The nature of humor in human nature: Cross-cultural commonalities

It is contended that humor is a universal, pan-cultural phenomenon. Humor theory is examined on superiority, psychoanalytic, and incongruity-resolution dimensions. Cross-cultural humor commonalities are derived from the literature; and genetic, biological, and social dynamics of humor are explored. Intercultural differences in the content domain of humor are noted. It is concluded that humor is an appropriate intervention for ethnically diverse clients, when used sensitively in the counselling process.     

The universal nature of human intelligence: Evidence from games

Mentally retarded individuals have relatively greater difficulty in dealing with strategic games and puzzles than with many other tasks. Consequently, it is of interest to find that strategic games have been played since ancient times, are played throughout the world, and that players who excel are frequently considered wise. Hidden within the more obvious differences between cultures, strategic games are an invariant expression of certain universal intellectual traits.     

The determinants of beliefs in human nature

This study set out to examine which of a range of ‘demographic’ factors best predicted peoples' beliefs in the heredity vs environmental determinants of specific features in human nature. Ss' sex, age, education, class, voting pattern and religion were related to their beliefs in the heredity vs environmental determinants of six human characteristics: physical characteristics, psychological skills, personality, beliefs, psychological problems and physical problems. Both univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated the close relationship between the independent demographic variables, particularly education and voting pattern, and the dependent belief variables, particularly personality and beliefs. The literature on correlates of political beliefs was examined and related to the findings in this study.     

The importance of being we: human nature and intergroup relations

The author discusses the nature of in-group bias and the social motives that underlie ethnocentric attachment to one's own membership groups. Two common assumptions about in-group bias are challenged: that in-group positivity necessitates out-group derogation and that in-group bias is motivated by self-enhancement. A review of relevant theory and research on intergroup relations provides evidence for 3 alternative principles: (a) in-group attachment and positivity are primary and independent of out-groups, (b) security motives (belonging and distinctiveness) underlie universal in-group favoritism, and (c) attitudes toward out-groups vary as a function of intergroup relationships and associated threats to belonging and distinctiveness     

Cultivating human nature

Evolutionary psychology claims to offer a unified perspective on human nature and culture, which can serve to further the integration of psychology and the social sciences. I describe four approaches to evolutionary psychology, and note increasing attention to the agency of the individual in constructing the biological and cultural environment. These approaches, however, share a problematic conception of culture as information. I explore the possibility of using Latour's concept of mediation to analyse the relation between human nature and culture without restricting the latter to information, and collect a number of recent studies and essays that illustrate the way individuals mediate nature and culture.     

Egocentricity,coenocentrism, and the nature of human fulfillment

This essay explores the reasons why human beings suffer unnecessarily and suggests the means by which that suffering may be alleviated. Normal psychological functioning isegocentric, a mode of being that derives from a profound sense of deficiency and proceeds with a quest to prove being and worth in face of the world.Coenocentrism is an awareness of inner commonality and relatedness that relieves a person's feelings of isolation, separateness, and difference from others. Coenocentrism requires a transformation of the self through ecstatic experience and a relinquishing of one's own basic tendencies and understandings of the self and world.     

Agency,human nature and character in Kantian theory

Conclusion In order for the duty of friendship to be practically possible, and for gratitude and beneficence to be unencumbered virtues, Kant need not have held that human beings are basically good. He need only have understood that they are social beings, with desires for both independence and connection, autonomy and affiliation, and purposes that are not always merely their own. I have argued that because he did not, his moral theory is flawed in three important respects.In Kant's theory, morality is only possible because humans are rational, and necessary because (absent morality) they are self-interested individuals, egoistically motivated, distrustful and isolated. When this view is applied to particular questions of friendship and the virtues, it becomes a distorting medium. It is my contention that a more adequate theory of character would result from the application of Kantian moral principles to a sounder, more social conception of human nature.In conclusion, I wish to make it clear that I am not arguing that human beings are basically good, only that they are essentially social. In his political writings Kant has emphasized the social dimension of reason itself, and I believe he would agree with Thomas Nagel's recent claim about human nature and morality: To say that altruism and morality are possible in virtue of something basic to human nature is not to say that men are basically good. Men are basically complicated; how good they are depends on whether certain conceptions and ways of thinking have achieved dominance, a dominance which is precarious in any case.

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Internal cohesion psychotherapy: The nature,principles and application

Psychotherapy is widely used to treat different mental health disorders and emotional difficulties. The main objective of psychotherapy is to help clients become aware of and have control over their thoughts, moods, feelings and behaviours, as well as create healthy strategies to respond to challenging situations. Since the existing psychotherapy approaches and other methods of treatment are not always effective in treating mental health disorders, there is still space for new approaches to fill this gap. In this paper, we provide information about internal cohesion psychotherapy, which is a new integrative approach. This paper presents a new approach to eclectic psychotherapy, focussing on four detrimental aspects of human functioning through different time perspectives.     

The nature of awe: Elicitors,appraisals, and effects on self-concept

Awe has been defined as an emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that overwhelm current mental structures, yet facilitate attempts at accommodation. Four studies are presented showing the information-focused nature of awe elicitors, documenting the self-diminishing effects of awe experience, and exploring the effects of awe on the content of the self-concept. Study 1 documented the information-focused, asocial nature of awe elicitors in participant narratives. Study 2 contrasted the stimulus-focused, self-diminishing nature of appraisals and feelings associated with a prototypical awe experience with the self-focused appraisals and feelings associated with pride. Study 3 found that dispositional awe-proneness, but not dispositional joy or pride, was associated with low Need for Cognitive Closure, and also documented a relationship between dispositional awe and increased emphasis on membership in “universal” categories in participants’ self-concepts. Study 4 replicated the self-concept finding from Study 3 using experimentally elicited awe. Implications for future work on awe are discussed.     

The nature of clinical depression: symptoms, syndromes, and behavior analysis

In this article we discuss the traditional behavioral models of depression and some of the challenges analyzing a phenomenon with such complex and varied features. We present the traditional model and suggest that it does not capture the complexity of the phenomenon, nor do syndromal models of depression that dominate the mainstream conceptualization of depression. Instead, we emphasize ideographic analysis and present depression as a maladaptive dysregulation of an ultimately adaptive elicited emotional response. We emphasize environmental factors, specifically aversive control and private verbal events, in terms of relational frame theory, that may transform an adaptive response into a maladaptive disorder. We consider the role of negative thought processes and rumination, common and debilitating aspects of depression that have traditionally been neglected by behavior analysts.     

India's environment: The enclosure of nature and the nature of enclosure

This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992, 274 pages, £4.95 pb.

Nature, Culture and Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, David Arnold and Ramachandra Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995, 376 pages, £19.50.