Title: What about me? : the struggle for identity in a market-based society /
Authors: Verhaeghe, Paul,; Hedley-Prôle, Jane,
Year: 2014
Subjects: Identity (Psychology); Social change; Individual differences Social aspects.; Success Psychological aspects; Failure (Psychology)
Abstract: According to current thinking, anyone who fails to succeed must have something wrong with them. The pressure to achieve and be happy is taking a heavy toll, resulting in a warped view of the self, disorientation, and despair. People are lonelier than ever before. Today's pay-for-performance mentality is turning institutions such as schools, universities, and hospitals into businesses - even individuals are being made to think of themselves as one-person enterprises. Love is increasingly hard to find, and we struggle to lead meaningful lives.
Contents: Identity -- Ethics : from self-realisation to self-denial -- The perfectible individual -- The essence of identity -- Intermezzo : society and disorders -- Enron society -- Identity : powerless perfectibility -- The new disorders : rank and yank -- The good life.