Individualism and the social in early American social psychology

In this paper an attempt is made to specify the original conception of the social dimensions of cognition, emotion and behavior-and of a distinctively social psychology-that was held by early American social psychologists, bu t abandoned by later generations of social psychologists committed to Floyd Allport's individualistic experimental program. Two influential forms of " individualism" in the work of Floyd Allport are distinguished and detailed. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.