ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces human psychology as an approach that views people as competent, insightful, self-aware and capable of self-determination. After a brief review of the troubles that psychology is currently undergoing, the chapter describes how psychology has experienced a significant paradigm change over the last fifty years. This is has led us towards a more human approach to social psychology in particular – one that is more open-minded about what constitutes the discipline and how it should be pursued; has more humility about what it can claim to be able to know; and is acutely aware of psychology’s potential to misrepresent, exploit and regulate peoples outside of its ‘inner circle’. The chapter then introduces the key themes of the book: power and how it is exercised; diversity and difference; being social and communal rather than just an individual; promoting human welfare and wellbeing; challenging assumptions about people being ‘driven’ by their biology; doing research to gain insight into and understanding; seeking to be humane as well as human.
