When Elliot Aronson, Timothy Wilson, and Robin Akert started with the first edition of Social Psychology their overriding goal was simple but ambitious: capture the excitement of social psychology in a textbook. Now in its sixth edition, the authors have discovered - through many kind letters and e-mail from professors and students - that they have succeeded in making their book an enjoyable, fascinating story, not just a dry report of facts and figures. In their work they have found that social psychology comes alive for students when they understand the whole context of the field: how theories inspire research, why research is performed as it is, how further research triggers yet new avenues of study. The authors have reached students by conveying their own fascination with the research process in a down-to-earth, meaningful way, yet have done so without sacrificing a firm foundation on which to build the reader's understanding. Here, in its sixth edition, the authors present a rigorous, scientific approach to social psychology in a manner that continues to build on the text's legacy of engaging and fascinating students.