Life Choices

by Sloan, Tod Stratton

• ISBN13: 9780813326566
• ISBN10: 0813326567
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-03-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

This book may be viewed as an "antiguide" to decisionmaking. It rejects mechanical formulas and urges self-reflection and a critique of ideology. Through close readings of fifteen life history interviews, Tod Sloan creates a framework for the interpretation of dilemmas and decisions. Ultimately, we see that a life choice or turning point comprises three phasesdilemma, deliberation, and decision. As each individual recounts a specific instance when a life choice was necessary, the supporting analysis reveals the framework that triggered the sense that a turning point had been reached.Sloan's basic premise is that common sense and mainstream psychology fail to enlighten us about what is actually involved in major life choices. Individuals tend to make decisions that are not in their best interests and, in fact, these decisions tend to reinforce the sociocultural structures that were initially instrumental in the creation of their dilemmas. By reading the extensive case histories and examining the ways in which the subjects' cultural and social embeddedness interacts with unconscious processes, the reader can develop the ability to understand and think critically about personal life decisions.Developed as an antidote to traditional self-help books, Sloan's decision analysis framework is derived from cognitive, phenomenological, and psychoanalytic theory. Each aspect of the decisionmaking processfrom the emergence of a dilemma to postdecision regretcan be understood by considering the contexts of personality, life history, practical arrangements, and ideology.

Author Biography

Tod Sloan is associate professor of psychology at the University of Tulsa.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Foreword	p. xiii
The Problem of Choice	p. 1
Life History	p. 7
Life Structure	p. 23
Psychologies of Decisionmaking	p. 37
Life Spheres	p. 55
Transitions	p. 77
Life Projects	p. 101
Authenticity	p. 117
Ideology	p. 133
Back to the Future	p. 141
Suggested Readings	p. 149
References	p. 151
About the Book and Author	p. 155
Index	p. 157
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