Preface - For those who are anxious about becoming an adult without preparation
Part 1: Looking into My Heart
Chapter 1: Why I Like You - How Accurately Does MBTI Describe My Personality?
Chapter 2: Feeling the urge to adolescence - Adolescents' brains are still developing
Chapter 3: Our Class Choir Practice - How Are Emotional Memories Created?
Chapter 4: What it takes to become an adult safely - Morality, an important and special ability that only humans possess
Chapter 5: The Godegi and the Beer Bottle - The Properties of Attention and Care through Lighting Effects
Chapter 6 Favoritism - Even Monkeys Feel Injustice
Chapter 7: The Story of Grandma Da-jeong - Why We Rely on Superstitions
Part 2: Living Together
Chapter 8: The Best School Trip of My Life - How to Recognize Consideration and Compromise in Others
Chapter 9: To You Who Still Makes Me Hard - Bullying Destroys Not Only the Victim, But the Perpetrator as well
Chapter 10: There Will Be Circumstances - The Fundamental Attribution Error and the Salience of Actor Behavior
Chapter 11: "You'll Meet a Good Person" - How We Understand and Recognize Love
Chapter 12: The Gossip Hero - Why People Gossip
Chapter 13: When You Like Something But You're Not Good at It - Is Talent Really Innate?
Chapter 14: The Power of "Me Too" - Three Types of Empathy
Closing Remarks - Thank you for remembering me like that.
Americas

“I asked the teenagers in the reading class how they are doing these days.
Instead of a conventional greeting, I would like to give you this book as a gift.”
Kim So-young, writer? Author of "The World of Children"

“To the me of now, to the me of then, and to the you of now”
Thoughtful support and encouragement for young people going through turbulent times.
Becoming an adult isn't something that happens overnight.
It would be great if we could one day grow into complete and wise adults without discomfort and anxiety, but there is no such magic.
Everyone must go through 'adolescence' to become an adult.
As we transition from childhood to adolescence and then to clumsy adulthood, we are shaken by waves of emotions, big and small.


Adolescence is a confusing and complex time for everyone, to varying degrees.
As the body grows, the fence that protected it gradually lowers.
The world is expanding, but the heart is still reeling from unfamiliar emotions.
Relationships with friends and parents are re-established, and the number of tasks and areas of responsibility increases.
I am constantly bombarded with countless questions about myself.
As author Kim So-young, who wrote “The World of Children,” wrote in her recommendation, “the heart passes through valleys and climbs mountain peaks” during adolescence.


Cognitive psychologist Lee Go-eun, who has written psychology textbooks for adults such as “Mind Lab” and “How a Psychologist Remembers Love,” now looks into the minds of adolescents through “Can I Become an Adult Safely?”
In the book, the author uses his autobiographical experiences during his adolescence and the language of psychology to gently embrace the hearts of teenagers.
Subtitled “Psychologist’s Mind Class for Teenagers,” this book contains thoughtful support and encouragement for teenagers who are going through a confusing time with questions like, “Am I a good person now?”, “Why are my emotions so complicated?”, and “Can I get along well with others?”

MBTI, Friendships, Morality, and Empathy
A fresh look at the emotions and attitudes encountered during adolescence
The book is divided into two parts.
In each chapter, the author provides a fresh perspective on and interpretation of the diverse everyday experiences of adolescence through the lens of the "science" of psychology, thereby helping us break free from the lazy view that "puberty is just that way."

Part 1, "Looking into My Mind," focuses on the inner workings of an individual, including personality, memory, emotions, morality, appearance, and superstitions. Chapter 1 explores the scientific validity of personality tests like the MBTI, and Chapter 5 explores psychological theories that challenge the prevailing emphasis on appearance, making it particularly engaging for its relevance to current youth concerns.
In addition, it explains why emotional ups and downs during adolescence are natural (Chapter 2), how emotional memories are created (Chapter 3), what morality is (Chapter 4), and why we get angry at injustice or favoritism (Chapter 6) or rely on superstitions (Chapter 7) through persuasive evidence and storytelling.


Part 2, "Living Together," covers topics related to relationships with the world around us, including friendships, bullying, love, consideration, and empathy.
It not only covers love in adolescence (Chapter 10), consideration and compromise (Chapter 8), and the three types of empathy (Chapter 14), but also includes the neuroscientific truth that bullying damages the brains of both victims and perpetrators (Chapter 9) and the reason why people gossip (Chapter 12).
Through this, I can calmly identify the emotions that arise when I have conflicts with friends, when I have a crush on someone, or when I am not good at something I like.
It also responds to the various concerns that people face as the world expands and new relationships are formed through psychology.

Looking back on my teenage years as a psychologist
What that time left behind
In the book, the author vividly describes autobiographical anecdotes from his teenage years.
The days when we laughed and cried with our classmates during choir practice, the classroom scenes where we searched together for the reason behind the bitter vending machine coffee, the days when we regretted a single thoughtless word to a friend... The stories in the book are not so special that anyone can relate to them.


Of course, it's not just about stories.
As a psychologist, I present the results of psychological experiments I conducted myself, along with psychological theories and research.
This structure allows us to explain seemingly complex psychological knowledge in an easy and fun way, tailored to the needs of young people.


The author confesses that while writing this book, he imagined sitting down and having a conversation with his teenage self.
He says that he came to realize that all those seasons that seemed to have been difficult to get through were the ingredients that made him who he is today.
This book is a psychological textbook for teenagers, but it is also a healing record of an adult psychologist making peace with his past self and lovingly embracing that self from back then.

“A precious book for both youth and adults.”
The first psychology book for teenagers, a useful guide to the teenage mind for adults too.
Psychology is a discipline that looks at humans as they are.
In the book's preface, the author states that "psychology is neither a tool for mind reading nor a magic key to insight," but that it "helps us see the world from a slightly different perspective."


In that sense, this book is not one that forces youth to fulfill their obligations or only emphasizes moral lessons.
Instead, it is a book that allows readers to look at their own emotions and thoughts from a slightly different perspective.
It explores the emotions, relationships, and self-identity of adolescents from a psychological perspective, but never attempts to teach them anything.
Instead of difficult words, it is filled with fascinating anecdotes, metaphors, careful observations, and psychological grounding.

While this book is intended for middle and high school students, it is also beneficial for adults who want to understand adolescent psychology.
Author Kim So-young, who wrote the recommendation, also praised the book, saying, “It is a valuable book that both teenagers and adults can read together,” emphasizing that it is also of great value to adult readers who want to understand teenagers.
Moreover, it also serves as a guide for adult readers to recall their own adolescence and come to terms with their past selves.
It is a good reading material to help teenagers overcome difficulties they face in their daily lives, such as self-esteem issues or career concerns, and can also be used as reading guidance or counseling material.

As the preface states, “I am who I am today because of the past me who lived until now,” this book offers warm comfort and scientific insight to young people who cherish moments of growth and live each day to the fullest.
It will also be a good guide for adult readers to understand and support teenagers.