Hope has long been a topic of interest for psychologists, philosophers, educators, and physicians. In the past few decades, researchers from various disciplines and from around the world have studied how hope relates to superior academic performance, improved outcomes in the workplace, and improved psychological and physical health in individuals of all ages. Edited by Matthew W. Gallagher and the late Shane J. Lopez, The Oxford Handbook of Hope provides readers with a thorough and comprehensive update on the past 25 years of hope research while simultaneously providing an outline of what leading hope researchers believe the future of this line of research to be. In this extraordinary volume, Gallagher, Lopez, and their expert team of contributors discuss such topics as how best to define hope, how hope is distinguished from related philosophical and psychological constructs, what the current best practices are for measuring and quantifying hope, interventions and strategies for promoting hope across a variety of settings, the impact it has on physical and mental health, and the ways in which hope promotes positive functioning. Throughout its pages, these experts review what is currently known about hope and identify the topics and questions that will help guide the next decade of research ahead.

Volumes 1 and 2 of the Invited Lectures present the main contributions from the 29th International Congress of Psychology, held in Berlin in 2008.

Set against the backdrop of social change and globalization, this book presents the contents and contours of adolescence in contemporary urban India. Based on the trends derived from a series of mixed-method studies with adolescent girls and boys, and parents from urban upper middle class families, it explores adolescents’ and parents’ interpretations of the stage of adolescence, illustrates views on parenting, and discusses approaches to interpersonal disagreements to derive a framework of the parent-adolescent relationship. Drawing from the cultural-contextual perspective of human development, the book in its essence offers a culturally and contextually sensitive model of adolescence that is shaped along the central tenets of family interdependence, harmony, and sensitivity to parental concerns. Highlighted as well are aspects that have remained mostly unexplored, for example, adolescents’ capacity for empathy and perspective taking, and emerging issues of autonomy in a primarily relational culture. At a broader level, the book reflects upon the interplay of cultural continuity and change, and contributes to an understanding of globalizing influences on human development. Overall, the depiction of adolescent development captured in the book has significant implications for enhancing family relationships and fostering self-growth---elements that are crucial for positive youth development.The book will be of immense use to scholars in human development, psychology, and allied fields as well as to practitioners who work with adolescents.

Understanding the Life Course provides a uniquely comprehensive guide to the entire life course from an interdisciplinary perspective. Combining important insights from sociology and psychology, the book presents the concepts theoretical underpinnings in an accessible style, supported by real-life examples. From birth and becoming a parent, to death and grieving for the loss of others, Lorraine Green explores all stages of the life course through key research studies and theories, in conjunction with issues of social inequality and critical examination of lay viewpoints. She highlights the many ways the life course can be interpreted, including themes of linearity and multidirectionality, continuity and discontinuity, and the interplay between nature and nurture. The second edition updates key data and includes additional material on topics such as new technologies, changing markers of transitions to adulthood, active ageing, resilience and neuropsychology. This comprehensive approach will continue to be essential reading for students on vocational programmes such as social work and nursing, and will provide thought-provoking insight into the wider contexts of the life course for students of psychology and sociology.

This book is perhaps the first systematic treatment of politics from the perspective of cultural psychology. Politics is a complex that psychology usually fails to understand— as it assumes a position in society that attempts to be free of politics itself. Politics is associated both with an everyday practice, and the dynamics of globalization; with the way group conflicts, ideologies, social representations and identities, are lived and co-constructed by social actors. The authors of the book address these issues through their research grounded in different parts of the world, on democracy and political order, the social representation of power, gender studies, the use of metaphors and symbolic power in political discourse, social identities and methodological questions. The book will be used by social and political psychologists but is also of interest to the other social sciences: political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, educationalists, and it is at a level where sophisticated lay public would be able to appreciate its coverage. Its use in upperlevel college teaching is possible, and expected at graduate/postgraduate levels.

Papers In This Volume Address Issues Relevant To Environment And Human Development And Focus On The Theory Psychological Differentiation In The Context Of Environmental Cognition-Give Attention To Rural And Urban Settings. Useful For Psychologists, Educationalists And Ecologists Particularly.

The past few years have witnessed widespread acceptance of the notion that few elderly individuals are willing to stand by silently in the process of growing, and to relinquish whatever actual controls, autonomy or control beliefs they had in the past. Increasingly, old age is viewed as the dynamics of growth in mastery, control and self-efficacy, on the one hand, and a relative decline in psychological and physical resources on the other. It is the intent of this volume to communicate both aspects of these changes, and to offer a comprehensive review of the cross-fertilization of the field of gerontology and the psychology of reactance, freedom and control. Leading psychologists and social science researchers from the United States, Canada and Europe give their views on the meaning and application of control-related constructs having specific implications for the field of human aging. They address themselves to one or more of the major themes, issues or concerns which currently figure in discussions of control beliefs and control constructs as they apply to aging and old age.Written primarily for scholars, researchers and developmental theorists interested in the complexities and generativity of control constructs and their applications for the psychological well-being of older adults, the data and issues presented will be equally informative to gero-psychologists and mental health professionals concerned with healthy adaptive functioning of the elderly.

This book is a collection of essays covering a range of issues related to socioeconomic inequalities and diversities. The authors, leading social scientists of diverse nationalities, represent varied perspectives. The book has essays on multiculturalism, social inclusion and exclusion of minorities and other marginalized groups such as low castes, linguistic minorities, Adivasis (tribals), persons with disability and unemployed youth. The book focuses on some innovative concepts considered necessary to understand the very process and evolution of aspects of social development such as pro-sociality, authentic responsible self and leadership ideology. The book deals with the challenges for achieving social development and societal harmony. The book will be a very useful resource for social science scholars and particularly for social and cultural psychologists, development professionals and administrators interested in the issues related to social development, social diversity and inter-group relations. The book will also be useful for policy formulation and action.