Sunday, October 28, 2012

Is There Any Science Involved In Self Help?

By Anita Hale


There are a number of different motivations as to why people try out self help books. To begin with, these days it is no longer taboo to undergo a period of self reflection. Similarly, it's getting more popular and more universally acceptable to request help when we feel lost or over-burdened by our daily lives.

As such, there's an extensive range of subject matter that falls under the self improvement banner. However, these subjects don't all necessarily pertain to our individual well-being. In truth, wellbeing is merely one example of an extensive variety of topics that fall inside the range of self help. This is because the term "self help" integrates anything which offers to elevate our way. To this end, books about marketing, leadership skills, life coaching and even memory training can sit alongside books relating to phobias or meditation. A number of these alternative therapies could be included within a sub genre of self help, termed as mind, body & spirit.

Nevertheless, the uniting detail concerning all these books is simply that they claim to supply a way to a better daily life. The difference lies in how each author believes this better life can be achieved. For instance, there are those that believe we must change they way we actually think in order to achieve self improvement. This sort of approach would have some similarities with psychology or "pop psychology" as some call it.

Pop psychology or folk psychology is the type of genuine sounding advice promoted on daytime television shows and in womens magazines. Such advice is usually presented in flowery language with slight referral to specific empirical study. Due to its propensity in the media, such ideas can infiltrate our awareness and become fact even when there is very little study to endorse the idea. Having said that, scientists can be too quick to write off some of the ideas explored by self help writers.

Self Help books do not always utilise the fashionable psychology approach. Many of the subjects covered by the term Self help also incorporate aspect of personal development. Because of this there is typically a deep-seated philosophical stance in lot of the self help books on the market.

The reasons behind the attractiveness of self help books are every bit as diverse as the viewpoints explored within them. Introspection is usually at the core of customer motivation. Nevertheless, there are an ever increasing number of factors driving people towards the self help market and this is evident in the varying fields covered. While self help is still typically a place to ask the question "why?" as in "why do I do or feel such and such" it is also becoming a place to answer the question "how." You can now commonly find self help books on how to make your fortune, how to have a successful relationship and even how to get a good night's sleep.




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