Doob's central thesis is that some beliefs function mainly to help the believer cope with life's uncertainties. The coping mechanism that is the focus of Doob's book is a belief that certain things in life are inevitable. . . . Doob methodically explores the origin and nature of inevitablility beliefs, and like his pervious titles in social psychology, this is a theoretical analysis. . . . The book is well written and carefully organized but demanding to read; Doob attributes this to the inherent difficulty of the subject--he is probably right. Choice This book examines the ways in which human beings seek to cope with uncertainty by means of doctrines that postulate degrees of inevitability. These doctrines originate in natural science, social science, philosophy, and religion. Their adequacies and inadequacies are carefully assessed, with special reference to the ways in which they deal with intervention by the very persons who would reduce uncertainty. The possibility of intervention in turn raises questions concerning freedom and responsibility that challenge people in all societies and throughout the lifespan.

The pursuit of perfection is one of humanity's most basic aspirations. In the tradition of meliorism, this volume addresses timeless questions such as: How can we lead a better or more satisfying existence? How can we be happier than we are now? What must we know or do to achieve such an important, elusive goal? In the absence of everlastingly valid principles, the author proposes seven useful, if imperfect, guides for us to follow as we edge towards perfection--determinism, imperfection, singularity, perspective, evaluation, searching, and surprise. Drawing upon the findings of psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and anthropologists, this volume challenges and helps its readers to improve their existence as individuals and as members of groups and society.

This book provides an analysis of the human phenomenon of hesitation, the time elapsing between the stimulation of a person and that person's response. The views of disciplines as diverse as physiology and philosophy are examined, with special emphasis placed on psychology and the social sciences. Leonard Doob seeks to determine when and why human beings are impulsive or reflective, and whether, from their standpoint and that of others, their own hesitation should be extremely brief, long, or protractive. The volume also cites and summarizes relevant studies and derives guidelines related to subjective and objective hesitation. Although partially treated in other books and articles, this work represents the first book-length study of hesitation. The volume covers a full range of explanations for hesitation, starting with reflex actions (the central nervous system) and moving out to encompass an individual's culture and society, his personality development, and the influence that others may have over him. The study is divided into three main parts. An introduction serves to clarify the starting point for analysis, addressing the explanation and morality of hesitation and the questions of judgment that affect it. The next part, (Section 2) analyzes hesitation in terms of culture and society, personality traits and interrelations, other persons, and situations. The final section is devoted to selection, discussing the value of three degrees of hesitation and the techniques that can be employed to modify impulsivity and reflection. The book concludes with a list of recommended readings and a comprehensive index. This important study will be a valuable resource for psychologists, psychiatrists, and social scientists, and for courses in psychology, sociology, and anthropology. It will also be a significant addition to both public and academic libraries.

This book, the result of the author's experience in psychology and forestry studies, studies the relation between these two seemingly different disciplines. The author indicates how human actions and programs affect a range of threatened or endangered situations ranging from forests and species of animals to our own traditional values and cultural groups. Sustainers, the persons who advocate and support sustainability, possess or must come to possess certain characteristics that are shown to be renunciation, knowledge, attitude, controllability, and patterning. This book seeks to discover and advocates how and why those attributes must be strengthened if we are to sustain our environment and ourselves.

In this wide-ranging and fascinating book, Leonard Doob explores what we know about human action and interaction in order to show how people succeed or fail in their constant attempts to understand each other. He organizes our ways of knowing each other into two sorts of "pathways to people." The first pathways are those that have been investigated by psychiatrists, psychologists, and social scientists. Mr. Doob offers a critical summary of our systematic knowledge in the area of what is sometimes called "person perception." By and large, he is dissatisfied with what we think we know, because too much of the research stems from a convenient, but not typical, sample of mankind - the college student. The second set of pathways are those intended to improve judgment or avoid error, and they come not only from the scientific disciplines but also from the humanities, along with common sense. Together, the pathways constitute the factors or variables that determine how and why human judgments are made - and how they should be made. The exposition is occasionally interrupted by a devil's advocate offering lively and cutting criticism of what is being said. In this manner, Leonard Doob opens another pathway - between reader and author - which makes reading this book a rich and provocative experience.

This edited collection brings together scholars from the United States and abroad to provide an introduction to selected topics in cross-cultural psychology, the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes under diverse cultural conditions.