Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  • Cited by 34
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2012
Print publication year:
2008
Online ISBN:
9781139167451

Book description

In The Normal Personality, Steven Reiss argues that human beings are naturally intolerant of people who express values significantly different from their own. Because of this intolerance, psychologists and psychiatrists sometimes confuse individuality with abnormality and thus over-diagnose disorders. Reiss shows how normal motives - not anxiety or traumatic childhood experiences - underlie many personality and relationship problems, such as divorce, infidelity, combativeness, workaholism, loneliness, authoritarianism, weak leadership style, perfectionism, underachievement, arrogance, extravagance, pompousness, disloyalty, disorganisation, and over-anxiety. Calling for greater understanding and tolerance of all kinds of personalities, Reiss applies his theory of motivation to leadership, human development, relationships, and counselling.

Reviews

‘… In a time when children, and even household pets, swallow Prozac, Reiss revives a neglected diagnosis for worrywarts, wallflowers, daydreamers, pessimists, and eccentrics alike: normal. He broadens normality by outlining how abnormal behaviors can arise when life motives are obstructed or personal values contradicted. Reiss lists how various combinations of 16 basic desires lead to dilemmas that eventually bring people to counseling. He offers a way to manage personal problems, without cracking the medicine cabinet or the skeleton closet.’

Source: Science News

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
×

Contents

References
Adler, A. (1964). The practice and theory of individual psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. (Originally published in 1927.)
Allport, G. W. (1961). The individual and his religion. New York: Macmillan.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.
Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed.). New York; Macmillan.
Aristotle, (1953). The Nichomachean ethics (trans. J. A. K. Thompson). New York: Penguin Books. (Original work created about 330 b.c.e.)
Atkinson, J. W., & Feather, N. T. (1966). A theory of achievement motivation. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Aureli, F., & Waal, F. B. M. (2000). Natural conflict resolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Baker, H. S. (1979). The conquering hero quits: Narcissistic factors in underachievement and failure. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 33, 418–427.
Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1963). Social learning and personality development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Baron, R. (1998). What type am I?New York: Penguin books.
Berger, P. (2000). Knight fall: The truth behind America's most controversial coach. New York: Pinnacle/Kensington.
Blood, R. O. Jr. (1969). Marriage. New York: The Free Press.
Bruno, F. J. (1993). Psychological symptoms. New York: Wiley.
Buss, D. M. (1994). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books.
Butcher, J. N., Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A., & Kaemmer, B. (1989). MMPI-2: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., Feinstein, J. A., & Jarvis, W. B. (1996). Dispositional differences in cognitive motivation: The life and times of individuals varying in need for cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 197–253.
Cameron, N. (1963). Personality development and psychopathology: A dynamic approach. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Carey, J. C., Hamilton, D. L., & Shanklin, G. (1986). Does personality similarity affect male roommates' satisfaction?Journal of College Student Personnel, 27, 65–69.
Carli, L. L., Ganley, R., & , A. (1991). Similarity and satisfaction in roommate relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 419–426.
Carnegie, D. (1981). How to win friends and influence people. New York: Simon and Schuster. (Originally published in 1936.)
Claridge, G., & Davis, C. (2003). Personality and psychological disorders. New York: Oxford University Press.
Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349–354.
Csikszenthmihalyi, M. (2000). Happiness, flow, and human economic equality. American Psychologist, 35, 1163–1164.
Darwin, C. (1859). The Origin of Species. London: Murray.
Darwin, C. (1965). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Original work published in 1872.)
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 627–668.
Dolan-Sewell, R. T., Krueger, R. F., & Shea, M. T. (2001). Co-occurrence with syndrome disorders. In Livesley, W. J. (Ed.), Handbook of personality disorders: Theory, research, and treatment. New York: Guilford.
Dollard, J., Doob, L. W., Miller, N. E., Mowrer, O. H., & Sears, R. R. (1939). Frustration and aggression. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
Dunlap, K. (1919). Are there any instincts? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 14, 307–311.
Dykens, E. M., & Rosner, B. A. (1999). Redefining behavioral phenotypes: Personality-motivation in Williams and Prader-Willi syndromes. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 104, 158–169.
Eisenberger, R., & Cameron, J. (1996). The detrimental effects of reward: Myth or reality. American Psychologist, 51, 1153–1166.
Ellis, A. (1973). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart. (Originally copyrighted in 1962.)
Engel, G., Olson, K. R., & Patrick, C. (2002). The personality of love: Fundamental motives and traits related to components of love. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 839–853.
Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton. (Originally published in 1950.)
Eron, L. D., & Huesmann, L. R. (1990). The stability of aggressive behavior – Even unto the third generation. In Lewis, M. and Miller, S. M. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychology (pp. 147–156). New York: Plenum.
Fenichel, O. (1945). The psychoanalytic theory of neurosis. New York: Norton.
Fish, T. R., Rabidoux, P., Ober, J., & Graff, V. L. (2006). Community literacy and friendship models for people with intellectual disabilities. Mental Retardation, 44, 443–446.
Fitzgerald, C. & Kirby, L. K. (1997). Developing leaders: Research and applications in psychological type and leadership development. Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black.
Flugel, J. C. (1961). Man, morals, and society. New York: The Viking Press.
Freedman, J. L. (1984). Effect of television on aggressiveness. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 227–246.
Freeman, K. A., Anderson, C. M., Azer, R. H., Girolami, P. A., & Scotti, J. A. (1998). Why functional assessment is enough: A response to Reiss and Havercamp. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 103, 80–91.
Freud, S. (1951). Psychopathology of everyday life. New York: New American Library. (Originally published in 1901.)
Freud, S. (1963). Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press. (Original work published in 1916.)
Garb, H. N., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Wood, J. M. (2003). In Hersen, M. (2004). Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment. (pp. 453–469) Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Gill, A. (2002). Art lover: A biography of Peggy Guggenheim. New York: Harper Collins.
Gimpel, G. A., Collett, B. R., Veeder, M. A., Gifford, J. A., Sneddon, P., Bushman, B., Hughes, K., & Odell, J. D. (2005). Clinical Pediatrics, 44, 405–411.
Gleick, J. (2003). Issac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books.
Gordon, E. M., & Sarason, S. B. (1955). The relationship between “test anxiety” and “other anxieties.” Journal of Personality, 23, 317.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (1999). The seven principles for making marriage work. New York: Crown.
Gray, J. (1992). Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. New York: Harpercollins.
Haimowitz, M. L., & Haimowitz, N. R. (1966). The evil eye: Fear of success. In Haimowitz, M. L. and Haimowitz, N. R. (Eds.), Human development: Selected readings. New York: Cromwell.
Hall, C. S. & Lindzey, G. (1957). Theories of personality. New York: Wiley.
Harding, W. R. (1965). The days of Henry Thoreau. New York: Knopf.
Hathaway, S. R., & McKinley, J. C. (1943). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (rev. ed.)Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Havercamp, S. H. (1988). The Resis Profile of Motivation Sensitivity : Reliability, validity, and social desirability. Columbus: Ohio State University.
Havercamp, S. H., & Reiss, S. (2003). A comprehensive assessment of human striving: Reliability and validity of the Reiss Profile. Journal of Personality Assessment, 81, 123–132.
Hilgard, E. R., & Atkinson, R. C. (1967). Introduction to psychology (5th ed.). New York: Harcourt.
Hill, K. T. (1972). Anxiety in the evaluative context. In Hartup, W. W. (Ed.), The young child: Review of research (vol. 2, pp. 225–263). Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Hinton, R. J. (1968). John Brown and his men. New York: Arno Press.
Horney, K. (1939). New ways in psychoanalysis. New York: Norton.
Hunsley, J., Lee, C. M., & Wood, J. M. (2004). Controversial and questionable assessment techniques. In Lilienfeld, S. O. and Lynn, S. J. (Eds.), Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology. New York: Guildford.
Irwin, T. (1995). Plato's ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jackson, D. N. (1984). Personality Research Form manual. Port Huron, Mich.: Research Psychologists Press.
James, W. (1918). The principles of psychology (vol. 2). New York: Dover. (Original work published in 1890.)
Jones, L. M., McCaa, B. B., & Martecchini, C. A. (1980). Roommate satisfaction as a function of similarity. Journal of College Student Personnel, 21, 229–234.
Judah, S. M. (2006). Staying together when an affair pulls you apart. Downers Grove, Il.: IVP Books.
Jung, C. (1923). Psychological types. New York: Harcourt.
Kagan, J. (2003). A time for specificity. Journal of Personality Assessment, 85, 125–127.
Kavanaugh, P., & Reiss, S. (2003). Why high school students get poor grades. Unpublished manuscript, The Ohio State University Nisonger Center.
Keyes, R. (1985). Chancing it: Why we take risks. Boston: Little, Brown.
Kline, P. (1972). Fact and fantasy in Freudian theory. Edinburgh: T & A Constable.
Kohn, A. (1993). Punished by rewards. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lapidus, J., Green, S. K., & Baruh, E. (1985). Factors related to roommate compatibility in the residence hall: A review. Journal of College Student Personnel, 26, 420–434.
Lecavalier, L., & Tasse, M. J. (2002). Sensitivity theory of motivation and psychopathology: An exploratory study. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 107, 105–115.
Lepper, M. R., Corpus, J., & Lyengar, S. S. (2005). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations in the classroom: Age differences and academic correlates. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 184–196.
Maller, R., & Reiss, S. (1992). Anxiety sensitivity in 1984 and panic attacks in 1987. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 6, 241–247.
Mandel, H. P. (1997). Conduct disorder and underachievement: Risk factors, assessments, treatments, and prevention. New York: Wiley.
Mandel, H. P., & Marcus, S. I. (1995). “Could do better”: Why children underachieve and what to do about it. New York: J. Wiley.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.
Maw, W. H., & Maw, E. W. (1964). An exploratory study into the measurement of curiosity in elementary school children. Project no. 801 (SAE 8519). United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
May, R. (1969). Love and will. New York: Dell.
McCann, J. (1958). Saint Benedict. Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books.
McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand.
McDougall, W. (2003). An introduction to social psychology. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover. (Originally published in 1908.)
McNally, R. J. (2002). Anxiety sensitivity and panic disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 938–946.
Menninger, K. (1938). Man against himself. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.
Mill, J. S. (1964). Autobiography of John Stuart Mill. New York: New American Library. (Originally published in 1873.)
Millon, T., & Davis, R. (2000). Personality disorders in modern life. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Murphy, G. (1929). An historical introduction to modern psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality: A clinical and experimental study of fifty men of college age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Myers, I. B., and McCaulley, M. H. (1985). Manual, a guide to the development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychological Press.
Myers, I. B., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L., & Hammer, A. L. (1998). MBTI Manual (93rd ed.). Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychological Press.
Olson, K. R., & Chapin, B. (in press). Relation of fundamental motives and psychological needs to well being and motivation. In Psychology of Motivation. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Olson, K. R., & Webber, D. (2004). Relations between big five traits and fundamental motives. Psychological Reports, 95, 795–802.
Pedersen, L. E. (1993). Sixteen men: Understanding masculine personality types. Boston: Shambhala.
Pfohl, B. (1996). Obsessiveness. In Costello, G. (Ed.), Personality characteristics of the personality disordered. New York: Wiley, 276–88.
Plain Dealer (2006). College athlete depression. The Plain Dealer, August 27.
Plato, (1966). The Republic of Plato (trans. F. M. Cornford). New York: Oxford University Press. (Orginally written in about 360 b.c.e.)
Preyer, W. (1995). The mind of the child. London: Routledge/Thoemmes Press. (Originally published in 1880.)
Quenk, N. L. (2002). Was that really me?Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black.
Rafalovich, A. (2005). Exploring clinician uncertainty in the diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sociology of Health and Illness, 27, 305–323.
Ramsay, G. (1843). An inquiry into the principle of human happiness and human duty. London: William Pickering.
Randsdell, P. (1989). The queen of mean. New York: Bantam.
Rapoport, J. L. (1990). The boy who couldn't stop washing. New York: Plume.
Reiss, S. (1997). Trait anxiety: It's not what you think it is. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 201–214.
Reiss, S. (2000a). Who am I? The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities. New York: Tarcher/Putnum.
Reiss, S. (2000b). Human individuality, happiness, and flow. American Psychologist, 55, 1161–1162.
Reiss, S. (2001). Secrets of happiness. Psychology Today, 50–56.
Reiss, S. (2004a). Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: The theory of 16 basic desires. Review of General Psychology, 8, 179–193.
Reiss, S. (2004b). The 16 strivings for God. Zygon, 39, 303–320.
Reiss, S. (2005). Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation at 30: Unresolved scientific issues. Behavior Analyst, 28, 1–14.
Reiss, S., & Crouch, T. (2005). Why people become aorgan donors? Paper presented at 133rd meeting of the American Public Health Assocaitian. Philadelphia.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S. M. (1997). The sensitivity theory of aberrant motivation: Why functional analysis is not enough. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 101, 553–566.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S. M. (1998). Toward a comprehensive assessment of fundamental motivation. Psychological Assessment, 10, 97–106.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S. M. (1999). Sensitivity, functional analysis, and behavior genetics: A response to Freeman et al. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 104, 289–293.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S. M. (2005). Motivation in a developmental context: Test of Maslow's theory of self-actualization. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 45, 41–53.
Reiss, S., & McNally, R. J. (1985). Expectancy model of fear. In Reiss, S. & Bootzin, R. R. (Eds.), Theoretical issues in behavior therapy. New York: Academic Press, 107–121.
Reiss, S., & Reiss, M. (2004). Curiosity and mental retardation: Beyond IQ. Mental Retardation, 42, 77–81.
Reiss, S., & Sushinsky, L. W. (1975). Overjustification, competing responses, and the acquisition of intrinsic interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 1116–1125.
Reiss, S., Peterson, R. A., Gursky, D. M., & McNally, R. J. (1986). Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency, and the prediction of fearfulness. Behavior Research and Therapy, 24, 1–8.
Reiss, S., Peterson, R. A., Gursky, D. M., & McNally, R. J. (2001). Trait motivational correlates of athleticism. Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1139–1145.
Reiss, S., Peterson, R. A., Gursky, D. M., & McNally, R. J. (2004). Why people watch reality TV?Media Psychology, 6, 363–378.
Rimm, S. B. (1986). Underachievement syndrome: Causes and cures. Vancouver, B.C.: Apple Publishing Company.
Russell, B. (1972). A history of western philosophy. New York: Simon & Shuster. (Originally published in 1945.)
Sarason, I. G. (1978). The test anxiety scale: Concept and research. In Speilberger, C. D. & Sarason, I. G. (Eds.), Stress and Anxiety (vol. 5, pp. 193–216). Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere.
Schmidt, N., Lerew, D., & Jackson, R. (1997). The role of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 355–364.
Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values? Journal of Social Issues, 50, 19–45.
Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (2002). Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Speilberger, C. D., Gonzales, H. P., Taylor, C. J., Algaze, B., & Anton, W. D. (1978). Examination stress and test anxiety. In Speilberger, C. D. & Sarason, I. G. (Eds.), Stress and Anxiety (vol. 5, pp. 167–189)). Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere.
Stahmann, R. F., & Hiebert, W. J. (1987). Premarital counseling. Lextington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Strean, H. S. (1985). Resolving marital conflicts: A Psychodynamic perspective. New York: Wiley.
Thorman, G. (1996). Marriage counseling handbook: A guide to practice. Springfield, Il.: Charles C. Thomas.
Thorndike, E. L. (1913). Educational psychology (vol 1). New York: Columbia University.
Tressler, I. D. (1937). How to lose friends and alienate people. New York: Stackpole sons.
Weiner, B. (1995). Intrinsic motivation. In Manstead, A., Hewstone, M., Fiske, S., Hoggs, M., Reis, H., & Samin, G. (Eds.) The Blackwell encyclopedia of social psychology. Cambridge, U.K.: Blackwell.
White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66, 297–333.
White, R. W., & Watt, N. F. (1973). The abnormal personality. New York: The Ronald Press.
Whiting, J. M., & Child, I. J. (1953). Child training and personality. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Wiltz, J., & Reiss, S. (2003). Compatibility of housemates with mental retardation. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 108, 173–180.
Woodworth, R. S. (1918). Dynamic psychology. New York: Columbia University Press.
Zubin, J., Eron, L. D., & Schumer, F. (1965). An experimental approach to projective techniques. New York: Wiley.

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.