Explanations, Accounts, and Illusions A Critical Analysis [Hardcover]

A survey of the major viewpoints in social psychology concerning peoples's self-awareness, explanations of their actions, cognitive illusions and self-misunderstandings.Provides a lucid survey of the major viewpoints in social psychology concerning peoples's self-awareness, their explanations of their actions, and cognitive illusions and self-misunderstandings. It examines American and European models of social cognition. It describes the nature of the misperceptions and cognitive distortions that underlie psychological disorders, and that contribute to people's failure to achieve their potential.Provides a lucid survey of the major viewpoints in social psychology concerning peoples's self-awareness, their explanations of their actions, and cognitive illusions and self-misunderstandings. It examines American and European models of social cognition. It describes the nature of the misperceptions and cognitive distortions that underlie psychological disorders, and that contribute to people's failure to achieve their potential.This book provides a lucid survey of the major viewpoints in social psychology concerning people's self-awareness (or lack of it), their explanations of their own actions, and their cognitive illusions and self-misunderstandings. In this readable but scholarly review, John McClure examines the major approaches to social cognition developed in America and Europe, including orthodox models that draw on information-processing and behavioral concepts, and innovative approaches that draw on hermeneutic or interpretive models, discourse analysis, and, in particular, critical theory. The book provides a clear picture of what social psychology shows about people's awareness of the causes of their own actions. It also describes the nature of the misperceptions and cognitive distortions that underlie psychological disorders and that contribute to people's failure to achieve their potential and control their circumstances. This book will intereslS¶