Review of Psychology in human affairs

Abstract

Reviews the book, Psychology in human affairs by J. Stanley Gray (1946). The reader may recall a similar book edited by the same author in 1941 with contributions by a dozen psychologists. The present work is not a revision and, in fact, the earlier one is not mentioned. However, they do cover much the same ground. Gray does several chapters himself and with one exception the collaborators are different from those who participated in the previous enterprise. The book is quite definitely a textbook, presumably aimed at about the second course after the student has a general background in psychology. The treatment is commendably factual, citing experiments, and with extensive annotation. This would make it a bit heavy for the layman but is altogether appropriate in a text. Any reviewer is more favorably impressed by some parts of a book than by others. In the present case, vocational guidance seems to be Gray's best chapter and the one on public opinion is among the best from the contributing authors. The discussion of psychology in crime appears to be the least satisfactory and contains rather little psychology. The book covers the ground about as well as any text could be expected to do in view of the terrific size of the field of applied psychology at the present time It presents a very considerable amount of source material, citing facts in support of a great many of the points brought out and implementing the discussion with numerous tables and graphs. If a student gets through this book under a teacher who can find his way around in the field, he will certainly know something about applied psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)