In the concluding chapter, we are reaching the point of assessing what we achieved, which questions we were able to answer, and which remained unanswered. In short, time to take stock. We do so by revisiting the three foci of the book. A first section focusing on the individual as the unit of analysis; next a section positioning the contextualization of contention as focal point; followed by a section on the aftermath of contention for the individual. The final, and fourth, section of this chapter is dedicated to methodology. Here we maintain that, in order to understand contextualized contestation, we need disciplinary collaboration and comparative designs. Indeed, our main argument of the book is that more attention should be placed on what happens before and after mobilization processes, and we hoped to show how a contextualized social psychological approach, with disciplinary collaboration and relying on comparative designs, can open and develop insights into these largely untapped areas.

The Handbook of Behavior Change is the first wide-ranging compendium of theory- and evidence-based research and practice on behavior change. It provides scientists, students, and practitioners with the current evidence on behavior change and expert advice on how to develop, evaluate, and implement behavior change interventions. The handbook also sets an agenda for future research on behavior change theory and practice across multiple behaviors, contexts, and populations. This chapter outlines emerging issues and future research directions arising from the handbook. The chapter stresses the importance of theory development, including the need for greater emphasis on ecological and social theories; clearer descriptions and operationalizations of behavior change theories; and increased application of interdisciplinary approaches. Future research on intervention development should conduct more comprehensive intervention fidelity assessments; adopt novel means to improve the translation, feasibility, and optimization of interventions; ensure consideration of ethical issues in behavior change research; routinely evaluate mechanisms of action in behavior change interventions; and apply complex systems approaches to behavior change. “Best-practice” guidance on behavior change should consider emerging methods and approaches to behavior change; implement trials to evaluate the long-term maintenance of behavior change; and develop core curricula on behavior change to educate the next generation of scientists and practitioners.

Psychology became an independent subject during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Competing approaches to psychology, called schools, arose during this period. Each school had different views concerning the proper subject matter and research methods for psychology. Introspectionism analyzed subjective experience using experimental methods. Behaviorism rejected the study of subjective experience and insisted on objective methods. Functionalism was inspired by Darwin’s evolutionary theory and was open to the use of a variety of methods. Gestalt psychology studied subjective experience but took a holistic approach rather than the analytic approach of introspectionism. Psychoanalysis was a theory of development and personality based largely on clinical experience. The differences between the schools were never completely resolved, and psychologists wondered if there would ever be a paradigm that provided a unified approach to the subject. Cognitive psychology, which appropriated information-theoretic and computational approaches, appeared to some to provide such a paradigm. However, no single approach to psychology emerged triumphant. Indeed, many psychologists are flexible enough to tailor their approach to the problem on which they are working rather than use the same approach regardless of the nature of the problem.