Self and Social Identity

The study of the interplay between the individual self and collective selves is an arena of rich theory and research in social psychology. Self and Social Identity is a collection of readings from the four-volume set of Blackwell Handbooks of Social Psychology that examine how group memberships shape the content of the individual's self concept and how the sense of self is expanded as a consequence of identification with other individuals and the group as a whole. The readings have been selected to provide a representative sampling of exciting research and theory on self and identity that is both comprehensive and current and cross-cuts the levels of analysis from intrapersonal to intergroup. The book is organized around two broad themes: self and identity, exploring the self as a product of interpersonal and group processes; and group identities, illustrating some of the phenomena associated with representing a group or social category as a collective.

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 numerous 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.