Understanding People provides an overview and critique of current psychological assumptions about people and what differentiates them, and replaces them with a set of ideas taken from social constructionism. It begins with an examination of contemporary theories, then explores the critique of the social constructionists, before laying out the basis of an understanding of human action and behavior, drawing on phenomenology and personal construct theory. Using everyday experience to illustrate the issues in personality theory (Is behavior situation-specific? Why do we have a sense of self? Is...

This 'invitation' focuses on questions of personality in everyday life that intrigue and puzzle us. In this way, we are introduced to both the principles and the fascinating methods of the psychology of personal constructs. This second edition incorporates the recent work on trauma and grieving that has been produced by psychotherapists in this field.

It also includes a guide to up to date developments in constructivist theory and method. Without losing sight of the important issues that we all encounter in our lives, the authors provide a compelling invitation to this approach to...