RECONNECTING THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE SOCIAL IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

Much social psychological research has sought to distinguish itself fr om more 'individualistic' approaches to human cognition and personalit y. Much of this debate fails to take account of the interactions betwe en social and intrapsychic processes which, it is argued, are vital to the formulation of unifying theoretical principles and to practical a pplications in the field of health psychology. A general theoretical p erspective is outlined, based on notions of connectionist systems oper ating at both the individual and interpersonal level. A special featur e is the assumption that we depend on communication with and from othe r people to attribute reality to our interpretations of events. The be nefits of this perspective for health psychology are then illustrated in the contexts of attitude-behaviour relations, appraisals of risk an d uncertainty, person-situation interactions, and group processes and social influence.