The Psychology of Public Relations: From Industry Practice to Societal Challenges of the Profession

Although the origins of public relations can be firmly traced back to an approach integrating psychology, sociology, politics, and journalism, the psychological component has not been well developed in current PR theorising and education. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive understanding of the role of psychology in public relations practice and scholarship. The book presents the original, goal-centred approach that comprises psychological evidence, level of analysis, and methodology to address everyday and societal challenges facing PR practitioners. The author develops a microlevel, psychological perspective in public relations and provides an argument for integrating the psychological scholarly acumen with the existing body of PR knowledge, proposing an integrative framework for blending psychological insight with existing PR practice. The Psychology of Public Relations offers definitions of audience and publics members developed around the topical subject of content. The abundance of content is considered a constituent characteristic of the current communication and media landscape, leading to the formation of divided publics. This novel approach will appeal to postgraduate students and scholars across public relations and communication studies in particular, as well as organisational and applied psychology.