DOMINIC W. MASSARO, editor
University of California, Santa Cruz

Putting Social Psychology on Solid Ground: The Need for Strong Theoretical Bridges

Bridging Social Psychology: Benefits of Transdisciplary Approaches
Edited by Paul A. M. Van Lange. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2006. 489 pp. Cloth,$130; Paper $45.

"Perception is the culmination of the process of discovery."
— Woodworth (1921, p. 421)

After working at it for several decades, social psychologists have constructed their own scientific house. They have made a couple of inroads here and there. Shouldn't they venture a bit further and start building some bridges with adjacent areas? If so, what type of bridges should be built and with whom? We are indebted to Paul Van Lange for undertaking the formidable task of asking these incisive questions to more than 90 leading scholars and prominent researchers. The result is a unique opus that probably reveals more about us and the state of our scientific culture than any clinical psychologists could dream of. The purpose of this exercise is clearly explained in the Preface: "The key objective of this book is to exchange views on how to bridge social psychological concepts with other scientific fields and disciplines so as to increase our understanding of major scientific themes, major societal issues, or important social phenomena" (p. xiv).