An Atlas of Interpersonal Situations

The Atlas of Interpersonal Situations provides a systematic theoretical account for understanding the impact of situations on patterns of social interaction. Structured around descriptions of twenty-one of the most common situations that people encounter daily, this study presents the tools needed to understand how those situations influence interpersonal behavior. These descriptions are freestanding; each providing analysis, research examples, and everyday descriptions of the prototypical situation. The authors build upon interdependence theory, which stresses the manner in which outcomes are determined by the structure of interpersonal interaction. This analysis makes clear exactly what is "social" about "social psychology."

The Atlas of Interpersonal Situations describes each of its twenty-one prototypical situations in lay person's language, and then proceeds to develop a formal theoretical analysis of each, with extensive reference to existing research. "Situations" have a profound but often under-appreciated impact on human behavior. This book is a comprehensive analysis of these situations, written for a scholarly audience. Readers will be rewarded by heightened understanding of the variety of interpersonal situations that characterize everyday life, and of the underlying structures that can explain them.