UNDERSTANDING OTHER PEOPLE

Our author sets up a mythical city called Madison with 30,000 inhabitants as a laboratory to show how people behave. His explanation of their ways is based on the theory that a piece of behavior that leads to satisfaction of a need, either innate or learned, will become a habit. His cast ranges from those seeking to gain approval, such as limelighters or constructives, through disapproval avoiders such as alcoholics and homosexuals (his explanation of these groups seems inadequate to this reader), to strict aggressors. Choosing factors that seem most important in understanding the behavior of people in modern society, simplifying in order to make sense for the common reader, the author gives some insight into what lies behind particular behavior in a readable way that nevertheless sacrifices depth for clarity and provides grounds for disagreement.