GUATEMALAN, FILIPINO, AND U.S. ADOLESCENTS'IMAGES OF WOMEN AS OFFICE WORKERS AND HOMEMAKERS

Although adolescents of different countries often draw pictures of the ideal woman cooking or working in an office, the meaning of the images may vary cross-culturally. In the present study, 88 adolescents from the Philippines, the U.S.A., and Guatemala interpreted drawings by their same-nationality peers. Interpreters from all three countries described the woman working in an office as hardworking and the woman cooking as a mother cooking for her family. In addition, Filipino adolescents wrote themes of contentment and organization, Guatemalan adolescents wrote themes of betterment, family, and hope, and U.S.A. adolescents wrote themes of contentment and niceness. Similar images of women's roles may have different meanings for adolescents of different cultures, and the use of emic approaches can provide psychological researchers with increased understanding of complex social phenomena.     

A content analysis of sexual themes in Playboy cartoons

Critics of pornography have argued that the way men and women are portrayed in these media create images that can result in harmful gender socialization. The cartoons from all 1985 issues of Playboy were coded for the presence or absence of four themes that have been identified by these critics. It was found that, when these themes appeared, women were more often the victim of sexual coercion, were more often depicted as sexually naive and childlike, and were more often shown with a more attractive body than were the men in the cartoons.The authors wish to thank Mike Chambers, Bruce Healy, Cathy Thompson and Micheala Wilczynski for their help with the project.     

Influential Factors in Artist's Lives and Themes in Their Artwork

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among influential factors in artists' lives, the process of creativity, and themes in the resulting artwork. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. In Phase I of the research, 6 contemporary artists identified themes, influences, feelings, thoughts, and representations about 5 pieces of their own art. They also completed a 50-item survey about influential factors. Two judges also were asked to identify themes, influences, feelings, thoughts, and representations in Phase 2 of the research. The judges relied on 30 slides depicting the work of the 6 artists. The same 50-item survey concerning influential factors was completed by each of the judges while examining the slides a 2nd time. Hypothesis 1, which predicted that artists would articulate the events, experiences, and memories that have influenced their lives, was supported. Hypothesis 2, which predicted that artists would be aware of the relations between influential factors in their lives and specific themes, images, expressions, and representations in their paintings, also was supported. Hypothesis 3, which predicted that potentially influential factors would be communicated in the themes, images, expressions, and representations in artists' paintings, and that objective viewers can identify them, was supported partially. The judges responded similarly to at least 2 of the 5 pieces of art for each participant. Hypothesis 4, which predicted that influential themes would be similar across all participants ' paintings, also was supported partially. One hundred percent agreement was found for the strongest influences (e.g., loss and culture) when the men and the women were evaluated separately.     

Preference ratings of images representing archetypal themes: an empirical study of the concept of archetypes

Archetype Theory is consistent with the full range of empirical psychological research, yet has not itself been empirically studied. As part of a project to integrate psychological theory, especially psychotherapeutic theory, with empirical research, I asked 151 subjects to rate their preferences for images representing archetypal themes and factor analysed their responses. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that archetypal themes determine affective responses in adults. Archetype theory may prove itself to be useful in operationalizing a number of contemporary psychological theories.     

Cultural differences in process and person focus: Congratulations on your hard work versus celebrating your exceptional brain

Cultural differences in process-focused versus person-focused themes were examined using both cultural artifacts (Study 1) and self-reports (Study 2). In Study 1, the contents of Chinese and American graduation and encouragement cards were analyzed for their relative emphasis on person- versus process-focused themes. Person-focused themes center on recipients' stable traits and abilities, and their emotional well-being. In contrast, process-focused themes dwell on the recipients' hard work and effort, and emphasize the importance of continued self-improvement and growth. Messages on Chinese cards were significantly more process than person focused. The reverse was true of American cards. Chinese cards also contained more process-focused (e.g., winding roads) than person-focused images (e.g., student standing on a pedestal). American cards contained more person-focused than process-focused images, although this difference was significant only among encouragement cards. In Study 2, we presented Chinese and American participants with graduation card messages differing in focus. Chinese parents indicated that they would be more likely to select and Chinese students indicated that they would be more likely to receive process- than person-themed graduation card messages. American parents and students showed no effects of message focus. The findings illustrate how cultural beliefs are reflected in cultural artifacts and personal preferences.     

Taking a Historical Turn: Possible Points of Connection Between Social Pyschology and History

The article confronts methodological differences between (and among) social psychologists and historians about how far the social psychologist should be interested only in contemporary or very recent history and how far general conclusions can be drawn about human behaviour across time and space. The article suggests that social psychology need not be present-centric and might take different forms of a ??historical turn??. In turn, it is suggested, historians can benefit from approaches developed by social psychologists. Seven possible points of connection with the discipline of history are put forward in the hope of fostering future collaborations. These are: the nature of modernity; collective memory and the uses of the past; political discourse and ideologies; partisanship; the public sphere; stereotypes; and languages and images. Indeed, just as they can encourage closer collaboration between historians and social psychologists, these themes might also open a wider inter-disciplinary discussion with anthropologists, sociologists, literary scholars, art historians and scholars of political discourse.     

The Church in the Market Place: Advertising and Religion in a Secular Age

This paper explores the limits of Peter Berger's secularization thesis through an examination of religious advertising. If churches are part of a market situation, as Berger affirms, what can be said of their advertising in a secular age? Different types of religious advertising and their effectiveness are discussed in relation to more widely disseminated religious imagery in secular advertising. The conclusion suggests that certain religious themes, ideas and images still continue to enjoy prominence in public consciousness. This has a double implication: for churches as they market themselves in a plural world, and for sociologists who construct theories of secularization.     

Theological issues in genetics

Theological reflection can contribute a distinctive perspective from which to analyze and evaluate moral debates about issues in modern genetics and reproductive medicine. The author appeals to two hermeneutical themes, human beings as "images of God" and the tendency of humans to "play God," in order to discuss various church statements and theological literature on human gene transfer, somatic cell nuclear transplant cloning of human beings, and patenting of human genes.     

Imagery and psychotic symptoms: a preliminary investigation

Recent cognitive accounts of psychotic symptoms have suggested that processes involved in the maintenance of emotional disorders may also be implicated in the maintenance of hallucinations and delusions, and particularly emphasise the appraisals of such symptoms as important. Imaginal appraisals have been identified in emotional disorders, and many studies have reported spontaneously occurring images in patients with anxiety disorders. Such images appear to be linked to affect, beliefs and memories. This study examined the occurrence of imagery, using a semi-structured interview, in 35 patients who were experiencing hallucinations and/or delusions and receiving cognitive therapy. The majority of patients (74.3%) reported images, and most of these were recurrent and associated with affect, beliefs and memories. Common themes included images about feared catastrophes associated with paranoia, traumatic memories, and images about the perceived source or content of voices. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed and directions for further research considered.     

Historical shifts and underlying themes in ideas about rearing young children in the United States: Where have we been? Where are we going?

Common themes in ideas about rearing infants and young children in the United States can be traced from the nation's beginnings to the present day. These themes include a strong concern about child rearing; a belief that human beings are perfectible through better child rearing; an eagerness by parents to listen to the advice of ‘experts’; a belief that infants and young children should be educated in schools or day-care centers by experts, competing with the belief that infants belong at home with their mothers; a commitment to social reform, competing with the conviction that families should be autonomous. These themes provide a background for contemporary research, political controversy, and future discussion concerning how children should be reared. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photo-Elicitation Interviews with Vulnerable Populations: Practical and Ethical Considerations

Photo-elicitation is a qualitative interview technique where researchers solicit responses, reactions, and insights from participants by using photographs or other images as stimuli. Images can be researcher-generated or participant-generated and each has particular benefits and challenges. Though not new, the use of images within criminology is an underused technique. In this paper we advocate the use of photo-elicitation techniques suggesting that they offer a powerful addition to standard data collection and presentation techniques. In making our case, we draw on our experiences from an 18-month long photo-ethnography of people living in rural Alabama who use methamphetamine. The ethnography consisted of formal interviews and informal observations with 52 participants and photography of 29 of them. While we draw on our overall experiences from the project we focus specifically on the photographs generated by, and taken of, one key participant—Alice. We demonstrate the benefits and challenges of using photo elicitation interviews with vulnerable individuals such as Alice, by considering themes such as representation, empowerment and emotionality. Additionally, we highlight the practical and ethical issues that confront researchers who incorporate the visual into their research.     

Auditory imagery from musical notation in expert musicians

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that musical notation can trigger auditory images. Expert musicians silently read scores containing well-known themes embedded into the notation of an embellished phrase and judged if a tune heard aloud thereafter was the original theme (i.e., melodic target) or not (i.e., melodic lure). Three experiments were conducted employing four score-reading conditions: normal nondistracted reading, concurrent rhythmic distraction, phonatory interference, and obstruction by auditory stimuli. The findings demonstrate that phonatory interference impaired recognition of original themes more than did the other conditions. We propose that notational audiation is the silent reading of musical notation resulting in auditory imagery. The research suggests that it also elicits kinesthetic-like phonatory processes.     

The Politics of Protection: Body Image, Social Pressures, and the Misrepresentation of Young Black Women

As part of a larger multi-method study, 15 Black women college students participated in focus group discussions on the body. Contrary to popular theories that propose that Black women are protected by a “Black Culture” that buffers them from negative effects of body representations—thereby leaving them with higher body esteem—the themes that emerged in the focus group discussions indicate that young Black women are indeed feeling (1) pressures to be thin, (2) pressures from the preferences of men of diverse ethnicities, (3) competition with other Black women in the realms of beauty, and (4) a strong sense of being misrepresented by media images of thin Black women. These results not only indicate that body image issues are of real pressing concern to young Black women, but that psychological research methodologies may be adding to the misrepresentation of young Black women and their struggles. Qualitative methods must be utilized in order to hear more clearly the voices of Women of Color.     

Words: A computer system for the analysis of content

WORDS is a computer-oriented system for content analysis designed to elicit major content themes without recourse to a priori categorization systems. The system consists of a number of modular and independent programs that the user can configure in any fashion to process the data to be analyzed. This paper presents current information on WORDS, WORDS programs, WORDS systems logic, and on the availability of the system.     

Stereoscopic visual displays: Principles,viewing devices,alignment procedures

The principle of binocular (stereoscopic) depth perception is that the visual system interprets the slight differences between the views seen by the two eyes as depth cues. In computer-generated displays, two slightly different images are produced on the left and right halves of the display surface and viewed by a prism, mirror, or binoculars system that delivers the appropriate image to each eye. The prism system is the simplest, the mirror system gives the best optical quality, and the binoculars system is useful for producing large apparent images from small display surfaces. All three systems can be adapted for group viewing and all require careful alignment (null adjustment of accommodative distance and vergence distance). Objective and subjective methods of alignment are described.     

An Examination of the Biblical Evidence for Open Theism

Open Theist theologians argue that their view of divine foreknowledge and providence is the correct interpretation of the Bible, and suggest some biblical evidence to support this claim. Among these theologians, Gregory A. Boyd’s case is the most systematic, and also the most comprehensive and rigorous. Taking into consideration (1) the main philosophical claims of Open Theism and its main rivals, namely Calvinism and Molinism, and (2) Open Theist theologians’ interpretative principles for the Bible, the biblical evidence for Open Theism suggested by Boyd can be classified into three groups according to their strength. I will argue that the first group of themes has no evidential value for Open Theism, since these themes can be interpreted just as plausibly from a Calvinist or Molinist perspective. By contrast, the second group of themes has some evidential value and thus constitutes prima facie evidence for Open Theism, since these themes make most sense under an Open Theist interpretation. However, these themes also make some sense on a Molinist reading. The third group of themes, I argue, has most evidential value for Open Theism, since it seems hard to reconcile these themes either with Calvinism or Molinism.     

Family meaning of self-starvation: themes discerned in family treatment in Hong Kong

This study aims to identify themes from the treatment of Chinese families with an adolescent or an adult member suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN), through a multiple case study. This study reveals that self-starvation may be regarded as a cultural metaphor. Four major themes emerged at the family level: self-starvation as an expression of love and control, coalition of the AN daughter with the mother, family loyalty, and the powerlessness and helplessness of the mother. The themes identified are narrative accounts of the Hong Kong Chinese families, rather than causal explanations proposed by Western literature. The emerging themes are believed to be constructed and legitimized by traditional Chinese cultural values, with females being subordinated to and dependent on males and the self being subjugated to or sacrificed for the collective. Treatment implications are discussed.     

Youth violence and the apocalyptic

This paper is a discussion of the apocalyptic themes in contemporary forms of youth violence, especially its totalism and end-of-the-world imagery. At Columbine High, in April 1999, two students chose the apocalyptic date of April 20, Hitler's birthday, to carry out their rampage. That violence connects with a long history of American fascination with the gun, and images of regeneration through violence itself grows out of an urban landscape of despair. The apocalyptic, however, is not simply the result of social crisis. We live with imagery of extinction and cannot fully trust a human future. The apocalyptic, in other words, itself evokes youth violence. These intersecting themes are illustrated with the case of Cliff.     

Recentering Christian Ethics as Comparative Religious Ethics

The filial relationship between Christian ethics and Comparative Religious Ethics (CRE) need not be perniciously distortive and can be salutary for comparative work. I suggest that the suspicions about CRE as a disguised form of a “Christian ethical enterprise” are overstated and that we can appreciate the value of the legacy of Christian ethics for comparative work in the focal themes of emancipatory criticism and common morality. Both of these themes, even if influenced by Christian ethics, reflect more universal social‐moral problems that can be discerned in cross‐cultural contexts.