Geoffrey Beattie – författare

Selfless is a memoir, reflecting on identity, social class, mobility, education, and on psychology itself; how psychology as a discipline is conducted, how it prioritises objects of study, how it uncovers psychological truths about the world.

Geoffrey Beattie takes the reader on a journey through his early life in working-class Belfast, his Ph.D. at Trinity College Cambridge and subsequent academic and professional career, to explore fundamental issues within psychology about social class and social identity. Beattie discusses the difficulties inherent in this process of education and change, and how social background affects how you view academic work and the subject matter of one’s discipline. This book movingly details a life and how it is changed by the processes of education, the psychological pressures when abandoning those close to you, the dissonance within and how it feels and operates. The book takes a critical look at psychology from the other side, and examines the process of becoming ‘selfless’, meaning having little sense of self rather than being overly concerned with the wishes and needs of others.

Showing how our early experiences and their influence continues throughout life, Beattie’s emotionally engaging, entertaining, and witty text offers general readers, students, and academics fresh insights into psychology, adaptation and personal change.

Selfless is a memoir, reflecting on identity, social class, mobility, education, and on psychology itself; how psychology as a discipline is conducted, how it prioritises objects of study, how it uncovers psychological truths about the world.

Geoffrey Beattie takes the reader on a journey through his early life in working-class Belfast, his Ph.D. at Trinity College Cambridge and subsequent academic and professional career, to explore fundamental issues within psychology about social class and social identity. Beattie discusses the difficulties inherent in this process of education and change, and how social background affects how you view academic work and the subject matter of one’s discipline. This book movingly details a life and how it is changed by the processes of education, the psychological pressures when abandoning those close to you, the dissonance within and how it feels and operates. The book takes a critical look at psychology from the other side, and examines the process of becoming ‘selfless’, meaning having little sense of self rather than being overly concerned with the wishes and needs of others.

Showing how our early experiences and their influence continues throughout life, Beattie’s emotionally engaging, entertaining, and witty text offers general readers, students, and academics fresh insights into psychology, adaptation and personal change.

This book explores the psychology of trophy hunting from a critical perspective and considers the reasons why some people engage in the controversial activity of killing often endangered animals for sport.

Recent highly charged debate, reaching a peak with the killing of Cecil the lion in 2015, has brought trophy hunting under unprecedented public scrutiny, and yet the psychology of trophy hunting crucially remains under-explored. Considering all related issues from the evolutionary perspective and ‘inclusive fitness’, to personality and individual factors like narcissism, empathy, and the Duchenne smiles of hunters posing with their prey, Professor Beattie makes connections between a variety of indicators of prestige and dominance, showing how trophy hunting is inherently linked to a desire for status. He argues that we need to identify, analyse and deconstruct the factors that hold the behaviour of trophy hunting in place if we are to understand why it continues, and indeed why it flourishes, in an age of collapsing ecosystems and dwindling species populations.

The first book of its kind to examine current research critically to determine whether there really is an evolutionary argument for trophy hunting, and what range of motivations and personality traits may be linked to this activity. This is essential reading for students and academics in psychology, geography, business, environmental studies, animal welfare as well as policy makers and charities in these and related areas. It is of major relevance for anyone who cares about the future of our planet and the species that inhabit it.

This book explores the psychology of trophy hunting from a critical perspective and considers the reasons why some people engage in the controversial activity of killing often endangered animals for sport.

Recent highly charged debate, reaching a peak with the killing of Cecil the lion in 2015, has brought trophy hunting under unprecedented public scrutiny, and yet the psychology of trophy hunting crucially remains under-explored. Considering all related issues from the evolutionary perspective and ‘inclusive fitness’, to personality and individual factors like narcissism, empathy, and the Duchenne smiles of hunters posing with their prey, Professor Beattie makes connections between a variety of indicators of prestige and dominance, showing how trophy hunting is inherently linked to a desire for status. He argues that we need to identify, analyse and deconstruct the factors that hold the behaviour of trophy hunting in place if we are to understand why it continues, and indeed why it flourishes, in an age of collapsing ecosystems and dwindling species populations.

The first book of its kind to examine current research critically to determine whether there really is an evolutionary argument for trophy hunting, and what range of motivations and personality traits may be linked to this activity. This is essential reading for students and academics in psychology, geography, business, environmental studies, animal welfare as well as policy makers and charities in these and related areas. It is of major relevance for anyone who cares about the future of our planet and the species that inhabit it.

Blending the latest academic research with case studies of famous figures, this highly insightful book presents ‘doubt’ as a central concept for psychology. It is a concept which has been oddly neglected in the past, despite its ubiquitous nature and far-reaching influence.

Exploring everything from self-doubt and impostor syndrome to the weaponisation of doubt with respect to climate change and the marketing of cigarettes, bestselling author Geoffrey Beattie navigates readers through the various ways doubt can start and develop, changing the individual in the process. Written in Beattie’s distinctive and engaging style, Doubt takes the reader into the lives of transformational thinkers, artists, scientists and writers to explore how and why doubt was crucial in their lives and how the likes of Kafka, Jung, Picasso and Turing succumbed to doubt or learned to control it. Beattie argues that doubt is central to the self; it can be either a safeguarding mechanism or a distraction, rational or irrational, systematic or random, healthy or pathological, productive or non-productive. The book helps readers to recognise how doubt may have been operating in their own lives and to identify how and when it has been used against us – for example, to prevent climate action – and at what personal and societal cost.

Presenting a compelling case for why doubt cannot be ignored, this book is of major interest to academics from a wide range of disciplines, including social and cognitive psychology, clinical and counselling psychology, sport psychology, sociology, business studies, politics, art and literature, as well as the general public, who may well see something of themselves in its pages.

Blending the latest academic research with case studies of famous figures, this highly insightful book presents ‘doubt’ as a central concept for psychology. It is a concept which has been oddly neglected in the past, despite its ubiquitous nature and far-reaching influence.

Exploring everything from self-doubt and impostor syndrome to the weaponisation of doubt with respect to climate change and the marketing of cigarettes, bestselling author Geoffrey Beattie navigates readers through the various ways doubt can start and develop, changing the individual in the process. Written in Beattie’s distinctive and engaging style, Doubt takes the reader into the lives of transformational thinkers, artists, scientists and writers to explore how and why doubt was crucial in their lives and how the likes of Kafka, Jung, Picasso and Turing succumbed to doubt or learned to control it. Beattie argues that doubt is central to the self; it can be either a safeguarding mechanism or a distraction, rational or irrational, systematic or random, healthy or pathological, productive or non-productive. The book helps readers to recognise how doubt may have been operating in their own lives and to identify how and when it has been used against us – for example, to prevent climate action – and at what personal and societal cost.

Presenting a compelling case for why doubt cannot be ignored, this book is of major interest to academics from a wide range of disciplines, including social and cognitive psychology, clinical and counselling psychology, sport psychology, sociology, business studies, politics, art and literature, as well as the general public, who may well see something of themselves in its pages.

Lies, Lying and Liars: A Psychological Analysis delves into the psychology of lies, exploring the processes of lying and its far-reaching consequences.

The author’s unique approach considers the ways in which lying sculpts our realities when used by public figures such as politicians, as well as how lying is woven into our everyday life. This book dissects lies in natural social contexts, from the innocent childhood fibs to the more nefarious fabrications of con artists, cheats, and adulterers. Drawing from a rich tapestry of psychology and sociobiology, as well as research and literature from philosophy and the social sciences, this book discusses the role of lying and liars in day-to-day life. It offers profound insights into the strategies of deceit, the presence or absence of remorse, emotion and rationalisations, pathological liars, the development of lying, its connection to narcissism, the functional utility of lies, and lie detection. Lies, the book argues, are a part of the social structures inherent in everyday social life, and there is a need to explore their psychological significance in a range of natural, everyday contexts.

Written in Beattie’s unique and engaging style by using elements of personal narrative and self-reflection, this is a fascinating read for students and scholars of psychology, sociology, and politics, and other disciplines of the behavioural and social sciences, as well as anyone interested in the phenomenon of lying.

Lies, Lying and Liars: A Psychological Analysis delves into the psychology of lies, exploring the processes of lying and its far-reaching consequences.

The author’s unique approach considers the ways in which lying sculpts our realities when used by public figures such as politicians, as well as how lying is woven into our everyday life. This book dissects lies in natural social contexts, from the innocent childhood fibs to the more nefarious fabrications of con artists, cheats, and adulterers. Drawing from a rich tapestry of psychology and sociobiology, as well as research and literature from philosophy and the social sciences, this book discusses the role of lying and liars in day-to-day life. It offers profound insights into the strategies of deceit, the presence or absence of remorse, emotion and rationalisations, pathological liars, the development of lying, its connection to narcissism, the functional utility of lies, and lie detection. Lies, the book argues, are a part of the social structures inherent in everyday social life, and there is a need to explore their psychological significance in a range of natural, everyday contexts.

Written in Beattie’s unique and engaging style by using elements of personal narrative and self-reflection, this is a fascinating read for students and scholars of psychology, sociology, and politics, and other disciplines of the behavioural and social sciences, as well as anyone interested in the phenomenon of lying.

Challenging all of our old assumptions about the subject, Rethinking Body Language builds on the most recent cutting-edge research to offer a new theoretical perspective on this subject that will transform the way we look at other people. In contrast to the traditional view that body language is primarily concerned with the expression of emotions and the negotiation of social relationships, author Geoff Beattie argues instead that gestures reflect aspects of our thinking but in a different way to verbal language. Critically, the spontaneous hand movements that people make when they talk often communicate a good deal more than they intend.

This ground-breaking book takes body language analysis to a whole new level. Engagingly written by one of the leading experts in the field, it shows how we can detect deception in gesture–speech mismatches and how these unconscious movements can give us real insight into people''s underlying implicit attitudes.

Challenging all of our old assumptions about the subject, Rethinking Body Language builds on the most recent cutting-edge research to offer a new theoretical perspective on this subject that will transform the way we look at other people. In contrast to the traditional view that body language is primarily concerned with the expression of emotions and the negotiation of social relationships, author Geoff Beattie argues instead that gestures reflect aspects of our thinking but in a different way to verbal language. Critically, the spontaneous hand movements that people make when they talk often communicate a good deal more than they intend.

This ground-breaking book takes body language analysis to a whole new level. Engagingly written by one of the leading experts in the field, it shows how we can detect deception in gesture–speech mismatches and how these unconscious movements can give us real insight into people''s underlying implicit attitudes.

Few people today would admit to being a racist, or to making assumptions about individuals based on their skin colour, or on their gender or social class. In this book, leading psychologist Geoffrey Beattie asks if prejudice, more subtle than before, is still a major part of our everyday lives.

Beattie suggests that implicit biases based around race are not just found in small sections of our society, but that they also exist in the psyches of even the most liberal, educated and fair-minded of us. More importantly, the book outlines how these ‘hidden’ attitudes and prejudices can be revealed and measured, and how they in turn predict behaviours in a number of important social situations.

Our Racist Heart? takes a fresh look at our racial attitudes, using new technology and experimental approaches to show how unconscious biases influence our everyday actions and thinking. These groundbreaking results are brought to life using the author’s own experiences of class and religious prejudice in Northern Ireland, and are also discussed in relation to the history of race, racism and social psychological theory.