10 Best Books on Human Psychology in India 2021 (The Art of War, The Psychology of Money, and more)

Let us find out the best books on human psychology available in India. These books will help you understand the human psyche better and relate it with your life. So, let's check out this list.

Mental health gets talked about a lot these days. Yet, ironically, as our lives become more comfortable, we suffer from even more stress, anxiety, and other similar problems. Understanding the human mind and nature can help us realise the pettiness of most of our worries. 

This can happen only if you realise the source of those worries, which needs some introspection and consciousness. There are lakhs of books written on this assorted topic, but like in every case, quality matters more than quantity. Let's take a look at the important factors before buying a book on human psychology.

Psychology and its study have evolved in the last few decades. Many new types of psychology have been designed to understand a particular nuance better. Here is a list of the most common branches of it, along with their brief explanations.

Clinical psychology focuses on intellectual, biological, behavioural, social, and emotional aspects of a person's life. This helps a clinical psychologist better understand the reasons for a person's actions and decisions. It involves psychological assessment, which enables you to find out the root of the problem and alleviate it using psychotherapy.

Clinical psychology involves science, theory, and practice to understand and relieve the problems. It is the most comprehensive branch of psychology. The books written by clinical psychologists can help you overcome your problems with discomfort, anxiety, disability, among other things.

Behavioural psychologists study the connection between the mind and the actions of a person. Several books are written about this discipline. For laypersons, behavioural psychology is the easiest to understand as it forms a connection between your past situations and your current personality. 

The research behind it, however, is anything but easy. Reaching such conclusions is the fruit of thousands of studies and analysis. It also focuses on how your behaviour can be changed by simply training your mind for some days. 

For example, a famous experiment called "Pavlov's Dogs" conducted by a Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov showed that dogs started salivating whenever they heard the footsteps of their assistant, who generally brings them food. This showed that any event that the dogs associate with food would salivate, proving manipulations in behaviour through training and observation.

This discipline focuses on people's mental processes, learning about how people obtain, process, and store information. Cognitive psychologists conduct several experiments and research to study perception, memory, and learning. 

This helps them understand the functioning of the mind better and find solutions to various cognitive issues, such as memory loss. Some cognitive psychologists also provide therapy to their patients. These therapies generally show the patient their decision-making. 

For example, Prospect Theory given by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky explains how individuals decide between two alternatives where risk is involved. Bringing such things into their consciousness, the patients become more aware of their situations and the correct decisions to take.

Counselling psychologists are getting increasingly popular in this stressed-out world. They differ from clinical psychologists as the latter usually deals with mental disorders. However, a counselling psychologist treats patients experiencing emotional strain caused by social, physical, or personal factors. 

Even marriage and grief counsellors come under the umbrella term "Counselling Psychologists". The counsellors generally assess the patients and assist them in formulating a personalised plan to improving their day-to-day lives. 

They often work on the negative outlook that these patients develop after a trauma. If this negative mindset continues for long, it can lead to depression, which becomes a hard task to come out of. A counselling psychologist's job is to make those people aware of the bright side of life and give their life a new purpose and meaning.

All of us are on our journeys of life. The problems that one is going through might not be a problem for another. Mental health gets affected for various reasons, and there can never be one uniform solution to everything. In order to buy the book that would suit your needs, you must first contemplate the challenges you are facing in life. This can help you narrow you search for that ideal book.

As discussed before, understanding human psychology is all about realising the source of your problem, connecting it with your present actions, and making better decisions in the future. Some psychology books can shatter your belief systems and theories about life, and as a reader, you must be open to that. 

A good psychologist will never give standard, uniform advice to their patients. Instead, they delve into their patient's life and finds out the mysteries that have shaped them. Similarly, a good psychology book will also give you the open-mindedness of introspecting your life and feel free. The thing that we are craving, after all, is freedom. 

It could be freedom from pain, freedom from dullness, freedom from oppression, etc. People try to find freedom by doing so many things, and different things work for different people. So, before reading a psychology book, make sure you realise that it won't magically erase your life; instead, it will give you methods and motivation to do it yourself.

Another important thing that you need to understand before laying your hands on a book on psychology is that it will help you learn and understand yourself better from a broader perspective. This is where psychology gets differentiated from philosophy. 

Philosophy is theories about life, and most of it is not based on experience. On the other hand, psychology is a science that has been built on research and experimentation. These books, if read with an open and curious mind, can open the unexplored avenues inside of you, helping you declutter your mind. 

There will certainly be different theories and terminologies used by all psychologists, but these theories will be backed up by serious research. Therefore, read a book like this with the right attitude.

It is crucial that you know about the author's other works, experience, and reputation before reading his or her book. This is even more important in psychology because psychology is categorised in many forms. For example, Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist but Freud was a neurologist who is known for psychoanalysis. So, it is better that you realise what you will be in for.

You may know about authors by reading their profiles on various platforms such as Goodreads, LibraryThing, and BookLikes. This will help you understand the authors approach towards writing by knowing their background. Additionally, these sources will expose you to the views of other, like-minded readers, which is the best way to select a product these days.

Not everyone is crazy about reading heavy books. Most readers, especially novice ones, want to get their hands on a relatively smaller book. Checking the number of pages will give you an estimate about the time it will take you to read it. Then, you can choose the size of the book depending on your daily schedule. You should go for a book with a low page count if you usually remain busy.

On the other hand, if you are an avid reader and wish to understand things deeply, you can buy heavy books with deep insight and academic knowledge. We can safely say that a small book will most likely have only perfunctory knowledge of the subject.

If you are a person for whom "how it is written" is more important than "what is written", you must choose the books wisely. You would not want to read a book that has a lot of complicated ideas. There are some fictional psychology books as well, and you may like those better. We have included a few such books in our list too.

To be fair, psychology must be written in a way that relates to the masses. The best writers and psychologists have successfully done that for many years. The recent interest in psychology comes from the deteriorating mental health of the people, and a book that resonates with them is the one they will learn from.

You no longer have to sit in one place to read a book. Thanks to technology, you can listen to a book while driving, in the gym, or anywhere you feel like. Audiobooks have revolutionised reading altogether, making reading possible anywhere. You can be listening to George Orwell while doing the dishes. How amazing is that!

eBooks have been around for quite some time now, and with the advent of devices like Kindle, they have become even more commonplace. It enables you to carry hundreds of books in one small device weighing less than one book. 

You can take your eBooks with you on your next trip to the mountains and read your favourite books in peace, without worrying about carrying the heavy load. Although the latest devices are designed not to strain the eyes, it is advised to break now and then from reading.

We have written many review articles about books that trigger a new though process in you. These books range from self-help to spirituality. The well-researched articles will help you find your next read according to genre. Find the links below to access the best books in each category.

Psychology, for the broad discipline it is, can be overwhelming for many. Understanding the kind of questions you are seeking an answer to can lead you to the right book to read. This idea behind writing this review article is to help you narrow your search and read the book most suitable to your liking. Books come to you in many ways - recommendations, search, accident, etc., but they come to you for a reasons. If a book appeals to you instantly, do not waste any time in reading it.

Author: Rudraveer