This book offers an analysis of experimental psychology that is embedded in a general understanding of human behavior. It provides methodological self-awareness for researchers who study and use the experimental method in psychology. The book critically reviews key research areas (e.g., rule-breaking, sense of agency, free choice, task switching, task sharing, and mind wandering), examining their scope, limits, ambiguities, and implicit theoretical commitments. Topics featured in this text include: Methods of critique in experimental research Goal hierarchies and organization of a task Rule-following and rule-breaking behavior Sense of agency Free-choice tasks Mind wandering Experimental Psychology and Human Agency will be of interest to researchers and undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, theoretical psychology, and critical psychology, as well as various philosophical disciplines.

Social media such as instant messaging (IM), social networking sites (SNS), blogs and microblogs are an integral part of adolescents' lives in China. Anecdotal evidence reported in the news has suggested that the increasing popularity of social media could make adolescents more vulnerable to being addicted. This exploratory study proposes the concept of "social media addiction" and examines (a) whether social media addiction exists among adolescents in urban China and, if so, who the addicts are, what their symptoms are and to what extent they are addicted; (b) whether sociopsychological traits (e.g., need for affiliation, impression management, narcissism and leisure boredom) can predict social media addiction among adolescents; (c) what gratifications are obtained by adolescents from their use of social media and whether these gratifications can predict social media addiction and (d) to what degree social media addiction influences adolescents' academic performance and social capital.

This study employed quantitative questionnaire surveys among adolescents as the main research method, supplemented by qualitative pre-survey focus groups among adolescents and post-survey in-depth interviews among parents and teachers. Questionnaire surveys were conducted based on a multi-stage cluster sampling of seven middle schools in five urban Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen. The final sample consisted of 1,549 adolescents, of whom 90% had used social media. Using Young's classic definition of Internet addiction, 15.6% of participants were classified as social media addicts. The addicted adolescents were often self-absorbed, bored with their leisure time, and good at using manipulation through social media for impression management. Addicts experienced four major social media addiction symptoms: preoccupation, adverse consequences, alleviation of negative emotions and loss of interest in social activities.

The seven social media gratifications identified in this study can be categorized into social, information and entertainment gratifications. Among these, entertainment gratifications had the most power to predict social media addiction, while information gratifications were the least likely to lead to addiction. Furthermore, these gratifications were found to be powerful mediators between the adolescents' sociopsychological traits and social media addiction. Finally, the results also indicated that social media addiction and its symptoms had a significant negative impact on adolescents' academic performance and social capital.

Assembling original papers by the field's foremost investigators, this history demonstrates the continuity and progress made across five decades of personality psychology research. In addition to providing a historical perspective for the discipline, the work aims to inspire a more coherent agenda for future research.

When Posthumanism displaces the traditional human subject, what does psychoanalysis add to contemporary conversations about subject/object relations, systems, perspectives, and values? This book discusses whether Posthumanism itself is a cultural indication of a shift in thinking that is moving from language to matter, from a politics focused on social relations to one organized according to a broader sense of object in environments. Together the authors question what is at stake in this shift and what psychoanalysis can say about it. Promoting psychoanalysis' focus on the cybernetic relationships among subjects, language, social organizations, desire, drive, and other human motivations, this book demonstrates the continued relevance of Lacan's work not only to continued understandings of the human subject, but to the broader cultural impasses we now face. Why Posthumanism? Why now? In what ways is Posthumanist thought linked to the emergence of digital technologies? Exploring Posthumanism from the insights of Lacan's psychoanalysis, chapters expose and elucidate not only the conditions within which Posthumanist thought arises, but also reveal symptoms of its flaws: the blindness to anthropomorphization, projection, and unrecognized shifts in scale and perspective, as well as its mode of transcendental thought that enables many Posthumanist declarations. This book explains how Lacanian notions of the subject inform current discussions about human complicity with, and resistance to, algorithmic governing regimes, which themselves more wholly produce a "post"- humanism than any philosophical displacement of human centrality could.

This collection of essays by leading exponents of contemporary Buddhism and psychotherapy brings together appreciation and critical evaluation of Mindfulness, a phenomenon that has swept the mental health field over the last two decades. The sheer diversity and depth of expertise assembled here illuminate the current presentation of Mindfulness.

This book explores the intersection of clinical and social aspects of traumatic experiences in postdictatorial and post-war societies, forced migration, and other circumstances of collective violence. Contributors outline conceptual approaches, treatment methods, and research strategies for understanding social traumatizations in a wider conceptual frame that includes both clinical psychology and psychiatry. Accrued from a seven year interdisciplinary and international dialogue, the book presents multiple scholarly and practical views from clinical psychology and psychiatry to social and cultural theory, developmental psychology, memory studies, law, research methodology, ethics, and education. Among the topics discussed: Theory of social trauma Psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic approaches to social trauma Memory studies Developmental psychology of social trauma Legal and ethical aspects Specific methodology and practice in social trauma research Social Trauma: An International Textbook fills a critical gap between clinical and social theories of trauma, offering a basis for university teaching as well as an overview for all who are involved in the modern issues of victims of social violence. It will be a useful reference for students, teachers, and researchers in psychology, medicine, education, and political science, as well as for therapists and mental health practitioners dealing with survivors of collective violence, persecution, torture and forced migration.

This provocative volume is comprised of psychological, socioeconomic, and cultural perspectives on couple dynamics, particularly gender dynamics, and the future of marriage. Featuring data on married, cohabitating, male/female, and same-sex couples, the authors of the book's chapters analyze the changing impacts of work, parenting, and the health benefits of marriage for men and women. Trajectories in the evolution toward gender equality provide the backdrop for discussions of women and men as partners, parents, and workers in contemporary society. Contributors also keep a sharp focus on the complexities of gender issues as they intersect with crucial contexts of cohort, class, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Among the topics covered: Gender equality and economic inequality: impacts on marriage. Expansionist theory expanded: integrating sociological and psychological perspectives on gender, work, and family change. Gender, work, and family: action in the interactions. Changes in U.S. mothers' and fathers' time use: causes and consequences. A case for gay fathers. Gender, marriage, and health for same-sex and different-sex couples Gender and Couple Relationships documents social roles and social change with fascinating insight to advance research in fields of psychology, sociology, demography and economics and to the benefit of work organizations, policy makers, family and couple therapists and other mental health professionals.

"The Self in Question" offers a humanistic account of self-consciousness and personal identity, providing a much-needed rapprochement between Analytic and Phenomenological approaches to self-consciousness. In Analytic philosophy, a resurgence of interest in the topic of self-consciousness has been inspired by the work of Gareth Evans. Both Evans and his successors make the plausible assumption that self-consciousness is a capacity manifested in the use of "I," or through behaviour which must be described in terms of "I." "The Self in Question" develops this assumption through an analysis of Wittgenstein's insights into "I"-as-subject and self-identification, relating them - as their author did not - to the epistemology of memory and bodily awareness. As a result, it is able to discern the truth in the apparently discredited memory criterion of personal identity. It also draws on Husserl's and Merleau-Ponty's understanding of the body's significance for self-consciousness, to offer a critique of materialism about the body.

This book explores the textures of women's narratives of patriarchal oppression of female sexuality. Postcolonial feminist scholars in Africa highlight the importance of moving beyond Westernised lenses of 'African' women's powerlessness, towards a focus on women's culturally-specific sexual agency. However, few studies explore women's psychological experiences of sexual oppression/agency in real depth. Narrative Landscapes of Female Sexuality in Africa traces the narratives of heterosexual migrant women from Zimbabwe, Kenya and Congo. The book offers insight into women's experiences 'back home,' travelling through border posts in Africa, and life in current post-apartheid South Africa. Through a unique collectively-based methodology and a feminist poststructuralist lens, the author examines narrative strategies used by the women to manage and psychologically resist harmful discourses surrounding female sexuality and women's bodies. The book offers rich exploration of the intersections of gender and sexuality, class, race and citizenship situating the narratives within the wider context of poverty and migration in sub-Saharan Africa. These vectors of oppression are illuminated throughout the text via integrated threads of the researcher's positionality in relation to the women narrators.

While there are many political, economic, and historical factors that contribute to the development and expression of nationalism, the tenacity and viciousness of nationalist conflicts, and the dedication that they inspire in people, suggest that nationalism has a psychological dimension which is not yet well understood. Why do people cling to nationalism when it can ultimately be destructive to them, to their families, and to their nations? Why are nationalist conflicts so resistant to attempts at intervention? In The Psychology of Nationalism, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the war in Sri Lanka, and interactions between students in an American college classroom form the backdrop for an analysis of why we as human beings are so drawn to nationalism. The book argues that identity issues—our attempts to shore up our sometimes-fragile sense of self—underlie the attraction that nationalism exerts on us. It then offers suggestions for negotiations and other interventions to end nationalist conflicts.

While most studies of the stresses experienced by minorities, migrants, and refugees focus on North America, this work assumes an unusually broad scope. African-Americans, Latin Americans, Hutterites, Southeast Asians, and Native Americans are all considered in the context of the U.S. and Canada. However, separate chapters also discuss North Africans in France, Turks in Belgium, native culture in New Zealand, Jews inside and outside Israel, Gypsies in Europe, and Germans migrating west in their newly united nation. This unique look at the stresses facing such groups is an important resource for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in clinical psychology, counseling, and psychiatric social work.

This book explores the discourse of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most debated mental health categories attributed to children and adults across the globe. The authors trace the origins, development and representation of ADHD to demonstrate how the category is produced through competing explanatory theories and processes of scientific, professional and lay discourse. Starting with the idea that medical categories are as much a product of cultural meaning, social processes and models of medicine as they are of scientific fact, this book utilises a range of perspectives from within critical discursive psychology to approach this topic. The authors discuss historical construction, media representation, parents' accounts of family life, and the personal experience of children and adults to demonstrate how the construction of social identity and cultural stereotypes are embedded in the meaning of ADHD. They explore the origins of ADHD and how biological and psychosocial explanations of the mental health category have been produced, circulated, debated and resisted within a culture of 'Othering', and the discourse of blame.

The book Psychosocial Perspectives on Peacebuilding offers a template for those dealing with the aftermath of armed conflict to look at peacebuilding through a psychosocial lens. This Volume, and the case studies that are in it, starts from the premise that armed conflict and the political violence that flows from it, are deeply contextual and that in dealing with the impact of armed conflict, context matters. The book argues for a conceptual shift, in which psychosocial practices are not merely about treating individuals and groups with context and culturally sensitive methods and approaches: the contributors argue that such interventions and practices should in themselves shape social change. This is of critical importance because the psychosocial method continually highlights how the social context is one of the primary causes of individual psychological distress. The chapters in this book describe experiences within very different contexts, including Guatemala, Jerusalem, Indian Kashmir, Mozambique, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The common thread between the case studies is that they each show how psychosocial interventions and practices can influence the peacebuilding environment and foster wider social change. Psychosocial Perspectives on Peacebuilding is essential reading for social and peace psychologists, as well as for students and researchers in the field of conflict and peace studies, and for psychosocial practitioners and those working in post-conflict areas for NGO's.

Subjectivity, the Unconscious and Consumerism is a unique and imaginative psycho-sociological exploration of how postmodern, contemporary consumerism invades and colonises human subjectivity. Investigating especially consumerism's unconscious aspects such as desires, imagination, and fantasy, it engages with an extensive analysis of dreams. The author frames these using a synthesis of Jungian psychology and the social imaginaries of Baudrillard and Bauman, in a dialogue with the theories of McDonaldization and Disneyization. The aim is to broaden our understanding of consumerism to include the perennial consumption of symbols and signs of identity - a process which is the basis for the fabrication of the commodified self. The book offers a profound, innovative critique of our consumption societies, challenging readers to rethink how we live, and how our identities are impacted by consumerism. As such it will be of interest to students and scholars of critical psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, but is also accessible to anyone interested in the complex psychology of contemporary subjectivity.

Inaugurates a series devoted to the applications of fundamental social psychological processes to social issues and problems. This volume addresses the core issues of theory and methodology, and reviews attempts to design, implement, and evaluate prevention programs and policies. Annotation copyrigh

James W. Pennebaker The University of Texas at Austin At first glance, a scientific book on the face doesn't make a great deal of sense. After all, the face is not a biological unit that falls into a specific medical specialty. By the same token, it is not part of a of a specific clear functional system that falls within the purview subdiscipline of psychology, philosophy, sociology, or any other traditional area. It seems that the only organizing principle of the face is that all humans have one and that it is central to the experience of being human. As a social stimulus, the face can signal emotions, personality, sex, physical and mental health, social status, age, and aspects of our thoughts, intentions, and our inner selves. At various points in our lives, we spend a tremendous amount of time and money for cosmetics, cleansers, medicines, and, occasionally, surgery to enhance our face. In the same way that a normative, symmetrical face can attract praise and even adoration, damage to the face through birth defects, disease, or injury is almost always stigmatizing. Our faces, then, are social advertisements for who we are.

The publication of this anthology culminates what began as a Visiting Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series sponsored by the School of Jus tice Studies. When Dr. John M. Johnson was awarded the Arizona State University Graduate College's Distinguished Research Award for 1986- 1987, the School faculty voted to use the accompanying stipend to bring several scholars to campus. Each visiting scholar was commis sioned to present an original paper on contemporary issues in justice and to meet with graduate students and faculty during a week-long visit to campus. This collection of essays promotes wide-ranging conceptions of justice. As first conceived, we sought to bring an interdisciplinary per spective to the study of justice as a way of intellectually extending the current focus of research and teaching. As it developed, the collection permitted us to reflect on our own instructional program in law and the social sciences and to promote a conception of social conflict and control which includes social, political, economic, and legal controls."

The self-knower has become a hero within many contemporary cultures. This hero goes by various different titles, including the" self-insightful/' the "self-actualized/' the "autonomous and mature/' the "representative of independent thinking/' the "morally virtuous/' and many more. The common denominators of civilization's preoccupation with the self knower are (1) the mundane, popular literature that draws our attention to our "inner being" and (2) the remarkable intensity of therapies and quasitherapies that promise insight into the true core of our inner being. A characteristic example from an extensive, week-or month-long training course would read, "Come because you want to discover your self ... . Through Mr. X the group leaderl, we can realize our true identities ... . This gives our lives sense and perspective." We have tried to trace the logic underlying the diverse self-knower movements and have found three common themes underlying them. For one, the varieties of theories and treatments associated with self-knowl edge are interested exclusively in the appearance of the self-knower. Each representative of the self-knower school has its own set of criteria for identifying the self-knowing person, and in tum, each member of the self-knower school represents certain convictions about how individuals should be evaluated. For instance, if someone manifests warmth and char ity, that person is likely to be pronounced healthy, adjusted, and self knowing."

An original and timely study of men's experiences of depression in which the author tackles the discursively constructed relationship between the self and depression showing its linguistic and social complexity and analyses the relationship between depression and masculinity.

How can people master their own thoughts, feelings, and actions? This question is central to the scientific study of self-regulation. The behavioral side of self-regulation has been extensively investigated over the last decades, but the biological machinery that allows people to self-regulate has mostly remained vague and unspecified. "Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation "corrects this imbalance. Moving beyond traditional mind-body dualities, the various contributions in the book examine how self-regulation becomes established in cardiovascular, hormonal, and central nervous systems. Particular attention is given to the dynamic interplay between affect and cognition in self-regulation. The book also addresses the psychobiology of effort, the impact of depression on self-regulation, the development of self-regulation, and the question what causes self-regulation to succeed or fail. These novel perspectives provide readers with a new, biologically informed understanding of self-awareness and self-agency. Among the topics being covered are: Self-regulation in an evolutionary perspective.The muscle metaphor in self-regulation in the light of current theorizing on muscle physiology.From distraction to mindfulness: psychological and neural mechanisms of attention strategies in self-regulation.Self-regulation in social decision-making: a neurobiological perspective.Mental effort: brain and autonomic correlates in health and disease.A basic and applied model of the body-mind system.

"Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation "provides a wealth of theoretical insights into self-regulation, with great potential for future applications for improving self-regulation in everyday life settings, including education, work, health, and interpersonal relationships. The book highlights a host of exciting new ideas and directions and is sure to provoke a great deal of thought and discussion among researchers, practitioners, and graduate-level students in psychology, education, neuroscience, medicine, and behavioral economics."