Chang (clinical psychology and Asian/Pacific Islander American studies, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor) assembles 14 chapters that consider self-criticism and self-enhancement as not necessarily bad
or good. Contributors, who are based in North America and Europe, take a complex perspective on the concepts, focusing on the costs and benefits of self-criticism and self-enhancement and going
beyond the simple, binary understanding of them. They consider the concepts as multifaceted variables that have different outcomes in different contexts and that they are frameworks for
understanding and changing human behavior. They analyze popular ideas of self-enhancement as good and self-criticism as bad and vice versa, cultural differences, and how perspectives can change
within different contexts and conditions. Clinical implications are discussed as well. Author and subject indexes are both provided. Annotation 穢2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
