Western esotericism: Towards an integrative model of interpretation

Despite the fact that during the last fifteen years we have witnessed the emergence of a research field of ‘Western esotericism’, scholars are still far from agreeing on definitions of ‘esotericism’. For an academic ‘field’, however, that wants to establish international networks and to bring together scholars from various research areas and disciplines, it is highly desirable to provide an interpretational framework in which these different studies find their place. The main argument of this article is that such common ground can be found only when esotericism is seen not as a selection of historical ‘currents’, however defined, but as a structural element of Western culture. After reviewing the most influential approaches to Western esotericism, this article identifies two dimensions of an esoteric discourse: claims of higher knowledge and ways of accessing this ‘truth’. To these dimensions can be added certain world views that are typically involved in there discourses. The interpretative model proposed here aims at critically addressing basic aspects of Western self-understanding including the rhetorics of rationality, science, enlightenment, progress and absolute truth. It postulates that conflicts of religious world views, identities and forms of knowledge lie at the heart of Western cultural history.     

Towards an integrative attachment‐based model of relationship functioning

Based on attachment theory, this study developed a theory‐based model of heterosexual relationship functioning that examined both proximal and distal factors and both actor and partner effects. A particular focus was on the underexplored issue of double‐mediated effects between attachment orientation and relationship satisfaction. Data were collected from a community sample of 95 cohabiting and married couples with a mean age of 39.30 years. Participants completed measures of attachment, commitment, provision of partner support, trust, intimacy, destructive conflict management, and relationship satisfaction. The hypothesized model was largely supported. The association between attachment orientation and relationship satisfaction was mediated through a series of actor and partner variables. No gender differences were found across actor paths; however, differences were found in partner effects for men and women. The model has important implications for relationship researchers and practitioners.     

Artists' vulnerability to psychopathology: Towards an integrative cognitive perspective

A relationship is commonly reported between high levels of artistic creativity and mental health problems (e.g., depression or psychosis), and it is now becoming clearer that the divergent cognitive style associated with creativity has commonalities with some of the processes involved in the development and maintenance of some psychological difficulties. Our aim was to investigate the nature of this cognitive style. More specifically, we considered the profile of probabilistic reasoning and associated problem solving abilities, as both of these mechanisms have been found to be integral to major forms of clinical dysfunction. We assessed levels of creative potential, mood, probabilistic reasoning, and problem solving abilities in 66 arts and 85 science undergraduate volunteers. As predicted, art students showed higher levels of creative potential and experienced lower levels of mood than their science peers. Differences in probabilistic reasoning were observed which are in keeping with the pattern reported to be present in those suffering with psychosis in that they tended to ‘jump to conclusions’. Art students also displayed both poorer problem solving abilities and self‐appraisal of their problem solving skills. Our results extend previous findings associated with the mediating role of cognitive processes in the relationship between creativity and some forms of psychopathology. Implications for the prevention and treatment of psychological difficulties in the creative are highlighted.     

Empathy, an integrative model

Empathy research has yielded various separate insights into empathy and its correlates. Yet a comprehensive theoretical account that situates these factors within a larger framework is lacking. In this paper a conception of empathy is proposed and defended, which makes it possible to provide an encompassing reconstruction of the processes that are characteristic of empathic encounters. This conception situates empathy within a context of communication. Doing so allows one to connect various treads in empathy research, but at the same time urges one to take new factors into account. It is argued that empathy is a response to a specific demand occurring in a specific context. The type of answer persons are able to provide depends on four types of factors. First, there are the psychological empathic components. We argue that empathy should be seen as a combination of (especially) parallel and reactive emotions, against a background of specific cognitive abilities. Second, it is argued that empathy is aided by a twofold control system, comprised of judgements and forms of self-control. Third, personality factors play a part in how a person responds to demands. Finally, but most importantly, it is pointed out that specific relational factors codetermine empathic reactions. In this paper we describe the theoretical background of our model and provide an elaborated account of the four factors that determine empathic acts in a given context. We illustrate the viability of our model by presenting observational data of children's empathic acts.     

Psychological effects of risk glorification in the media: Towards an integrative view

Media contents that glorify risk-taking (e.g., video games that simulate illegal street racing, TV depictions of dangerous extreme sports or stunts) are becoming increasingly popular. Theory and research suggest that risk glorification is associated with risk-taking among the audience. Until recently the evidence was limited in three ways: First, most studies, being correlational, did not permit clear causal inferences. Second, we did not know the strength of the effect of different types of media and different types of risk-taking outcomes. Third, early research did little to isolate the underlying psychological processes that mediate the pernicious effects of risk glorifying media formats. In order to address these open questions we review the results of an experimental programme of research and the findings of a comprehensive meta-analysis. The main findings are that (a) the risky media contents do indeed have causal force; (b) according to our meta-analysis active participation in risk glorifying media interfaces has a larger effect than passive consumption; (c) psychological processes include the priming of risk-related constructs, effects of risk-positive situational heuristic cues, perceived social norms, personal risk habituation, and changes in the recipient's self-concept. To integrate these findings we propose a theoretical framework derived from broad-range socio-cognitive models. We conclude with a discussion of possible directions for future research.     

Covariational influences on goal-based explanation: an integrative model

Covariational and goal-based approaches to social attribution have been treated as competitive or incommensurable. This article integrates key aspects of each approach. Four studies examined preferences for motivating factors (or goals) and enabling factors (or preconditions) as explanations of intentional actions. The studies manipulated (Studies 1-3) and measured (Study 4) the perceived covariation of these goal-based causes with target actions. Causes that covaried with actions were preferred explanations, in contrast with the goal-based view that motivating factors are generally preferred to enabling factors. Combining goal-based beliefs and covariational reasoning resolves problems faced by each individual approach and generates a novel explanatory typology that combines strengths of goal-based and covariational typologies.     

Systemic-motivational therapy for substance abuse disorders: an integrative model

Although recent reviews of the literature on families and substance misuse offer compelling evidence that inclusion of families significantly improves treatment engagement, retention and outcome, family therapy remains peripheral in most substance abuse treatment programmes. Furthermore, many of the treatment approaches that have been included under the term 'family therapy' continue to focus on the substance abuser as the sole target of treatment. Still conspicuously absent are treatment models based on family systems approaches, with outcomes targeted at non-abusing family members as well. This article presents an overview of one such family-focused substance abuse treatment model – systemic-motivational therapy – that combines a family systems approach with techniques derived from motivational interviewing, but this time is applied to work with the family as a unit. The background for the development of the model will be described, as well as the assessment/consultation, family-level action plan, and aftercare/relapse prevention phases of the treatment approach.     

Explaining in conversation: Towards an argument model

We examine the proposition that, in ordinary conversation, people are concerned to argue — to justify their claims and to counter potential and actual counter claims. We test out the proposition by analysing explanations in one particular conversation. We attend to the validity claims of what the speakers say, and to the authority with which they say it. Viewed in that light, we find that the majority of what might look like causal attributions turn out to look like argumentative claim-backings. We then go on to flesh out the quasi-pragmatic rules which might help to decide formally whether any given utterance is be er understood as an argument or a causal explanation. These rules revolve around the speaker's apparent intention and the projected relationship between the clauses in what she or he says. All of this takes us a fair way from attribution theory's model of explanation as the reporting of a cause, and we end up with an argumentative model of ordinary explanation.     

Psychological mechanisms of medically unexplained symptoms: an integrative conceptual model

Theories of medically unexplained illness based on the concepts of dissociation, conversion, and somatization are summarized. Evidence cited in support of these theories is described and the conceptual strengths and shortcomings of each approach are considered. It is argued that each of these approaches adds to the understanding of unexplained illness but that none is able to provide a comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon. An integrative conceptual model of unexplained illness based on cognitive psychological principles is then presented. This model attempts to combine existing theoretical approaches within a single explanatory framework, extending previous theory by explaining how compelling symptoms can exist in the absence of organic pathology. The clinical and empirical implications of the model are then considered.     

Marital conflict and marital intimacy: an integrative psychodynamic-behavioral-systemic model.

A conceptual model of some of the intrapsychic and interpersonal forces that stimulate and maintain repetitive, nonproductive marital conflict behavior is presented. In this model, concepts derived from psychoanalytic and social-learning theory and integrated within a family systems framework. Implications for conjoint therapy with conflictual couples are discussed.     

The career resources model: an integrative framework for career counsellors

Changes in the nature of work and organisations have led to an increased need for self-directed career management (SDCM). However, there is no consensus in the literature of what constitutes SDCM and many related concepts have been proposed. Integrating previous research across different conceptualisations of SDCM, the article proposes four critical career resources which are essential for career development in the modern context: human capital resources, social resources, psychological resources and identity resources. Implications of this framework for counselling practice are presented.     

Towards an Italian model of therapeutic community

In this paper the author reflects on research undertaken by the Association Myth and Reality in the context of the psychiatric reforms in Italy which resulted in the closure of the asylums and the organisation, over the last 20?years, of a network of services in the community. These include thousands of residential units operating on a rehabilitative model. The focus of this paper is on the concept of the therapeutic community as a dynamic evolutionary path, individually tailored to people with different diagnoses and different ages – e.g. psychosis; borderline; adolescents and children. The therapeutic – and more specifically the environmental – factors are presented here. This includes the aesthetics of living and the sensory/emotional climate in relation to the care of the self and protection, regulation and safety, transitional playful climate, everyday life and the sharing implicit in relationships. The emotional climate is a fundamental component that transverses and intersects all the other factors. Treatment is central to the group with its potential for containment and dynamism in relation to relationships, cohesion, belonging, integration of the self in the community and connections with social networks outside the group aimed at reintegration into society of the resident as a citizen. A system of evaluation through peer reviews between therapeutic communities in Italy is being built in order to continuously improve the quality of service delivery.     

Perfectionism, academic motivation, and psychological adjustment: an integrative model

The purpose of this article was to propose and test an integrative model on the role of perfectionism, academic motivation, and psychological adjustment difficulties in undergraduate students. The model posits that self-oriented perfectionism facilitates self-determined academic motivation, whereas socially prescribed perfectionism enhances non-self-determined academic motivation. In turn, self-determined and non-self-determined academic motivations, respectively, lead to lower and higher levels of psychological adjustment difficulties. Results from two studies using structural equation modeling analyses provided support for the model.     

Toward an integrative model for cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy

The purpose of this article is to present an integrative model of cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy. Illustrated by a series of critical incidents, it is argued that unidimensional models of cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy are inherently limited. Using Kluckhohn and Murray's tripartite model of personality, an integrative, sequential, and dynamic model of cross-cultural counseling is advanced. Support for the validity of the Kluckhohn and Murray model is first reviewed. This is followed by a delineation of the components of the current integrative model: (a) Outgroup homogeneity effect, (b) Cultural schema theory, (c) Complimentarity theory, (d) Science of complexity, and (e) Mindfulness. The operation of this model is described in a series of figures and the implications for counseling practice and future research is discussed.     

Toward an integrative model of suicide attempt: a cognitive psychological approach.

Applying a cognitive approach, the purpose of the present study was to expand previous research on stress-vulnerability models of depression and problem-solving deficits, as it relates to suicide attempt. Structural equation modelling, involving latent variables, was used to evaluate (a) whether low self-esteem, a low sense of self-efficacy, loneliness, and divorce constituted vulnerability factors for the development of depression; (b) whether hopelessness and suicidal ideation mediated the relationship between depression and suicide attempt; and (c) whether problem-solving deficits mediated the relationship between the vulnerability factors and suicide attempt, separate from depression/hopelessness. A total of 123 individuals, aged 18-75 years, participated in the study (72 suicide attempters and 51 psychiatric outpatients with no history of suicidal behavior). The results indicated a two path model of suicide attempt. The first path began with low self-esteem, loneliness, and separation or divorce, which advanced to depression, and was further mediated by hopelessness and suicidal ideation which led to suicide attempt. The second path developed from low self-esteem and a low sense of self-efficacy and advanced to suicide attempt, mediated by a negative appraisal of one's own problem-solving capacity, and poor interpersonal problem-solving skills. The importance of addressing both depression/hopelessness, and problem-solving deficits when working with suicide attempters is noted.     

Towards an empirical model of malingering and deception

Two models for the detection of dissimulation in mentally disordered individuals are presented. The first is a heuristic model summarizing useful indicators employed by practicing clinicians. The second and more extensive model integrates research findings from social-psychological and clinical studies towards identifying empirically-tested indicators of malingering and other forms of psychological deception.     

Work group diversity and group performance: an integrative model and research agenda

Research on the relationship between work group diversity and performance has yielded inconsistent results. To address this problem, the authors propose the categorization-elaboration model (CEM), which reconceptualizes and integrates information/decision making and social categorization perspectives on work-group diversity and performance. The CEM incorporates mediator and moderator variables that typically have been ignored in diversity research and incorporates the view that information/decision making and social categorization processes interact such that intergroup biases flowing from social categorization disrupt the elaboration (in-depth processing) of task-relevant information and perspectives. In addition, the authors propose that attempts to link the positive and negative effects of diversity to specific types of diversity should be abandoned in favor of the assumption that all dimensions of diversity may have positive as well as negative effects. The ways in which these propositions may set the agenda for future research in diversity are discussed.