Introduction:
 In the final chapter, the textbook shows that many
similarities exist among the various perspectives covered in the course. In
this final lesson, I will take one of the perspectives—the self-regulation
perspective we just learned about—and consider a little more deeply how it
compares and contrasts with the other perspectives. Specifically, I will
argue that the self-regulation perspective provides a useful general model
of the process of behavior control, but it also leaves many questions
unanswered—such as how we acquire our goals and the behaviors we use to meet
those goals in the first place. Of course, each of the perspectives we have
studied has limitations of this sort. As I have said from the beginning,
there is no one best perspective from which to view the full complexity of a
human personality. In trying to understand others and myself, my approach is
to pick and choose from all of the perspectives, while also accepting that
no amalgam of constructs will ever produce a complete understanding of any
one individual.
|
|
