The winds of change: some challenges in reconfiguring social psychology for the future

In this short article, I celebrate the plurality and eclecticism of the British Journal of Social Psychology. I argue that this approach offers the best hope for an uncertain future. The powerful narrative on which social psychology was once based is fragmenting in part due to Research Assessment Exercise (RAE/REF) pressures. Social psychological topics and research are migrating outside institutional Psychology, and the BJSP needs to follow. Examples of recent social research on affect and emotion are used to illustrate the new spreading and reach of social psychological topics and issues.