The Social Psychology of Health

"The volume includes classic readings as well as more up-to-date selections, and most are engaging, interesting, and easy to read. . . . The volume editors do a wonderful job of explaining concepts in easy-to-understand language and provide useful examples that students should be able to relate to. Undergraduates should find this a fun and relevant book to read, and the essays should provide a good starting point for class discussions. . . . One strength of the book is the breadth. The volume editors obviously have extensive knowledge and different perspectives to bring to this area."

                                                        Erika Westling, University of California, Los Angeles
 
"The content of the individual essays and the introductions to the articles are thorough and very readable. Students will find them to be helpful orientations to the articles they are about to read. . . . The strength of this volume is the product of the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors. They have done a good job of actually drawing together into one volume significant articles from psychology, sociology, and to some extent, epidemiology and public health. This increases the range of the book. Most importantly from an educational standpoint, it supports an interdisciplinary approach to the social psychology of health."

                                                                          Dale D. Chitwood, University of Miami
 
The Social Psychology of Health: Essays and Readings provides an integrative approach to understanding health psychology using social psychological principles. It contains 26 readings grouped into five sections. The first section includes an overview of the multiple disciplines and perspectives that contribute to theory and research in health psychology and behavioral medicine: psychology, sociology, epidemiology, and public health. The remaining four sections cover major topics within the field of health psychology, mirroring the major topical coverage of most introductory health psychology textbooks. This coverage ranges from health attitude change to the health-care setting, stress and coping and social relationships, and health policy.

The key feature of the book is its text/...