This book provides new insights into the significant gap that currently exists between desired and actual fertility in Europe. It examines how people make decisions about having children and demonstrates how the macro-level environment affects micro-level decision-making. Written by an international team of leading demographers and psychologists, the book presents the theoretical and methodological developments of a three-year, European Commission-funded project named REPRO (Reproductive Decision-Making in a Macro-Micro Perspective). It also provides an overview of the research conducted by REPRO researchers both during and after the project. The book examines fertility intentions from quantitative and qualitative perspectives, demonstrates how the macro-level environment affects micro-level decision-making, and offers a multi-level analysis of fertility-related norms across Europe. Overall, this book offers insight into how people make decisions to have children, when they are most likely to act on their decisions, and how different social and policy settings affect their decisions and actions. It will appeal to researchers, graduate students, and policy advisors with an interest in fertility, demography, and life-course decision making.

The terms mental health, maturity, personality integration, self-actualization have been used by psychologists to represent the realm of the ideal or optimal personality. Originally published in 1974, Professor Richard Coan here describes a method of analysing this domain, and examines the important theoretical implications of his findings. He developed instruments to measure various characteristics, including personal consistency, the experience of control and openness to experience, which are associated with current concepts of sound psychological functioning. A battery containing these instruments was administered to several hundred subjects and analysed. The results, reported here, are enlightening. It was found, for example, that the different characteristics viewed by psychologists as traits of the ideal person do not constitute a unitary pattern. There is no evidence of a general dimension of personality integration or mental health. A number of independent components or factors of sound functioning were isolated. Some desirable traits were discovered to be inversely related to each other, many of these relationships appearing to involve a choice between an open or spontaneous orientation and a more ordered and controlled orientation. The author's view, fully supported by his findings, is that if people are to achieve maximal realization of their potentials, a clear requisite is the flexible utilization of various modes of experiencing and acting.

Originally published in 1988, this second edition of The Construction of Personality has been substantially revised and updated. The author provides an introduction to current theory and research in the psychology of personality at the time and examines this work from the perspective of constructivism. As a consequence of this constructivist approach, the book covers topics from social psychology (e.g. person perception, impression formation) as well as more conventional areas of personality. In this new edition the constructivist perspective is emphasized by the addition of a new chapter in which the constructivist approach to personality is presented, and the chapters on the lay and self perspectives have been extensively re-written. All the other chapters have been revised to include recent material.

"Personality" is an intimidatingly complex area of human behaviour, where empirically valid generalizations are not easily established or formulated, and where investigators at the time of publication were themselves a long way from the development of a commonly shared language and conceptual system. Originally published in 1969, Dr Carson's book provided, for the first time, an empirically grounded, systematic framework to analyse, describe, and to some extent explain the transactions that occur between people from a standpoint of a personologist. The author starts from a Sullivanian base, which views "personality" as a largely interpersonal phenomenon. He then reformulates Sullivanian conceptions into a more complete framework, one more firmly tied to observable events or empirically testable hypotheses. This work represents a unique effort to integrate, from available empirical findings and conceptual formulations within psychology and the social sciences, a comprehensive account of socially significant personal conduct. It brings together, within an integrating framework, diverse trends from modern behaviour theory, personality, social psychology, and behaviour disorder.

Originally published in 1987, the purpose of this title was to develop a conceptual framework for understanding individual humans as complex, functional entities. It was felt that a sound developmental theory of human personality and behaviour would help synthesize existing scientific and clinical information into a coherent representation of a person as a functional unit, guide future research, and facilitate the work of the health and human services professions. The volume is aimed at a multidisciplinary-multiprofessional audience.

Originally published in 1987, the purpose of this companion volume to Donald Ford's (1987) Humans as Self-Constructing Living Systems: A Developmental Perspective on Personality and Behavior was to illustrate the potential utility of the Living Systems Framework (LSF) for stimulating new theoretical advances, for guiding research on human behavior and development, and for facilitating the work of the health and human service professions. Although not exactly a "how to" manual, it does provide many concrete examples of how and when the framework can be used to guide scholarly and professional activities. It also provides a concise overview of the framework itself that can help those who have read the theoretical volume refresh their memory, and assist those who have not, in understanding the basic concepts of the LSF and in deciding whether and how the framework might be useful to them.

Macrostructures are higher-level semantic or conceptual structures that organize the 'local' microstructures of discourse, interaction, and their cognitive processing. They are distinguished from other global structures of a more schematic nature, which we call superstructures. Originally published in 1980, the theory of macrostructures outlined in this book is the result of research carried out during the previous 10 years in the domains of literary theory, text grammar, the general theory of discourse, pragmatics, and the cognitive psychology of discourse processing. The presentation of the theory is systematic but informal and at this stage was not intended to be fully formalized.

Originally published in 1950, the need for a small standard text on basic principles of personality structure and development had been very apparent to teachers of psychology for some time. There were many books illustrating specialized or applied aspects of the psychology of personality - such as abnormal psychology, educational psychology, child psychology, mental measurement, vocational guidance, etc. - but lacking was a treatment of personality study as pure psychology, concentrating on the fundamentals. The aim of this title was therefore to bring the general problems of personality description and development, normal and abnormal, into a single perspective and to integrate the principle fields of observation in clear cut generalizations.

Professional helpers may harm their clients instead of helping them. This is one of the important implications - for the selection, training and practice of members of the helping professions - of the evidence reviewed in this book. Originally published in 1977, Gerald Smale argues that the expectations of the professional helper, whether social worker, doctor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, psychotherapist or counsellor, can act as self-fulfilling prophecies on his or her clients, for better or worse. In order to suggest how the expectations of the helper might operate, the author examines a three-stage model of self-fulfilling prophecies. The stages are: the prophecy; behaviour based upon the prophecy; the outcome brought about by the behaviour. Extensive evidence from the fields of experimenter bias, hypnosis and placebo medicine, psychotherapy, casework and counselling research, is reviewed and related to the model, and the relationship between this analysis and labelling theory is discussed. The book demonstrates that it is the behaviour of the worker towards the client which is of crucial importance, and proposes that the client's future and his or her personal strengths should be an important focus of the helping relationship. Finally, it outlines the dangers of negative expectations, and emphasises the ways in which expectations can be used to optimum effect.

Originally published in 1975, this book reviews the major personality theories influential at the time, including those of Freud, Kelly, Cattell, and Eysenck, and presents the main assessment techniques associated with them. It also discusses their application in such fields as abnormal psychology, diagnosis, psychotherapy, education and criminology. The authors find none of the theories completely satisfactory, but pinpoint important successes and suggest a promising new approach.

'Psychologists have mapped out developmental stages for the first fifteen to twenty years; but thereafter life is a blank. Half a century of adult life remains, psychologically speaking, an unchartered waste.' Frank Musgrove focuses on the question 'Can adults change?' and challenges the still widely-held view that adult life is static. Originally published in 1977, the author examines change principally in terms of a modification of consciousness through the experience of marginality. With the help of interviews, he discusses seven groups in contemporary Britain at the time, found in the 'margins' of society. Three of the selected groups are involuntary and stigmatized: men and women who have gone blind as adults; handicapped people in a home for the incurably disabled; and homosexuals. The other four groups enjoy high-status and voluntary marginality: late-entrants to the Anglican ministry; self-employed artists; a Sufi commune of Islamic mystics; and a Hare Krishna commune. Frank Musgrove's lively study of adult resocialization will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists and anyone concerned with the general problem of adjustment to rapid social change. It also relates marginality to the issue of life-long learning and points to some of the creative possibilities of the marginal situation.

Originally published in 1986, this was a new and completely updated edition of the book which, since 1970 had introduced a whole generation in English psychology to Kelly's theory of personal constructs. By setting out a broadly designed and experimentally illustrated view of people as self-inventing explorers and interpreters of their world it challenged the 'mechanical man' of orthodox psychology. It proved a source of radically new ideas in psychotherapy, education and industry. This revised edition shows how the theory's professional applications have spread ever wider, while many have realised that personal construct psychology contains, for them, the core of a personal philosophy.

For over thirty years G. N. M. Tyrrell devoted himself to the study of psychical phenomena. Originally published in 1954, in his last book, written just before his death, he probes as deeply as possible into the meaning of the results of psychical research. He believes that paranormal phenomena are not isolated occurrences due to the exceptional gifts of a few unusual persons but the result of capacities which all human beings possess, though in widely varying degrees. After an introductory chapter on Psychology and Psychiatry, the chief psychical phenomena - extra-sensory perception, mediumship, apparitions, etc. - are discussed and illustrated. Then follows a general criticism of current attitudes towards the subject. The book ends with two chapters arguing that the normal and paranormal are one and suggesting a pathway to religion.

While abundant research has investigated time use, much less attention has been given to the cultural meanings attached to free time and what these may express with regard to conceptions of freedom and the self. In an attempt to fill this gap, Michelle Shir-Wise examines not only what people do in their free time, but also how they perceive, interpret and experience it, and in what way it relates to notions of happiness, freedom and the ideal self. Time, Freedom and the Self draws on contemporary theoretical debates concerning the relation between discourse, cultural repertoires, subjective meaning and agency, as well as literature around the sociology of leisure, to inform a unique interpretation of free time ("disciplined freedom"), developed in the light of questionnaires and in-depth interviews with middle-class, middle-aged participants in suburban Israel.

This book argues that the science of reasoning will prove most useful if focused on studying what human reasoning does best - understanding people. Bonnefon argues that humanity's unique reasoning abilities developed in order to handle the complexities of cooperative social life. Accordingly, human beings became exquisite students of the minds of other people to predict the kind of decisions they make, and assess their character. In particular, this volume explores the inferences humans make about the moral character of others, how they delude themselves about their own moral character, and the ways in which they can see through the delusions of others. In conclusion, the book considers how to leverage the power of human reasoning in order to sustain democratic life. This work will interest scholars and students working in fields including theory of mind, decision-making, moral cognition, critical thinking, experimental philosophy, and behavioural economics, as well as policy makers interested in how reasoning impacts our political understanding.

Introducing a new typology based on Power, Eros, Matter and Spirit as the motivations that define human attitudes and behavior, the book outlines eight personality types based on the extraverted and introverted deployment of the four drives and applies these typological categories to Freud, Adler and Jung.

Clearly organised around a single question--is love possible?--Joanne Brown's book provides conceptualizations of love and of its possibility from sociological, philosophical and psychoanalytic viewpoints. Material from biographical, narrative interviews are presented in order to look at how people from two age groups conceptualise love and view its realisation or possibility in their own lives. The book argues for the importance of a psychosocial understanding of love and provides a critical discussion of the philosophy and methods of psychosocial studies.

'A revelatory classic' Maria Popova 'A spiritual polymath, the first and possibly greatest' Deepak Chopra What we have forgotten is that thoughts and words are conventions, and that it is fatal to take conventions too seriously Too often we fall into the trap of anticipating the future while lamenting the past and in the midst of this negative loop we forget how to live in the now. In this iconic and prescient text, pioneering Zen scholar Alan Watts shows us how, in an age of unprecedented anxiety, we must embrace the present in order to live a fulfilling life.

This is a classic edition of Hugh Wagner's influential overview of the biopsychological underpinnings of human motivation. It includes a new foreword written by Michael Richter who reflects on Wagner's 20 years of teaching, writing and research in the field of biopsychology and promises an engaging, succinct and accessible introductory text that remains relevant and useful to students today. The Psychobiology of Human Motivation explores what directs our behaviour, from basic physiological needs like hunger and thirst to more complex aspects of social behaviour like altruism. Wagner explores the limits of biological explanations and shows how humans can influence 'basic' physiological drives in order to adapt to a complex social environment. An accessible, engaging resource strengthened by many applied examples, Wagner's text continues to be integral reading for undergraduate students seeking a solid introduction to the psychology of human motivation across the social and behavioural sciences.

This is a classic edition of Hugh Wagner's influential overview of the biopsychological underpinnings of human motivation. It includes a new foreword written by Michael Richter who reflects on Wagner's 20 years of teaching, writing and research in the field of biopsychology and promises an engaging, succinct and accessible introductory text that remains relevant and useful to students today. The Psychobiology of Human Motivation explores what directs our behaviour, from basic physiological needs like hunger and thirst to more complex aspects of social behaviour like altruism. Wagner explores the limits of biological explanations and shows how humans can influence 'basic' physiological drives in order to adapt to a complex social environment. An accessible, engaging resource strengthened by many applied examples, Wagner's text continues to be integral reading for undergraduate students seeking a solid introduction to the psychology of human motivation across the social and behavioural sciences.

This book explores how and why humans are motivated to act in the ways that they do. The chapters examine the origins of a given action rather than their superficial appearance, which can often be misleading. Kovac integrates the existing knowledge of the field of motivation into a greater theoretical framework by adopting both analytical and holistic perspectives. This theoretical framework suggests that all human behaviour evolves from the three fundamental underlying tendencies connected to the concepts of control, affiliation and self-expression that are further modified by the mechanism of balanced dual tension. These tendencies are conceptualised as systems of interrelated psychological needs that guide and govern a variety of human actions. As such, this book should be useful to upper-level students and researchers of cognitive and social psychology and all scholars interested in human motivation.

Stereotyping is one of the most important issues in social psychology, but relatively little is known about how and why stereotypes form. This book explores the process of stereotype formation; the way people develop impressions and view social groups. Conventional approaches to stereotyping assume that stereotypes are based on erroneous and distorted processes, but the authors of this unique study have a very different view. They propose that stereotypes form to explain aspects of social groups and; in particular; to explain relationships between groups.

This book outlines the relationship between social identity theory and military to civilian transition, examining the mass movement of soldiers back into the civilian occupational world by considering literature specifically on role exit and in relation to the process of full-time military exit. The authors document a range of biographical and experientially-focussed case studies to highlight the range of transitions experienced by individuals leaving the armed forces. This book highlights the challenges faced by those transitioning between military and civilian roles through retirement, redundancy, medical discharge or in constant transition as a Reservist. It addresses themes of significant public interest in the light of the recent restructure of the UK full-time and reserve services and following the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

#1 New York Times Bestseller "THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more-it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I've never felt so hopeful about what I don't know." -Brene Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead The bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We think too much like preachers defending our sacred beliefs, prosecutors proving the other side wrong, and politicians campaigning for approval--and too little like scientists searching for truth. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.