ABSTRACT
Although the concept of compensation is an important and growing concern in numerous literatures in psychology, relatively few efforts have been made to explore the variety of definitions and uses of the term. Still fewer attempts have been aimed at differentiating or integrating the meanings of compensation appearing in these literatures. In this chapter, we explore questions such as the following: What degree of commonality exists in definitions and uses of compensation across literatures in psychology? Is there a core concept of compensation—are there even core features to a single concept—or is the concept, like so many in psychology, composed of fuzzy boundaries and fluid (but detectable) features? Is one universal feature of the concept its apparent Janus-like quality—of having immediate relevance to both psychological theory and practice? The concept of compensation in psychology, the possibility of multiple concepts of compensation, and the degree to which we can learn about the concept through consulting neighboring disciplines are the concerns at the heart of this chapter and this book.
