Are most self-help books properly rooted in cognitive sciences? The following books are explained from a cognitive sciences perspective and rely strongly on psychology or sociology. 


Self-help books

Dale Carnegie - Social Intelligence (empathy, emotional intelligence)
Wayne Dyer - Your Erroneous Zones
No more Mr. Nice guy
Dale Carnegie - How to win friends and influence people

Books about Seduction

The mystery method



For example one of the books about seduction speaks of Pavlovian conditioning. Additionally, even though they don't often use words like "rationalization" the books are often written by psychologist.

Are these books classified as psychology books?

Further clarification

Under the name of Cognitive Sciences are going a lot topics. 
From very low level science to more applied. But the books I've cited are at a very high level (and since that also less verifiable). This kind of stuff is still classified as "applied psychology" or something like that?

They don't deal with stuff like "rationalization" but with the consequences of it. (i.e. childish behaviour, assertive behaviour, seduction, manipulation, conditioning, emotions, self-esteem handling, NLP, and so on..)
You can probably classify non-fiction books written for a lay audience into three categories:


Books written by experts and summarizing research in a non-technical language that can be understood by non-experts. The only difference between such a book and a research article is that this book simplifies the findings and cites its sources in a vague and general manner.
Books written by non-experts who quote only those research findings that appear to support their opinion and dismiss (and do not mention) what contradicts them.
Fantasy, prejudice, and other ignorant ramblings.


Most of the Pick Up theory falls into the second category. People like Mystery are successful with their pick up routines in a specific setting and with a highly select sample of women (US, white, middle-class, club goers). So their methods are valid. What is completely false is their assumption that all women (and men) are the same and that their methods will work for everyone everywhere. They read some popular science books, and whenever they read something that resonates with their experience, they believe they have found the scientific proof for how and why what they did worked for them and they quote it in their books to give them credence. European Pick Up Adepts have found that much of what people like Mystery recommend (e.g. peacocking) does not work in their culture. Many others find that many women do not react favourably to other routines (e.g. push-and-pull). The very fact that even "master" PUAs have to "next" many women (or stand on the street for minutes before they find someone whose body language signals the right kind of susceptibility) shows that the popular claim that you can pick up any woman any time is nothing but a power fantasy and marketing lie. Pick Up only works for those women and men for whom it works, and that is all the "science" there is to it.

Dale Carnegie is a motivational speaker. His books fall into the third category. They are as true as religion. They have positive effects for those who believe in them, but you can be equally successful by doing everything completely different than he recommends. They don't "work", because they are true, but because they make you believe in yourself and give you the courage to try.