Hartmann's "Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation"

Hartmann's monograph is an argument for the problem-solving value of all aspects of the mind and for the subordination of intelligence to the organism's larger, primarily social purposes. Hartmann proposed that, in psychoanalytic treatment, intelligent reflection serves one's largest purposes by taking respectful account of non-rational but adaptive ways of appraising reality, with a view toward making the best use of non-rational as well as rational propensities. He regarded it as the kind of thinking that the sociologist, Karl Mannheim, had recommended to government planners faced with immensely complicated, incompletely masterable forces. Hartmann's view of the role of the intellect in analytic treatment suggests that therapists should maintain both their demand for intelligent reflection and their hopefulness about other kinds of work that may be going on sub rosa.     

On the origins of contemporary structural theory: an appreciation of "Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation"

Hartmann's monograph was one of four works which produced a major revision of psychoanalytic theory. Following a brief summary of the monograph, this essay assesses its impact on contemporary psychoanalytic thinking. It considers some confusions about and revisions of Hartmann's ideas and explores terrain first broached in this work which has become very influential but which has not yet been fully exploited. Lastly, this essay will consider Hartmann's hope that psychoanalysis would become a general psychology.     

Psychology and homosexuality: The British Sexological Society

The British Sexological Society was a largely unknown society composed of influential people of the early twentieth century in Great Britain. The present research is an archival study of the Society and its work concerning homosexuality. Issues addressed by the British Sexological Society are relevant to the early development of sexual emancipation movements as well as to issues of sexuality today.     

From Ego Psychology to Psychoanalysis in the Year 2000: One Analyst's Journey

Challenged by clinical findings and necessity, psychoanalysts proceed on a lifelong professional journey of exploring, deleting, adding, and integrating from various theoretical and technical paradigms. This article briefly depicts one analyst's journey from ego psychology in the early 1970s to the year 2000. The emphasis on retaining early valuable tenets and adding new theoretical and technical concepts. As an example, conflicts involving problems of the self and ego ideal, brought to the fore through work with patients having significant self-esteem, shame, and envy difficulties, are singled out. These conflicts are found in cases such as those with anorexia, body image disturbance, gender identity and negative gender message problems, and cases having early denigrating environments. Shame dynamics are addressed. The presenting pictures for problems involving shame are usually new compromise formations prompted by signal shame. A case is reported to depict the use of modern conflict theory in analyzing such problems.     

The Psychology of Future-Oriented Thinking: From Achievement to Proactive Coping,Adaptation, and Aging

Contributions to this special issue examine multiple aspects of how people think about and prepare for desired and undesired future outcomes, including the processes that link thoughts about one's present situation to possible future outcomes and those that promote the balanced pursuit of long-term vs. short-term goals. They also identify new distinctions among widely studied future-oriented thoughts and feelings (e.g., optimism versus hope). Several contributions examine proactive efforts to prevent adverse effects or reduce their impact in such challenging contexts as being discriminated against, aging and becoming disabled, preparing for potential disasters, or coping with terrorist attacks. Two final contributions examine the implications of temporal factors for advance decision-making in medicine and business. This introductory article highlights the central issues addressed by the contributions and discusses ways in which studying future-oriented thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the contexts of stress and lifespan development may extend our understanding of future-oriented phenomena beyond the achievement domain.     

Psychology of the scientist: LXXXV. Research on homosexuality: a response to Schumm (and Herek)

Because social science is "messy," just about any criticism of any work--including our efforts--has validity. But the empiricist principle is more important than a theoretical search for perfection in research. The findings from our 1983-1984 nationwide random survey are superior to earlier efforts and similar enough to those reported by the 1992 nationwide random survey conducted by University of Chicago investigators, the 1994 British effort, and the 1996 NHSDA to suggest all approximate "a similar truth about reported sexuality."     

Ego Functions and Ego Development: Defense Mechanisms and Intelligence as Predictors of Ego Level

This study considers the contribution of two ego functions--intelligence and defense mechanisms--to ego developmental level. Two independent assessments of ego level were related to IQ and defense mechanism use in a sample of 89 young adults. Whereas IQ and defense were themselves found to be unrelated, both variables predicted ego level: The relation with IQ was linear, whereas the relation with defense was curvilinear. In addition, the relation between defense and ego level varied as a function of IQ level. At low levels of IQ, stronger use of Denial and Projection was associated with higher ego levels. At high IQ levels, strong use of Denial was associated with lower ego levels, whereas moderate use of Projection was associated with higher ego levels.     

Sex,sin, and the church: The dilemma of homosexuality

A parallel is suggested between the way blacks have been treated in this country with the way some people view homosexuality. A critique of the origins of the homosexuality taboo and of the argument that homosexual persons are uniquely pathological follows. Though the Judeo-Christian tradition seems to have played a negative role in the past, the contemporary church, in concert with other institutions, can generate a moral force to help overcome homophobia.This paper is based on a presentation to the annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Religion: Southwest, Dallas, Texas, March 1986.     

Adaptation to work: An analysis of employee health, withdrawal, and change

J. Rosse and H. Miller (1984, in P. Goodman, R. Atkin et al., Absenteeism: New Approaches to understanding, measuring, and managing employee absence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass) have proposed a model of employee adaptation that hypothesizes multiple withdrawal behaviors and attempts to change working conditions as alternative forms of adaptation to a dissatisfying work environment. Negative health outcomes are also hypothesized consequences of dissatisfaction with work. In this longitudinal study of 42 new hospital employees, intention to quit, turnover, absence, attempts to change the job, and heatlh disorders were negatively correlated with job satisfaction; lateness and self-report avoidance scale were not. Use of adaptive behaviors was also found to have remedial effects for employee health. Implications for a general model of adaptation are discussed.     

Psychology and health. Research, practice, and policy

Since World War II, American psychology's role in health care has significantly expanded. This was formally recognized in 2001 when the membership of the American Psychological Association (APA) approved a bylaw change in its mission statement to include the word health. An accumulating body of research demonstrates and recent reviews conclude that psychological factors are primary in health and in illnesses. This article proposes a vision of psychology that endorses a bio-psycho-socio-cultural model of health research and interventions. The author provides 4 definitions of health, reviews selected psychology health research and interventions, summarizes APA's recent health-related activities, and presents 5 policy recommendations for consideration and debate.     

The overstimulation of everyday life: I. New aspects of male homosexuality.

Western heterosexual culture surrounds the homosexually inclined boy in a climate of erotic overstimulation that powerfully affects his development and adult sexual adaptation. This assertion is illustrated through a case presentation of a homosexual man who shared a bed with his brother from childhood into adolescence. Analysis of the patient's transference enactment--repeatedly falling asleep on the couch--gradually revealed the psychic impact of this everyday overstimulation: the creation of a tantalized inner world of longing. The regular occurrence and developmental understanding of adolescent homosexual boys' unrequited love affairs with adolescent heterosexual boys are described and explored. Finally, the overstimulation of everyday life is proposed as a new model for understanding certain behavioral aspects of male homosexuality, such as the avoidance of rough-and-tumble play in childhood and homosexual cruising.     

Working class homosexuality and HIV/AIDS prevention some recent research from Sydney,Australia

Abstract

Surveys on gay and bisexual men in Sydney and non-metropolitan New South Wales (NSW) indicate uneven patterns of HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual behaviour change. As a follow-up action-research study, the Class, Homosexuality and AIDS Prevention (CHAP) project pursued audio-recorded, semistructured interviews with men in western Sydney and Nullangardie, a provincial city in NSW, to investigate the relationship between homosexuality and class.

One-to-one interviews with working-class, homosexually active men revealed particular patterns of homosexual initiation and sexual relationships, and a distinct culture being slowly affected by notions of being “gay” and “gay community”. This impact of modern gay life on western Sydney was different from that in the provincial city. More prominent were the effects of class—unemployment, poor education, poverty, and cultural marginalisation—on the experience and elaboration of homosexuality. Group interviews confirmed an experience of “difference” from prominent gay communities, especially Sydney's “Oxford Street” gay quarter. Working-class men offered a critique of gay community-initiated HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, pointing toward different education initiatives involving local social networks.

Case studies are presented to argue the importance of the relation between sexuality and class, and its consequences for HIV/AIDS education.     

Early emotional instability,prosocial behaviour,and aggression: some methodological aspects

The internal consistency of Emotional Instability, Prosocial Behaviour, and Aggression scales was examined in elementary school children aged between 7 and 10 years. Multiple informants (self-report, teacher rating, mother rating, and peer nomination) were obtained on the above three dimensions. Relationships between the scales were first examined within the single informant frame of reference and then between informants. The concurrent validity was assessed using sociometric measures (popularity, rejection, social impact, and social preference) and the Achenbach and Edelbrock Child Behavior Checklist (teacher and parent form). The results confirm the internal validity of the three scales measuring emotional instability, prosocial behaviour, and aggression in child self-report, teacher rating, and mother rating. The use of self-report measures seems promising within the multiple informant strategy of research on child behaviour. Correlational results show satisfactory concurrent validity for the three scales, especially for teacher rating and peer nomination. The strict relation between emotional instability and aggression poses problems of discriminant validity which need to be further investi gated.     

A Problem of Personality: Scientist and Practitioner Differences in Psychology

ABSTRACT Differences between scientists and practitioners have been one of the most consistent and controversial topics throughout the history of American psychology. Even though many qualitative arguments and indirect quantitative studies have been offered in the literature, scientist and practitioner personality perspectives have never been measured directly. We have done so in this study, and we argue that these differences can be conceptualized within a personality framework. Results of our study demonstrate that interest in scientist activities and interest in practitioner activities were both predicted by theoretical orientations and vocational personality styles. Scientist and practitioner interests were predicted by these variables in opposite directions. We conclude by noting that while the conflict between scientist and practitioner personality styles is often said to be solvable by appropriate education, training models provide only partial solutions. It would be useful for training models to examine the role of personality differences in scientist-practitioner orientations in order to design realistic programs and objectives.