Introduction to Psychological Anthropology: Critical Writing on Theoretical Developments and Contemporary Issues provides readers with a curated collection of articles that introduce the basic tenets of psychological anthropology. The text presents the basic history of the discipline, terms, theories, and contributions from an intellectual movement—the culture and personality movement—that later became known as the subdiscipline of psychological anthropology.

The reader is organized into two parts. The first part explores two separate disciplines, anthropology and psychology, and how they eventually merged into the subdiscipline of psychological anthropology. The second part focuses on contemporary psychological issues throughout the human lifespan. It touches on subjects such as notions of self and personhood, childrearing, emotions, mental health and mental illness, aging, and death.

Introduction to Psychological Anthropology not only explains a subdiscipline with a complicated and at times controversial history, but also explores the delicate cognitive parts of what makes us human and enables us to live in complicated social systems. The reader is ideal for introductory courses within the discipline.