The causes of interesting in reading popular psychology books (Case study: The libraries of Tehran Municipality Art and Cultural Organization)

The aim of this study was determining the cause of interesting in reading popular psychology books، and their usefulness. The research method was analytical survey، and data were gathered using a researcher made questionnaire. Research population consisted of a cluster sample of 200 users of the libraries of Tehran Municipality Art and Cultural Organization. The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Interest in popular psychology books is stemmed from two groups of causes: personal and social. The effect on interesting in popular psychology books was 46% for personal causes and 51% for social causes. Testing the hypothesis showed that the effect of social causes was slightly more than the effect of personal causes. The usefulness and accordance with local culture were at average level. Studying the amount of interest in terms of demographic features showed that women with the mean of 4/2 more than men، singles with the mean of 3/62 more than married، housewives and unemployed people with the mean of 3/73 more than employed people، and people with education level of high school diploma with the mean of 3/92 more than others with higher education، are interested in popular psychology books. Originality/Value: The results of this research in addition to giving general enlightenment about a big part of popular literature، can help policy makers of public libraries in terms of being aware of users viewpoints about books on popular psychology.