The Psychology Book Quotes

“despair evaporates when we stop denying who we really are and attempt to uncover and accept our true nature.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Meaning is something we “discover rather than invent,” according to Frankl, and we must find it for ourselves. We find it through living, and specifically through love, creating things, and the way we choose to see things.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Bower found that unhappy people recalled details of a sad story better than those who were happy when they read it.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“our individual differences are a product of our environment or the result of genetic inheritance.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“We are constantly “knitting” ourselves from people and situations that we encounter, through the words we exchange and the feelings that arise. We might feel that if one “stitch” is dropped, our lives will unravel. In fact, “if just one stitch holds, we can start all over again.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“theory of conformism, which states that when a person has neither the ability nor expertise to make a decision, he will look to the group to decide how to behave. Conformity can limit and distort an individual’s response to a situation, and seems to result in a diffusion of responsibility”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“We all need each other. This type of interdependence is the greatest challenge to the maturity of individual and group functioning." Kurt Lewin”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Rogers explains defensiveness as the tendency to unconsciously apply strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness. We either deny (block out) or distort (reinterpret) what is really happening, essentially refusing to accept reality in order to stick with our preconceived ideas.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“However, as we strive to become free, unique individuals, we still feel the need for unity with others, and in trying to balance these needs we may seek out the comfort of conforming to a group or an authority. This is a misguided approach, says Fromm; it is imperative to discover one’s own independent sense of self, and one’s own personal views and value systems, rather than adhering to conventional or authoritarian norms. If we try to hand responsibility for our choices to other people or institutions we become alienated from ourselves, when the very purpose of our lives is to define ourselves through embracing our personal uniqueness, discovering our own ideas and abilities, and embracing that which differentiates each of us from other people.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Perls, on the other hand, feels it is essential for people to understand the power of their own roles in creation. He wants to make us aware that we can change our realities, and in fact are responsible for doing so. No one else can do it for us. Once we realize that perception is the backbone of reality, each of us is forced to take responsibility for the life we create and the way we choose to view the world.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“our personal sense of reality is created through our perception; through the ways in which we view our experiences, not the events themselves. However, it is easy to forget this, or even fail to recognize it. He says we tend to mistake our viewpoint of the world for the absolute, objective truth, rather than acknowledging the role of perception and its influence in creating our perspective, together with all the ideas, actions, and beliefs that stem from it.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Horney says the “shoulds” are the basis of our “bargain with fate;” if we obey them, we believe we can magically control external realities, though in reality they lead to deep unhappiness and neurosis.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Horney said that it is essential to recognize when we are not operating from self-determined beliefs, but from those internalized from a toxic environment. These play out as internalized messages, especially in the form of “shoulds,” such as “I should be recognized and powerful” or “I should be thin.” She taught her patients to become aware of two influences in their psyche: the “real self” with authentic desires, and the “ideal self” that strives to fulfil all the demands of the “shoulds.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Intelligence is what you use when you don’t know what to do." Jean Piaget”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“The preconventional level of moral reasoning, which develops during our first nine years of life, considers rules as fixed and absolute. In the first of its two stages (the stage of obedience and punishment), we determine whether actions are right or wrong by whether or not they lead to a punishment. In the second stage (the stage of individualism and exchange), right and wrong are determined by what brings rewards. The desires and needs of others are important, but only in a reciprocal sense—“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Morality at this level is governed by consequence.   The second level of moral reasoning starts in adolescence, and continues into early adulthood. It sees us starting to consider the intention behind behavior, rather than just the consequences. Its first stage, often called the “good boy—nice girl” stage, is when we begin classifying moral behavior as to whether it will help or please. Being seen as good becomes the goal. In the second stage (the law and order stage), we start to equate “being good” with respecting authority and obeying the law, believing that this protects and sustains society.   The third level of moral development is when we move beyond simple conformity, but Kohlberg suggested that only around 10–15 percent of us ever reach this level. In its first stage (the social contract and individual rights stage), we still respect authority, but there is a growing recognition that individual rights can supersede laws that are destructive or restrictive. We come to realize that human life is more sacred than just following rules. The sixth and final stage (the stage of universal ethical principles) is when our own conscience becomes the ultimate judge, and we commit ourselves to equal rights and respect for all. We may even resort to civil disobedience in the name of universal principles, such as justice.   Kohlberg’s six-stage theory was considered radical, because it stated that morality is not imposed on children (as psychoanalysts said), nor is it about avoiding bad feelings (as the behaviorists had thought). Kohlberg believed children developed a moral code and awareness of respect, empathy, and love through interaction with others.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“a person acting selfishly is overly sanguine, and has too much blood; this is remedied by cutting down on meat, or by making small cuts into the veins to release blood.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“man’s inherent state of being is one of anxiety and hopelessness.”
― Nigel Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“The first fact for us then, as psychologists, is that thinking of some sort goes on." William James”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory marked a return to the study of subjective experience. He was interested in memories, childhood development, and interpersonal relationships, and emphasized the importance of the unconscious in determining behavior.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Ivan Pavlov”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Hermann Ebbinghaus”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Psychology has a long past, but only a short history." Hermann Ebbinghaus”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Wilhelm Wundt”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Once we realize that perception is the backbone of reality, each of us is forced to take responsibility for the life we create and the way we choose to view the world.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Bandura’s hypothesis was that children learn aggression through observing and imitating the violent acts of adults—particularly family members. He believed that the key to the problem lies at the intersection of Skinner’s operant conditioning and Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of identification, which explores how people assimilate the characteristics of others into their own personalities.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process." Stanley Milgram”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Resilience is a person’s ability to grow in the face of terrible problems." Boris Cyrulnik”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“The aim, as Rogers sees it, is for experience to be the starting point for the construction of our personalities, rather than trying to fit our experiences into a preconceived notion of our sense of self. If we hold on to our ideas of how things should be, rather than accepting how they really are, we are likely to perceive our needs as “incongruent” or mismatched to what is available.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“the science of mind and behavior.”
― Nigel C. Benson, The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained