The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life

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Oxford University Press, Jul 29, 2004 - Psychology - 240 pages
Despite its obvious advantages, our ability to be self-reflective comes at a high price. Few people realize how profoundly their lives are affected by self-reflection or how frequently inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their relationships with others, and undermines their happiness. By allowing people to ruminate about the past or imagine what might happen in the future, self-reflection conjures up a great deal of personal suffering in the form of depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and other negative emotions. A great deal of unhappiness, in the form of addictions, overeating, and domestic violence, is due to people's inability to exert control over their thoughts and behavior. Is it possible to direct our self-reflection in a way that will minimize the disadvantages and maximize the advantages? Is there a way to affect the egotistical self through self-reflection? In this volume, Mark Leary explores the personal and social problems that are created by the capacity for self-reflection, and by drawing upon psychology and other behavioral sciences, offers insights into how these problems can be minimized.
 

Contents

1 The SelfAware Animal
3
2 Living in Two Worlds
25
3 Through the Eyes of the Ego
53
4 Making Ourselves Miserable
78
5 When Selves Collide
101
6 Risking Life and Limb
124
7 Religion and Morality
146
8 The Self Out of Control
162
9 Bringing Out the Best in the Self
185
Notes
199
Index
221
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About the author (2004)

Mark R. Leary is Professor of Psychology at Duke University. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and former president of the International Society for Self and Identity. He was named by the Institute for Scientific Information as among the 25 most productive scholars in psychology (1986-1990).

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