Good books on psychology

Hey, psychology newfag here, and I'm looking for some good books to start me on my journey.

I know of the most meme'd ones, Jung and Freud, but any particular works I should start with or more lesser known psychologists worth looking into?

Yes, I'm aware to take it with a grain of salt as a lot of it might be kind of pseudoscience, but I've heard people like Edward Bernays (Freud's nephew) put his psychology to work to right some of the most influential propaganda techniques that are still used to this day.

>I'm aware to take it with a grain of salt as a lot of it might be kind of pseudoscience
Also be aware that none of it is science nor does it claim to be. Freud says this in his intro books.

Lacan and Melanie Klein are quite nice. Klein developed object relations theory which was quite influential among psychoanalysts in my country.

jung and freud arent psychology, they are psychoanalysis.

you have two ways: the one with the myths that want to "understand the mind", and the one preoccupied with how to influence or produce human change. which one are you more interested in?

...

Duly noted

Wouldn't "understanding the mind" eventually lead to "producing human change"?

I'm not opposed to either of those kinds of books though, but are you implying those two notions contradict each other?

Yeah no, i'm looking for something with a bit more substance than Memerson.

Another one I'm interested in is Skinner, and his methods of conditioning that are eerily effective to this day.

I don't really need the "why" so much, but it's interesting to think about.

Le bump

>Wouldn't "understanding the mind" eventually lead to "producing human change"?
keep reading, little fella.

maybe he should've written "human-made change" since this could be understood as change in humans. If you study psychology, there's a huge part about marketing in it and stuff like that. They're quite behavioural these days and it's painfully boring.

...I haven't started reading, and that's the point of this thread.

I like behavioral psychology, and the idea of natural selection infused with that, why we develop certain traits, why women and men behave in different ways, etc etc.

So any ideas where's a good starting point?

Jordan Peterson is unironically one of the best introductions to psychology. His lectures on personality are great, and he brings up a bunch of up-to-date research on the things you're interested in:
>why we develop certain traits
>why men and women behave in different ways

With these interests in mind, here are some books:
>Steven Pinker - The Blank Slate
>David M Buss - The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology
>Joseph LeDoux - The Emotional Brain
>Jaak Panksepp - Affective Neuroscience (this one's tough)

t. psych student

the hatred of peterson on this board is primarily due to overexposure and marxist rage. i'm sure there's some people who can actually articulate their issues with him, but the majority of them don't go beyond adhoms, buzzwords, and the marxist equivalent of the jewish conspiracy, ie. "he's a guardian of neo-liberalism and is trying to stop the revolution!"

Thank ye kindly and as for Peterson...
I literally know nothing about him other than the fact that it seems like he's being mass posted in every board like he's some kind of E-celebrity, and I tend to try to stay away from whatever the hivemind is embracing at the moment, and wait for the "hype" to die down a bit before I check it out. But if you guys recommend it, I'll look into it.

>and I tend to try to stay away from whatever the hivemind is embracing at the moment, and wait for the "hype" to die down a bit before I check it out.
you realize that the internet is not like a buffet table? you wont be jostled by other people while watching a youtube video or reading a pdf

It's not that I think I'll be disturbed by checking out his research. It's the fact that I'm already disturbed by the amount of people trying to shove an ideologue down my throat at every turn.

The fact that this site champions him as some kind of hero gives me all the more reason to be suspicious.

The point is, I'm not really in a hurry to check out Jordan Peterson just because everyone else won't shut up about him. It's the fact that they're raving about Peterson non-stop that discourages me from wanting to look into him in the first place.

It's like the whole Undertale thing. Everyone acted like it was the second coming of indie game christ, but once the hype died down, then what? Then how relevant was Undertale? I'm waiting to see how Peterson "ages".

I know all that sounds hipsterish and pretentious, and I realize that, but the point is I'm just not in a hurry to check him out. I'd rather start with some older studies/literature when it comes to my interests. Same goes for games, same goes for movies, same goes for music. I like to start from the roots and go from there.

It seems as if you've drawn your conclusions as to who Peterson is before giving his lectures a fair chance.

>I'd rather start with some older studies/literature when it comes to my interests. Same goes for games, same goes for movies, same goes for music. I like to start from the roots and go from there.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that this is a good path to take in psychology. Lots of what Freud, Jung, Skinner, etc wrote is outdated and generally not accepted in the field anymore. That's not to say there is nothing of value there, but it'd be hard to filter through if they're your first peak into psychology.

I will again propose that you give Peterson's personality lectures a chance, even though it seems you've made up your mind. It is, like I already stated, one of the best introductions to the field. Psychology is a very broad field, and he does a great job of providing a strong foundation of knowledge. From that position, it'll be a lot easier to dig deeper.

While I understand the suspiciousness, I consider it largely misplaced, maybe even entirely so for someone looking for a good introduction to the field of psychology. He doesn't spend the entire lectures rambling about marxism, if that's what you're worried about. I think you're shooting yourself in the foot by starting with Jung, Freud or Skinner.

Find some universities that have psychology programs and look at the bibliography for the first year. Psychology is learned through practice because you'll be doing a lot of paperwork, so find an internship/volunteer as soon as possible.

Also decide early whether you want clinical psychology, organizational, health, sports etc..

WHY I CAN NO LONGER READ SIGMUND FREUD

Hardly hanging onto
Heavy-handed
Highs and horizons.

Blindly giving breath to dreams: the one’s we didn’t ask for.

Looking nowhere but through
Candid correlations coarsing with choruses of their confessor
Parsing phrases that didnt name us
But we can’t stop.

Riding rhythms rich with wrong-ways to close the door on the question.

Faced: calmly only knows
We do it to ourselves.
Searching for sanctimonious solace in those who never found it.

Giant organs only operating for their own sake.
Offhand on the whole
Notion of drive only saving those along for the
Hide out, high hopes,
Heaving hysteria.

Heightened sense of competence
Fooling no one but the promise of betraying motivation
Objects seized without replacing
The void swelling
Underneath gaps in memory and interpretation of

Dreaming only happens when we stop thinking.
Death is the purpose of life but what comes after?
Dare to say we don’t or say we don’t see doorways that dare.

You should Definitely read 'How to Think Straight About Psychology'. It's the perfect introductory text

To start you on your journey get some kind of lecture course to start you with the history and purpose of psychology. As people are extraordinarily complex psychology is a very broad field with very different approaches taken depending on what the goals and preferred understanding of human beings the student or practitioner has in mind. Some people stick to understanding how drugs affect the brains of different people differently and sometimes unpredictably, while others focus more on reasoning through the mind of the person - to take into account the personal experience. Still others focus on how to provide good counsel to people who are troubled, something they can be capable of doing without really understanding the deeply personal vision of a patients psyche.

So yeah, learn the basics, get an overview, then come back to us when you're interested in a particular area and want further recommendations. Freud, Klein, and other early psychoanalyst types are still very relevant for providing a lens to understand how people think and for their legacy to the research pathways of psychology, even if few people would advise using them as tools to make you feel better about yourself.

>a lot of it might be kind of pseudoscience
Even as far as we have come in terms of mental health the ability to understand people and to replicate conditions of mental illness is something that we are very much still lacking. That said, quackery is rife, as in anything.

What type of psychology are you interested? There are huge subdivisions. The most scientific forms are not related to clinical psychology, which is what Frued and Jung did.