Originally published in 1993, Assertion and Its Social Context notes that assertive behaviour does not always bring the rewards that trainers and others claim for it, especially when the assertive person is female. This seems to be because assertive communication often goes against the grain of deeply held social values. Furthermore, this problem is often masked by research which falsely assumes a shared base of meanings and attitudes among different people. These findings have led to the research presented in this book: an examination of social rules in the social contexts of assertion. Social rules theory is used to explore differences in the meaning and construction of assertion, extending both the way we think about assertive communication, its relation to effective interpersonal communication and methods of assertiveness training.

It was intended for developmental social psychologists, both students and researchers, today it can be read in its historical context.