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This paper presents a historical overview of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, which was founded on December 17, 1951, in Mexico City. Firstly, the historical circumstances of the foundation period are presented, as well as the people who made this organization possible, and the state of psychology on the American continent at that time. Secondly, the most important activities that the Interamerican Society of Psychology has developed during its 60 years are mentioned, such as the publication of books and scientific journals, the creation of several task forces and the Interamerican Congresses of Psychology. Basically, the purpose of this paper is to review the history of the Interamerican Society of Psychology through the recovery and use of various documentary sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moscovici has ushered in the 'era of social representations', widely welcomed as a European alternative to what are increasingly regarded as the shortcomings of mainline' American social psychology. The rapid and enthusiastic adoption by many psychologists of Moscovici's theoretical approach has not so far evoked a great deal of critical appraisal of the ideas he put forward. The present paper seeks to make a start in filling this gap by an examination of the conceptual structure and sonic of its underlying assumptions. There appear to be a number of internal inconsistencies and some doubt concerning the logical status of social representations'. It is suggested that clarification of such issues, together with the establishment of closer links with the findings of neighbouring disciplines, would help to strengthen what is undoubtedly one of the most stimulating new departures in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on culture identity and dress. The sociology of dress is a vibrant field, exploring intriguing theoretical, methodological, and empirical domains. During the mid-twentieth century, clothing scholars began investigating the sociological and psychological implications of dress and appearance. In 1989, a group met to discuss the direction of the analysis of dress. The published papers from that meeting considered a wide range of topics, including identity, social psychology, cultural anthropology and sociology, semiotics, affect and cognition, social construction of gender, literary analysis, as well as qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Recent textbooks in the area continue to thaw from sociology and other fields to refine theories of dress and human behavior. Related to the misperception that dress only applies to the psychology of the self is the notion that dress is trivial both substantively and theoretically. Perhaps sociologists' neglect of dress might also be linked to a misperception that it is nonrational behavior similar to other actions that do not lend themselves to systematic analysis. Again these articles provide a contrasting view. In organizational and institutional settings, such as greedy organizations, total institutions, and mass media, dress and all it symbolizes are debated and discussed in ways that can be studied scientifically. Further, all of the articles have identified patterns in how dress is used in identity embracing and distancing that can be incorporated into broader theoretical frameworks.

Following a review of the main approaches to the study of class in the social sciences, a critical/discursive approach is adopted to show how analysing an aspect of everyday life such as leisure and 'going out' can reveal the reproduction of dominant discourses about class. Forty-two middle-class young adults were taken on 'nights out' to bars and pubs and then interviewed later to generate group accounts of the people and places they encountered. An analysis of participants' talk about going out to bars and pubs is used to illustrate the ways in which class was constituted in their dialogue. Focusing on the distinction respondents made between students and locals we consider how working-class people are simultaneously rejected and desired and how a discourse of territoriality defines and reproduces class relations in commercial leisure spaces. We argue that social psychology has much to offer contemporary understandings of the ways in which social class is constituted and mobilized in everyday accounts of leisure and consumption, and discuss our analysis in the context of existing research. We end by considering the potential value of our distinctive method for the study of class relations in social psychology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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SPSSJ arose in the late 1930s and 1940s out of a clash between two contrasting tendencies in social psychology and in social science generally. One was concern for expanding the usefulness of critical findings to people. This is illustrated by the propaganda analysis movement. The other was scientistic mechanization and commercialization of research, such as that organized in the Research Branch of the Army during World War if. SPSSI and later SSSP, its sociological counterpart, grew out of struggles between those preoccupations of social scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between changing neighborhood composition, social ties, and perceived neighborhood satisfaction was examined in a survey of residential districts which had experienced significant increases in student occupancy. Interviews were conducted with 233 nonstudent female respondents, ages 19-90, median age 60, residing in districts near a large university, concerning awareness of neighborhood characteristics, neighborhood satisfaction, and social and community contacts. Objective data concerning neighborhood demographic characteristics were obtained from the 1970 census and from a city directory. Results indicated that while respondents were able to perceive accurately the changing characteristics of their neighborhoods, awareness of neighborhood problems was not directly related to satisfaction. The best predictors of neighborhood satisfaction were indices of personal and social ties; e.g., friends in the neighborhood, and the companionship of a retired spouse. The findings were related to the growing literature on the importance of support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]