The Paradox of Self-Defeating Behavior

Reviews the book, Self-Defeating Behaviors: Experimental Research, Clinical Impressions, and Practical Implications edited by Rebecca C. Curtis (see record 1989-98168-000). This volume seeks to bring together research in experimental social psychology with recent psychoanalytic theory and clinical consensus to provide new insights for understanding and treating this kind of behavior. The central theme of the book is that self-defeating behavior is part and product of an individual's experience and selfview. Several pieces in the volume are particularly outstanding, such as the chapter on excuses, which carefully traces the origins, functions, and outcomes of both situational and dispositional excuse making. The author's work deserves careful attention from clinical and social psychologists on at least two grounds. First, it is an admirable effort to apply the best of experimental social psychology to clinical phenomena. Second, the book is a valuable model for future volumes that may emerge, because this is the first work in Plenum's proposed series on social/clinical psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)