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Book Reviews tory experimental methods, possess a research programmatic quality, although John Turner and his collaborators refrain from self-congratulatory commentary on the virtues of their program. The book is well written; in fact, it is one of the best of this genre I have read and presents discussions of theoretical issues and research results in a serious and nonproselytizing manner.

The book contains nine chapters, five written by Turner and one each by his four collaborators. These chapters pertain to various aspects of how a collection of individuals becomes a" social and psychological group," to use the authors' phrase. The concept of" social psychological group" refers to a collectivity that is psychologically significant for its members and sets the terms for subjective evaluations and comparisons of who they are and who others are. In this sense, this book is a study in reference-group behavior, or as Turner …