Motivational Styles in Everyday Life


Book Description

Discusses and explains reversal theory. A definitive statement of the theory along with research support in a wide variety of areas across the social sciences and biology is presented. Its main features, its patterns of opposition in motivational styles, and its phenomenological foundations are also noted.




Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation


Book Description

This volume covers the current status of research in the neurobiology of motivated behaviors in humans and other animals in healthy condition. This includes consideration of the psychological processes that drive motivated behavior and the anatomical, electrophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms which drive these processes and regulate behavioural output. The volume also includes chapters on pathological disturbances in motivation including apathy, or motivational deficit as well as addictions, the pathological misdirection of motivated behavior. As with the chapters on healthy motivational processes, the chapters on disease provide a comprehensive up to date review of the neurobiological abnormalities that underlie motivation, as determined by studies of patient populations as well as animal models of disease. The book closes with a section on recent developments in treatments for motivational disorders.




Motivational Interviewing in Health Care


Book Description

Much of health care today involves helping patients manage conditions whose outcomes can be greatly influenced by lifestyle or behavior change. Written specifically for health care professionals, this concise book presents powerful tools to enhance communication with patients and guide them in making choices to improve their health, from weight loss, exercise, and smoking cessation, to medication adherence and safer sex practices. Engaging dialogues and vignettes bring to life the core skills of motivational interviewing (MI) and show how to incorporate this brief evidence-based approach into any health care setting. Appendices include MI training resources and publications on specific medical conditions. This book is in the Applications of Motivational Interviewing series, edited by Stephen Rollnick, William R. Miller, and Theresa B. Moyers.




Positive Psychology


Book Description

Remediating deficits and managing disabilities has been a central preoccupation for clinical psychologists. Positive Psychology, in contrast, is concerned with the enhancement of happiness and well-being, involving the scientific study of the role of personal strengths and positive social systems in the promotion of optimal wellbeing. Alan Carr's Positive Psychology has become essential reading for anyone requiring a thorough and accessible introduction to the field. This new edition retains all the features that made the first edition so popular, including: accounts of major theories and relevant research learning objectives chapter summaries research and personal development questions suggestions for further reading measures for use in research glossaries of new terms. The book has also been completely updated to take account of recent research and major advances, and includes a new chapter on Positive Psychotherapy, an extended account of research on character strengths and virtues, and a discussion of recent ground-breaking research on emotional intelligence. This new edition of Positive Psychology will prove a valuable resource for psychology students and lecturers, as well as those involved in postgraduate training in related areas such as clinical psychology, social work, counselling and psychotherapy.




Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition


Book Description

The central argument of this book is that cognition is not the whole story in understanding intellectual functioning and development. To account for inter-individual, intra-individual, and developmental variability in actual intellectual performance, it is necessary to treat cognition, emotion, and motivation as inextricably related. Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition: Integrative Perspectives on Intellectual Functioning and Development: *represents a new direction in theory and research on intellectual functioning and development; *portrays human intelligence as fundamentally constrained by biology and adaptive needs but modulated by social and cultural forces; and *encompasses and integrates a broad range of scientific findings and advances, from cognitive and affective neurosciences to cultural psychology, addressing fundamental issues of individual differences, developmental variability, and cross-cultural differences with respect to intellectual functioning and development. By presenting current knowledge regarding integrated understanding of intellectual functioning and development, this volume promotes exchanges among researchers concerned with provoking new ideas for research and provides educators and other practitioners with a framework that will enrich understanding and guide practice.




The Structure of Concern: A Challenge for Thinkers


Book Description

This book has two goals. It introduces a pattern of 4 interlocking constraints which I call the "structure of concern" and it issues a challenge to all of the thinkers of world to find the best level of description for it; the level at which it might be explained... concern structure models turn up everywhere, including discussions of knowledge management methodologies, suicide, yoga, information systems, sex, multi-agent networking, ethics, nervous system organization, drama, military planning, speech pragmatics, forest conservation, education and even philosophy. Some concern structure models are quite specialized and obscure, but some others count among the most widely used conceptual frameworks we have. My main goal in this book is simply to compare all of these frameworks to point out the similarities between them. This "catalog" itself is the argument I make in this book - the argument that some universal pattern lurks among all these models - a universal pattern that needs description.




Exercise Dependence


Book Description

Exercise dependence or addiction has been described as a 'positive addiction', but it can have links with damaging dysfunctional and excessive behaviours, including eating disorders. Clinical and sport psychologists now acknowledge the condition and report that it can be found in recreational exercisers and competitive athletes. This is the first text to provide a comprehensive guide to exercise dependence. The text contains case studies and reviews research into exercise dependence in both 'exercise' and 'sports' contexts. The authors examine the condition in the widest sense, exploring different types of exercise dependence, risk factors associated with the condition, the experiences and motivational characteristics of sufferers, links with eating disorders, and a number of approaches to counselling. This text will be of significant interest to psychologists working in sport, health and clinical practice, as well as to athletes and sports coaches, particularly those involved in endurance sports associated with higher incidences of exercise dependence.




The Lure of the Arena


Book Description

Were the Romans who watched brutal gladiatorial games all that different from us? This book argues they were not.




Rethinking Aggression and Violence in Sport


Book Description

Rethinking Aggression and Violence in Sport explores the psychological aspects of these two intrinsic elements of competitive sport. This book critically examines the important issues associated with aggression and violence in sport, including: * a review of current theory in the psychology of aggression * exploration of how players become acclimatised to physical violence * discussion of the psychological benefits of sanctioned and unsanctioned sport violence * examination of the moral and ethical dimensions of the debate * the psychological basis of spectator aggression * case studies from a wide variety of sports. This text is a must read for researchers and students within sport studies, psychology and sociology with an interest in human violence and aggressive behaviour.




Personal Project Pursuit


Book Description

Personal Project Pursuit is the first book to feature Brian Little's highly respected personal projects analysis (PPA), one of the pioneering theories in contemporary personality and motivational psychology. The book examines both the internal and external dynamics of personal goals and projects and clearly demonstrates that human flourishing is enhanced when individuals are engaged in the pursuit of personal projects. The book opens with the theory and methodologies of personal projects research. The historical perspective on the development of the two dominant research perspectives from personality and developmental psychology is explored. Section II examines the internal dynamics and competing demands of goal formulation and project inception. The third part accentuates the role that social ecologies play in shaping the nature and outcomes of personal projects. These chapters highlight the importance of interpersonal relationships, organizational contexts, and the societal and cultural expectations in affecting the pursuit of personal projects. Ideas for orchestrating the environment to enhance human flourishing are explored. Section IV demonstrates how personal projects can illuminate and enhance human flourishing, from psychological well being to physical health. The book concludes with applications for enhancing human flourishing from individual counseling to public policy. Personal Project Pursuit is intended for advanced students, researchers, and practitioners in personality, social, developmental, industrial/organizational, health, environmental, clinical and counseling psychology interested in motivation and well being. An excellent supplemental text for courses on personality, motivation, positive psychology, well being, personal and life span development, the book's applied focus will appeal to counselors and rehabilitation/occupational therapists.