Originally published in 1963, this book was one of the first to explore group process and working with groups. The introductory chapter tells us that working with groups requires three skills: and understanding of theory, a knowledge of its application, and trained experience in its use. It goes on to discuss these points, helping the reader towards an understanding of group processes and making decisions in groups. This title is an early example of author's explorations of groups and group work, which were to be a major factor in the establishment of group-work practice in Britain over the following years.

The Social Psychology of Everyday Politics examines the ways in which politics permeates everyday life, from the ordinary interactions we have with others to the sense of belonging and identity developed within social groups and communities. Discrimination, prejudice, inclusion and social change, politics is an on-going process that is not solely the domain of the elected and the powerful. Using a social and political psychological lens to examine how politics is enacted in contemporary societies, the book takes an explicitly critical approach that places political activity within collective processes rather than individual behaviors. While the studies covered in the book do not ignore the importance of the individual, they underscore the need to examine the role of culture, history, ideology and social context as integral to psychological processes. Individuals act, but they do not act in isolation from the groups and societies in which they belong. Drawing on extensive international research, with contributions from leaders in the field as well as emerging scholars, the book is divided into three interrelated parts which cover: The politics of intercultural relations Political agency and social change Political discourse and practice Offering insights into how psychology can be applied to some of the most pressing social issues we face, this will be fascinating reading for students of psychology, political science, sociology and cultural studies, as well as anyone working in the area of public policy.

This ground-breaking new volume reviews and extends theory and research on the psychology of justice in social contexts, exploring the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Perceptions of fairness, and the factors that cause and are caused by fairness perceptions, have long been an important part of social psychology. Featuring work from leading scholars on psychological processes involved in reactions to fairness, as well as the applications of justice research to government institutions, policing, medical care and the development of radical and extremist behavior, the book expertly brings together two traditionally distinct branches of social psychology: social cognition and interpersonal relations. Examining how people judge whether the treatment they experience from others is fair and how this effects their attitudes and behaviors, this essential collection draws on theory and research from multiple disciplines as it explores the dynamics of fairness judgments and their consequences. Integrating theory on interpersonal relations and social cognition, and featuring innovative biological research, this is the ideal companion for senior undergraduates and graduates, as well as researchers and scholars interested in the social psychology of justice.

This book examines translanguaging as a resource which can disrupt the privileging of particular voices, and a social practice which enables collaboration within and across groups of people. Addressing the themes of collaboration and transformation, the chapters critically examine how people work together to catalyse change in diverse global contexts, experiences and traditions. The authors suggest an epistemological and methodological turn to the study of translanguaging, which is particularly reflected in the collaborative, arts-based and action research/activist approaches followed in the chapters. The book will be of particular interest to scholars using ethnographic, critical and collaborative action and activist research approaches to the study of multilingualism in educational and creative arts contexts.

Social psychology and politics are intricately related, and understanding how humans manage power and govern themselves is one of the key issues in psychology. This volume surveys the latest theoretical and empirical work on the social psychology of politics, featuring cutting-edge research from a stellar group of international researchers. It is organized into four main sections that deal with political attitudes and values; political communication and perceptions; social cognitive processes in political decisions; and the politics of intergroup behavior and social identity. The contributions address such exciting questions as how do political attitudes and values develop and change? What role do emotions and moral values play in political behavior? How do political messages and the media influence political perceptions? What are the psychological requirements of effective democratic decision making, and why do democracies sometimes fail? How can intergroup harmony be developed, and what is the role of social identity in political processes? As such, this volume integrates the role of cognitive, affective, social and cultural influences on political perception and behavior, offering an overview of the psychological mechanisms underlying political processes. It provides essential reading for teachers, students, researchers and practitioners in areas related to power, social influence and political behavior.

The study of close relationships is both a central topic in social psychology, and also one of the most dynamic and exciting. Each chapter in this reader is written by leading scholars in the area of relationships. Together, they reflect the diversity of the field and include both contemporary and key historical papers to give comprehensive coverage of social psychological research into the processes that govern the many relationships that are so central to our lives. Topics covered include relationship initiation and attraction, relationship development, cognition and emotion in ongoing relationships, interdependence, and relationship maintenance and deterioration. The volume also contains an introductory chapter by the editors, which sets the subject in its historical context, as well as reviewing the current state of knowledge in the field. Section introductions, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading and comprehensive indexes make this an ideal, user-friendly text for senior undergraduates and graduates in courses on close relationships.

This book introduces the theory of enveloping semigroups-an important tool in the field of topological dynamics-introduced by Robert Ellis. The book deals with the basic theory of topological dynamics and touches on the advanced concepts of the dynamics of induced systems and their enveloping semigroups. All the chapters in the book are well organized and systematically dealing with introductory topics through advanced research topics. The basic concepts give the motivation to begin with, then the theory, and finally the new research-oriented topics. The results are presented with detailed proof, plenty of examples and several open questions are put forward to motivate for future research. Some of the results, related to the enveloping semigroup, are new to the existing literature. The enveloping semigroups of the induced systems is considered for the first time in the literature, and some new results are obtained. The book has a research-oriented flavour in the field of topological dynamics.

Attitudes are evaluations of people, places, things, and ideas. They help us to navigate through a complex world. They provide guidance for decisions about which products to buy, how to travel to work, or where to go on vacation. They color our perceptions of others. Carefully crafted interventions can change attitudes and behavior. Yet, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior are often formed and changed in casual social exchanges. The mere perception that other people favor something, say, rich people, may be sufficient to make another person favor it. People's own actions also influence their attitudes, such that they adjust to be more supportive of the actions. People's belief systems even change to align with and support their preferences, which at its extreme is a form of denial for which people lack awareness. These two volumes provide authoritative, critical surveys of theory and research about attitudes, beliefs, persuasion, and behavior from key authors in these areas. The first volume covers theoretical notions about attitudes, the beliefs and behaviors to which they are linked, and the degree to which they are held outside of awareness. It also discusses motivational and cultural determinants of attitudes, influences of attitudes on behavior, and communication and persuasion. The second volume covers applications to measurement, behavior prediction, and interventions in the areas of cancer, HIV, substance use, diet, and exercise, as well as in politics, intergroup relations, aggression, migrations, advertising, accounting, education, and the environment.

This book provides an introduction to the role of diversity in complex adaptive systems. A complex system--such as an economy or a tropical ecosystem--consists of interacting adaptive entities that produce dynamic patterns and structures. Diversity plays a different role in a complex system than it does in an equilibrium system, where it often merely produces variation around the mean for performance measures. In complex adaptive systems, diversity makes fundamental contributions to system performance.

Scott Page gives a concise primer on how diversity happens, how it is maintained, and how it affects complex systems. He explains how diversity underpins system level robustness, allowing for multiple responses to external shocks and internal adaptations; how it provides the seeds for large events by creating outliers that fuel tipping points; and how it drives novelty and innovation. Page looks at the different kinds of diversity--variations within and across types, and distinct community compositions and interaction structures--and covers the evolution of diversity within complex systems and the factors that determine the amount of maintained diversity within a system.Provides a concise and accessible introduction Shows how diversity underpins robustness and fuels tipping points Covers all types of diversity The essential primer on diversity in complex adaptive systems

This book is about the interplay of computational commutative algebra and the theory of convex polytopes. It centers around a special class of ideals in a polynomial ring: the class of toric ideals. They are characterized as those prime ideals that are generated by monomial differences or as the defining ideals of toric varieties (not necessarily normal). The interdisciplinary nature of the study of Grobner bases is reflected by the specific applications appearing in this book. These applications lie in the domains of integer programming and computational statistics. The mathematical tools presented in the volume are drawn from commutative algebra, combinatorics, and polyhedral geometry.

Hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations are important in modelling various physical systems, in particular the development of shock waves in fluids. As such they find many applications in areas of engineering and aerospace research. This book provides a self-contained introduction to the mathematical theory of hyperbolic systems of conservation laws, with particular emphasis on the study of discontinuous solutions characterized by the appearance of shock waves. It is the first monograph on the subject which gives a detailed description of the front tracking algorithm, and a comprehensive account of the new, fundamental results on the uniqueness and stability of solutions.

This book explores what social psychology can contribute to our understanding of real-life problems and how it can inform rational interventions in any area of social life. By reviewing some of the most recent achievements in applying social psychology to pressing contemporary problems, Forgas, Crano, and Fiedler convey a fundamentally optimistic message about social psychology's achievements and prospects. The book is organized into four sections. Part I focuses on the basic issues and methods of applying social psychology to real-life problems, discussing evolutionary influences on human sociability, the role of psychological 'mindsets' in interpreting reality, and the use of attitude change techniques to promote adaptive behaviors. Part II explores the applications of social psychology to improve individual health and well-being, including managing aggression, eating disorders, and improving therapeutic interactions. Part III turns to the application of social psychology to improve interpersonal relations and communication, including attachment processes in social relationships, the role of parent-child interaction in preventing adolescent suicide, and analyzing social relations in legal settings and online social networks. Finally, Part IV addresses the question of how social psychology may improve our understanding of public affairs and political behavior. The book will be of interest to students and academics in social psychology, and professionals working in applied settings.

Geometric group theory is the study of the interplay between groups and the spaces they act on, and has its roots in the works of Henri Poincare, Felix Klein, J.H.C. Whitehead, and Max Dehn. Office Hours with a Geometric Group Theorist brings together leading experts who provide one-on-one instruction on key topics in this exciting and relatively new field of mathematics. It's like having office hours with your most trusted math professors. An essential primer for undergraduates making the leap to graduate work, the book begins with free groups--actions of free groups on trees, algorithmic questions about free groups, the ping-pong lemma, and automorphisms of free groups. It goes on to cover several large-scale geometric invariants of groups, including quasi-isometry groups, Dehn functions, Gromov hyperbolicity, and asymptotic dimension. It also delves into important examples of groups, such as Coxeter groups, Thompson's groups, right-angled Artin groups, lamplighter groups, mapping class groups, and braid groups. The tone is conversational throughout, and the instruction is driven by examples. Accessible to students who have taken a first course in abstract algebra, Office Hours with a Geometric Group Theorist also features numerous exercises and in-depth projects designed to engage readers and provide jumping-off points for research projects.