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Willpower
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Willpower

Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney
Penguin Group (USA), 2012
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People with the best intentions often fall short of their self-improvement goals. Social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister collaborating with New York Times writer John Tierney explain why, and give you some tools to work with as they share the results of years of study of human self-control. Their presentation is quite academic for a self-help guide to correcting bad habits, as it frequently cites various studies, but it provides a very interesting background. getAbstract recommends this information-heavy look at why just saying no doesn’t work – and what you can do instead.

Summary

The Sirens’ Song

Temptations and distractions lurk at every turn. Researchers who studied more than 200 people in Germany found that participants spent at least four hours daily resisting their desires. The urges to eat, nap, take a break, have sex, surf the net or watch television are constant lures. Participants succumbed to about one out of every six cravings, particularly those for food or media interaction.

The concept of willpower as an inner strength that humans use to protect against moral decrepitude became popular in the Victorian age. People debated whether morality would influence behavior in the absence of religion, a reaction to society’s waning faith in dogma. Oscar Wilde’s exclamation, “I can resist everything except temptation,” was a rejoinder to this public worrying. The notion of willpower weakened in the 1960s as the “me generation” expounded the virtue of “if it feels good, do it.” By the 1970s, “self-esteem” became popular as studies showed that people with self-confidence were happier and more successful than those without. Behavioral scientists didn’t revisit the idea of “self-regulation” until the 1980s.

In the 1960s, Walter Mischel ...

About the Authors

Roy F. Baumeister is a professor of psychology at Florida State University. John Tierney writes the science column Findings and has worked for The New York Times since 1990.

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    7 years ago
    Has some interesting points; however, seems a bit too short and does not really make you want to read the actual book - seems too light / basic - if these are all the points of a 320+ page book, may be way too much fluff in there, or the summary does not convey the essence of the book well..
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    S. C. 1 decade ago
    A good summary. I was able to pick some important points, that I will try to research even more.
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    M. M. 1 decade ago
    very interesting.