13 books on psychology to help you better understand other people

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Works on how to read emotions, recognize lies and understand human characters. Psychologists recommend.

1. “Games that people play. Psychology of Human Relations ", E. Bern

Ilya Shabshin consultant psychologist, author of books on popular psychological topics, leading specialist of the Psychological Center on Volkhonka

Berne's model of the Inner Parent, Inner Adult and Inner Child is something that anyone who wants to understand other people (and themselves at the same time) should know.

The international cult bestseller is worth reading for those who are ready to go beyond the usual life scenarios, want to understand the motives of their actions and the behavior of other people and find out why conflicts arise. Bern believes that a person can change his destiny if he wants.

2. "Variety of human worlds", P. V. Volkov

The author calls his work "a guide to the prevention of mental disorders." He writes about the originality of characters and their subspecies, pays attention to interpersonal relationships, mental disorders and examines specific cases from his practice.

The best book about the characters of people in Russian.

Ilya Shabshin

The work calls for evaluating a person based on his characteristics and helps to understand how to treat others with tolerance and why it is necessary to do so. Why bother with this? To prevent painful situations that arise from a lack of understanding.

3. “Red pill. Look the truth in the eye! ", A. V. Kurpatov

Oleg Ivanov psychologist, conflictologist, head of the Center for Settlement of Social Conflicts

Andrei Kurpatov is not just a psychiatrist and a doctor, he popularizes psychology and psychiatry, gives an opportunity for an ordinary person to get acquainted with important ideas that can be successfully applied in life in the future.

Based on the results of research in the field of neurophysiology and neurobiology, the author explains in an accessible language how the human brain works, why it deceives us, and whether something can be done about it.

A popular science work teaches you how to interact with other people and tells you how to use your brain competently to solve important problems. This book is for those who want to get rid of illusions and look at their life from a new perspective.

The Red Pill is the first book of the trilogy. It also includes Halls of the Mind. Kill the idiot in yourself”on how to make the brain work for you, and“Trinity. Be more than yourself”, dedicated to three types of thinking.

4. "Characters and personality disorders", V. P. Rudnev

Inna Semikasheva Ph. D. in Psychology, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology, Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after V. I. I. N. Ulyanova

Reading, however, for intellectual readers, but very exciting. Tells about the main types of characters using examples from classical literature.

Each person is unique, and character determines how we perceive reality and look at the same things. And in order to understand other people, you need to know how each of them sees this world.

The book will help to change the perception of yourself and the people around you and make you treat your own mistakes in a different way. This is a work about the characteristics of human characters, defense mechanisms and personality and mental disorders, including depression, hallucinations and paranoia.

5. "On the characters of people", M. E. Burno

Larisa Milova family psychologist, process psychotherapist, genetic psychologist and trauma therapist

The essay helps to understand the "naturalness" of people's weaknesses (and their own as well), heavy feelings and actions. It describes well enough the attitude of each character.

Psychiatrist, psychotherapist, doctor of medical sciences and professor M. E. Bruno reveals the essence of various characters and gives examples from his practice. The professor analyzes what type famous writers, poets, artists and musicians belong to, and explains the features of each character using the example of their work.

Perhaps in the descriptions you will find yourself or your loved ones and understand why relationships develop with some and not with others. Finally, correct the situation.

The work is strongly recommended by the Department of Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology and Sexology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education and the Professional Psychotherapeutic League as a textbook for psychotherapy.

6. "Accentuated personalities", K. Leonhard

The term "accentuation" was coined by Leonhard. By it, he understood overly expressed character traits, which are an extreme version of the mental norm and border on a pathological state.

The book is written in a lively and simple language, so it is quite suitable not only for professionals, but also for everyone interested in psychology.

Larisa Milova

In the work, which has become one of the most popular in the field of psychiatry, the author conducts a psychological analysis of accentuated personalities and analyzes examples from fiction.

7. "Understand the nature of man", A. Adler

Adler, the author of the term "inferiority complex", talks about the adaptation of the individual in society, the significance of the period of infancy and early childhood, the development of character, its individual features and manifestations.

Adler says that the foundation of any relationship in society is the understanding of the other. And mutual understanding can be achieved only by knowing the nature of man.

Larisa Milova

He claims that a person is responsible for his actions and is able to change behavior, which plays an important role in interpersonal relationships.

8. "Under the Shadow of Saturn" by D. Hollis

Hollis writes about the eight mysteries of male psychology, trauma and how to heal it, and the fear that drives a man's life.

A book about how difficult it is to be a man in the modern world, to fulfill various social roles and meet expectations, is worth reading for both men and everyone who wants to understand them.

Larisa Milova

Since childhood, a man is assigned certain expectations, but they do not teach him to listen to himself. The author explains how to cope with trauma and learn to build trusting relationships with yourself and others. The work is supplemented with examples from his psychotherapeutic practice.

9. "Psychology of a Woman", K. Horney

The book is for those who want to learn to better understand women and see the differences in the psychology of women and men.

Larisa Milova

Horney disagreed with many of Freud's views on women. For example, with the fact that every woman is jealous of a man's penis and unconsciously wants to give birth to a son. For her point of view, she was expelled from the ranks of the American Psychological Association.

But this did not prevent her from creating her own theory of the psychology of women, which is set forth in the work. Horney touches upon the topic of sexual disorders and social inequality, writes about the problems of marriage, motherhood, sexual relations, femininity, love and fidelity.

10. "He: the deeper aspects of male psychology", R. Johnson

Johnson draws a parallel with the Parzival myth and uses this legend to uncover deep psychological processes in men. The author tells what it means to be a man and how it becomes, explains the origins of aggression and bad mood, and also explains the role of women in the life of the stronger sex.

Johnson has a similar work, but only on women - "She: The Deeper Aspects of Female Psychology." In it, using the example of the myth of Eros and Psyche, he reveals the subtleties of the female worldview.

The remarkable works of the follower of K. Jung about the peculiarities of psychology and life paths of men and women.

Larisa Milova

If you are asking the questions "What is happening to me?" or “Why is he or she like that?” these books are for you.

11. "Why Good People Do Bad Deeds" by D. Hollis

A book about the dark sides of our soul. About why people gamble or abuse alcohol, do something that does not coincide with our ideas about them.

Larisa Milova

Everyone has a dark side, but not everyone is willing to admit it. It hides in the unconscious, but manifests itself in our actions and actions. Hollis writes how to recognize your Shadow, change behavior, overcome internal contradictions and learn to act with awareness.

The book will be of interest to everyone who wants to find the strength to deal with the "inner demons", to understand the essence and nature of the Shadow and find out what motivates other people when they perform certain actions.

12. “Psychology of emotions. I know how you feel”, P. Ekman

We constantly experience any kind of emotion: afraid, happy, sad or angry. We clumsily try to hide them, and sometimes we think that at one glance we understand the feelings of another, but we are often mistaken in this.

The author explains how to catch the hidden signals that the interlocutor gives with facial expressions and gestures, and how to control and correct your own when necessary.

The ability to recognize emotions in yourself and in others is the basis of mutual understanding between people and the ability to make your life more comfortable.

Larisa Milova

Even the smallest, subtle changes in facial expressions - be it the position of the eyebrows and eyelids or the folds in the corners of the eyes - matter. It is they who indicate whether a person is afraid or simply surprised, upset or tired and wants to sleep.

For clarity, the book is illustrated with photographs with examples. On the last pages there is an emotion recognition test to consolidate the knowledge gained.

13. “Psychology of Lies. Fool me if you can ", P. Ekman

It is worth reading to everyone who does not want to become a victim of deception and psychological manipulation.

Larisa Milova

You can expose any deceiver if you know what exactly you need to pay attention to during a conversation. The author of the book offers to figure out how to recognize a lie by a smile, micro-facial expressions and micro-gestures. He also describes the types of lies, gives historical examples and explains what emotions the deceiver experiences, how they manifest themselves.