The search for the best psychology books is one of the most requested among Spanish-speaking readers. After all, it is about the science of the mind; a discipline derived from philosophy and whose formal genesis dates back to the XNUMXth century. In addition, this current came hand in hand with empiricism (knowledge through experience), leading to the study of human behavior.
Consequently - in comparison with other social sciences - it is a relatively recent area of knowledge (without this diminishing an iota of relevance). Nowadays, psychology encompasses several sub-disciplines (clinical, social and cognitive, among others), which have been masterfully analyzed in the books presented in the following paragraphs.
Man's Search for Meaning (1946), by Viktor Frankl
It is the best-selling book on Amazon in the psychology category, with unanimous recognition among specialists and the general public. Not in vain it has been translated into more than fifty languages and its enormous influence is recognized (especially in the United States). All this thanks to the harsh and hopeful testimony expressed by the author about a man facing an extreme experience.
Argument and structure
Home
Doctor of Psychology V. Frankl divided his book into three phases. They are organized according to their experience in a concentration camp Nazi plus an intimate view of the human mind. In the first part the horror is collected of arrival to the field and the shock of many when suffering harassment of all kinds
So the challenge for the psyche is in the form of a decision between suicide or resisting until the end, whatever happens. TOnte such circumstance arises a premise as crude as it is unappealable: "man is a being who can get used to anything."
Development
Next, the reader finds the second stage referring to their own daily life within the field. To do this, through hard stories that show the death of emotions. In the same way, this section shows the nostalgia for home together with the helplessness caused by the split of one's own.
Under that conflictive situation of lost individuality, the oppressed experience a logical rejection of the horrible place inhabiting the now. In this regard, the writer states: "... disgust, pity and horror were emotions that our viewer could no longer feel.
Closing
The third phase - the most psychological - deals with the state of the subjects after liberation. Here, the author tries to capture the sentiment of the rescued, who suffer a kind of inevitable depersonalization because of what they have experienced. The survivors become extremely different people, they acquire another dimension of fear, suffering, freedom and responsibility.
Emotional Intelligence (1995), by Daniel Goleman
This book published in the mid-90s made its author famous worldwide by presenting a novel look at the traditional concept of intelligence. Goleman's proposal is to give a special place to human emotions within the domain of the mind.. Hence, his insistence on the conciliation between intelligence and I thrilled thems through the study of the brain and the social environment.
Perspective
To apply emotional intelligence it is necessary to seek a balance based on rational thought integrated into the (understanding of) importance of emotions. Accordingly, the author establishes that it is not about denying or trying to eliminate human emotions.
At this point, the fundamental thing is to rationally understand emotions within the different affective planes of the human being (personal, family and professional). Seen like this, the concept proposed by Goleman exposes the importance of knowing oneself more and better, in order to obtain a better quality of life.
Structure, purpose and language
The former professor of Harvard projects five great skills to develop through emotional intelligence. These are: self-awareness, emotion management, intrinsic motivation, empathy and sociability. Where a new concept of intelligence is understood - not the only one - with the recognition of the subjective and affective side of the person as a determining factor.
Consequently, another way is offered to the subject to live and coexist with himself and with others. Finally, this book can be understood in terms of a specialized approach to psychology. While the language used facilitates understanding for the general public.
Psychologically speaking (2016), by Adrián Triglia, Bertrand Regader and Jonathan García-Allen
Approach
To enter the world of psychology, a clear approach is pertinent, but away from complicated theories or concepts. This is the proposal of the authors of Psychologically speaking, a publication with a broad overview of psychology that contains a retrospective from its origins to the present.
Thus, it is an ideal material to study and, at the same time, it allows a playful or informal reading. Likewise, the development of the text raises questions such as: what is psychology? or is psychology a science in the strict sense of the term? For these reasons, it is an ideal book to begin in the knowledge of this discipline.
Scientific rigor and language
The writers manage to maintain the essential scientific rigor as well as a language that is easy to understand for all types of readers. Equally, the didactic explanations masterfully describe the various schools of this discipline together with its main thinkers plus the most curious advances and findings.
Moreover, the book includes the etymological evolution of certain terms. But it is not only an inventory of names and concepts, because throughout the text the authors express their comments on the matter. Each of these opinions is accompanied by their respective comparative analyzes. of the fundamental concepts of psychology.
The double intention of the authors
Psychologically speaking investigates the intrinsic relationship between human behavior and the functioning of the brain as a biological and psychic unit. Thus, the greatest merit of the authors is having achieved a rare mix in scientific books: aims to teach as well as to spread amicably.
Other highly recommended psychology books
- Obedience to authority (1974), by Stanley Milgram.
- Your incorrect zones (1976) by Wayne Dyer.
- Love or depend (1999), by Walter Riso.
- The Lucifer effect (2007), by Phillip Zimbardo.