How do we, as human beings, come to understand ourselves and others around us? This question could not be more timely or pertinent to the issues facing humankind today. At the heart of many of our world's most troubling political and social problems lies a divergence, and sometimes a sharp contradiction, in perspectives between nations and cultural groups. To find potential solutions to these seemingly intractable divides, we must come to understand what both facilitates and hinders a meaningful exchange of fundamental ideas and beliefs between different cultural groups. The discussions in this book aim to provide a better understanding of how we come to know ourselves and others. Bringing together a number of cutting edge researchers and practitioners in psychology and related fields, this diverse collection of thirteen papers draws on psychology, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, communications, and anthropology to explore how human beings effectively come to understand and interact with others. This volume is organised in three main sections to explore some of the key conceptual issues, discuss the cognitive processes involved in intersubjectivity and interobjectivity, and examine human relations at the level of collective processes. Understanding the Self and Others will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, developmental psychology, philosophy, communication studies, anthropology, identity studies, social and cultural theory, and linguistics.

Methods of Psychological Intervention provides a rich collection of chapters that provide an invaluable resource to scholars, researchers and practitioners in psychology. Psychological interventions are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary societies. This volume is intended to help psychologists and other professionals understand how general psychological knowledge can serve to guide local and particular interventions. The present volume helps bridge the gap between general knowledge in the psychological sciences and particular instances of human behavior as it takes place in everyday life. The volume forms part of the series Yearbook of Idiographic Science. Authors draw on principles of idiographic science to formulate interventions applicable to a broad diversity of settings and institutions, such as educational settings, organizations, and medical settings. It similarly deals with various psychological behaviours targeted for intervention, such as gambling, family therapy, and crime. The volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers and practitioners working in the fields of psychology, social work, counseling, family therapy, education, organizational behavior & criminal justice.

Methods of Psychological Intervention provides a rich collection of chapters that provide an invaluable resource to scholars, researchers and practitioners in psychology. Psychological interventions are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary societies. This volume is intended to help psychologists and other professionals understand how general psychological knowledge can serve to guide local and particular interventions. The present volume helps bridge the gap between general knowledge in the psychological sciences and particular instances of human behavior as it takes place in everyday life. The volume forms part of the series Yearbook of Idiographic Science. Authors draw on principles of idiographic science to formulate interventions applicable to a broad diversity of settings and institutions, such as educational settings, organizations, and medical settings. It similarly deals with various psychological behaviours targeted for intervention, such as gambling, family therapy, and crime. The volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers and practitioners working in the fields of psychology, social work, counseling, family therapy, education, organizational behavior & criminal justice.

In January 2006, a documentary entitled 'The Root of all Evil?' was presented by Prof. Richard Dawkins on British television. In this documentary, Dawkins advanced a number of arguments against religion and in favour of atheism. This book reports a study that looked at the introduction of Dawkins' ideas and their circulation in the British public, through argumentation analyses of the documentary and articles which appeared in the British press. Subsequent interviews undertaken with people who expressed a belief in a supernatural faith and others who did not revealed two prevailing representations: that of religion as good, and that of religion as evil. Further study revealed that religion, science, and morality can be represented along three distinct continua. The book dispels the idea of a single continuum along which religion and science are organised; it demonstrates the complexity of the representations in circulation and it highlights the relevance of the study of belief systems for understanding social behaviour.

A social representations approach offers an empirical utility for addressing myriad social concerns such as social order, ecological sustainability, national identity, racism, religious communities, the public understanding of science, health and social marketing. The core aspects of social representations theory have been debated over many years and some still remain widely misunderstood. This Handbook provides an overview of these core aspects and brings together theoretical strands and developments in the theory, some of which have become pillars in the social sciences in their own right. Academics and students in the social sciences working with concepts and methods such as social identity, discursive psychology, positioning theory, semiotics, attitudes, risk perception and social values will find this an invaluable resource.

This volume brings together the full range of modalities of social influence - from crowding, leadership, and norm formation to resistance and mass mediation - to set out a challenge-and-response 'cyclone' model. The authors use real-world examples to ground this model and review each modality of social influence in depth. A 'periodic table of social influence' is constructed that characterises and compares exercises of influence in practical terms. The wider implications of social influence are considered, such as how each exercise of a single modality stimulates responses from other modalities and how any everyday process is likely to arise from a mix of influences. The book demonstrates that different modalities of social influence are tactics that defend, question, and develop 'common sense' over time and offers advice to those studying in political and social movements, social change, and management.

This volume brings together the full range of modalities of social influence - from crowding, leadership, and norm formation to resistance and mass mediation - to set out a challenge-and-response 'cyclone' model. The authors use real-world examples to ground this model and review each modality of social influence in depth. A 'periodic table of social influence' is constructed that characterises and compares exercises of influence in practical terms. The wider implications of social influence are considered, such as how each exercise of a single modality stimulates responses from other modalities and how any everyday process is likely to arise from a mix of influences. The book demonstrates that different modalities of social influence are tactics that defend, question, and develop 'common sense' over time and offers advice to those studying in political and social movements, social change, and management.

A social representations approach offers an empirical utility for addressing myriad social concerns such as social order, ecological sustainability, national identity, racism, religious communities, the public understanding of science, health and social marketing. The core aspects of social representations theory have been debated over many years and some still remain widely misunderstood. This Handbook provides an overview of these core aspects and brings together theoretical strands and developments in the theory, some of which have become pillars in the social sciences in their own right. Academics and students in the social sciences working with concepts and methods such as social identity, discursive psychology, positioning theory, semiotics, attitudes, risk perception and social values will find this an invaluable resource.