Karen Horney: Theorist in Psychoanalysis and Feminine Psychology

Karen Horney is unique and unparalleled in personality theory. She has the distinction of being the only woman whose theory is detailed in personality textbooks. Horney is known as a neo-Freudian for her revision of Freudian thought; a social psychological theorist for her emphasis on cultural and social influences; a humanist for her holistic view and emphasis on self-realization; and a feminist for her development of a feminine psychology. She was a founder of the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis and founder and dean of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis, a training institute. She was a teacher who could simplify the most difficult concepts; a therapist with deep human involvement; Editor of the American Journal of Psychoanalysis ; a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; a regular contributor to scientific sessions; and a prolific writer. She was personally and professionally a "well-rounded balance of an abundance of striving and creative possibility."     

Karen Horney: A Bibliography of Her Writings

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Loving styles: relationships with personality and attachment styles

We investigated the ability of the major personality dimensions, some of their underlying facet scales, and attachment styles to predict primary and secondary loving styles, as conceptualized by Lee. Personality was assessed using the International Personality Item Pool, and attachment styles through an inventory devised by Collins and Read. Respondents were 302 undergraduate students (212 females; 90 males) who participated in the study in exchange for course credit. Results of regression path analysis showed that N was the only personality dimension without direct predictive links to loving styles. Instead, the influence of N was through an anxious attachment style. There were no personality predictors of Agape, and similarities were also observed between these results and those obtained in Hong Kong. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies and some suggestions for further research are also noted. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teachers' conflict management styles: The role of attachment styles and classroom management efficacy

Constructive conflict management strategies are important in maintaining a positive classroom environment yet little is known about interpersonal or school variables associated with teachers' use of such strategies with students. Teachers high in self-reported classroom management efficacy (CMEFF) and security of attachment (low on avoidance, anxiety) were predicted to endorse use of positive classroom management strategies (e.g., integrating, compromising) more than insecure teachers and those low in CMEFF. Teachers (N = 283) from eleven schools (seven elementary), largely female and white, responded to a questionnaire in their boxes (29.4% response rate). School and teacher demographic variables were included in a multivariate regression after preliminary analysis suggested that ignoring the multilevel structure of the data made little difference in results; school variances were small compared with teacher variances. CMEFF and years teaching had positive, significant effects on use of integrating and compromising strategies, while avoidance had negative effects on both and anxiety on integrating strategies. Implications for teacher development are discussed.     

The role of attachment styles in malicious envy

The current study addresses the link between attachment styles and manifestations of malicious envy. One hundred twenty-four Israeli undergraduate students completed measures of attachment styles, self-esteem, social comparison, and participated in a subject manipulation tapping malicious envy using tools developed for the present study. These measures were developed to examine envy in a direct way while controlling confounding variables such as the general tendency to see others in negative ways. Our findings revealed that dismissive avoidants exhibited higher levels of malicious envy manifestations in comparison to fearful avoidants. Theoretical implications of the findings were discussed by the authors.     

Metrical categories in infancy and adulthood

Intrinsic perceptual biases for simple duration ratios are thought to constrain the organization of rhythmic patterns in music. We tested that hypothesis by exposing listeners to folk melodies differing in metrical structure (simple or complex duration ratios), then testing them on alterations that preserved or violated the original metrical structure. Simple meters predominate in North American music, but complex meters are common in many other musical cultures. In Experiment 1, North American adults rated structure-violating alterations as less similar to the original version than structure-preserving alterations for simple-meter patterns but not for complex-meter patterns. In Experiment 2, adults of Bulgarian or Macedonian origin provided differential ratings to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in complex- as well as simple-meter contexts. In Experiment 3, 6-month-old infants responded differentially to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in both metrical contexts. These findings imply that the metrical biases of North American adults reflect enculturation processes rather than processing predispositions for simple meters.