The human mind is a strange and mysterious thing. We like to think we know what's going on up there, but most of the time we're completely clueless. And yet, when you understand how the mind works and why people behave the way they do, it can empower you to make better decisions and more constructive actions. That's the positive side of psychology.
The negative side of psychology is that, when you understand how the mind works and why people behave the way they do, it can help you manipulate others for gain and profit. That's why marketing spends a lot of money on applied psychology.
This week's Reading Challenge was to read a book about psychology. Did you find a book that taught you something interesting about what's happening in your skull?
Sharon Bryan read Motivating People to be Physically Active, by Bess H. Marcus and LeighAnn H. Forsyth.
This book (which was only slightly updated from the first edition, which was published in 2003 and heavily relied on studies conducted in the 90s) looks at the way people are "ready" to take on an exercise regime. The core concept is that people need to be given advice that's tailored to their motivational stage if they are going to listen to that advice and be motivated to improve their level of exercise.
Essentially, there are five stages of "motivational readiness for change" (which was adapted from research done in the 70s regarding people trying to give up smoking). In Stage 1, you're not even thinking about exercise. In Stage 2, you're thinking about it, but not really doing it. In Stage 3, you're trying a bit of exercise, but not enough to actually meet the guidelines recommended by all the health organisations. In Stage 4, you're getting enough exercise, but it isn't yet a habit. In Stage 5, getting enough exercise is habitual.
Each stage of this journey has different needs in terms of intrinsic motivation (encouraging yourself to exercise), extrinsic motivation (when your exercise therapist/physio/doctor/life coach encourages you to exercise) and self-efficacy (when you're able to come up with work-arounds to problems on your own). The book is written for professionals who are encouraging their patients or clients to make exercise habitual (and not back slide into a sedentary life style).
On thing this book mentioned that I'll try to take on board personally is the idea of lapse vs relapse. Apparently humans are a bit too fond of saying "well, I've missed three days in a row, I guess that means I've given up now!" What we need to do is avoid thinking we've failed completely when we hit a hurdle and break our stride, and say to ourselves "well, I've had a bit of a break now - it's time to get back into it!"
The negative side of psychology is that, when you understand how the mind works and why people behave the way they do, it can help you manipulate others for gain and profit. That's why marketing spends a lot of money on applied psychology.
This week's Reading Challenge was to read a book about psychology. Did you find a book that taught you something interesting about what's happening in your skull?
Brenda
Carter read Feeling
Good by Doing Good: A Guide to Authentic Self-Esteem by Christopher
J. Mruk.
For this
week’s Challenge I decided to check out the library’s New
Books page, which can be accessed from the library
catalogue. As it is organized by subject, it was easy to find our
latest purchase on psychology – Feeling
Good by Doing Good: A Guide to Authentic Self-Esteem by Christopher J. Mruk
(ebook).
After
decades of research into self-esteem and positive psychology, Mruk has written
a book in layman’s terms to show that feeling good about yourself isn’t self-focused
but rather a by-product of being your best self and doing good to others. The book explores topics such as as
self-control, how self-esteem operates in school or work, how self-esteem helps
us make healthier choices, strategies to increase authentic self-esteem, and
the connection between authentic self-esteem, relationships, and well-being.
I found this book immensely practical because each day we
are faced with what Mruk calls ‘self-esteem moments’, in which we choose to
respond in ways that either damage or enhance our self-esteem, with each choice
having an accumulative effect. JCU has
access to unlimited copies of this ebook so you can dip into it whenever you
need to.
Sharon Bryan read Motivating People to be Physically Active, by Bess H. Marcus and LeighAnn H. Forsyth.
Essentially, there are five stages of "motivational readiness for change" (which was adapted from research done in the 70s regarding people trying to give up smoking). In Stage 1, you're not even thinking about exercise. In Stage 2, you're thinking about it, but not really doing it. In Stage 3, you're trying a bit of exercise, but not enough to actually meet the guidelines recommended by all the health organisations. In Stage 4, you're getting enough exercise, but it isn't yet a habit. In Stage 5, getting enough exercise is habitual.
Each stage of this journey has different needs in terms of intrinsic motivation (encouraging yourself to exercise), extrinsic motivation (when your exercise therapist/physio/doctor/life coach encourages you to exercise) and self-efficacy (when you're able to come up with work-arounds to problems on your own). The book is written for professionals who are encouraging their patients or clients to make exercise habitual (and not back slide into a sedentary life style).
On thing this book mentioned that I'll try to take on board personally is the idea of lapse vs relapse. Apparently humans are a bit too fond of saying "well, I've missed three days in a row, I guess that means I've given up now!" What we need to do is avoid thinking we've failed completely when we hit a hurdle and break our stride, and say to ourselves "well, I've had a bit of a break now - it's time to get back into it!"
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