This welcome resource traces the evolution of self-concept clarity and brings together diverse strands of research on this important and still-developing construct. Locating self-concept clarity within current models of personality, identity, and the self, expert contributors define the construct and its critical roles in both individual and collective identity and functioning. The book examines commonly-used measures for assessing clarity, particularly in relation to the more widely understood concept of self-esteem, with recommendations for best practices in assessment. In addition, a wealth of current data highlights the links between self-concept clarity and major areas of mental wellness and dysfunction, from adaptation and leadership to body image issues and schizophrenia. Along the way, it outlines important future directions in research on self-concept clarity. Included in the coverage: Situating self-concept clarity in the landscape of personality. Development of self-concept clarity across the lifespan. Self-concept clarity and romantic relationships. Who am I and why does it matter? Linking personal identity and self-concept clarity. Consequences of self-concept clarity for well-being and motivation. Self-concept clarity and psychopathology. Self-Concept Clarity fills varied theoretical, empirical, and practical needs across mental health fields, and will enhance the work of academics, psychologists interested in the construct as an area of research, and clinicians working with clients struggling with developing and improving their self-concept clarity.

This book shares the theoretical advancements that have been made regarding psychological ownership since the development of the construct and specifically the practical applications within multi-cultural and cross-cultural environments. Enriched by empirical data and case studies by subject specialists in the field, this book serves as a cutting-edge benchmark for human resource management specialists, industrial psychologists, as well as students in positive organizational psychology and professionals in other fields. This book follows an in-depth view of the most recent research trends in psychological ownership. Offering practical tools of how the psychological ownership of employees could be developed in the workplace to not only enhance the performance of organisations, but to increase the commitment of employees and influence the intentions of skilled employees to remain with their organisations.

The Psychology of Teaching and Learning provides a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the psychology of instruction in the schools and colleges.The book divides the theory into three stages (the "three steps" in the subtitle): (i) work by the teacher prior to engagement with the student (e.g. needs assessment; diagnosis; mental ability including emotional intelligence); (ii) work by the teacher with the student (e.g. module delivery, formative assessment); and (iii) work done by the teacher after engagement with the student (e.g. summative assessment, remedial planning). The subject matter is wide-ranging including, for example, parental influence, behavioral factors and a consideration of different kinds of intelligence. Martinez-Pons has developed models of instruction in the form of flow charts, reports research (including plentiful quantitative studies) and includes boxed material explaining techniques and concepts (e.g. correlational analysis).It was written with graduate students of education in mind, especially for courses for educational psychology and pedagogy. Because the book develops out of general educational psychology, it is applicable to all stages of education from elementary school to college teaching as well as in-service professionals, including educational psychologists.

This volume addresses how we can find happiness and well-being in the material world. It builds on previous works that find that materialism is associated with lowered well-being (materialists are less happy) and that consumerism, in all its profusion, is harmful to environmental well-being. How can we use the money and possessions in our lives in the service of well-being? Apparently not by being materialistic. Can we benefit from the many wonders of the marketplace -- in technology, convenience and aesthetics -- without falling prey to the lures and dangers of excessive material preoccupation? Can we meet our material needs in ways that nourish growth and well-being? The authors of the chapters in this volume are on-going researchers into such questions. Herein you can learn about the hedonic benefits of thrift and of spending on experiences; how possessions can be beneficial; how different types of consumers spend money; cultural variations in conceptions of the "good life;" how we might reconcile environmental and consumer well-being; and how to measure the whole of human, economic, and environmental well-being. Taken all together, this collection finds grounds for compatibility between what's good for the consumer and what's good for the environment.

This volume appeals to academics, professionals, students and others interested in materialism and consumer well-being."

Scientists no longer accept the existence of a distinct moral organ as phrenologists once did. A generation of young neurologists is using advanced technological medical equipment to unravel specific brain processes enabling moral cognition. In addition, evolutionary psychologists have formulated hypotheses about the origins and nature of our moral architecture. Little by little, the concept of a 'moral brain' is reinstated.

As the crossover between disciplines focusing on moral cognition was rather limited up to now, this book aims at filling the gap. Which evolutionary biological hypotheses provide a useful framework for starting new neurological research? How can brain imaging be used to corroborate hypotheses concerning the evolutionary background of our species?

In this reader, a broad range of prominent scientists and philosophers shed their expert view on the current accomplishments and future challenges in the field of moral cognition and assess how cooperation between neurology and evolutionary psychology can boost research into the field of the moral brain.

This collection of cutting-edge chapters contributes to the psychology of personhood especially (but not only) as applied in psychotherapy. The chapters are written from Jungian, dialogical-self, or both perspectives and give insights into the history of ideas, and clinical and research applications of these perspectives in the East and West.

This book approaches the field of positive psychology from a post-modern perspective. It explores the consequences of combining current trends and models with supplementary participatory and transformative methods. The book brings a more collective, qualitative, culturally sensitive and transformative approach to the processes of making sense and implementing the science of positive psychology. It moves beyond the individual level towards a "knowledge community" and "knowledge of the communities." The book is an invitation to more participatory and polyphonic dialogues in the field of positive psychology.

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This book introduces key issues and historical contexts in critical discursive research in psychology. It sets out methodological steps for critical readings of texts, arguments that can be made for qualitative research in academic settings, and arguments that could be made against it by critical psychologists.

William James (1842-1910) was one of the most original and influential American thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a professor at Harvard University he published many works that had a wide-ranging impact on both psychology and philosophy. His "Principles of Psychology" was the most important English-language work on the mind since Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding." His "Varieties of Religious Experience "practically inaugurated the field of psychology of religion, and it also remains a major inspiration for philosophy of religion. Perhaps most importantly, James publicized the movement of pragmatism and supplied much of its powerful momentum.
This book covers the primary topics for which James is still closely studied: the nature of experience; the functions of the mind; the criteria for knowledge; the definition of "truth"; the ethical life; and the religious life. His notable terms, still resonating in their respective fields, are all here, from the "stream of consciousness" and "pure experience" to the "will to believe," the "cash-value of truth," and the distinction between the religiously "healthy soul" and the "sick soul."
This volume's eighteen selections receive the bulk of the attention and citation from scholars, provide excellent coverage of core topics, and have a broad appeal across many academic disciplines. This well-organized compilation of James's important writings offers an exciting and fascinating tour for both the casual reader and the dedicated student interested in philosophy, psychology, religious studies, American studies, or any related field.

This innovative work offers a new approach to the study of self-representation, drawing on both the older "study of lives" tradition in personality psychology and recent work in "narrative psychology." Gary S. Gregg presents a generative theory of self-representation, applying methods of symbolic analysis developed by cultural anthropologists to the texts of life-historical interviews. This model accounts for the continual shifting of identity among contradictory "surface" discourses about the self, as it shows how each discourse is defined as a reconfiguration of a stable cluster of "deep" structurally-ambigious elements. Gregg not only examines the nature of narrative, but also addresses more mainstream issues in cognitive science, such as: How is knowledge of the self and its social world represented? What are the elementary units of self-cognition? How are cognition and affect linked? After a brief introduction, the book raises critical questions about self-representation by presenting re-analyses of two famous case studies--Freud's "Rat Man" and "Mack and Larry" from The Authoritarian Personality--and initial observations from Gregg's fieldwork in Morocco. A theoretical chapter then introduces the notion of structured ambiguity, which enables a person to shift between identities by figure or ground-like reversals of key symbols and metaphors. Three original life-narrative analyses follow, which, with increasing complexity, develop the model via analogies to basic structures of tonal music. The work concludes with a theoretical chapter that reexamines the ideas of William James, George Herbert Mead, and Erik Erikson about the self's unity and multiplicity, and then summarizes agenerative model. The book presents a compelling alternative to prevailing views of self-cognition and identity, and will be a valuable resource for courses in psychology, anthropology, and sociology, as well as an important tool for researchers and professionals in these fields.

"Personal Peacefulness" examines the existing theories and knowledge about the peacefulness of individuals, including inner peace, interpersonal peacefulness, and peaceful attitudes towards groups and nations. It uses the term "personal peacefulness" to refer to the peaceful states, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals, and it discusses the phenomena and determinants of personal peacefulness in the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup domains. Also addressed is the relationship between personal peacefulness and well-being, describing various methods for enhancing the peacefulness of individuals. Within the framework of a scholarly and scientific approach to the study of personal peacefulness, various psychological perspectives are represented: personality, social, clinical, and positive psychology perspectives, peacefulness as nonviolence, attachment theory and the development of affect regulation, a human needs theory approach, Buddhist conceptions of compassion and mindfulness, a natural science perspective describing physiological foundations for personal peacefulness, phenomenological perspectives, and peacefulness as the promotion of conflict resolution. The book is an important resource for scholars, researchers, and educators in psychology, political science and in a variety of other areas who study and teach topics such as empathy, prosocial behavior, personality, psychological well-being, mental health, personal development, peace and conflict and conflict resolution.

Archetypal images, Carl Jung believed, when elaborated in tales and ceremonies, shape culture's imagination and behavior. Unfortunately, such cultural images can become stale and lose their power over the mind. But an artist or mystic can refresh and revive a culture's imagination by exploring his personal dream-images and connecting them to the past. Dante Alighieri presents his Divine Comedy as a dream-vision, carefully establishing the date at which it came to him (Good Friday, 1300), and maintaining the perspective of that time and place, throughout the work, upon unfolding history. Modern readers will therefore welcome a Jungian psychoanalytical approach, which can trace both instinctual and spiritual impulses in the human psyche. Some of Dante's innovations (admission of virtuous pagans to Limbo) and individualized scenes (meeting personal friends in the afterlife) more likely spring from unconscious inspiration than conscious didactic intent. For modern readers, a focus on Dante's personal dream-journey may offer the best way into his poem.

"Teamology: The Construction and Organization of Effective Teams" demonstrates how psychiatrist C. G. Jung's cognition theory, a cornerstone of modern personality typology, may be used to form and organize effective problem-solving teams through a novel quantitative transformation of numbers from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) psychological instrument directly on to Jung's eight cognitive modes. The resulting quantitative mode scores make obvious what is needed to make a good team.

The product of sixteen years of studying student teams in engineering design project courses at Stanford University, "Teamology: The Construction and Organization of Effective Teams" is of value to educators in charge of engineering project courses, as well as to students and working professionals on project teams at all levels of engineering, architecture and business. The book is also useful for users of MBTI, and counselors interested in personal self-awareness and the development of interpersonal ability.

This book presents a collection of essays honoring Professor Harry Heft, a leading figure in the field of ecological psychology, engaging critically with his work, thought and influence. Containing 12 chapters written by leading experts from philosophy and psychology, this text critically examines, questions, and expands on crucial ideas from Heft concerning the nature of cognition, its relationship to the body and the environment (including the social and cultural environment), and the main philosophical assumptions underlying the scientific study of psychological functions. It elaborates on the notion of affordance, and its connection to social, cultural and developmental psychology, as well as on the application of Roger Barker's eco-behavioral program for current psychology and cognitive science. The book includes an extensive interview with Heft, where he reflects about the history, challenges and future of ecological psychology. Finally, it presents a chapter written by Heft, that offers a systematic response to the critical feedback. Given the increasing popularity of ecological psychology and the highly influential work of Harry Heft in related areas such as developmental, social and cultural psychology, and philosophy, this book will appeal to all those interested in the cognitive sciences from a scientific and philosophical perspective. It is also a must read for students of psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science departments.

This anthology examines the practical role of well-being in contemporary society. It discusses developments such as globalization, consumerism and the rapid innovation and use of new and emerging technologies and focuses on the significant impact of these developments on the well-being of people living today. The anthology brings together researchers from various disciplines, including psychology, economics, sociology, philosophy and development studies. It provides concrete insight on the role and importance of well-being in contemporary society, using a mix of empirical grounding, philosophical rigour and an emphasis on real-world applications. It is unique in that it seeks to understand the relation between well-being research and its application towards real problems.

Studies on subjective well-being derive from two main perspectives: hedonism and eudaimonism. The former emphasizes human search for pleasure and satisfaction The latter stems from Aristotle s concept of eudaimonia as the fulfilment of one s true nature, that includes both self-actualization and commitment to socially shared goals. The framework adopted in this book belongs to the eudaimonic approach, and it is grounded in the scientific tradition of bio-cultural studies.

Most researchers agree that humans are living systems equipped with biological and cultural features. Theoretical approaches however differ in their emphasis on the role and relevance of biology and culture in influencing human behavior. In particular, the impact of culture and social norms on individual behavior and quality of life can hardly be overestimated. Day by day, people acquire cultural information from their social contexts by means of various forms of learning, and they subsequently replicate and transmit it. These cultural constraints can be used as objective indicators to evaluate quality of life and well-being, but they are not sufficient to grasp the real life conditions of an individual. This book introduces a third perspective in this debate: it emphasizes the role of individuals as active agents in shaping their cultural environment and in promoting both their own development and culture complexity.

Each person within her culture has a more or less wide extent of autonomy and freedom in facing challenges and in discovering opportunities in daily activities, in interpreting life events and in setting self-selected goals. Far from simply being recipients and vehicles of cultural information, human beings actively take part in the process of cultural transmission and change. A process of psychological selection takes place at the individual level, promoting the differential reproduction of cultural information units. A great number of cross-cultural studies have been conducted, in order to detect the basic criterion which guides this process. Results show the paramount role played by the quality of experience people associate with their daily activities and social contexts. In particular, individuals preferentially select and cultivate activities connected with optimal experience, or Flow, in which individuals describe themselves as active and deeply involved in the task at hand, excited and relaxed at the same time. In optimal experience people perceive high challenges in the activity, and adequate personal skills in facing them. They report engagement, activation, enjoyment, and autonomy.

However, provided that individuals play a central role in the process of cultural transmission and change, they should be supported in finding in meaningful and socially relevant challenges. From childhood, citizens should be exposed to opportunities for engagement, enjoyment and optimal experiences in socially useful activities. They should be taught to appreciate the development potential embedded in agency and co-operation towards community objectives. Intrinsic motivation and the autonomous search for meanings and goals should be sustained. The individual effort and ability to find a personalized way toward well-being and complexity have to be primarily supported. At the social level, the individual tendency to pursue self-selected goals and personal wellbeing could be channelled to foster at the same time co-operation and community empowerment.

In this historical period it is of paramount importance for positive psychology to contextualize the study of individual well-being within the broader perspective of social empowerment and cultures cooperation. Following the long tradition initiated by Aristotle with his studies on virtues and ethics, we strongly believe in the human potential to match the pursuit of optimal experiences and personal wellbeing with agency and the active contribution to the empowerment of societies."

The Neurobiology of C. elegans assembles together a series of chapters describing the progress researchers have made toward solving some of the major problems in neurobiology with the use of this powerful model organism. The first chapter is an introduction to the anatomy of the C. elegans nervous system. This chapter provides a useful introduction to this system and will help the reader who is less familiar with this system understand the chapters that follow. The next two chapters on learning, conditioning and memory and neuronal specification and differentiation, summarize the current state of the C. elegans field in these two major areas of neurobiology. The remaining chapters describe studies in C. elegans that have provided particularly exciting insights into neurobiology.