Social Psychology has been defined as the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. It is a sub discipline of general psychology and is therefore concerned with explaining human behaviour in terms of processes that occur within the human mind, but it differs from individual psychology by seeking to explain social behaviour.

Social Psychology deals with culture, gender and sex, social development, organisational psychology, criminal justice, health, mass media and sport. It intersects with other disciplines such as sociology, communication, cultural studies and political science; therefore it is subject to cultural references more than most other areas of study in psychology.

Social psychology is taught at both second and third year in Universities. Most students of social psychology will be majoring in psychology, but the subject is also offered as an elective to students from education, social work and criminal justice, cultural studies and communication studies, depending on the institution. This book would be useful to any or all of these groups.