View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

"It is hopeful, in troubled times, to find a social scientist in his ninth decade writing lucidly, self-critically, and wisely about the essential problems and potentialities of his chosen field. And it is an additional pleasure to find that the humanistic values of his youth are burnished rather than tarnished in his old age."--"Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences"

A pivotal figure in social psychology and personality studies for more than half a century, M. Brewster Smith was the recipient of the Gold Medal Award of the American Psychological Foundation for Lifetime Contributions by a Psychologist to the Public Interest.

Smith has conducted groundbreaking work on the ways in which people's opinions are influenced by their strategies for coping with the world, with their social relations, and with their inner conflicts. His pioneering book, Opinions and Personality, offered an in-depth treatment of how people's political opinions reflect and are partly shaped by the ways those views contribute to the functioning of their personalities. More recently, Smith has drawn on psychological research to suggest ways to reduce the threat of nuclear war. Throughout his work, Smith has aspired to an interdisciplinary social psychology that is scientific in its respect for empirical evidence and which can be applied to the social issues of our time.

For a Significant Social Psychology collects Smith's most important writings, introduced by the author and presented thematically.

Silvan Tomkins was one of the most influential theorists on emotion and emotional expression. Over a period of forty years--until his death in 1991--he developed a set of original, important ideas about the nature of affect and its relationship to cognition and personality. Tomkins dealt with fundamental questions in a fresh and provocative way, establishing affect as a separate, biological system, and providing compelling data on discrete affect expressions. Virginia Demos has undertaken the enormous task of compiling Professor Tomkins' papers and writing connective material for this volume, which brings together his works of four decades and makes them available at a more receptive time in the field. It is a rich compilation of insightful and relevant ideas appropriate for researchers and graduate students in personality and social psychology.

In a tough opening statement, M. Brewster Smith outlines his own life course and contrasts it with the agenda of social psychology in the present professional moment. "Today's journals, textbooks, and conferences represent a vigorous but narrow scientific specialty in psychology, the practitioners of which are more closely focused on agendas that are primarily and often only intelligible within the subdiscipline than was the case when I formed my identity as a psychologist." In contrast, Smith sees himself, and has long been seen by others, as a social psychologist in the tradition of Gordon Allport, Gardner and Lois Murphy, Kurt Lewin, and Muzafer Sherif. Smith's unique ability has been to contribute to the emergence of personality as a differentiated academic field and at the same time maintain strong interdisciplinary ties to a variety of fields ranging from sociology to philosophy. In recent years, such concerns have made the author a central figure in the development of Humanistic Psychology as a part of the American Psychological Association. Because of these wide ranging concerns, the major statements of Brewster Smith have appeared in diverse places. Here, brought into a unified and uniform frame of reference, one has his work on values and selfhood, humanistic psychology and the social sciences, and humanism and social issues brought together for the first time. The picture is of a major thinker who is at home in the details of psychology and in the broad areas of public interest and social policy. Brewster Smith discusses major issues in terms of the political processes involved in the public interest. These range from the issue of advocacy within social research to conceptualizing anew familiar issues within psychology. For the generalist interested in the broader meanings of social psychology to the specialist aiming to recapture the big issues with which the field was once identified, this is a must volume.

In a tough opening statement, M. Brewster Smith outlines his own life course and contrasts it with the agenda of social psychology in the present professional moment. "Today's journals, textbooks, and conferences represent a vigorous but narrow scientific specialty in psychology, the practitioners of which are more closely focused on agendas that are primarily and often only intelligible within the subdiscipline than was the case when I formed my identity as a psychologist."

In contrast, Smith sees himself, and has long been seen by others, as a social psychologist in the tradition of Gordon Allport, Gardner and Lois Murphy, Kurt Lewin, and Muzafer Sherif. Smith's unique ability has been to contribute to the emergence of personality as a differentiated academic field and at the same time maintain strong interdisciplinary ties to a variety of fields ranging from sociology to philosophy. In recent years, such concerns have made the author a central figure in the development of Humanistic Psychology as a part of the American Psychological Association.

Because of these wide ranging concerns, the major statements of Brewster Smith have appeared in diverse places. Here, brought into a unified and uniform frame of reference, one has his work on values and selfhood, humanistic psychology and the social sciences, and humanism and social issues brought together for the first time. The picture is of a major thinker who is at home in the details of psychology and in the broad areas of public interest and social policy.

Brewster Smith discusses major issues in terms of the political processes involved in the public interest. These range from the issue of advocacy within social research to conceptualizing anew familiar issues within psychology. For the generalist interested in the broader meanings of social psychology to the specialist aiming to recapture the big issues with which the field was once identified, this is a must volume.

Cigdem Kagitcibasi has long been at the forefront of research in developmental and cultural psychology, and is one of the world's most highly respected cross-cultural psychologists. This collection of essays has been produced in honor of Professor Kagitcibasi's retirement and to commemorate her contribution to the field. The volume examines social, developmental, and cultural psychology and intervention policies. A select group of international expert scholars explore those aspects of human behavior that are observed in all cultures, as well as those that are unique to each. They also examine changes in the family across socio-cultural contexts and generations in order to understand the factors precipitating these changes. Representing developments in theory and research in the field, this volume that will appeal to researchers and students of developmental and cross-cultural psychology across the world.

i dem Ka it iba i has long been at the forefront of research in developmental and cultural psychology, and is one of the world's most highly respected cross-cultural psychologists. This collection of essays, first published in 2009, has been produced in honor of Professor Ka it iba i's retirement and to commemorate her contribution to the field. The volume examines social, developmental, and cultural psychology and intervention policies. A select group of international expert scholars explore those aspects of human behavior that are observed in all cultures, as well as those that are unique to each. They also examine changes in the family across socio-cultural contexts and generations in order to understand the factors precipitating these changes. Representing developments in theory and research in the field, this volume that will appeal to researchers and students of developmental and cross-cultural psychology across the world.

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

"It is hopeful, in troubled times, to find a social scientist in his ninth decade writing lucidly, self-critically, and wisely about the essential problems and potentialities of his chosen field. And it is an additional pleasure to find that the humanistic values of his youth are burnished rather than tarnished in his old age."--"Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences"

A pivotal figure in social psychology and personality studies for more than half a century, M. Brewster Smith was the recipient of the Gold Medal Award of the American Psychological Foundation for Lifetime Contributions by a Psychologist to the Public Interest.

Smith has conducted groundbreaking work on the ways in which people's opinions are influenced by their strategies for coping with the world, with their social relations, and with their inner conflicts. His pioneering book, Opinions and Personality, offered an in-depth treatment of how people's political opinions reflect and are partly shaped by the ways those views contribute to the functioning of their personalities. More recently, Smith has drawn on psychological research to suggest ways to reduce the threat of nuclear war. Throughout his work, Smith has aspired to an interdisciplinary social psychology that is scientific in its respect for empirical evidence and which can be applied to the social issues of our time.

For a Significant Social Psychology collects Smith's most important writings, introduced by the author and presented thematically.

Silvan Tomkins was one of the most influential theorists on emotion and emotional expression. Over a period of 40 - some years - until his death in 1991 - he developed a set of original, important ideas about the nature of affect and its relationship to cognition and personality. Tomkins dealt with fundamental questions in a fresh and provocative way, establishing affect as a separate, biological system, and providing compelling data on discrete affect expressions. Several years before his death, Professor Tomkins agreed to bring his papers (unpublished and published) together into Exploring Affect for Cambridge Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction. He worked with Paul Ekman and Klaus Scherer to develop a structure for the book that would synthesize his theory of emotion. Unfortunately, he died before he was able to complete the process. Virginia Demos, who knew Professor Tomkins well, took on the enormous task of compiling the papers and writing connective material for the book. This volume of Tomkins selected writings on affect brings together his works of four decades and makes them available at a more receptive time in the field. It is a treasure trove of provocative, insightful and relevant ideas.