Explaining Unhappiness

Explaining Unhappiness PDF

Author: Peter Spinogatti

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2010-10-07

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1450254411

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Serious books inevitably start with an instigating question, and the question that Explaining Unhappiness answers is this: What are you afraid would happen if you weren’t unhappy? Why? Because this is the question that everybody asks all their lives, without ever fully realizing it. We are deeply engaged in the assumptions contained within it. What are we assuming when we ask that question? First, we’re suggesting that it is possible to be happy regardless of the present circumstances in which we find ourselves—that unhappiness doesn’t just happen, but that it may be self-imposed. Further, this chosen state may have less to do with what is happening in the present and more to do with warding off a fearfully anticipated future. Finally, we must also believe that, somehow, unhappiness pays off. We are forced to conclude, then, that we value unhappiness. Explaining Unhappiness was written for anyone who has come to realize that “realizing your potential” and “increasing your coping skills” have become old chestnuts that never really gave you what you really wanted—namely, a definitive answer as to why you need to believe that something is wrong with you.

The Origins of Unhappiness

The Origins of Unhappiness PDF

Author: David Smail

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-05-08

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0429907400

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It is the main argument of this book that emotional and psychological distress is often brought about through the operation of social-environmental powers which have their origin at a considerable distance from those ultimately subjected to them. On the whole, psychology has concerned itself very little with the field of power which stretches beyond our immediate relations with each other, and this has led to serious limitations on the explanatory power of the theories it has produced. To illustrate this, typical cases of patient distress in the 1980s are examined. The decade when the right-wing of politics proclaimed there was no such thing as society gave rise to psychological distress across social classes, as long-standing societal institutions were dismantled. This is as much a work of sociology, politics, and philosophy, as it is of psychology. Fundamentals of an environmental understanding of distress are outlined. A person is the interaction of a body with the environment.

The Pursuit of Unhappiness

The Pursuit of Unhappiness PDF

Author: Daniel M. Haybron

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2008-09-25

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0199545987

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"The pursuit of happiness is a defining theme of the modern era. But what if people aren't very good at it? This and related questions are explored in this book, the first comprehensive philosophical treatment of happiness in the contemporary psychological sense. In these pages, Dan Haybron argues that people are probably less effective at judging, and promoting, their own welfare than common belief has it. As a result, we may need to rethink traditional assumptions about human nature, the good life, and the good society. Thoroughly engaged with both philosophical and scientific work on happiness and well-being, this book will be a definitive resource for philosophers, social scientists, policymakers, and other students of human well-being."--BOOK JACKET.

Lovelands

Lovelands PDF

Author: Debra Campbell

Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing

Published: 2017-03-01

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1743584865

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Love is a wild and diverse land. Every soul needs a map. Nothing is more important to us than love, yet nothing is more painful than love gone wrong. During the course of our lives, we can develop dangerous faultlines and crevasses in our inner emotional landscapes due to past hurts, losses and disappointments. Lovelands is psychologist Dr Debra Campbell’s map for traversing the treacherous terrain of love and cultivating the wisdom and self-compassion for healthy love relationships. Drawing on her own knowledge and experiences of dysfunctional love relationships throughout her life and work, Dr Campbell shows you how to become aware of your personal Lovelands so you can locate and identify your faultlines, avoid repeating negative patterns and become empowered to make different choices. Whether you’re a parent to others, a lover to another, or working on the care of your own soul, Lovelands will help you make sense of love, from birth to death, and guide you in claiming the role of the hero of your own life and sovereign of your own Lovelands.

Explaining Social Behavior

Explaining Social Behavior PDF

Author: Jon Elster

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 517

ISBN-13: 1316368564

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In this new edition of his critically acclaimed book, Jon Elster examines the nature of social behavior, proposing choice as the central concept of the social sciences. Extensively revised throughout, the book offers an overview of key explanatory mechanisms, drawing on many case studies and experiments to explore the nature of explanation in the social sciences; an analysis of the mental states - beliefs, desires, and emotions - that are precursors to action; a systematic comparison of rational-choice models of behavior with alternative accounts, and a review of mechanisms of social interaction ranging from strategic behavior to collective decision making. A wholly new chapter includes an exploration of classical moralists and Proust in charting mental mechanisms operating 'behind the back' of the agent, and a new conclusion points to the pitfalls and fallacies in current ways of doing social science, proposing guidelines for more modest and more robust procedures.

Situation Is Hopeless But Not Serious

Situation Is Hopeless But Not Serious PDF

Author: Paul Watzlawick

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1993-07-06

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780393310214

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This is a tongue-in-cheek look at the ways in which we turn ourselves into our own worst enemies. Using metaphors, vignettes, jokes, innuendoes and other "right-hemispheric" language games, Dr. Watzlawick shows how we can make everyday life miserable and inflate trivialities beyond recognition. Those who believe that the search for happiness eventually leads to happiness should consult the chapter "Beware of Arriving."--Publisher description.

Understanding Deviance

Understanding Deviance PDF

Author: Tammy L. Anderson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-23

Total Pages: 595

ISBN-13: 1134756305

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In this collection of 48 reprinted and completely original articles, Tammy Anderson gives her fellow instructors of undergraduate deviance a refreshing way to energize and revitalize their courses. [36 are reprints; 12 are original to this text/anthology] First, in 12 separate sections, she presents a wide range of deviant behaviors, traits, and conditions including: underage drinking and drunk driving, doping in elite sports, gang behavior, community crime, juvenile delinquency, hate crime, prison violence and transgendered prisoners, mental illness, drug-using women and domestic violence, obesity, tattooing, sexual fetishes, prostitution, drug epidemics, viral pandemics, crime control strategies and racial inequality, gay neighborhoods, HIV and bugchasers, and (lastly) youth, multicultural identity and music scenes. Second, her pairing of "classic" and "contemporary" viewpoints about deviance and social control not only "connects" important literatures of the past to today’s (student) readers, her "connections framework" also helps all of us see social life and social processes more clearly when alternative meanings are accorded to similar forms of deviant behavior. We also learn how to appreciate and interact with those who see things differently from ourselves. This may better equip us to reach common goals in an increasingly diverse and ever-changing world. Third, a major teaching goal of Anderson’s anthology is to sharpen students’ critical thinking skills by forcing them to look at how a deviant behavior, trait or condition, can be viewed from opposing or alternative perspectives. By learning to see deviance from multiple perspectives, students will better understand their own and other’s behavior and experiences and be able to anticipate future trends. Balancing multiple perspectives may also assist students in their practical work in social service, criminal justice and other agencies and institutions that deal with populations considered "deviant" in one way or another.

My American Unhappiness

My American Unhappiness PDF

Author: Dean Bakopoulos

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2011-05-16

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0547821794

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“Why are you so unhappy?” That’s the question that Zeke Pappas, a thirty-three-year-old scholar, asks almost everybody he meets as part of an obsessive project, “The Inventory of American Unhappiness.” The answers he receives—a mix of true sadness and absurd complaint—create a collage of woe. Zeke, meanwhile, remains delightfully oblivious to the increasingly harsh realities that threaten his daily routine, opting instead to focus his energy on finding the perfect mate so that he can gain custody of his orphaned nieces. Following steps outlined in a women’s magazine, the ever-optimistic Zeke identifies some “prospects”: a newly divorced neighbor, a coffeehouse barista, his administrative assistant, and Sofia Coppola (“Why not aim high?”). A clairvoyant when it comes to the Starbucks orders of strangers, a quixotic renegade when it comes to the federal bureaucracy, and a devoted believer in the afternoon cocktail and the evening binge, Zeke has an irreverent voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit and heart-on-sleeve emotion, underscored by a creeping paranoia and made more urgent by the hope that if he can only find a wife, he might have a second chance at life.

Work, Happiness, and Unhappiness

Work, Happiness, and Unhappiness PDF

Author: Peter Warr

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2011-01-25

Total Pages: 539

ISBN-13: 1135599076

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Award-winning psychologist Peter Warr explores why some people at work are happier or unhappier than others. He evaluates different approaches to the definition and assessment of happiness, and combines environmental and person-based themes to explain differences in people's experience. A framework of key job characteristics is linked to an account of primary mental processes, and those are set within a summary of demographic, cultural, and occupational patterns. Consequences of happiness or unhappiness for individuals and groups are also reviewed, as is recent literature on unemployment and retirement. Although primarily focusing on job situations, the book shows that processes of happiness are similar across settings of all kinds. It provides a uniquely comprehensive assessment of research published across the world. Initial chapters explore the several meanings of happiness and the ways in which those have been measured by psychologists. The construct includes pleasure, satisfaction and subjective well-being, and unhappiness has been studied in terms of dissatisfaction, strain, anxiety, and depression. The impacts of principal environmental features on these experiences are reviewed through an analogy with vitamins in relation to physical health—beneficial only up to a point. However, environmental effects are not fixed. Influences on happiness from within the person are examined in terms of principal thinking patterns, personality styles, and cultural backgrounds. Differences are explored between groups (men and women, older and younger people, employees who are full-time and part-time, and so on), and processes of person-environment fit are placed within an overall framework which emphasizes the impact of variations in personal salience. The book is written primarily for academic readers, including senior undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, and researchers in fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Management, Human Resources, and Labor Studies. However, the topic's centrality in many professions makes it important also to a wider readership.