Human beings have always been curious to know what motivates behavior, emotions and feelings to improve and increase their quality of life.
Since its origins, psychology has been in charge of responding to where and why ideas and emotions arise.
Whether you’re a psychology student, a psychologist, or just curious to know more about how the mind works, reading a book on the subject is an excellent way to gain new knowledge and strengthen your own.
If you want to delve into this exciting science and to review some of his best works, we have selected the 10 best books on psychology for you to browse in your spare time.
Obedience to authority
- Author : Stanley Milgram
- Number of pages: 296
- ISBN: 978-8494588662
- Edition year: 2016
In the 20th century, as a result of World War II and the atrocious acts that were committed in the concentration camps, many scientists and academics wondered why death and cruelty are viewed with such indifference by a large part of the population.
They wondered why a person, under certain circumstances, can violate his own moral code just by obeying authority.
There were many academics who carried out studies and tests to determine why it happened and how.
One of the most important was Stanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist who in 1961 carried out a series of experiments to determine to what extent a person could follow the orders of an authority that transgressed his moral compass, his own principles and what mechanisms were used. were involved in the process.
This experiment, and the results derived from it, were of great help to social psychology and criminology by demonstrating how vulnerable human values ​​can be and the cruelty to which certain people can reach by blindly obeying an authority.
Psychologically speaking
- Author : Adrian Triglia, Bertrand Regader and Jonathan Garcia-Allen
- Number of pages: 304
- ISBN: 978-8449332425
- Edition year: 2016
This Psychology book serves as an introduction to this science in which anyone, whether or not they have knowledge of the subject, can learn from scratch and enjoy at the same time.
Psychologically speaking , it begins by explaining what Psychology is , what it is for and its history. Going through the functioning of the mind, human behavior and the main investigations, studies and experiments within the field.
It is a manual that condenses a large number of ideas, themes and areas related to psychology and derived from it.
A book that is not too long, going from the classic volumes of 600 pages or more, and that is not very short either. All in order to capture the attention of the reader without overwhelming him.
In short, psychologically speaking it is the attempt to order the apparent chaos that this discipline initially represents, so different from the natural sciences and even so, just as important.
The art of embittering life
- Autor: Paul Watzlawick
- Number of pages: 144
- ISBN: 978-8425423307
- Edition year: 2010
Humans are incredibly creative beings, we can create, build, design and develop virtually anything we want if we have the necessary tools at our disposal.
But this creativity, as good as it is, is also harmful if left unchecked.
In The art of making life bitter , Paul Watzlawick – an important figure in psychology for his contributions to communication and psychotherapy – brings together a series of behaviors and attitudes that we carry out unconsciously and that harm us.
The purpose of the work is to make us wake up and become aware of these aspects of the day to day of each person and that hinder our personal growth.
Divided into several chapters where each one deals with a topic about harmful behaviors and how to change them.
The art of embittering life is a journey of self-discovery where the reader will point out and learn about those patterns to learn how to counteract them, eliminate them and achieve true well-being.
Your wrong areas
- Autor: Wayne Dyer
- Number of pages: 320
- ISBN: 978-8499085524
- Edition year: 2012
Do you sometimes have that feeling that nothing is worth it? Do you feel overwhelmed by commitments that no longer matter like they used to?
In Your Erroneous Zones Wayne Dyer teaches us those areas of the mind – emotions, prejudices, beliefs – that are detrimental and limiting for the integral development of a person.
As you read, you will scroll through a series of chapters that will guide you through the process of becoming a better version of yourself and a happier person.
Take care of yourself, your first love, the approval of others and breaking with the past are just some of the topics that the author develops.
Your wrong zones is a recommended book for all those people who want to turn their lives around in order to improve, grow and be happier.
The man who mistook his wife for her hat
- Autor: Oliver Sacks
- Number of pages: 328
- ISBN: 978-8433973382
- Edition year: 2009
Oliver Sacks was one of the most important neurologists and scientific communicators of the 20th century. Author of several works, he is known for writing about the effects of neurological disorders based on the experience he gained with his patients.
Recently deceased (2015), he lived throughout his career in New York, working as a professor and doctor specializing in nervous system disorders.
The book tells the stories of 24 of Dr. Oliver’s patients, each with their own neurological disorder.
One of them, the one who gives this book its name, was a patient who could not recognize people’s faces.
In one of the consultations he had with the author, when it was concluded he began to look around looking for his hat, when he finally found it he tried to put it on but could not.
Turned out it was his wife!
For Sacks each of the stories told in this book is unique and important. He was a very empathetic and kind man. Characteristics for which he was always admired.
Powerful mind
- Author : Bernabe Tierno
- Number of pages: 320
- ISBN: 978-8499981727
- Edition year: 2012
Thought is an inherent aspect of the nature of the human being, which differentiates us from simple animals. We could say that this is a fact that everyone knows.
But something that not everyone knows or chooses not to believe is that thought can be controlled, it is not a spontaneous phenomenon that just happens.
In Powerful Mind , the author shows us how thought works and the way in which we can control it. You see, our mind is largely dominated by electrical impulses caused by chemical reactions that secrete various types of hormones.
These hormones can condition the behavior, emotions and mood of a person, producing a kind of “addiction”. This becomes a problem especially when the reactions are negative.
The key is to stop that addiction through techniques and methods that the Spanish author explains in the book in a simple way, this being an easy-to-read book even with how transcendental it may be.
In these moments in which we receive so much bad news and negative energies from the environment, it is very useful to internalize ourselves in the functioning of thought and the benefits it can offer us.
The Power of Introverts
- Author : Susan Cain
- Number of pages: 464
- ISBN: 978-8490063637
- Edition year: 2012
Have you ever felt guilty for preferring to spend a quiet afternoon alone with your favorite book and a coffee?
Or maybe you are one of those people who are often called self-absorbed or too quiet?
Well I have news for you, you are an introvert and there is nothing wrong with that.
Susan Cain is a woman who discovered that the world was not designed for her. A lawyer by profession, Susan had an enormously complex problem: she was an introvert.
But this is not a story of how the author broke her paradigms and went from being an introvert to being an extrovert, no. It is a claim to that sector of the population that, many times, are belittled for their way of seeing life.
In The Power of Introverts, the author seeks to help introverts like her to function and work alongside extroverts.
Presented with various examples and stories, such as that of the famous Rosa Parks , who changed the culture of an entire country by performing a simple act of rebellion.
A book aimed at the general public. If you are an introvert, you will learn that as a person you have great value and you do not have to have any kind of complexes and, if you are an extrovert, it will teach you to live together and how to deal with people other than yourself.
The Wisdom of Psychopaths
- Author : Kevin Dutton
- Number of pages: 304
- ISBN: 978-8434409798
- Edition year: 2013
The American Psychiatric Association of the United States carried out a study in 1952 that produced, as part of its result, a list with 100 categories of mental disorders.
By the year 2000 there were more than 300 categories.
This can cause two different observation orbits, the first is simply that we are getting crazier.
The second is that we are becoming better at recognizing and diagnosing mental problems or defects. With the advancement of technology and science, psychiatric diagnostic tools are much more effective.
And what these tools tell us is that there are many adults, whether we like it or not, who have mental problems to a lesser or greater degree . Even psychopathic traits.
But psychopathy does not necessarily have to be negative, it does not only occur in violent crimes. In fact, some of the best people in our history –including presidents- are or were potential psychopaths.
That is the premise with which Kevin Dutton wrote The Wisdom of Psychopaths, an essay for scientific, psychological, philosophical and social dissemination in which we can appreciate that psychopathic traits, well managed, can develop a behavior predisposed to heroism, the virtue, honor and mental strength.
There’s nothing wrong with being a bit psycho.
Think fast, think slow
- Author : Daniel Kahneman
- Number of pages: 672
- ISBN: 978-8483068618
- Edition year: 2012
This work collects the research of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman on the way of thinking of human beings. In the book he shows us two systems: system 1, fast, intuitive and emotional; and system 2, slow, reflective and rational.
Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Princeton University.
One of the most influential men in the discipline, curiously, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics for associating his psychological research on human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty with economics.
Thinking Fast, Thinking Slowly is a recommended book for the general public. It can be useful for someone with specialized knowledge, as well as someone who just wants to know themselves a little better.
Descartes’ mistake
- Author : Antonio Damasio
- Number of pages: 352
- ISBN: 978-8498921663
- Edition year: 2010
When Descartes said his famous phrase ” I think, therefore I am” science, and especially neuroscience, has put aside the emotional factor in decision-making, taking only the cognitive aspect into account.
And that is what Antonio Damasio corrects with this book, in which, with the presentation of different cases, he will show us the importance of emotions in neuroscience and its importance when making decisions.
For Damasio, the mistake that Descartes made with his famous phrase lies in the fact that, during the evolution of the human being, a simple mind first arose and then, with the passage of time, this evolved to allow more complex thought.
So actually, first we went and then we thought .
