The two volumes of The Social Dimension present a comprehensive survey
of the major developments in social psychology which took place in
Europe during the very active 1970s and 1980s. They aim to capture the
diversity and vitality of the discipline, stress the growing emphasis on
fully social analyses of social psychological phenomena - hence 'the
social dimension' - and to provide a valuable resource for researchers
in the future. Although comprehensive in scope, the volumes are not
written in the formal style of a reference handbook. Instead, the
authors of the thirty-three chapters, drawn from more than a dozen
mainly European countries and all experts in their own fields, were
invited to present their own personal overviews of the issues in social
psychology on which they were actively working. Both volumes are
organized into three main Parts. Volume 1 is concerned with the social
development of the child, interpersonal communication and relationships,
and the social reality, group processes, and intergroup relations. This
ambitious enterprise has produced a distinctive yet authoritative
summary and evaluation of the growth points of social psychology in
Europe which will interest and influence not only social psychologists
but many readers from related disciplines.