Family Matters

Rezensionen / Stimmen

"I enjoyed reading Family Matters and the first researchfindings drawn from a large sample. The chapters summarizing whatmattering is and how it motivates behavior provide a nice overviewfor uninitiated readers...this book helps highlight a constructthat may be important for family researchers and hopefully willhelp encourage others to consider engaging in research to fill inthe many gaps in our knowledge about mattering." (Journal of FamilyTheory & Review, Autumn 2010) "This book is recommended for social psychologists,sociologists, psychologists, and social workers. I found it thoughtprovoking and would like to see items on mattering added tolarge-scale surveys. Readers are likely to think of instances ofhow not mattering has mattered in their own lives." (InternationalJournal of Sociology of the family, Autumn 2010) "The book isclear, provocative, and well documented." (CHOICE, February2010)"Nothing may matter more for the healthy development of youngpeople than a belief that they matter: that they are valued byothers and that they can make meaningful contributions to theirworld. More so than any other book, Family Matters explainsthe crucial role of mattering in the lives of adolescents. GregoryElliott's unique, timely, and compelling scholarship hasvital implications for research and applications aimed at promotingpositive youth development, and is of profound importance forenhancing the quality of family life inAmerica."-Richard Lerner, Bergstrom Chair inApplied Developmental Science, Director of Institute for AppliedResearch in Youth Development, Eliot Pearson Department of ChildDevelopment, Tufts University "This thoughtful and entertaining book introduces animportant new concept to the psychology of interpersonal relations.People need to eat and sleep, to love, and to belong, but they alsoneed to matter to others. Drawing from popular culture, personalexperience, and scientific research, Gregory Elliott has provided amarvelous introduction to understanding why matteringmatters."-Roy F. Baumeister, SocialPsychology Area Director and Francis Eppes Eminent Scholar, FloridaState University, and author of The Cultural Animal "Elliott has given us a very important and timely book.Today's youth are in tremendous need of the opportunity tofeel like they matter. Elliott's analyses demonstrate theimportance of feeling like one matters to one's family forhealthy functioning during adolescence. He also provides us with astimulating theoretical discussion of the importance of matteringand the ways in which it is supported by social experience. Thisbook should be of great interest to parents, educators, policymakers, and researchers."-Jacquelynne Eccles,McKeachie Collegiate Professor of Psychology, Women'sStudies, and Education, University of Michigan