ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some of the ways in which social psychology has contributed to our understanding of how people interact in real-world contexts. Many of the important theories and insights in social psychology have arisen from the work of psychologists operating in industry, in the health professions and in the community. Equally, many of the theories developed by academic researchers in social psychology are tried and tested in "real-world" situations before they are fully accepted. So the applications of social psychology form an important part of our understanding of the discipline. Every workplace is different, and each organisation has its own way of doing things. Many larger organisations are so distinctive in their approach that they are considered to have their own culture, and social psychology has contributed a great deal to the study of how organisational cultures operate, and gain their distinctive natures.
