A final perspective

As a rule, we humans seem naturally drawn to learning about what makes us tick. Issues of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions form the subject matter of psychology. Topics such as intelligence, creativity, human sexuality, relationships, abnormal behavior, personality traits, interpersonal attraction, success, and happiness grab our attention; pique our curiosity to learn about ourselves and others.

Popular theories pertaining to human behavior permeate our culture. We are taught that if you build your self-esteem you will be happy and successful; men are from Mars, women are from Venus; and you are the product of your childhood experiences. Pseudo-psychological notions like these often capture the public’s imagination and become accepted uncritically by our societies. Unfortunately, such theories often have little or no empirical support.

It’s not that authoritative information isn’t available. At this moment, thousands of psychological research projects are underway around the world. Each month perhaps thousands of reports and monographs are published in hundreds of peer-reviewed psychological journals, revealing the latest information from the greatest researchers and theorists in the field. The problem is that this information is often written in a very technical language that is inaccessible to all but the specialist. It remains largely out of public awareness.

It has been my goal over the past ninety-one weeks to highlight some of the more interesting ideas from the field of psychology, particularly those of topical and local interest to the Pattaya community, and present them in an entertaining and accessible way to you, the Pattaya Mail reader. I hope that to some degree I have succeeded.

This column will be the last in this series. I will soon be leaving Asian University where I have taught for the past 8 years, to take on a challenging new position as an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) counselor for an American company that employs over 60,000 people in 43 countries around the world. I will be providing mental health services to company employees on location in war torn Iraq.

I might not have taken such a seemingly hazardous position, were it not for Bill C. a friend of mine and former coworker from my days as a struggling graduate student in the 1980s. Bill has been in Iraq doing EAP work since January. He has patiently answered my many questions about security, living conditions, job satisfaction, etc. His support and reassurance has made it much easier for me to take this plunge.

For those readers who have enjoyed this column and would like to learn more about psychology, I recommend the website of the American Psychological Association, www.apa.org for helpful information and links to other psychology-related resources on the web.

For those interested in keeping up with my personal experiences and perspectives on events in Iraq (that’s you, Mom), you can visit my weblog, Iraq Chronicles, at http://iraq-chronicles.blogspot.com/ where I hope to keep a periodic narrative of my future activities, as my time allows.

For my part, no matter where I roam, I will always be a part of the Pattaya community. My family and I will continue to maintain our home here, and I hope to visit as often as I can. While I’m away, I plan to keep track of local events by reading the Pattaya Mail online edition, of course!

My warmest thanks go out to my proofreaders: James C., George, and especially, Marisa for routinely extending her work-week into Friday night in order to provide comments on my last minute writings. Best wishes to Dan, Peter, and the Pattaya Mail staff, my readers, my students, and to my friends at Asian University.