Chapter 41 Further Reading: Personal Reflection and Ethical Practice

Self-Knowledge and Its Limits

Wilson, T. D. (2002). Strangers to ourselves: Discovering the adaptive unconscious. Harvard University Press. The most accessible book-length treatment of the research on limits of introspection — highly recommended for anyone who wants to take the material in this chapter further.

Wilson, T. D., & Dunn, E. W. (2004). "Self-knowledge: Its limits, value, and potential for improvement." Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 493–518. The review paper cited in the chapter — an excellent technical summary of what psychology knows about the accuracy and limits of self-knowledge.

Wilson, T. D., & Kraft, D. (1993). "Why do I love thee? Effects of repeated introspection about a dating relationship on attitudes toward the relationship." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 409–418. The specific study on over-analysis and relationship satisfaction.

Ethics of Care and Personal Ethics

Noddings, N. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. University of California Press. The foundational text on ethics of care — arguing that moral life is primarily constituted by the quality of attention to specific others in relationship.

Held, V. (2006). The ethics of care: Personal, political, and global. Oxford University Press. A more recent treatment that extends ethics of care beyond personal relationships to political and institutional contexts.

Applying Psychology to Personal Life

Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991). "Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes." Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 569–582. The foundational paper on rumination and depression — relevant to the over-analysis discussion and the distinction between productive reflection and counterproductive rumination.

Brown, B. (2010). The gifts of imperfection: Let go of who you think you're supposed to be and embrace who you are. Hazelden Publishing. A practitioner-oriented book on vulnerability, authenticity, and self-acceptance that, while non-academic, engages seriously with the same themes as Sections 41.5 and 41.6.

Fischel, J. J. (2019). Screw consent: A better politics of sexual justice. University of California Press. A challenging academic argument that "consent" as a framework is insufficient for sexual ethics — arguing for richer normative concepts including desire, equity, and care. Relevant to the chapter's argument that consent needs to be a lived practice, not just a concept.

Identity, Desire, and Sexual Orientation

Diamond, L. M. (2008). Sexual fluidity: Understanding women's love and desire. Harvard University Press. A longitudinal study of how sexual attraction can be more fluid than category-based models suggest — highly relevant to the chapter's discussion of authentic desire and the relationship between identity and attraction.