Book excerpt: The goal of Social Groups in Action and Interaction is to review and analyze the human group as it operates to create both social good and, potentially, social harm. The book provides relatively equal emphasis on topics traditionally considered from an intra-group perspective (for instance, conformity, minority influence, group decision-making, leadership, and task performance) as well as topics derived from an inter-group perspective (e.g. social categorization, social identity, intergroup conflict, stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination). In addition, topics that are not unique to either of these two approaches, and yet which are important aspects of group relations, such as culture, crowd behavior, social representations, and negotiation are also covered.