of how humans think about their social world.  The authors give readers a way to extend their horizons beyond the dominant information-processing model of social cognition, as they add theoretical perspectives from social identity, social representations, and discursive psychology to the mix.... Those who are most familiar and comfortable with traditional information-processing models need not fear: the dominant social cognition paradigm gets the lion’s share of coverage in most of the chapters (the most notable exception being the discussion of ideology, where other paradigms have much more to say).  But the authors challenge readers to go beyond that single paradigm, looking both for gaps in its explanatory power and for points of intersection with other theoretical traditions.  The result is a rich intellectual feast for the reader and for the field, one that represents both theories and data that have emerged from around the world."
*Kay Deaux*

"I was a considerable admirer of the first edition, which I used as the main text for my Year 3 course for a number of years. This seems to me to be an improvement on that high standard. I think it works best as an upper level undergraduate text, but graduate students with less background in social psychology will find it provides a useful critical orientation to the field...(Strengths include) the balanced and interlinked coverage of perspectives, backed up by good detail on representative research in each area. I found the first edition unique (and uniquely helpful) in its focus, and it has not been matched by anything else I have seen."
*Dr. Andy Tolmie*

"The manuscript provide(s) excellent coverage of the main areas within social cognition research.... Different approaches to social cognition research are integrated to a greater extent than before. The manuscript was well organised, structured and signposted. In general, it is very readable...The content and structure are well suited to student needs. The main strength concerns the integration of social constructionism and discursive psychology with more standard social cognition topics. The description of social identity theory and self categorization theory is particularly clear. The chapters on prejudice and ideology are also very good and set the manuscript apart from most social cognition texts."
*Simon Cooper*