Applied Social Psychology is a collection of readings from the four-volume set of Blackwell Handbooks of Social Psychology that examine the applications of social psychological theory and research in various domains of personal, institutional, and societal well-being. The readings have been selected to illustrate how social psychological analyses of individual, interpersonal, and group level processes have contributed to important areas of applied psychology in roles that are both descriptive and prescriptive. The book is organized into three sections: Part I reviews the role of social psychological factors in physical and mental health; Part II examines the role of social psychology in social institutions such as law, politics, and social policy; and Part III considers the interface between social psychological processes and social institutions in the world of business and commerce.

Marilynn B. Brewer is Professor of Psychology at Ohio State University. Her primary research interests include social cognition, intergroup relations, and social identities and the self concept. She is the author of numerous books and articles, including Intergroup Relations (with Norman Miller, 1996), and has served as President of the American Psychological Association and as editor of the journal Personality and Social Psychology.

Miles Hewstone is Professor of Social Psychology at Oxford University. His current research interests include the reduction of intergroup conflict, intergroup contact, and the social influence of majorities and minorities. He is the author of many books and articles, including Introduction to Social Psychology (edited with Wolfgang Stroebe and Geoffrey M. Stephenson, Third Edition 2001). He is founding co-editor of the European Review of Social Psychology.