'Could certainly be used as a stand-alone text. Aimed primarily at advanced undergraduates, it could also be read by others who may be prompted to identify yet further dimensions with which to map contemporary social psychology and define their position in relation to others' - The Psychologist This clearly structured textbook presents a broad overview of the key issues that underpin social psychology. These include: the nature of science and 'psychology as science'; descriptive, emancipatory and critical theories; and the different ways in which social psychology is applied in the social and political world. Drawing upon a number of different perspectives, this volume will introduce students to the important debates around what constitutes valid argument and research in social psychology, its aims, scope and subject matter, and the degree to which social psychology can be said to be itself a social institution and a part of the network of social regulation and definition. Theory and Social Psychology is one of four books which form the core of The Open University's course Social Psychology: Personal Lives, Social Worlds.