“I’m Just Who I Am”: Self-Continuity and the Dialogical Self in a Study of Migrants

Drawing on dialogical self theory, this study aimed to develop understanding of the processes of self-continuity in migrants with complex trajectories. Twelve participants of various nationalities and ages took part in qualitative interviews in the United Kingdom and the United States. An iterative, three-step analysis for multivoicedness suggested participants initially adopted stabilizing I-positions that acted as foundations for subsequent development and evolution of new selves. A clear and dynamic progression of positioning, repositioning, and innovation in the dialogical self emerged. Findings suggest that change and rupture may act as catalysts for positive development and innovation, resulting in a robust, enhanced sense of self-continuity.     

Passion, Pain, and Purpose: One Man’s Response to the Passion of the Lord

The purpose of this article is to review and comment on the book The Passion of the Lord: African American Reflections. Edited by James A. Noel and Matthew V. Johnson, and published by Facets (an imprint of Fortress Press: Minneapolis), the book explores the unique perspective of African American thought in relation to the story of the Passion of Christ, and the cultural aesthetics which allow Christ’s suffering on the cross to become a powerful agent of spiritual strength, hope, love, and faith. This article records one African American man’s deep personal engagement of, and resonance to, the material as he validates, affirms the important insights of the seven theologians presented. Through personal observation and experience, poetry and relevant cultural idioms, the author honors work which, ultimately, contributes to a vitally important self-understanding of who African Americans are now, where they are now, and how they have come to be the people they are now in America.

“Because I’m the man! I’m the head”: British married Muslims and the patriarchal family structure

The patriarchal family is based on a hierarchical social structure which positions the man as the head of the family ‘ruling’ over women and children. This article draws on data obtained from structured interviews with 25 married Muslim couples living in Glasgow (Scotland, UK). It examines their views on the position of the family head. Exploring the hierarchical relationship between the husband and wife, the article considers how participants come to an agreement about who may assume this role and how it is to be fulfilled. It also explores how participants use religion to support and reproduce the patriarchal family structure based on the man as the head of the family.     

“I’m Not a Pimp,but I Play One on TV”: The Moral Career and Identity Negotiations of Third Parties in the Sex Industry

Goffman described the moral career of stigmatized persons as a process by which an individual acquires a stigmatized identity. His analysis, which assumes that individuals recognize and adopt the normative framing of their behavior, glosses over individual identity negotiations. Drawing on 50 interviews with sex industry third parties, this article examines stereotype consciousness—defined as the interactional processes that lead individuals to recognize that they have a discreditable identity. We explore how participants negotiate their identities in response to the social and legal constructions of pimps, procurers, and traffickers, and examine their resistance to the stigmatizing stereotypes that characterize their work.     

“I’m Not Gonna Be Like ‘That Guy’”: Examining Antidrug Shock Advertising through the Eyes of “That Guy”

Shock advertising antidrug campaigns pose significant implications for methamphetamine (meth) addicts. In recent years, the Montana Meth Project public service campaign has broadcast a series of advertisements containing shocking and disturbing images of meth addicts in an attempt to prevent meth use. Although intended to warn teens about the dangers of meth, the shock-based advertising reaches another population: meth addicts, unintentionally exposing them to a labeling process. This study examines the effects of Montana’s advertisements on the worldview of 20 recovering meth addicts using interviews. Results highlight the unintended consequences of shock advertising on those attempting to reintegrate into the non-using community, suggesting that the campaign negatively impacts addicts’ worldviews and creates stereotypes, stigma, and differential treatment of meth users. Ultimately, this antidrug scare campaign appears to be a barrier to reintegration for meth addicts.     

“It Happens,But I’m Not There”: On the Phenomenology of Childbirth

Human Studies - Phenomenologically grounded research on pregnancy is a thriving area of activity in feminist studies and related disciplines. But what has been largely omitted in this area of...     

“Just Like Riding a Bike”: A Model Matching Approach to Predicting the Enjoyment of a Cycling Exergame Experience

Innovations in technology have led to the introduction of exercise devices that feature interactive virtual worlds, often referred to as exergames. Using the theory of model matching, this study seeks to determine if controller naturalness and perceived realism are predictors of immersion in an exercise-based virtual environment and, in turn, if perceived immersion is a predictor of enjoyment of this exercise experience. Participants rode a 3-mile virtual course on an Expresso HD upright bicycle and then reported their attitudes toward the experience. Findings suggest that extending the theory of mental models from traditional video game play to the study of certain exergame-based technologies is an appropriate application of the theory. Additionally, given the influence of immersion on the overall enjoyment of the fitness experience identified in this study, these findings also have implications for the development and use of exergames that are immersive, realistic, and utilize naturalistic controllers to promote commitment to physical activity.     

“I would have lost the respect of my friends and family if they knew I had bent the road rules”: Parents,peers, and the perilous behaviour of young drivers

Young novice drivers are at considerable risk of injury on the road. Their behaviour appears vulnerable to the social influence of their parents and friends. The nature and mechanisms of parent and peer influence on young novice driver (16–25 years) behaviour was explored via small group interviews (n = 21) and two surveys (n1 = 1170, n2 = 390) to inform more effective young driver countermeasures. Parental and peer influence occurred in pre-Licence, Learner, and Provisional (intermediate) periods. Pre-Licence and unsupervised Learner drivers reported their parents were less likely to punish risky driving (e.g., speeding). These drivers were more likely to imitate their parents and reported their parents were also risky drivers. Young novice drivers who experienced or expected social punishments from peers, including ‘being told off’ for risky driving, reported less riskiness. Conversely drivers who experienced or expected social rewards such as being ‘cheered on’ by friends – who were also more risky drivers – reported more risky driving including crashes and offences. Interventions enhancing positive influence and curtailing negative influence may improve road safety outcomes not only for young novice drivers, but for all persons who share the road with them. Parent-specific interventions warrant further development and evaluation including: modelling safe driving behaviour by parents; active monitoring of driving during novice licensure; and sharing the family vehicle during the intermediate phase. Peer-targeted interventions including modelling of safe driving behaviour and attitudes; minimisation of social reinforcement and promotion of social sanctions for risky driving also need further development and evaluation.     

In my ‘Mind’s Eye’: introspectionism,detectivism, and the basis of authoritative self-knowledge

It is widely accepted that knowledge of certain of one’s own mental states is authoritative in being epistemically more secure than knowledge of the mental states of others, and theories of self-knowledge have largely appealed to one or the other of two sources to explain this special epistemic status. The first, ‘detectivist’, position, appeals to an inner perception-like basis, whereas the second, ‘constitutivist’, one, appeals to the view that the special security awarded to certain self-knowledge is a conceptual matter. I argue that there is a fundamental class of cases of authoritative self-knowledge, ones in which subjects are consciously thinking about their current, conscious intentional states, that is best accounted for in terms of a theory that is, broadly speaking, introspectionist and detectivist. The position developed has an intuitive plausibility that has inspired many who work in the Cartesian tradition, and the potential to yield a single treatment of the basis of authoritative self-knowledge for both intentional states and sensation states.     

“I’m not a feminist, but…”: factors contributing to the discrepancy between pro-feminist orientation and feminist social identity

Using constructs from theories of social identity and collective action, hypotheses were developed concerning variables that predict pro-feminist orientation among those who resist the feminist label, as compared to variables that predict willingness to identify as a feminist. Predictors that were expected to be important to the latter, but not the former group, included (1) positive evaluation of feminists, (2) belief in collective action, (3) recognition of discrimination, and (4) previous exposure to feminist thought. The sample consisted of 47 male and 94 female college students (60% Anglo, 16% Asian-American, 7% African-American, 9% Hispanic, and 7% “Other”), aged 17–50 years. Using separate multiple regressions, support for the differential inclusion of all but the third variable was found. Also as predicted, the genders did not differ in pro-feminist orientation, although college women were more willing than college men to identify as feminist. Results are discussed as potentially important to understanding willingness to engage in collective advocacy.     

“I’m More Aware of the Body than Ever”: Old Adults’ Experiences of the Psychosocial Significance of Their Bodies

Psychology theorises about the ageing body in terms of physical losses, and recommends transcending the body for satisfactory ageing. This study explored old adults’ conceptions of the ageing body to identify its relevance for their well-being in personal and interpersonal contexts. Ten retired individuals participated in semi-structured interviews and data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Ageing was found to trigger a conflict between the participants’ active self and weakening body. The interviewees defensively attempted to sideline their bodies by preoccupying themselves with mental health and interpersonal issues. However, they realised that their daily experiences (e.g., emotions and interpersonal interactions) depended upon bodily fitness and reciprocally, physical health was affected by lifestyle choices alongside socio-cultural influences. This insight about the biopsychosocial nature of the body empowered the participants to adapt to ageing. Their limitations seemed to motivate them to assume health behaviours, to fight for dignity of self and to empathise with significant others, thus enhancing well-being. Perceptions about the body therefore influenced participants’ health management and relationships. An alternative theorisation of the body as an active contributor to human psychosocial identity will pave way for interventions that sustain quality of life among those experiencing physical decline.     

Sympathy, Disability, and the Nurse: Female Power in Edith Wharton’s The Fruit of the Tree

The nursing profession’s emphasis on empathy as essential to nursing care may undermine nurses’ power as a collective and detract from perceptions of nurses’ analytical skills and expertise. The practice of empathy may also obscure and even compound patients’ suffering when it does not fully account for their subjectivity. This essay examines the relation of empathy to women’s agency and explores the role empathy plays in obscuring rather than empowering the suffering other, particularly people who are disabled, through a close reading of Edith Wharton’s 1907 novel, The Fruit of the Tree, and through discussions of empathy and sympathy from literary and disability studies.     

“I’ve said I’m sorry,haven’t I?” A study of the identity implications and constraints that apologies create for their recipients

In contrast to previous research on apologies, which has examined their role in enhancing impressions of those issuing them (e.g., Darby and Schlenker, 1989), the research reported here draws upon Goffman’s (1955) analysis of the “corrective cycle” and is concerned with constraints associated with the receipt of apologies. Study 1 examines the implications for the actor of accepting, not accepting, or rejecting apologies. It is demonstrated that across a variety of judgments, most positive views of the actor result when apologies are accepted; least positive views are associated with their rejection. A follow-up study sought to establish whether this effect would occur under circumstances in which unconvincing apologies are rejected. Results indicate that the apology’s status (convincing versus unconvincing) has no bearing on perceptions of actors. Based on a hypothetical role-play format, Study 2 addresses the matter of whether actors experience a subjective sense of constraint upon receipt of unsatisfactory apologies. The data suggest that there exists a pronounced tendency to accept such apologies, though typically with conditions that would be specified to the offender. More general implications of the data are discussed.     

“I want to pray and I don’t want to pray”: expressive individualism and prayer

This article reports on a study of the relationship between expressive individualism, an important characteristic of individualistic cultures, and different varieties of prayer. Four dimensions of expressive individualism (autonomy, setting oneself apart from others, personal development, and the expression of emotions) and four types of prayer (petitionary, religious, meditative, and psychological) were distinguished. Data were collected from participants in internet forums on Christian religiosity (N?=?158); they were asked to complete questionnaires about expressive individualism and prayer. The relationship between expressive individualism and prayer was found to be an ambivalent one, and one that is negatively dominated by autonomy. After eliminating the effect of autonomy, two patterns remain visible, both of them characterised by a positive connection to religiosity. Setting oneself apart from others is associated with petitionary and religious prayer; personal development with meditative and psychological prayer. The explanation of this concealed longing for religion is sought in the pressure resulting from expressive individualism as a way of life.     

“I just talk with my heart”: the mind–body problem,linguistic input,and the acquisition of folk psychological beliefs

This study adds to the literature addressing the input preschool children receive regarding mental state language by systematically investigating input that is metaphoric in nature. An analysis of the frequency of five body-part terms in adult speech and in storybooks directed to children reveals that the term heart is regularly used in figurative expressions to reflect a variety of emotions, both positive (e.g., love, kindness) and negative (e.g., hatred, sadness), especially in storybook text. Other salient body-part terms (i.e., brain, eye, foot, stomach) are used metaphorically much less frequently in speech or stories directed to preschoolers. The role of this input for children’s acquisition of mentalistic language and for their emerging theories of psychology and biology is discussed.     

Cosmic Alienation and the Origin of Evil: Rejecting the “Only Way” Option

Abstract

For many contemporary theologians, God could not have created the universe in any other way than leading inevitably to evil. First, this essay will argue that non-human evil represents genuine evil. Second, it will argue that if contingency leads inevitably to evil, then God is too closely implicated in the creation of evil. Finally, I will re-explore the occurrence of a primordial deviation from God's original plan logically prior to creation as the best explanation for the origin of evil, thereby placing the origin of evil back in the context of freedom rather than implicating the nature of contingent reality.     

Blake's Development of the Number Words “One,” “Two,” and “Three”

A mother tracked her preschooler's number word development daily from 18 to 49 months of age. Naturalistic observations were supplemented with observations during structured (Kumon) training and microgenetic testing. The boy's everyday use of “two” did not become highly reliable and selective for 10 months (at 28 months), emerged later than that of words representing less abstract concepts, and was used in a relatively abstract manner to describe various visible pairs of items. He quickly generalized “two” to partially visible collections and then those that were not visible. Highly reliable use of “one” and “two” appeared to develop simultaneously, before he started using a plural rule, and before he could put out two items upon request. Reliable and accurate use of number words in everyday situations, particularly child-initiated efforts, preceded such use in the contexts of the Kumon training and microgenetic testing, both of which involved adult-initiated tasks. Educational implications include underscoring differences among the first number words by contrasting, for instance, one with two, and pointing out non-examples of a number (“not two”) as well as a wide variety of examples, such as “two blocks, two hands, two socks, two airplanes.”