Abstract

Not surprisingly, the history of motivation science in social psychology reflects the history of motivation science in psychology more generally. The ways in which this is not the case, however, are noteworthy and are the central themes of this chapter. This chapter highlights the important role of social and social-personality psychologists in researching motivational questions that received relatively little, if any, attention from scientists in other areas of psychology. To appreciate this role of social psychology, the general history of motivation science within psychology needs first to be reviewed in order to provide the background against which social psychology’s distinct contributions will more clearly stand out.