Table of Contents

I. THE SELF AND SOCIETY: VALUING OURSELVES AND VALUING OTHERS. 1. The Psychology of the Self: Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, Self-Actualizing. 2. The Self in Society: How Groups Affect Our Attitudes and Behaviors. 3. Personality Theory: Emotional/Social Development.II. THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN: SELF-DISCOVERY AS AN ONGOING PROCESS. 4. Parenting Babies and Young Children: From Conception to Preschool. 5. Fostering Caring, Conscientious, and Creative Children: From School Entrance to Puberty. 6. The Agonizing Journey Through Adolescence: Teaching Our Children How to Avoid the Perils of the Teenage Years. 7. The College Experience Today: Whether Fifteen or Fifty, Traditional or Nontraditional, College Is for Everyone. 8. Adulthood Through the Second Half of Life: Marriage, Divorce and Child Custody, Remarriage, and Stepfamilies.III. STRATEGIES FOR COMPLEX SITUATIONS: CAUSES, COMPLICATIONS, AND COPING. 9. Conditioning and Learning: How We Have Been Conditioned and How We Can Use Conditioning to Build Constructive Habits.10. The Psychotherapies: Many Approaches, Many Applications.11. Psychological Disorders: Trying to Function in Dysfunctional Ways.IV. TOWARD A SUCCESSFUL LIFE-CAREER: LIVING HEALTHILY AND HAPPILY.12. Strategies for Staying Healthy: Coping with the Stresses and Strains of Modern Life.13. Consciousness and Variations: Sleep and Dreaming, Hypnosis, Meditation and Meditational Prayer, Drug-Induced and Peak Experiences.14. Building a Life-Career: Your Educational, Vocational, and Personal Future.Glossary.References.Index.

Promotional Information

Written in a warm and humanistic style-with an abundance of examples-this solid, comprehensive introduction to the essentials of psychology offers an accessible balance of theory, research, and applications which focuses on the positive. It encourages students to apply material to their personal, social, educational, and vocational lives. Holistic in approach, it emphasizes responsible self-direction and moral/ethical values. This seventh edition draws heavily on the exciting and provocative research of the positive psychologists over the last two decades.