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Constructive Thinking: The Key to Emotional Intelligence Kindle Edition

4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

This is a book on how to gain control of one's emotions. It is a serious book that contains a theory of automatic processing it presents and its implications for controlling emotions. Epstein is a professor of personality psychology and a highly regarded research psychologist who has supported his theory with extensive research published in the most demanding professional journals. He was motivated to write the book by the success of a course he taught based on his theory. Students reported obtaining an understanding and control of their emotions that they never thought possible and that they said changed the course of their lives.

According to the theory, people operate by two minds, a rational-analytical mind and an intuitive-experiential mind, the latter being intimately associated with emotions. Each mind operates by its own principles and each has its own form of intelligence. The intelligence of the rational-analytical mind is measured by IQ tests and the intelligence of the intuitive-experiential mind (which is related to emotional intelligence) by the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI), a test developed by Epstein that is included in the book. By understanding the principles of operation of the intuitive-experiential mind, it is possible to train it as well as to learn from it, and thereby to improve one's emotional intelligence. The book provides exercises for applying the principles in everyday life and a review of a variety of other procedures for improving emotional intelligence. It is suited for use as a primary or supplementary text in courses on improving emotional intelligence or coping with stress as well as for individual reading.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the great strengths of "Constructive Thinking" is its review of what qualities of personality lead to successful living,...to successful workplace performance, love, adjustment, health, and good parenting...His review is greatly enriched by a generous selection of annecdotes and case histories...Epstein is balanced, thoughtful, and often wise...Epstein's book is far better than most popular alternatives. It is a thoughtful, accurate depiction of how personality can lead to success and the ways one can improve oneself. His approach is rigorous and scholarly, yet accessible, and provides important information to the public.(Contemporary Psychology (review journal of American Psychological Association), December, 1999) -- Contemporary Psychology (review journal of American Psychological Association), December, 1999

About the Author

SEYMOUR EPSTEIN is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A noted authority on personality, he has received continuous research support from the National Institute of Mental Health for over 40 years and has received their coveted Merit Award. He has published extensively, including an earlier trade-oriented version of this book entitled You're Smarter Than You Think (1993).

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001CD4VMM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Praeger (August 27, 1998)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 27, 1998
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3134 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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Seymour Epstein
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2014
    I've read and studied this book several times and continue to refer to it. I highly recommend it to anyone whose thought processes are making them unhappy and/or who are having difficulties with relationships. I've met and studied under the author and would recommend any of his workshops that might be available.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2015
    You want to control destructive emotions (such as self-pity) potentially paralyzing you from helping yourself and others? Read this book and get the real key to emotional intelligence: (deliberate) constructive thinking.

    Reading this book (quite a few times) I learned a lot about myself. So far there are many books to achieve this, but only a very few being so clear in how to make the changes you want.

    One of my favorite gifts for friends and colleagues needing support...
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2006
    In a world filled with folks who want to "clutter" up the concept or goal of human thinking, it is so refreshing to find a book that reaches back to the essence of what makes us...well, such cool and complicated creatures--the melding of our emotional and rational minds operating in a purposeful way. One can find many a book on the bestsellers list these days whose authors actually complicate the wolrld of human perception for their own profit. Gardner's books on varying IQ and Goleman's on emotional intelligence offer (or at least imply) the reader what I consider hurtful advice: that you are limited as a human being based on biological forces and that you should accept what you're "good at," doing the best you can with what you've been given. Thankfully, Prof. Epstein puts personal desire and motivation back into the mix; showing the reader that one can achieve, in most cases, what one wants in life if one properly aligns his or her experiential and rational minds to reflect his or her desires and does the work to constructively create the thinking necessary to reach his or her goal. This is a book that should be referenced often by those who seriously believe that, with a bit of guidence from Epstein, they can reorganize their thinking processes; thus freeing themselves from the bounds of thier emotional and irrational prisons.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2009
    A cogent and well-thought out book with lots of insight as to techniques and suggestions for honing one's ability to constructively think (and thereby function) in order to lead a more enjoyable/fulfilling life, both for yourself and for those around you. What I especially appreciated about the book was the format of presenting an even-handed approach (warning against naive optimism, not professing a miraculous, effortless panacea or anything of the sort, etc) and the logical presentation of actual research data that backs up the observation he makes (the author is a research psychologist/previous professor)(references are cited at the back of the book). It is a well-written, pleasant read; it also contains some of his own personal experiences intermingled with the more objective data.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2002
    In 1998, when Epstein wanted to update his book "You're Smarter Than You Think: How to Develop Your Practical Intelligence for Successful Living" (1993), he decided to add 2 rather academic chapters discussing Goleman's and others' views on Emotional Intelligence. Epstein's view is that emotions (as opposed to "moods") always occur after thinking, even if the thinking may be "unconcious" at most occasions. This view is the opposite from what others, such as Goleman write: they argue thinking come after emotions. Of course, both parties have "evidence" to back up their claims. My sugestion: the two views are useful!
    The previous paragraph indicates that Epstein's book ONLY covers the "constructive thinking" part of developing emotional intelligence, and if you want a book for that, I must say that he did a great job, building on the work of rational-emotive theraphy and cognitive psychology. He includes a very interesting questionnaire which helps you to figure out how constructive your current thinking is and gives you tools to avoid boby traps of automatic thinking and to recognize typical patterns of destructive thoughts. Unfortunately, this book is too limited to be "the" book to increase your EQ in all its aspects.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2005
    I have dozens of books of this genre and Epstein steals the show. Incredibly well written, Constructive Thinking is extremely well researched and very balanced in its approach. His 'two mind' theory is profound and (as another reviewer mentioned) just makes sense. His theory powerfully advances the premise the we alone are responsible for our emotional reactions to things and people...and are not simply automatic. Thus, we control our destiny far more than others would have us believe. This is an inspiring message, as it suggests we that we can create new experiences and unlearn that which had previouly held us back. This is a 'two highlighter' book which you'll be referring to over and over. Every chapter in my book is marked with not only interesting but truly important insights. I thought so much of Epstein's work that I dedicated a chapter in my upcoming book The Big AHA: Breakthroughs in Resolving and Preventing Workplace Conflict. If you want to put emotional intelligence in proper context, you must read this book.
    6 people found this helpful
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