This book represents an inquiry into an area of human behavior
at once fascinating and exasperating. It is fascinating because it
is a class of behavior that, while peculiarly resistant to
cognitive analysis and clarification it remains, for most of us
throughout our lives, a subjectively crucial issue. In
Interpersonal Behavior Carson analyzes, describes, and explains the
transactions that occur between persons. The analysis focuses upon
the smallest possible unit of social interaction, the dyad, or
two-person group.
This book is as important today as when it first appeared in
1969 because it forces us to recognize that attributions to others
are incomplete without reference to the circumstances in which a
particular behavior occurs. Carson posits that, while personality
characteristics may not be ephemeral, any observed stability is the
product of whatever propensities can accurately be identified as
existing "inside" the person, and the interpersonal situation in
which they are expressed. Carson urges us to examine more carefully
the effect of noncomplementarity on what appears to be stable
personality characteristics.
Carson introduces us to the principal interpersonal theorists in
a series of expository chapters that are both lucid and
authoritative. His long experience as a clinical psychologist
enables him to make a telling application of interaction concepts
of personality to the field of mental and emotional "illness." He
makes clear that many people designated as "mental patients" have
suffered real harm because they are perceived as having a
"diseased" personality, rather than as people who, under certain
circumstances, behave deviantly.
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