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."

How diverse or potentially overlapping are the numerous self-models, self-theories, and directions of self-research? It has become clear that the processes associated with the self are complex and diverse, and that many of the approaches associated with the self have been pursued in isolation. Moreover, the fact of there being different traditions within developmental and social psychology, as well as different traditions in Europe and North America, has also led to a certain cacophony when we examine the self-field as a whole. The chapters here confront these differences, trying to come to terms with phenomena that are overarching, that extend through the dimensions of developmental psychology, social psychology, motivation psychology, and parts of clinical psychology. The book as whole gives a clear presentation of the issues, questions and phenomena that surface in research fields known as self psychology.

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.

How diverse or potentially overlapping are the numerous self-models, self-theories, and directions of self-research? It has become clear that the processes associated with the self are complex and diverse, and that many of the approaches associated with the self have been pursued in isolation. Moreover, the fact of there being different traditions within developmental and social psychology, as well as different traditions in Europe and North America, has also led to a certain cacophony when we examine the self-field as a whole. The chapters here confront these differences, trying to come to terms with phenomena that are overarching, that extend through the dimensions of developmental psychology, social psychology, motivation psychology, and parts of clinical psychology. The book as whole gives a clear presentation of the issues, questions and phenomena that surface in research fields known as self psychology.