In recent years, there has been much criticism of psychology as being an essentially reductionist discipline which focuses almost exclusively on intra-individual psychological processes while ignoring the variety of contexts which influence the production of such processes (Bar-Tal & Kruglanski 1988; Broughton 1987; Parker 1989; Parker & Shotter 1990; Riegel 1976, 1979). Buss (1979) identifies elements of the individual-society debate as far back as Aristotle. Indeed, it is the ultimate relationship which any philosopher or student of human makeup must confront. Not surprisingly, it has been a central question of social psychology. Floyd Allport, one of the founders of modern social psychology, said that ‘the problem of the individual and the group is really the master problem of social psychology (1962: 7). This was reiterated more recently by Turner and Oakes (1986):