People live in groups, work in groups, and play in groups. As a result, groups have been a focus of study across the social and behavioral sciences. Although it has been actively pursued within individual disciplines and sub-disciplines, group research as a whole remains fragmented and discipline-bounded.

Theories of Small Groups summarize the current state of group theory and research in a brief volume that can be used by researchers and in graduate courses that will train the next generation of group scholars. In this text, editors Marshall Scott Poole and Andrea B Hollingshead capitalize on the theoretical advances made over the last 50 years by integrating models and theories of small groups into a set of nine general theoretical perspectives. Theories of Small Groups is the first book to assess, synthesize, integrate, and evaluate the body of theory and research on small groups across disciplinary boundaries.