Mindfulness (25th anniversary edition)

by Ellen J. Langer

Overview

The revolutionary book that showed how mindfulness can be applied to every aspect of our lives

The highly innovative findings of social psychologist Dr. Ellen J. Langer and her team of researchers at Harvard introduced a unique concept of mindfulness, adapted to contemporary life in the West. Langer's theory has been applied to a wide number of fields, including health, business, aging, social justice, and learning. There is now a new psychological assessment based on her work (called the Langer Mindfulness Scale). In her introduction to this 25th anniversary edition, Dr. Langer (now known as "the Mother of Mindfulness") outlines some of these exciting applications and suggests those still to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738217994
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Series:	A Merloyd Lawrence Book
Edition description:	Second Edition, 25th anniversary
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	107,209
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Ellen J. Langer, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Harvard University, is the author of Personal Politics (with Carol Dweck), The Psychology of Control, and Mindfulness, which has been published in ten countries. She is also coeditor of Higher Stages of Development and Beliefs, Attitudes and Decision Making. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and numerous awards including the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest of the American Psychological Association.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 25th Anniversary Edition

1. Introduction

PART ONE: Mindlessness

2. When the Lights’ On and Nobody’s Home
Trapped by Categories
Automatic Behavior
Acting from a Single Perspective

3. The Roots of Mindlessness
The Mindless “Expert”
The Sacrilegious Poodle
Mindlessness and the Unconscious
Belief in Limited Resources
Entropy and Linear Time as Limiting Mindsets
Education for Outcome
The Power of Context

4. The Costs of Mindlessness
A Narrow Self-Image
Unintended Cruelty
Loss of Control
Learned Helplessness
Stunted Potential

PART TWO: Mindfulness

5. The Nature of Mindfulness
Creating New Categories
Welcoming New Information
More Than One View
Control Over Context: The Birdman of Alcatraz
Process Before Outcome
Mindfulness East and West

6. Mindful Aging
Control and Survival
Reversing Memory Loss
Outgrowing Mindsets
Stretching the Limits of Age
Growth in Age
Putting Age in Context: An Experiment

7. Creative Uncertainty
Mindfulness and Intuition
Creativity and Conditional Learning
Distinctions and Analogies

8. Mindfulness on the Job
Welcoming the Glitch
Second Wind
Innovation
The Power of Uncertainty for Managers
Burnout and Control

9. Decreasing Prejudice by Increasing Discrimination
A Patient by Any Other Name
The Painted Cast
Mindfully Different
Disabling Mindsets
Discrimination Without Prejudice

10. Minding Matters: Mindfulness and Health
Dualism: A Dangerous Mindset
The Body in Context
Addiction in Context
The Traditional Placebo: Fooling the Mind
The Active Placebo: Enlisting the Mind

Epilogue: Beyond Mindfulness

Editorial Reviews

"A landmark work of social psychology."
—Booklist

"[Langer] has shown us the power of mindfulness."
—Psychology Today

"Mindfulness is the book which changed it all."
—Female First

"More relevant now than ever before."
—Blogging on Business

From the Publisher