Controlling People
The Paradoxical Nature of Being Human
Published on 3. February 2016
100 pages
978-1-922117-65-6 (ISBN)
Description
"We need to strive for a world where people control what is important to themselves while minimizing the controlling of others."
We are all controlling people. In fact our feelings of wellbeing depend on staying in control. Just as when we drive a car, we must stay in control in everyday life in order to keep the things we care about going in the right direction.
Yet this natural controlling behavior is sometimes the very reason we end up losing control. This happens when we try to control other people as well as when we try to control ourselves.
So how do we do better?
Based on Perceptual Control Theory (PCT), this entertaining and enlightening book by psychologists Richard S. Marken and Timothy A. Carey explores the paradox of why we often lose control by trying to be in control and why our controlling nature makes it difficult to stop this self-defeating behavior. They show that understanding PCT opens the window to understanding and learning about ourselves as controlling people and equips us to lead more effective and satisfying lives.
We are all controlling people. In fact our feelings of wellbeing depend on staying in control. Just as when we drive a car, we must stay in control in everyday life in order to keep the things we care about going in the right direction.
Yet this natural controlling behavior is sometimes the very reason we end up losing control. This happens when we try to control other people as well as when we try to control ourselves.
So how do we do better?
Based on Perceptual Control Theory (PCT), this entertaining and enlightening book by psychologists Richard S. Marken and Timothy A. Carey explores the paradox of why we often lose control by trying to be in control and why our controlling nature makes it difficult to stop this self-defeating behavior. They show that understanding PCT opens the window to understanding and learning about ourselves as controlling people and equips us to lead more effective and satisfying lives.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
12/2015
Australian Academic Press
€29.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
Dr Richard S. Marken is a research psychologist, human factors engineer and statistical consultant who has worked in both academia and commerce including at Honeywell, Inc., RAND Corporation and a 15-year stint as an Engineering Specialist at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA where he developed methods for rapidly prototyping and evaluating designs for the human-computer interface component of satellite ground control systems. He is the author of four books and over 50 papers on control system theory and psychology.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Preface
- About the Authors
- Chapter 1 We Are All Controlling People
- Chapter 2 The Nature of Controlling
- Chapter 3 Perceptual Control Theory: How Purposeful Behavior Works
- Chapter 4 We Contain Multitudes
- Chapter 5 Zen and the Art of Controlling
- Chapter 6 People Who Control People (Including Themselves)
- Chapter 7 Conflict: People at Cross Purposes
- Chapter 8 Resolving Conflict: Going Up a Level
- Chapter 9 Freedom and Control
- Chapter 10 Living With Our Own Controlling Nature
- Endnotes
