The Social Psychological Study of Widespread Beliefs (Oxford Science Publications)

To what extent -- and why -- do many people share similar views in socially significant domains such as politics, the economy, race, and gender? Both the conceptual and substantive approaches to these questions are explored in this new book. Part I introduces the approach adopted, reviews recent developments in the area of belief, and endeavors to synthesize speculations from anthropology and from psychology. Part II concentrates on four different sets of concepts for the social psychological study of widespread beliefs. Finally, contributions from six social psychologists -- each examining a substantive area or series of studies with an analysis of the empirical work in that area -- comprise Part III. This fully up-to-date work provides a broad conceptual approach to this contemporary, important topic. Social psychologists, social anthropologists and sociologists will find this work particularly useful.