5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction!

N. · January 24, 2017

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5.0 out of 5 stars As gregarious animals (Mankind) needs to develop bonds with one another

S. · October 4, 2015

This is my most recent foray into the series “A Very Short Introductions”. I have always been fascinated by the proposition that these titles are intended to give the reader a jump start in subject. In a reasonably short, straightforward and concise fashion, and how this is accomplished. The topic here, being Social psychology. This discipline had traditionally bridged the gap between psychology and sociology. The definition of the subject is; the scientific study of how people's point of view, emotional state, and behaviours are predisposed by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.The author tells the narrative of Social psychology. He gives a good account of its history, its key thinkers, major breakthroughs and what has made this subject one of the most important and relevant subjects of the 21st century. For mankind is gregarious by nature. We as people do interconnect, whether it is through families, our working relationships, our attractions, prejudice and persuasion – in short the whole gamut of the “social universe”, can be looked at analysed. This AVSI primer is done in a very manageable fashion. There are monochrome diagrams and pictures to best exemplify point. This edition is readable without getting too technical in its approach. It is cram packed with a plethora of information, without going into “overload”. Any person new to the subject matter will not be daunted with this edition.

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction

C. · October 4, 2018

This is a good 'very short introduction' to the important field of social psychology, and I can fully recommend it. I've docked one star in my rating because I would have liked the book to have more coverage of evolutionary aspects, and also more explicit discussion of the two systems of mind (automatic subconscious and deliberative conscious).What are the key findings of social psychology?- We're intensely social beings which are very highly influenced by the groups we identify with. We can never truly be "free."- Our notion of a "self" is a useful fiction. That "self" changes according to the various roles we play, and generally changes across time. We try hard to preserve esteem of the self, which sometimes opens the door to lack of humility, overconfidence, and narcissism.- We have two minds, a deliberative conscious one and an automatic subconscious one. The latter is where most of our cognition is, yet it's mostly hidden from us, so we don't really know ourselves too well. Our two minds can be in conflict with each other.- Due to evolutionary history, we tend to emphasize surviving in the shorter-term (else there won't be a longer-term), and we're accordingly somewhat conservative about changing our beliefs, our groups, our habits, our culture, etc. This conservatism leads to various biases (e.g., loss aversion, sunk cost bias, confirmation bias, availability bias, anchoring bias, etc.).

3.0 out of 5 stars Mildly interesting, but not brilliant.

A.C. · December 10, 2017

Mildly interesting, but not brilliant. Reasonably well-written and readable, but the main drawback is that the points this book describes are just too simple and general to be of much use.For example, the book says that in public, people are more likely to express an attitude that goes along with the crowd, yet their having done so does not often affect their own personal or private belief. Interesting? Kind of. Surprising? No. Did you need to read this book to know that? Almost certainly not. Most of this book is the same way.The format and overall readability of this book are good, so if you're sitting around with nothing to do, reading this book is definitely better than watching paint dry, but you won't learn that much more.I wish this book, or the next revision of it, would provide much more useful examples and showcase more valuable insights.The editors definitely need to step up their game a lot and make these books more useful: The Very Short Intros to Particle Physics and to Cognitive Neuroscience are the best books in this series I've read (both excellent), and Emotions was the weakest (it never really hit the right topics at all). Behavioral Economics is pretty weak too, not for the writing, but for its lack of useful examples or principals.

Cumprem o que prometem.

W.A. · January 25, 2024

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Good introduction to a aspect of psychology

M.M. · July 18, 2021

Short read for an hour or so, Will read more about the subject

livraison rapide

D.H. · March 30, 2023

bon livre.

good intro

J.j. · April 9, 2024

A good introduction to how people tend to relate to others, and how groups relate to other groups. A very interesting side of psychology often overshadowed by other hot topics like personality disorders etc.

A very good very short introduction!

J.C. · November 14, 2017

Very well written! It is an easy read.It goes very briefly over the main topics of Social Psychology, but enough to grasp the concept behind them.I'd only wish the book was twice it's length as some subjects left me wanting more, but hey, it is a very short introduction after all.Along the same lines I'm have liked further readings a little bit more accessible than those provided.