Self Explained

Roy F. Baumeister, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Florida State University and at the University of Queensland in Australia. One of social psychology's most highly cited researchers, Dr. Baumeister has been conducting research, teaching, and thinking about the human self since the 1970s. His work spans multiple topics, including self and identity, self-control, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, violence and evil, self-esteem, self-presentation, emotion, decision making, consciousness and free will, and finding meaning in life. He has written approximately 700 professional publications as well as numerous books for professionals and the general public. Dr. Baumeister is a recipient of awards including the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Self and Identity and the William James Fellow Award, the highest honor of the Association for Psychological Science.

“Not since William James has anyone contributed more to the study of the self than Roy Baumeister. Trenchant and insightful, this book integrates an enormously broad and interdisciplinary literature to offer a novel take on what makes us who we are. As Baumeister convincingly shows, it is our social and cultural nature that has given us a self, and this guides what our selves are ultimately for.”--Steven J. Heine, PhD, Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada“Before Baumeister’s analysis of the self, I found myself telling my students that whenever you see 'self followed by a hyphen' (e.g., self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-control), hold on to your wallet. Baumeister’s brilliant book shows us how the self only makes sense as a product of the culture it lives in, how it changes over epochs, how difficult it is to 'know thyself,' and, most important, the indispensable reality of the self.”--Martin E. P. Seligman, PhD, Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology, Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania"Baumeister is the world’s leading expert on the self. He provides a new model of the self and offers a staggering amount of evidence that supports this framework. This book is unique in its breadth and depth. It touches on human development, culture, motivation, interpersonal relationships, psychopathology, decision making, self-esteem, stress and coping, and personality. This masterful, comprehensive volume will guide the future scientific study of the self, and will be wonderful for use in undergraduate or graduate seminars."--C. Nathan DeWall, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky-

• I. The Remarkable Human Self1. What Is the Self?2. The Self in Social Context3. How the Modern Western Self Took Shape4. Different Societies Make Different Kinds of Selves5. Four Pitfalls of Self Theories: No Self, Multiple Selves, Authentic True Selves, and Self-ActualizationII. Why Do We Have Selves?6. Some Beginnings of Self7. How Baby Grows Up to Have a Working Self8. Human Groups Need (and Shape) Selves9. Moral Reputation as a Foundation of Self10. The Unity Project: The Unfinished Business of Stitching the Self TogetherIII. Know Thyself11. Self-Awareness12. What Sort of Knowledge Is Self-Knowledge?13. Why Know Thyself?14. Building Self-Knowledge: How People Learn about Themselves15. Self-Esteem16. Accuracy and Illusion in Self-BeliefsIV. The Self as Active Agent17. The Self in Action18. Self-Regulation and Self-Control19. Decision Making, Autonomy, and Free WillV. The Self in Relation to Others20. The Interpersonal Self21. The Self as Group Member22. Self-Presentation23. Self as Close Relationship PartnerVI. Problems of Self24. Problems of the Modern Self25. The Stress of Self, and Some Escape Routes26. Selves and Mental Illness27. The Deep Puzzle of Self-Defeating Behavior28. Ways the Mind Can Organize Self-BeliefsEpilogue. The Self: A Summary