The metaphor in which the accumulation of life experiences by a human being is compared to the act of packing luggage before a long, difficult and unpredictable journey is well known. All negative, painful life experiences constitute the overwhelming weight of metaphorical luggage; while positive experiences are meant to make this load lighter, and the travel safer and more predictable. The presented metaphor indirectly describes the basic premise of the monograph, illustrating how the greatest simplification can characterize the formation of self-esteem and resilience in man, identifying them with the synergistic effect of experience (including primarily the impact of family and social environment) and biologically conditioned features.
The reviewed texts offer a lot of interesting information, based on solid empirical studies, and introduce new, relatively little-known methods of psychological research. All texts also have a practical dimension (). In particular, they relate to the issues of resilience, autism, coping with stress and quality of life. The edited collection may be of particular interest to psychologists dealing with health issues or working in the field of clinical psychology, but also to people associated with educational and developmental psychology. It may be helpful to psychology graduates, as well as to some students of social sciences including psychology, health sciences and, in a way, pedagogy.
dr hab. Krzysztof Mudyń, prof. Jesuit University in Kraków