Connectionism and Self: James,Mead, and the Stream of Enculturated Consciousness

William James conceptualized I, the self as subject as a stream of consciousness. When this conception is augmented with George Herbert Mead's view of self as a radically socialized and enculturated process, a result is the James-Mead model of dynamic self as a stream of enculturated consciousness. In this paper, we argue that connectionism is best suited to theorize this challenging notion. Based on the view that a connectionist model should describe psychological processes that carry out psychological functions grounded in a biological living system, we propose the I-SELF (Imitative and Sequence Learning Functional) model, which is designed to capture the temporal dynamics of a stream of consciousness whose content can be acquired via symbolically mediated social interaction with others in society. We identify four implications of the James-Mead model of dynamic self (embodiment, narrative and self, individual and collective self, and culture and self), and report computer simulations to show the utility of I-SELF in conceptualizing the dynamic self-processes in the contemporary social psychological literature. Theoretical and metatheoretical implications of the connectionist approach to self are discussed.     

Femininity and Masculinity in City-Form: Philosophical Urbanism as a History of Consciousness

Mutual feedback between human-made environments and facets of thought throughout history has yielded two myths: the Garden and the Citadel. Both myths correspond to Jung’s feminine and masculine collective subconscious, as well as to Nietzsche’s premise of Apollonian and Dionysian impulses in art. Nietzsche’s premise suggests, furthermore, that the feminine myth of the Garden is time-bound whereas the masculine myth of the Citadel, or the Ideal City, constitutes a spatial deportment. Throughout history the two myths have continually molded the built environment and thought, but the myth of the Ideal City – from Plato to Descartes to modernity – came to dominate city-form and ensuing aspects of contemplation. This relationship seems to have shifted during the twentieth century. Intellectual dispositions have begun to be largely nurtured by an incongruous city-form emerging from the gap between the incessant promise for an automated, well-functioning city, on the one hand, and looming alienation, coupled with the factual, malfunctioning city, on the other hand. Urban decay, a persisting and time-bound urban event that is a byproduct of this configuration, suggests the ascent of the Garden myth in post-modern city-form.     

The Body as the Ground of Religion, Science, and Self

The human body is both religious subject and scientific object, the manifest locus of both religious gnosis and secular cognition. Embodiment provides the basis for a rich cross–fertilization between cognitive science and comparative religion, but cognitive studies must return to their empiricist scientific roots by reembodying subjectivity, thus spanning the natural bridge between the two fields. Referencing the ritual centrality and cognitive content of the body, I suggest a materialist but nonreductionist construct of the self as a substantial cognitive embodiment that embraces not just perception and cognition, mind and spirit, but the forceful physicality of the moving body. Proprioception of the body's moving mass constitutes a mode of knowing that resonates strongly with the experience of self, not only across religious traditions but also within the physical sciences. By way of illustration, two directions are suggested in which a construct of the self as a substantial cognitive embodiment might lead us: first, a body–based interpretation of the Islamic myth of Adam and Iblis that reveals an internal substantiality as constitutive of the divinely imaged Self, and second, a new, religious direction for human evolutionary theory based on the implications of an embodied intentionality.     

Relation of self-talk frequency to loneliness,need to belong,and health in German adults

This study examined whether individuals with a high need to belong and feelings of loneliness tend to compensate for a lack of social contact by self-talk and whether self-talk prevents negative consequences on their physical and mental health. The sample consisted of 559 adults drawn from the German Sozioland Panel Project. The results of SEM analyses revealed evidence for significant relations of the need to belong and loneliness with the frequency of self-talk. Moreover, the need to belong and loneliness were significantly related to mental and physical health, but loneliness was shown to be more important for the prediction of both health outcomes. Results of moderator analyses indicate that self-talk might be a risk factor for an increased negative correlation between loneliness and mental health. Self-talk, which is supposed to be related to self-awareness, might reinforce the subjective feeling of loneliness and hence have a negative impact on psychological well-being.     

Religious Studies Collections and Information Literacy: A Snapshot of a University Library

Academic library collections are maintained to support programs and research at their home institutions. Information literacy, the formal instruction in the use of library resources, has become one of the essential programs in higher education. There is little research that shows how collection development, information literacy, and religious studies programs can be coordinated to produce successful partnerships. The authors, coordinators of Information Literacy and Collection Development, examined the religion collection, including purchase, usage, and circulation statistics. Information literacy courses in relation to the religious studies program were also investigated. After analyzing this data, the authors identified challenges, as they exist at their home institution, which includes a deficiency in both the religion collection and information literacy classes taught for the religious studies program. The authors conclude that much work is needed to advance successful collaborations between libraries and the religious studies departments, and academic librarians will need to examine their own religion collections to address similar challenges.     

Schematic Responses to Sexual Harassment Complainants: The Influence of Gender and Physical Attractiveness

This study was designed to examine the characteristics of a sexual harassment schema and its consequences using expectancy-violation theory as a framework for investigating an ostensible organizational grievance. Reactions to sexual harassment complainants were expected to be less favorable when the complainant was male than when the complainant was female. Results for the complainants of sexual harassment confirmed that men were believed less, liked less, and punished more than women. Furthermore, the tendency to believe and like female complainants more than male complainants was stronger when complainants were physically attractive. This study contributes to a growing body of research on gender schemas in the context of sexual harassment.     

Gender and Acculturation in Relation to Traditionalism: Perceptions of Self and Parents Among Chinese Students

The acculturation attitudes and traditionalismof Chinese university students in Toronto, Canada, wereinvestigated. Chinese men were significantly moretraditional than Chinese women in their beliefs and expectations regarding family hierarchy and thesocial roles of women and men, but they did not differin perceptions of their parents' construal of familyrelations and gender roles. Generational discrepancy between self and perceived parental values wasfound for Chinese women but not for men in the study,suggesting greater conflict with regard to traditionalgender role and cultural values for women. The acculturation attitude of separation predictedstudents' traditionalism, and marginalization predictedparents' perceived traditionalism. Gender differencesand the relevance of different modes of acculturation with regard to traditionalism are discussed inthis article.     

Bergson's and Sartre's Account of the Self in Relation to the Transcendental Ego

The historico-political category of 'Continental philosophy' arose in the United State and includes such figures as Adorno, Arendt, Beauvoir, Cairns, Carr, Cavailles, Deleuze, Derrida, Fink, Foucault, Funke, Gadamer, Gurwitsch, Habermas, Heidegger, Held, Ihde, Jaspers, Jonas, Kersten, Kristeva, Ingarden, Landgrebe, Levinas, Lyotard, Marcel, Marcuse, Marx, Merleau- Ponty, Mohanty, Natanson, Ortega y Gasset, Pato?ka, Reinach, Ricoeur, Sartre, Scheler, Schutz, Seebohm, Sokolowski, Spet, Stein, Stroeker, and Waldenfels. What these diverse figures share is (a) an early but not necessarily continued critical involvement with Husserl's phenomenology and (b) subsequent intellectual interaction with others who also began that way. Some comments on relations with analytic philosophy are also included with this historical sketch.     

The Temporally Extended Self: The Relation of Past and Future Selves to Current Identity,Motivation, and Goal Pursuit

People's current identity is constructed not only in the present moment but also by looking back to past selves and forward to future selves. In this article, we review research on the temporally extended self, with a focus on recent work informed by temporal self‐appraisal theory. People often recall the past and imagine the future in ways that contribute to a favorable current identity. Subjective temporal distance (how near or distant a point in time feels) plays a powerful role in determining temporal self‐appraisals. In turn, people's judgments of subjective distance can shift when considering temporal selves with good or bad implications for current identity. We will describe research exploring the complex interconnections between past, present, and future identity. In addition, we consider some of the unique implications that people's constructions of future selves might have for their plans and goals, and how predicted selves might influence goal‐pursuit motivation and behavior.     

Developing and Validating a Measure of Consumer Well-Being in Relation to Cell Phone Use

This paper reports on an effort to develop a consumer well-being measure in relation to cell phone use. The measure is based on the theoretical notion that the perception of the overall quality-of-life impact of the cell phone on users is determined by their perceptions of the impact of the cell phone in various life domains such as social life, leisure life, family life, education life, health and safety, love life, work life, and financial life. In turn, the perception of impact of the cell phone in a given life domain (e.g., social life, leisure life) is determined by perceptions of benefits and costs of the cell phone within that domain. We conducted two major studies to select items capturing perceived benefits and costs that are predictive of perceived quality-of-life impact of the cell phone.     

Developmental Links Between Trajectories of Physical Violence,Vandalism, Theft,and Alcohol-Drug Use from Childhood to Adolescence

Differences in developmental trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from ages 10 to 15 were studied. For females and for males, three trajectories of theft and of alcohol-drug use increased from 10 years to 15 years, while only the high trajectory of vandalism increased from ten to 14. All trajectories of physical violence decreased. Children who engaged in the high trajectories of vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use had a high probability of also being high in physical violence. Compared to males, females were less likely to be on the high trajectory of physical violence, and their trajectories of other antisocial behaviors were less strongly associated with high levels of physical violence. The results suggest that physical violence during pre-adolescence and adolescence has a different developmental pattern than other forms of antisocial behavior, and that its relation to these other forms of antisocial behavior differs by sex.     

Physical attractiveness in preschoolers: Relationships with power, status, aggression and social skills

Several lines of theory and research suggest that power (e.g., social dominance) and status (e.g., social prominence and positive peer regard) are enjoyed by those blessed with good looks. The present work addresses the relations among physical attractiveness, power, status, and aggression from a resource control theoretic perspective that suggests that group members find power holders physically attractive, even if they are aggressive. Teacher ratings of physical attractiveness, social dominance, peer reception, aggression, and social skills were collected on 153 preschoolers (3-6 years) from a Midwestern city. Positive peer regard was derived via sociometric nominations. Raters unfamiliar with the children assessed their physical attractiveness from photographs. Results show that teachers' perceptions of physical attractiveness are a function of power, status, and social skills. Additionally, teachers rated aggressive children who employ both prosocial and coercive strategies of resource control (bistrategic controllers) to be among the most physically attractive. These relations did not emerge for raters unbiased by children's behavior. Results suggest social dominance achieved via prosocial means begets attractiveness ratings, even if accompanied by high levels of aggression. The implications for intervention are discussed.     

Individuality, Belonging, and Children's Self Concepts: A Motivational Spiral Model of Self-Evaluation, Performance, and Participation in Physical Activities

Problématique. Ce projet avait pour objectif d’étudier les fondements sociaux et personnels des images de soi des enfants en rapport avec les activités physiques selon le modèle de la motivation de l’apprentissage en spirale. Ce modèle rapproche l’image de soi des enfants, leurs sentiments, leurs choix, leurs stratégies de résolution de problèmes et leurs performances, tout ce qui peut stimuler et contraindre les motivations des enfants à participer à des activités physiques dans les années à venir. Méthode. La première étude a porté sur de jeunes enfants (N= 40. Age: m = 6,3; σ= 1,1), mais aussi sur des moins jeunes (N= 36. Age : m = 10,2; σ= 1,2). La seconde concernait des enfants de 4 à 11 ans (N= 56. Age : m = 8; σ= 2,1). Résultats. Dans la première étude, les bases personnelles et sociales des images de soi variaient selon l’âge et les images des soi n’étaient pas nécessairement en rapport avec les performances observées. Dans la deuxième étude, les images de soi et les sentiments relatifs aux activités incitaient à une participation ultérieure fournissant aux enfants des occasions de développer leurs capacités et leur stratégies cognitives. Conclusion. Les résultats confirment les fondements hypothétiques personnels et sociaux des images de soi, ce qui est essentiel dans le modèle de l’apprentissage en spirale des motivations des enfants. Il en ressort qu’il existe des pistes communes et diversifiées qui conduisent les enfants à s’adonner à des activités physiques, ce qui a des retombées importantes sur les programmes cliniques et éducatifs concernant la santé et le bien‐être des enfants. This project examined the personal and social bases of children's self concepts about movement within the Motivational Spiral Model. The model relates children's self concepts, feelings, choices, task strategies, and performance that feed forward to support and constrain children's motivations to participate in physical movement in subsequent years. Study 1 was with younger (N= 40, age 6.3, SD 1.1 years) and older children (N= 36, age 10.2, SD 1.2 years). Study 2 was with 4‐ to 11‐year‐old children (N= 56, age 8.0, SD 2.1). In Study 1, personal and social bases of self concepts varied for younger and older children, and their self concepts were not necessarily associated with actual performance. In Study 2, children's self concepts and feelings about movement feed forward to subsequent participation providing children with opportunities to develop their task strategies and skills. Results support the proposed personal and social bases to self concepts that are central to the Motivational Spiral Model. The findings suggest common and diverse pathways to children's participation in physical activities, that have important applications in educational and clinical programmes for children's health and well‐being.     

Task,Coping, and Scheduling Self‐Efficacy in Relation to Frequency of Physical Activity1

Self‐efficacy has been shown to be a robust predictor of exercise and other health‐related behaviors (e.g., Bandura, 1986, 1995, 1997; Godin, Desharnais, Valois, & Bradet, 1995; Maddux, 1995; McAuley, Wraith, & Duncan, 1991). Maddux has proposed that there are different types of self‐efficacy and that these types may fulfill different roles in the motivation of behavior, perhaps based on characteristics of the target behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine 3 different types of self‐efficacy: task, coping, and scheduling and their respective usefulness in distinguishing among persons reporting different levels of exercise involvement. A cross‐sectional telephone survey using exercise behavior as the selection criterion was completed with 203 adults. Results showed that coping and scheduling efficacy were the best disciminators of level of exercise behavior. Task efficacy did not clearly distinguish between exercise groups. The theoretical and applied implications are discussed, particularly noting specific targets for future intervention.     

Cross-validation of the very short form of the Physical Self-Inventory (PSI-VS): invariance across genders, age groups, ethnicities and weight statuses

In a recent review of various physical self-concept instruments, Marsh and Cheng (in press) noted that the very short 12-item version of the French Physical Self-Inventory (PSI-VS) represents an important contribution to applied research but that further research was needed to investigate the robustness of its psychometric properties in new and diversified samples. The present study was designed to answer these questions based on a sample of 1103 normally achieving French adolescents. The results show that the PSI-VS measurement model is quite robust and fully invariant across subgroups of students formed according to gender, weight, age and ethnicity. The results also confirm the convergent validity and scale score reliability of the PSI-VS subscales.     

The Negative Physical Self Scale: Initial development and validation in samples of Chinese adolescents and young adults

This research presents four studies on the initial development and validation of the 48-item Negative Physical Self Scale (NPS), a multidimensional measure of body image concerns for use with Chinese samples. In Study 1 (N = 1095), exploratory factor analyses identified five dimensions underlying the NPS (General Appearance, Facial Appearance, Shortness, Fatness, Thinness). In Study 2 (N = 1057), confirmatory factor analyses replicated this factor structure. In Studies 3 and 4, the validity of all NPS dimensions except Thinness Concern was supported via their patterns of relation with both objective physical characteristics/behaviors and other self-report measures of body image and general self worth. Because Chinese adolescents and young adults expressed relatively more concerns about General Appearance, Shortness, and Facial Appearance than about Fatness, the NPS may have greater utility for assessing body image disturbances in China than existing measures that focus exclusively on general body satisfaction and body size/weight.     

The Human Being in the Context of Nature: Philosophical Anthropology and Natural Sciences in Hedwig Conrad-Martius

The most original aspect of Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ research is her interpretation of nature, performed through the phenomenological method. She pinpoints the very essences of the natural phenomena, discovering entelechies inside them and a trans-physical dimension. She reads the evolution of nature in a new way, against the deterministic interpretation of it. Inside nature one can discover many levels, qualitatively different. The human being participates to all of them, but his/her peculiarity is linked to the mental–spiritual life.