1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910817663903321

Autore

Duina Francesco G. <1969->

Titolo

Winning : reflections on an American obsession / / Francesco Duina

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, : Princeton University Press, 2010

ISBN

9786612692291

1-282-69229-1

1-4008-3668-9

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (248 p.)

Disciplina

303.3/720973

Soggetti

Social values - United States

Losers - United States

Success - United States

Failure (Psychology)

Competition (Psychology)

National characteristics, American

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- PART 1. Introduction -- Chapter One. THE PROBLEM -- PART 2. The Pursuit -- Chapter Two. DIFFERENTIATION -- Chapter Three. I WIN, THEREFORE I AM RIGHT -- Chapter Four. THE QUEST FOR SPACE -- Chapter Five. POWERS AND LIMITATIONS -- PART 3. Our Beliefs -- Chapter Six. TYPES OF WINNERS AND LOSERS -- Chapter Seven. PROCESS VERSUS OUTCOMES -- Chapter Eight. INJECTING VALUE -- Chapter Nine. AWARENESS AND COMPETITION -- Chapter Ten. OUR RESTLESSNESS -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Most of us are taught from a young age to be winners and avoid being losers. But what does it mean to win or lose? And why do we care so much? Does winning make us happy? Winning undertakes an unprecedented investigation of winning and losing in American society, what we are really after as we struggle to win, our collective beliefs about winners and losers, and much more. Francesco Duina argues that victory and loss are not endpoints or final destinations but gateways to



something of immense importance to us: the affirmation of our place in the world. But Duina also shows that competition is unlikely to provide us with the answers we need. Winning and losing are artificial and logically flawed concepts that put us at odds with the world around us and, ultimately, ourselves. Duina explores the social and psychological effects of the language of competition in American culture. Primarily concerned with our shared obsessions about winning and losing, Winning proposes a new mind-set for how we can pursue our dreams, and, in a more satisfying way, find our proper place in the world.