Identity is at the heart of many conflicts that we see in society today and yet one of the most difficult to discuss rationally. This book brings clarity to this sensitive subject with its powerful mix of psychological research, intellectual rigour and personal insight. I totally loved it!
Professor Binna Kandola, OBE, Business Psychologist, Senior Partner Pearn Kandola
What is the Self? How is it related to consciousness? This dilemma has entertained some of the greatest minds of human history. This book contributes in a significant way to that history, written by one of todays great thinkers, Geoffrey Beattie. In this unique book, Beattie brings us into his own world of Self-construction. We thus come away understanding what psychology should really bea discipline that aims to uncover truths about consciousness through the reflections and recollections of the individual. In the style of stream of consciousness writing, Beattie lays out his thoughts, emphasizing how his background had an impact on how he perceived his mission in life and how it directly influenced his own approach to his discipline. He paints a powerful narrative-ethnographic-reflective picture of how the individual copes with rearing, overcomes it (in certain situations), and is able to grasp itself as a distinct entity, rather than as a formless sense of being. This is a book in psychology from the other side, as Beattie puts itthat is, through the experiences that he went through, from suffering to conflict, in order to become aware of himself and his role in the world. It is required reading by anyone interested in understanding what consciousness is and how it emerges throughout the life cycle.
Professor Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto
In Selfless: A Psychologists Journey through Identity and Social Class, Beattie has adopted a clearly different approach to psychology than the mainstream practices of writing on the subject, elegantly integrating such crucial topics as identity, education, social class, and mobility in a down-to-earth, unpretentious, yet deeply moving and encouraging, autobiographical narrative. What can be envisioned is that this book has the potential to contribute to relevant fields of inquiry in the same way Oliver Sacks books did to neurology and the history of science.
Hongbing Yu, Ph.D., Ryerson University
Selfless
Selfless is a memoir, reflecting on identity, social class, mobility, education, and on psychology itself; how psychology as a discipline is conducted, how it prioritises objects of study, how it uncovers psychological truths about the world.
Geoffrey Beattie takes the reader on a journey through his early life in working-class Belfast, his Ph.D. at Trinity College Cambridge and subsequent academic and professional career, to explore fundamental issues within psychology about social class and social identity. Beattie discusses the difficulties inherent in this process of education and change, and how social background affects how you view academic work and the subject matter of ones discipline. This book movingly details a life and how it is changed by the processes of education, the psychological pressures when abandoning those close to you, the dissonance within, and how it feels and operates. The book takes a critical look at psychology from the other side, and examines the process of becoming selfless, meaning having little sense of self rather than being overly concerned with the wishes and needs of others.
Showing how our early experiences and their influence continues throughout life, Beatties emotionally engaging, entertaining, and witty text offers general readers, students, and academics fresh insights into psychology, adaptation, and personal change.
Geoffrey Beattie is Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University and a prize-winning academic, author, and broadcaster.
First published 2021
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2021 Geoffrey Beattie
The right of Geoffrey Beattie to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-367-62976-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-61483-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-11169-6 (ebk)
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This book is dedicated to my father, my mother, and my brother, who had faith in me from the start. They always said that I could make something of myself. I just hope that this is what they meant.
This book is about a journey through education and through life, so there are some educational institutions that I must thank (as if institutions can hear you). St. Marks Primary School in Ligoniel was where I felt most comfortable. My mother always said that she had to take me on the first day of school but after that first day I insisted on walking up there with my chums; friends I later had to leave behind. I then attended Belfast Royal Academy, the oldest school in the city, and this school changed my path in life and for that I have to be eternally grateful. The University of Birmingham was a joy from start to finish, liberating, exhilarating, I felt free, and again I am truly indebted. The University of Cambridge is one of the top academic institutions in the world, and I was honoured that they (and Trinity College the greatest of the colleges) accepted me to study for a Ph.D. Some individuals from these institutions stand out I am indebted to Mrs Ritchie (St Marks), Mr Lord (BRA), Dr Ros Bradbury (the University of Birmingham), and Professor Brian Butterworth (the University of Cambridge) but, of course, I am indebted to so many more.
My family, of course, requires a special thanks. I would particularly like to thank Carol who knew me from the turn-of-the-road gang and witnessed the many changes both good and bad. I have written about aspects of my life before in various books and papers and I would like to thank Granta for permission to reuse extracts from Protestant Boy and to Routledge for permission to use the material on the double bind from The Conflicted Mind. In in particular of the current book, I use extracts originally published in various newspapers and magazines (The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, New Statesman), which were then used in collected volumes published by Chatto & Windus, Victor Gollancz, Heinemann and Orion, and again I thank them for use of this material.
Edge Hill University has great ambitions and encourages original creative thinking, and I would like to thank John Cater, the Vice Chancellor, George Talbot, the PVC for Research and Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, and Rod Nicolson, an old friend from Cambridge and my head of department. All three are incredibly supportive. This is an institution that is fundamentally committed to equality of opportunity.
