Psychology

Our Psychology Collection features a diverse group of study guides, from pioneering texts by Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner to self-help books and contemporary nonfiction about human nature, the mind, and social psychology. If you’re an educator looking to round out a college-level syllabus, or a book club organizer with a penchant for curiosity and dynamic discussion, this collection could help you find just what you're looking for.

Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Sociology, Anthropology, Anthropology, Military / War, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics / Government

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging is a 2016 non-fiction book by Sebastian Junger. This guide is based on the 2016 first-edition hardback published in New York by Twelve/Hachette Book Group. Junger is a journalist, essayist, filmmaker, and best-selling author whose writing about dangerous work and the people who perform it has been credited with stimulating the “adventure non-fiction” genre. His first book, Perfect Storm: A True Story About Men Against the Sea, about six fishermen... Read Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging Summary


Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear

Tags Self Help, Business / Economics, Psychology, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology


Publication year 2019

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community, Identity: Femininity, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Psychology, Self Help, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Family, Society: Education

Tags Education, Social Justice, Parenting, Race / Racism, Education, Psychology, Psychology


Publication year 2008

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Tags Addiction / Substance Abuse, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Biography

Nic Sheff’s 2007 memoir, Tweak, focuses on Nic’s early 20s, during which he experienced two serious relapses and attempts to recover and remain clean from drugs. Throughout the narrative, Nic reflects on his troubled youth and his early history with drugs and alcohol. The memoir comprises his recollections of events that transpired over the course of a number of years. Nic narrates his struggles in the present tense, allowing the reader to experience the relapses... Read Tweak Summary


Publication year 2003

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Class, Society: Education, Society: Economics

Tags Sociology, Class, Race / Racism, Parenting, Poverty, Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Social Science, Psychology, Psychology


Publication year 2015

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Education, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Society: Community

Tags Philosophy, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Arts / Culture

Unflattening began as the first comic-form dissertation at Columbia University, where Nick Sousanis completed a doctorate in education in 2014. It was published by Harvard University Press in 2015 and functions as an argument for visual thinking in teaching and learning. In 2016 the book received the further accolade of the American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence.In a Paris Review interview with Timothy Hodler, Sousanis cited Scott McCloud’s 1993 Understanding Comics as a... Read Unflattening Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health

Tags Disability, Self Help, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Diversity, Science / Nature, Psychology, LGBTQ, Mental Illness


Publication year 2022

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Food, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Teams, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Business / Economics, Leadership/Organization/Management, Food, Self Help, Psychology, Psychology


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Politics / Government, Psychology, Technology, Religion / Spirituality, American Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

UnWholly (2012) by Neal Shusterman is Book 2 in the Unwind Dystology. Shusterman originally planned the series to be a dystopia trilogy, but the third book, UnSouled, was split into two for publication due to length. While it was nominated for several awards in Young Adult literature, it did not win any, in contrast to the first book of the series, Unwind, which won nearly a dozen awards and prizes. UnWholly is science fiction, specifically... Read UnWholly Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Mental Health, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Mental Illness, Self Help, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2005

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community

Tags Science / Nature, Anthropology, Anthropology, Social Science, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government

Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind is a 2005 nonfiction book by David Berreby about how humans divide and categorize themselves. The psychological text explains human nature and the neuroscience of human groupings like races, ethnicities, classes, and nationalities. Berreby also discusses the positive and negative effects of human-kind groupings and offers advice on how to better act on human-kind beliefs.Plot SummaryBerreby begins by explaining the concept of human kinds—a number of people that... Read Us and Them Summary


Publication year 2000

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Fate, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Psychology, Science / Nature, Natural Disaster


Publication year 1870

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Love / Sexuality, Psychology, Psychology, Romance, Classic Fiction

Venus in Furs (1870) is a novella by Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, first published as part of his proposed collection of short stories, The Legacy of Cain. Sacher-Masoch planned for the collection to detail his worldview, but he only completed the first two sections. The novella follows Severin von Kusiemski’s time with Wanda von Dunajew, a widow he meets at a health resort, and explores The Exploration of Sexual Power Dynamics, The Psychological Negotiation... Read Venus in Furs Summary


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health

Tags Philosophy, Psychological Fiction, Romance, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Mental Illness, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

Veronika Decides to Die (1998) is a novel of ideas by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. The novel follows Veronika, a 24-year-old Slovenian woman who decides to die in 1997 because her perfectly normal world has left her apathetic toward life. After Veronika attempts suicide, she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital called Villete. Villete was established in the rift opened by the civil war in Yugoslavia to generate a profit from the issues of the upper... Read Veronika Decides To Die Summary


Publication year 1975

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Gender

Tags Gender / Feminism, Arts / Culture, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” originally appeared in the autumn 1975 issue of the British film journal, Screen. This study guide refers to the reprint of the essay included in Mulvey’s book Visual and Other Pleasures (Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition 2009).Part 1: “Introduction”In the “Introduction” to her 1975 essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey announces her agenda: to appropriate psychoanalytic theory “as a political weapon” to expose how “the unconscious... Read Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema Summary


Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: War, Relationships: Teams, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Fear

Tags Military / War, History: Middle Eastern, Journalism, War On Terrorism / Iraq War, Creative Nonfiction, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Politics / Government

War, a battle journal by best-selling reporter and filmmaker Sebastian Junger, describes a year in the rugged highlands of Afghanistan with a platoon of American soldiers who face the worst fighting and toughest conditions of any unit in the US military. Published in 2010, the book describes months of mind-numbing danger, multiple firefights per day, injuries and deaths, and matter-of-fact heroism. The men display extreme toughness, gallows humor, and intense mutual loyalty despite the nearly... Read War Summary


Publication year 1980

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Self Discovery, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Joy

Tags Auto/Biographical Fiction, Inspirational, Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Self Help, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy

Originally published in 1980, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, is a semiautobiographical novel by American author and lecturer Dan Millman. The book is Millman’s first novel and part of the Peaceful Warrior Saga, a series of four novels about personal development and spirituality. The text is based on the author’s early life as a college student in California, with a narrative that blends reality with fiction. The storyline follows a... Read Way of the Peaceful Warrior Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Psychology, Incarceration, Animals, Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves is Karen Joy Fowler’s seventh novel. The book was first published in 2013. The following year, it won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Fowler said that the book takes inspiration from a real 1930s experiment. In an interview with Carmen Maria Machado published in The American Reader, Fowler states that she believes that using animals for research purposes is wrong, and... Read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Summary


Publication year 1966

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Identity: Masculinity

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Psychology, Technology, Philosophy, American Literature, Cold War, Fantasy, Classic Fiction

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale is a short story by renowned sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, first published in April 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The story is about a man named Douglas Quail, who visits a medical facility which promises to implant fake memories about visiting Mars in his head. The story has twice been adapted into film, though both movie adaptations change the title to Total Recall... Read We Can Remember It for You Wholesale Summary