Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development by Carol S. Dweck

From the Publisher

This groundbreaking text examines how people work -- why they sometimes function well and, at other times behave in ways that are self-defeating or destructive.

The author presents her innovative research on adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns, shows how these patterns originate in people's self-theories, and examines their consequences for the achievement, social relationships, and emotional well-being. The book also looks at the experiences that create these patterns and addresses the consequences for society, from issues of human potential to stereotyping and intergroup relations. Throughout, Dweck shows how examining self-theories illuminates basic issues of human motivation, social cognition, personality, the self, mental health, and development.

This outstanding text is a must-read for researchers in social psychology, child development, and education, and is appropriate for both graduate and senior undergraduate students in these areas. It will also be well-appreciated by the general reader interested in research in motivation, personality, and social development.

Robert J. Sternberg

[This book] is simply among the best book in psychology I've read during the past year or two.It's superb. . . I could hardly put [it] down.

Resources in Education

Based on extensive research with children and young adults, this book examines adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns and shows how these patterns originate in people's self theories; their consequences for one's achievment, social relationships, and emotional well-being; thier consequences for society; and the experiences that create these cognitive-motivational patterns.

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology

What we have here is no ordinary scholarly psychology volume. Ever so rarely, we are offered a psychology book that is so beautifully written, lucidly organized, an elegant in its description of ideas.... I see many uses for this wonderful volume. Instead of having to put together a rather large stack of reprints to introduce students to her groundbreaking work, I now can refer them to something far better — the author's view of how her work has developed over the years.

Deborah Stipek

[This book] describes pathbreaking research in a style that is accessible to many audiences. It calls into question some of the most widely-held beliefs . . . about effective practices for maximizing children's self-confidence and learning.

Diane N. Ruble

The book is central to basic issues in social, personality, and developmental psychology.Indeed, it is like a guided tour through the scenic terrain of Carol's fascinating program of research.The writing is lively and engaging and the organization is unusually clear.The examples are well-chosen and intuitively compelling; they are easy to relate to our own lives and to the people that we know.

Booknews

Appropriate for both senior undergraduates and graduate students, as well as professionals in human development and social psychology, this book addresses theories revolving around how people work, what motivates them, and what causes people to act in self-defeating ways. Dweck (psychology, Columbia U.) uses her original research to show how examining self-theories can shed light on basic issues of human motivation, social cognition, personality, the self, mental health, and development. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Product Details

• ISBN: 1841690244
  
• ISBN-13: 9781841690247
• Format: Textbook Paperback, 195pp
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
• Pub. Date: January 2000
• Edition Number: 1
• Sales Rank: 74,890
• Series: Essays in Social Psychology Ser.

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents