Passion,Containment, and Commitment—Essential Elements of Groups Across the Lifespan in Bruce Springsteen’s Work

Abstract

The group, with its intensity, interaction, roles and dynamics, is an important unit of experience in everyday life, in psychotherapy groups, and in Bruce Springsteen’s music. This paper explores experiences of and ideas about real life groups throughout the lifecycle through Springsteen’s music, framed in concepts from a broad group literature including clinical psychology, social psychology, group psychotherapy, sociology, anthropology, and organizational psychology. The lifecycle includes adolescence and the role of the group to contain all its passions; the work world with its excitements and disillusionments; encounters with loss, and the holding power of the group; experiences of dissolution of the group, and possibilities for recommitment; and the passion and support of the group during celebrations. Themes of passion, containment, and commitment weave throughout the narrative.     

Passion, Containment, and Commitment-Essential Elements of Groups Across the Lifespan in Bruce Springsteen's Work

Abstract The group, with its intensity, interaction, roles and dynamics, is an important unit of experience in everyday life, in psychotherapy groups, and in Bruce Springsteen's music. This paper explores experiences of and ideas about real life groups throughout the lifecycle through Springsteen's music, framed in concepts from a broad group literature including clinical psychology, social psychology, group psychotherapy, sociology, anthropology, and organizational psychology. The lifecycle includes adolescence and the role of the group to contain all its passions; the work world with its excitements and disillusionments; encounters with loss, and the holding power of the group; experiences of dissolution of the group, and possibilities for recommitment; and the passion and support of the group during celebrations. Themes of passion, containment, and commitment weave throughout the narrative.     

A Multiple Feedback Methodology for the Study of Creativity Evaluations

The cultural psychology perspective emphasizes the role of communication and social interaction in the construction of representations and evaluations concerning creativity. In terms of creativity assessment, this approach leads to the use of a multiple feedback methodology selecting several groups of evaluators with dissimilar backgrounds in order to understand how creativity practices and evaluations are rooted in particular contexts. Due to its constructionist nature, the multiple feedback method aims to capture the multiplicity of viewpoints characteristic for real life settings and can be especially useful for investigating the social and cultural dynamics of creativity.     

Interpersonal communication and personality: Self and other perspectives

This study was designed to examine the links between the personality of group members and their styles of communication in task groups meeting over a three-month period. Comprehensive measures of personality and of communication styles were taken from the perspectives both of the actor (the self) at the beginning of the group's life and his or her fellow group members (the others) at the end of the group's life. Even after extensive group interaction, these two sets of ratings converged only when observable characteristics were being measured (e.g., extraversion in personality or precision in communication). Self-rated personality across eight dimensions predicted two of the three self-rated dimensions of communication style (Verbal Engagement and Attentiveness to the Other) at only moderate levels; the actor's personality rated on the same eight dimensions by others predicted the actor's communication style as rated by these same others on all three dimensions (Verbal Engagement, Attentiveness to the Other, and Feelings versus Silence), and at much stronger levels than did self-ratings of personality. Both personality and communication styles as rated by others were able to predict the key social outcomes of the actor's likability and task contribution, whereas self-ratings were not. Ratings derived from the self and those derived from others about the self thus appear to develop from different sources of information and relate to different outcomes. The links between personality and communication style are largely confined to the perspective (self versus other) from which they were measured.     

网络亲子沟通对留守初中生社会适应的影响:一个有调节的中介模型

在信息社会的时代背景下,为探讨网络亲子沟通对留守初中生社会适应的影响及其内在机制。本研究使用网络亲子沟通问卷、亲子关系问卷、获益性解释问卷、问题行为量表、自尊量表、抑郁量表和生活满意度量表,对492名留守初中生进行调查。结果表明：（1）在网络亲子沟通、亲子关系、获益性解释和社会适应中,两两呈显著正相关;（2）网络亲子沟通不仅能直接正向预测留守初中生的社会适应,还能通过亲子关系的中介作用对其产生影响;（3）网络亲子沟通对留守初中生社会适应影响的直接效应以及亲子关系的中介效应均受到获益性解释的调节,且这两种效应在高获益性解释群体中都更为显著。本研究结果有助于揭示网络亲子沟通对留守儿童社会适应影响及其作用机制,对留守儿童社会适应的改善也有一定的指导意义。     

状态与特质之分：来自社会创造性的证据

以整群取样的方式选取650名小学儿童,采用社会创造性故事情境问卷、小学儿童社会创造性倾向问卷,分别测量了儿童在问题情境中的社会创造性和日常生活中的社会创造性,同时采用小五人格学生问卷中的开放性分量表、Rosenberg(1965)编制的自尊量表以及互联网使用偏好问卷中的(网络交往)信息交流偏好分量表,考察了儿童问题情境中的社会创造性与日常生活中的社会创造性的特点和性质。结果表明:(1)二者的发展趋势有所不同,儿童在问题情境中的创造性得分总体上呈现“倒Z形”的发展趋势,而日常生活中的创造性倾向总体上呈现“U形”发展趋势;(2)两种社会创造性与经验开放性、自尊及网络交往(信息交流)偏好呈现不同的相关,日常生活中的社会创造性与经验开放性、自尊及网络交往偏好均具有极其显著的正相关,问题情境中的社会创造性与经验开放性、自尊之间也具有显著正相关,但相关系数较低,而且与网络交往偏好无显著相关;(3)经验开放性、自尊和网络交往偏好均可以显著地预测日常生活中的社会创造性,而难以预测问题情境中的社会创造性。这表明,社会创造性可能存在状态与特质之分。     

Social Identification and Interpersonal Communication in Computer‐Mediated Communication: What You Do Versus Who You Are in Virtual Groups

This study investigates the influence of interpersonal communication and intergroup identification on members’ evaluations of computer‐mediated groups. Participants (N= 256) in 64 four‐person groups interacted through synchronous computer chat. Subgroup assignments to minimal groups instilled significantly greater in‐group versus out‐group identification. One member in each group was instructed to exhibit interpersonally likable or dislikable behavior. Analysis revealed that confederates acting likably were more attractive than those acting dislikably regardless of their in‐group or out‐group status. Further results indicated that interpersonal behavior interacted with subgroup membership on identification shifts following online discussions. Interpersonal dynamics generally provided stronger effects on members in virtual groups than did intergroup dynamics, in contrast to predictions from previous applications of social identification to computer‐mediated communication.     

中学生手机线上交流与手机成瘾的关系：社会资本和手机关系需要满足的中介作用

采用问卷对3268名中学生进行调查,以探讨手机线上交流（陌生人、熟人）、社会资本、手机关系需要满足与手机成瘾之间的关系,结果显示：（1）中学生手机线上交流（陌生人、熟人）能直接正向预测手机成瘾;（2）当对象为陌生人时,中学生手机线上交流能够通过手机关系需要满足间接预测手机成瘾;（3）中学生线上交流（陌生人、熟人）能通过社会资本经手机关系需要的多重中介作用来预测手机成瘾。（4）当对象为熟人时,线上交流通过社会资本、手机关系需要预测手机成瘾的作用更显著。这些研究结果可以为预防与干预中学生手机成瘾提供参考价值。     

Social Representations of Gender in Peer Interaction and Cognitive Development

The paper discusses how social representations of gender and their development in childhood relate to the structuring of communication on collaborative problem solving in the educational context and the consequences of such communication dynamics for learning and cognitive development. In the theoretical framework and the empirical work outlined an emphasis is given on the articulation of different levels of analysis (intra‐personal, inter‐personal, inter‐group/positional and ideological/social representations) (Doise, W. 1986. Levels of Explanation in Social Psychology: European Monographs in Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) in a way that explanatory power is increased for understanding the often contradictory findings in the literature around gender talk in mixed‐sex dyads in the educational context.     

残疾人领悟社会支持对其生活满意度的影响——自尊的中介作用及沟通的调节作用

采用问卷法调查了600名残疾人,考察了自尊在残疾人领悟社会支持与其生活满意度之间关系的中介作用以及该过程是否受到沟通的调节。结果发现：（1）自尊在残疾人领悟社会支持与其生活满意度之间起着完全中介作用;（2）自尊的中介作用受沟通的调节,沟通调节了领悟社会支持——自尊——生活满意度这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,残疾人领悟社会支持对其生活满意度的影响是有调节的中介效应。研究对提高残疾人生活满意度并指导相关理论研究具有参考价值。     

Well-being on campus: testing the effectiveness of an online strengths-based intervention for first year college students

The present research examined the effectiveness of an 8-week online strengths-based intervention in promoting subjective and psychological well-being of first year university students. The intervention was composed of five modules pertaining to (a) finding and cultivating on character strengths, (b) regulation of emotions and increasing positive emotions, (c) constructive communication, establishing social connectedness and positive relationships (d) effective decision-making and problem solving and (e) achieving flow and practicing gratitude. A total 92 students volunteered to participate in the study. They were randomly assigned to either the intervention or a control group. Students’ quality of life (psychological health and social relations domains), life satisfaction, subjective happiness and ontological well-being were measured before and after the intervention. Significant improvements in well-being of intervention group participants were observed over an 8-week period whereas control group participants did not show a significant increase in any of these well-being variables.     

Towards a socially situated rumouring: Historical and critical perspectives of rumour transmission

Rumours are an ubiquitous feature of people's social life and one of the oldest topics in social psychology. Rumours, which tend to spread during crisis situations, allow people to mitigate unpleasant feelings and construct a meaning of the surrounding world. Rumour transmission has been associated with a number of specific individual (e.g., anxiety, personal involvement) and situational (e.g., ambiguity, uncertainty) characteristics and studied with the serial reproduction paradigm (Allport & Postman, 1947) in laboratory settings. The main criticism of rumour research has been its focus on primarily individual‐level analyses in an attempt to explain a social phenomenon. Furthermore, the classic serial reproduction paradigm tends to omit the essential properties of interpersonal interactions and communication processes. Despite the recent and rapidly growing trend of social network methods in social and behavioural sciences, rumour research could also include a finer analysis of individuals' social characteristics and the related complexity of real‐life communication processes. Therefore, the integration of a socially situated approach to rumour transmission might be especially relevant for rumour research and promising for the study of other social phenomena by extension.     

The formation of group norms in computer‐mediated communication

The formation of group norms in computer‐mediated communication (CMC) was examined among students who used e‐mail as part of a course. A network analysis of group structures revealed that (a) content and form of communication is normative, group norms defining communication patterns within groups, (b) conformity to group norms increases over time, communication outside the group is governed by different social norms. Results show that norms prescribing a particular use of technology are socially constructed over time at the level of locally defined groups and also show that the influence of these norms is limited to the boundaries of the group. It is concluded that the process of social construction is restrained by social identities that become salient over the course of interaction via CMC. These findings complement experimental evidence that stresses the importance of normative influence in CMC.     

Sexual Utterances and Common Life

The essay discusses sexual activity as forms of communication that are constitutive of social practices. In this context, marriage is understood as a representative practice of the church, nothing more and nothing less. The essay draws on Thomas Nagel's essay, 'Sexual Perversion', and Robert Solomon'ls 'Sexual Paradigms' for its account of sexual communication. For its critical perspective, it frames questions about sex with Herbert McCabe's account of bodily utterances as 'ways of entering into social life'     

Universal stories: How narratives satisfy core motives

Abstract

For millennia, narratives have been a primary mode of oral discourse. Narrative presentation of information has been shown to facilitate interpersonal and group communication. However, research indicates that narratives are more than merely an adaptive mode of communication. Narrative is a fundamental – and perhaps foundational – element of social and cultural life. The present article posits that the centrality of narrative in social life is due to narrative’s ability to help satisfy the five core social motives, as identified by Fiske belonging, understanding, control, self-enhancement, and trust. In so doing, this article reviews empirical and theoretical work examining basic narrative processes, autobiographical narratives, and entertainment narrative consumption to illustrate how narrative thought helps to satisfies core human motives and in turn, how the narrative construction process informs self and identity formation.     

社会交流中人际神经同步的认知机制

近年来,许多研究者开始关注社会交流中的人际神经同步机制,并将人际神经同步作为研究社会交流的一个神经指标,这对于揭示社会交流的本质和规律具有重要意义。本文从心理理论和镜像神经系统的角度,分析社会交流中神经同步的认知机制及其影响因素。未来的研究应关注这两套机制是否因交流目的、对象、形式或内容的不同,而在不同的脑区表现出神经同步,进而引发了不同认知机制的争议;以及这两套机制各自或协同工作适用的情景和任务。     

Relative deprivation based on occupation: An effective predictor of Chinese life satisfaction

Relative deprivation (RD) refers to the fact that individuals may feel deprived of some desirable thing in social comparison relative to a reference group. Occupational group is widely recognized as the essential reference group and generally used to compare differences in earnings and social position. Four waves' data from the Social Attitudes Survey of Urban‐Rural Residents (China) (SAS‐C; 2005/2007/2008/2009) were used to compute to Stewart's new measure of RD for different occupational groups and its relationship to life satisfaction (a cognitive component of subjective well‐being). Results showed that both economic RD (defined as individuals' RD of material benefits, such as income, wealth etc.) and social status RD (defined as individuals' RD on their evaluation of social status) consistently predicted Chinese life satisfaction for a period of time from 2005 to 2009; meanwhile, individual economic RD was moderately correlated to social status RD. The effects of RD and some demographic variables on life satisfaction are discussed and possible improvements for future research are suggested.     

Putting Communication into the Study of Group Memory

In the spirit of viewing human memory as a social process, Pavitt (2003) revisited the idea of group memory—recollection of information that occurs collaboratively in groups. This paper outlines and supports Pavitt's 5 major points about group remembering: (a) groups outperform individuals, (b) communication allows the group to know all knowledge of its members, (c) groups do not perform as well as a rational model predicts, (d) process losses increase as group size increases, and (e) group interaction does not guarantee optimal performance. The research on which these conclusions are based examines group memory in a simple input‐output function. Communication scholars may extend the group memory literature by studying the structure and content of discussion during collective remembering.     

Posterior superior temporal cortex connectivity is related to social communication in toddlers

The second year of life is a time when social communication skills typically develop, but this growth may be slower in toddlers with language delay. In the current study, we examined how brain functional connectivity is related to social communication abilities in a sample of 12-24 month-old toddlers including those with typical development (TD) and those with language delays (LD). We used an a-priori, seed-based approach to identify regions forming a functional network with the left posterior superior temporal cortex (LpSTC), a region associated with language and social communication in older children and adults. Social communication and language abilities were assessed using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (CSBS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning. We found a significant association between concurrent CSBS scores and functional connectivity between the LpSTC and the right posterior superior temporal cortex (RpSTC), with greater connectivity between these regions associated with better social communication abilities. However, functional connectivity was not related to rate of change or language outcomes at 36 months of age. These data suggest an early marker of low communication abilities may be decreased connectivity between the left and right pSTC. Future longitudinal studies should test whether this neurobiological feature is predictive of later social or communication impairments.