Main description:

Egoicism, a mindset that places primary focus upon oneself, appears to be rampant in contemporary Western cultures as commercial advertisements, popular books, song lyrics, and mobile software applications consistently promote self-interest. Although a focus on oneself has adaptive value for physical preservation, decision making, and planning, researchers have begun to address the psychological, interpersonal, and broader societal costs of excessive egoicism. In an
increasingly crowded and interdependent world, there is a pressing need for investigation of alternatives to a "me and mine first" mindset.

For centuries, scholars, spiritual leaders, and social activists have advocated a "hypo-egoic" way of being that is characterized by less self-concern in favor of a more inclusive, "we first" mode of functioning. In recent years, investigations of hypo-egoic functioning have been taken up by philosophers, cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists. Edited by Kirk Warren Brown and Mark Leary, The Oxford Handbook of Hypo-egoic Phenomena brings together these vital lines of
inquiry, distilling current knowledge about hypo-egoicism into a single source book.

The authors of each chapter have conducted high-quality research and written authoritatively about topics that involve hypo-egoicism, all together providing an authoritative account of theory, research, and applications of hypo-egoic functioning. Part I of the book offers theoretical perspectives from philosophy and several major branches of psychology to inform our understanding of the nature of hypo-egoicism and its expressions in various domains of life. Part II presents psychological
research findings regarding particular psychological phenomena in which hypo-egoicism is a prominent feature, demonstrating the implications of hypo-egoicism for well-being, emotion regulation, adaptive decision-making, positive social relations, and other markers of human well-being. Each chapter reviews
the research literature regarding a particular hypo-egoic phenomenon and offers constructive criticism of the current limits of the research and important agendas for future investigation. Thus, this Handbook offers the most comprehensive and thoughtful analyses of hypo-egoicism to date.

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Emergence of Scholarship and Science on Hypo-egoic Phenomena
Kirk Warren Brown and Mark R. Leary

Part I: Theoretical Perspectives on Hypo-egoicism

Chapter 2: Moderating Ego in East and South Asia; Metaphysical Habits of the Heart
Owen Flanagan and Philip J. Ivanhoe

Chapter 3: The Phenomenology of Egoic and Non-egoic Consciousness
Stefano Vincini and Shawn Gallagher

Chapter 4: Perspectives on Hypo-egoic Phenomena from Social and Personality Psychology
Mark R. Leary, Kate J. Diebels, Katrina P. Jongman-Sereno, and Ashley Hawkins

Chapter 5: Hypo-egoicism and Cultural Evolution
Leonard L. Martin, Amey Kulkarni, Wyatt C. Anderson, Matthew A. Sanders, Jackie Newbold, and Joel Knowles

Chapter 6: Developmental and Pro-social Dimensions of Hypo-egoic Phenomena
Susan Harter

Chapter 7: A Clinical Psychological Perspective on Hyper- and Hypo-egoicism: Symptoms, Treatment, and Therapist Characteristics
Kelly E. Moore, Matthew A. Christian, Emily Ann Boren, and June Price Tangney

Part II: Empirical Research on Hypo-egoic Intrapersonal, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Phenomena and Processes

Chapter 8: The Neuroscience of Hypo-egoic Processes
Norman A.S. Farb, Philip A. Desormeau, and Le-anh Dinh-Williams

Chapter 9: The Hypo-egoic Component of Flow
Jeanne Nakamura and Scott Roberts

Chapter 10: The Hypo-egoic Expression of Mindfulness in Social Life
Kirk Warren Brown, Daniel R. Berry, and Jordan T. Quaglia

Chapter 11: Empathy and Altruism
C. Daniel Batson

Chapter 12: Morality: Hypo-egoic for Us but Not Them
Ronnie Janoff-Bulman and Nate C. Carnes

Chapter 13: Compassion, Well-being, and the Hypo-egoic Self
Kristin D. Neff and Emma Seppala

Chapter 14: Naturally Good? Basic Psychological Needs and the Proximal and Evolutionary Bases of Human Benevolence
Richard M. Ryan and Patricia Hawley

Chapter 15: Attachment as a Foundation for Kindness Toward Self and Others
Philip R. Shaver, Mario Mikulincer, Balijinder Sahdra, and Jacquelyn T. Gross

Chapter 16: Beyond Self-Interest: Humility and the Quieted Self
Peter C. Hill and Elizabeth K. Laney

Chapter 17: Forgiveness and the Ego: Why Hypo-egoic States Foster Forgiveness and Prosocial Responses
Julie J. Exline

Chapter 18: Egosystem and Ecosystem: Motivational Orientations of the Self in Relation to Others
Jennifer Crocker and Amy Canevello

Chapter 19: Mysticism and Hypo-egoicism
Ralph W. Hood, Jr.

Chapter 20: Dispositional Hypo-egoicism: Insights into the Hypo-egoic Person
Mark R. Leary, Kirk Warren Brown, and Kate J. Diebels