Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems

"I like this text a lot. It provides enough material for both upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. The information is easy to read and easy to follow even for non-psychology majors. The first four chapters provide an excellent framework for not only understanding the other chapters but as a resource by which students can begin to design their own studies depending of their areas of interest. The ′Focus on Intervention′ feature helps to make the text unique."
-Theodore Joseph, Stephen F. Austin State University

This textbook serves as an introduction to the field of applied social psychology, which focuses on understanding social and practical problems and on developing intervention strategies directed at the amelioration of such problems. A core feature of the book is attaining a balance among theory, research, and application. In the Second Edition, the contributing authors have updated the text with the latest research and incorporated current examples to which students can relate.

Frank W. Schneider (PhD, University of Florida) is Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Windsor. He is a cofounder of the doctoral program in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Windsor. He coauthored a textbook on differential psychology and has published articles related to a variety of topics, including policing, group dynamics, organizational effectiveness, evaluation research, social psychology of education, gender roles, domestic violence, helping behavior, race relations, nonverbal communication, attribution theory, and adjustment of the elderly. His current research interests are in the areas of community policing and police organization effectiveness.

Jamie A. Gruman, (PhD, University of Windsor) earned his doctorate in Applied Social Psychology with a specialization in organizational psychology. He is currently an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and has previously taught in both the psychology departments and business schools at the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor. An award-winning researcher, he has published articles in such journals as Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Human Resource Management, the Journal of Vocational Behavior, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Human Resource Management Review, Human Resource Development Quarterly, and the Journal of Managerial Psychology. His current research interests pertain largely to positive organizational psychology and his point of entry into this topic is often the organizational socialization process. He is also the founding Chair of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association. 

Larry M. Coutts (PhD, University of Windsor) is the president of L. M. Coutts & Associates, an organizational and human resource management consulting firm, and teaches part-time in the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University. Larry is a former Director of Research and Development for the human resource consulting company EPSI Inc. and a former Assistant Professor in the Applied Social Psychology division at the University of Windsor. He also has held positions with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as director of the Organizational Design and Job Evaluation Branch and as a senior research principal with both the Personnel Research Branch and the Canadian Police College. His research interests include industrial and organizational psychology, specifically personnel selection (assessment centers, simulation exercises, structured interviews, and testing) and organizational change and development. Much of his published research has focused around law enforcement settings (personnel selection in law enforcement, police hiring and promotion, senior police executive development, etc.).