Abstract art and emotion: expressive form and the sense of wholeness

This paper limits itself to abstract art the better to concentrate on the relation between the emotionally expressive power of esthetic form--apart from its narrative content--and emotional responsiveness. The emotionally expressive power of art--not to be confused with the artist's own emotions--has to do with the way sensuous esthetic forms highlight the rhythmic changes of tension and release inherent in ordinary perceptual experience. Tension and release are useful terms in thinking about how the perception of an esthetic structure is transformed (transduced) into feelingful psychological meanings, and contributes to the subjective sense of wholeness. The sense of wholeness may be illusory and/or authentic depending on the mix of elements in the individual's responsiveness. It comes about through a unified organization of tension and release, as embodied in expressive forms such as rhythm and rhyme, resonating with tension and release evoked in the observer's associations to such psychological issues as separation and reunion. Having stirred the viewer's emotional responsiveness, the art work provides a reliable "container" for the objectification of latent emotions.     

The value of emotionally expressive visual art in medical education

This paper approaches the topic of visual art in medical education from a philosophical perspective, drawing on arguments from epistemology, philosophy of science, aesthetics, and contemporary ethical theory. Several medical ethicists have noted that the traditional clinical paradigm may increase the epistemic and emotional distance between patient and physician in part by focusing on the physical body and medical technology. Some of these same writers recommend a new approach to patients based on empathy and increased attention to suffering. After reviewing these arguments, supporting examples, and recommendations, I explain how visual art that expresses or symbolizes the emotional response to illness could be used to introduce an additional paradigm into medical education. This would be a paradigm based on empathetic attention to patients' emotional experiences in illness. My own argument is that this additional way of perceiving and relating to patients may reduce the distance between patient and physician and may allow physicians to better meet the ideal of treating the patient as a person.     

a new typology of deviance: integrating normative and reactivist definitions of deviance

The concept of positive deviance is marginalized in deviance literature by the focus on negative deviance and the absence of comprehensive conceptions of deviance. Current conceptions of positive deviance simply parallel definitions of negative deviance, namely normative and reactivist conceptions. Normative definitions posit positive deviance as behaviors and attributes that exceed normative expectations (e.g., overconformity), such as overachieving students. Reactivist definitions view positive deviance as positively evaluated behaviors and attributes, such as athletic talent. We propose a new typology, which cross-classifies reactivist and normative definitions of deviance and more precisely distinguishes positive deviance, along with three other categories of deviance. Negative deviance, the traditional focus of the sociology of deviance, refers to behaviors that involve underconformity or nonconformity to norms and negative evaluations. Rate-busting refers to overconformity that is negatively evaluated. Deviance admiration refers to underconformity that is positively evaluated. Positive deviance refers to overconformity that is positively evaluated. This typology compensates for deficiencies in the separate conceptions of deviance by highlighting their contradictions (e.g., reactivists fail to consider rate-busting; normative theorists ignore deviance admiration). Current and historical examples in each category illustrate the utility of the new typology. The typology also accommodates the contextual nature of deviance, accentuates the role of power in defining deviance, and suggests the value of general theories of behavior as opposed to specific theories of ''deviant behavior.''     

Interpersonal deviance, organizational deviance, and their common correlates: a review and meta-analysis

Interpersonal deviance (ID) and organizational deviance (OD) are highly correlated (R. S. Dalal, 2005). This, together with other empirical and theoretical evidence, calls into question the separability of ID and OD. As a further investigation into their separability, relationships among ID, OD, and their common correlates were meta-analyzed. ID and OD were highly correlated (rho = .62) but had differential relationships with key Big Five variables and organizational citizenship behaviors, which lends support to the separability of ID and OD. Whether the R. J. Bennett and S. L. Robinson (2000) instrument was used moderated some relationships. ID and OD exhibited their strongest (negative) relationships with organizational citizenship, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability. Correlations with organizational justice were small to moderate, and correlations with demographic variables were generally negligible.     

Benefits of expressive writing and expressive talking about life goals

This study employed a 2 (writing vs. talking) × 2 (life goals vs. daily schedule) fully crossed, factorial design to examine whether health benefits might accrue for talking and/or writing about life goals. Participants assigned the life goals topic had fewer illness-related health center visits, regardless of mode of expression, compared to participants assigned the non-emotional topic. Counter to expectation, optimism did not moderate the effect of topic on illness-related health center visits. Participants in talking groups rated post-intervention mood as less negative than those in writing groups and participants rated talking about life goals as more difficult than writing about life goals.     

Changing the subject: on the subject of subjectivity

In this paper I shall attempt to argue for the simple view of personal identity. I shall first argue that we often do have warrant for our beliefs that we exist as continuing subjects of experience, and that these beliefs are justified independently of any reductionist analysis of what it means to be a person. This has two important implications that are relevant to the ongoing debate concerning the number of persons that are in existence throughout any duration in time: (1) the lack of logically or metaphysically necessary and sufficient conditions for distinguishing one person from another should imply neither that there is only one person nor that personhood is not individuative; and (2) the lack of such universally applicable identity criteria should not imply that the term ‘person’ is a folk term with no real application. In other words, lack of reductionist analysis does not entail lack of existence.     

External threat and the definition of deviance

Research ( Lauderdale , 1976; Schachter , 1951) suggests that an external threat to a group can lead to the rejection of deviant members of the group and alteration of group communication patterns and solidarity. This study sought to extend those findings, integrate them with concepts from Simmel 's (1917/1955) work on group conflict, and link them to key issues in the societal reaction approach to deviant behavior. We examined the effect of variation in level of threat, the relationship between deviant status and nonconformity to the central task norm, the role of high-status actors in deviance designation, the relationship between rejection and negative definition of the deviant, and the effects of rejection and negative definition on group solidarity. Hypotheses were tested in an experimental design involving three conditions (strong threat, weak threat, and no threat). The results suggest that (a) the level of threat is directly related to the extent of rejection and negative definition, (b) nonconformity to the central task norm is not systematically related to deviant status, (c) high-status actors are more involved in the rejection of the deviant, (d) sociometric rejection of the deviant is accompanied by negative definition in the strong-threat condition, and (e) the level of group solidarity is related to the extent of rejection and negative definition. Implications of these findings are discussed relative to the societal reaction approach to deviant behavior and analogous processes in other social groups.     

Political deviance and the assumption of responsibility

Political deviance is a broad concept, less frequently invoked than the concept of political crime. It can be perpetrated by those in power, in the name of the state or individually, or by those struggling to effect social change. The focus on the latter brings to the fore two types of movements, terrorism and civil disobedience, with their partial similarities in goals and their apparent dissimilarities in the means employed to achieve these goals. Both groups tend to assume responsibility for their acts, although for different reasons. The assumption of responsibility itself is a clouded and sometimes ambiguous notion, both linguistically and in its ramifications in the political arena.     

Impression formation: the role of expressive behavior

This research examined the effects of personality/social skills and individual differences in expressive style on impression formation. Particular attention was given to the role of nonverbal behaviors in the formation of initial impressions. Sixty-two subjects were measured on self-report personality and communication skill scales, on posed emotional sending ability, and on physical attractiveness. Subjects were then videotaped while giving a spontaneous "explanation." Trained coders measured five separate nonverbal cue factors displayed by the subjects in the videotapes. Groups of untrained judges viewed the tapes and rated their impressions of the subjects on scales of likability, speaking effectiveness, and expressivity-confidence. Male subjects who were nonverbally skilled and extraverted tended to display more outwardly focused and fluid expressive behaviors, and made more favorable impressions on judges, than did males who scored low on the measures of nonverbal skills and extraversion. Females who were nonverbally skilled displayed more facial expressiveness, which led to more favorable initial impressions. Sex differences may reflect basic differences in the acquisition and use of expressive nonverbal cues by males and females.     

Acts against the workplace: Social bonding and employee deviance

Research into the phenomenon of workplace deviance has separately focused on two types of employee rule‐breaking behavior, 1) acts against the property and assets of the organization and 2) various types of counter‐productive behavior. In an attempt to compare the theoretical and empirical similarity of these two forms of employee deviance, this paper examines the self‐reported involvement in both property and production deviance among a population of employees randomly sampled from three industry sectors and three metropolitan areas. Utilizing a weighted least squares logit regression analysis, the findings support continued conceptual separation of these two forms of employee rule‐breaking as they seem to be explained by slightly different configurations of the “social bonding” model. Involvement in property deviance seems to be primarily the result of a lack of future “commitment” to the organization, while counter‐productive behavior is better understood using a combination of “commitment, attachment, and involvement” variables in the model. Further, both forms of workplace deviance were significantly more likely to involve younger employees.     

Managing deviance: Hustling,homophobia, and the bodybuilding subculture

The subculture of bodybuilding is the backdrop of an analysis of some contradictions inherent in American masculinity. One of the most unusual, but telling of these has to do with “hustling”: the widespread selling of sexual favors by bodybuilders to gay men. In this, one also finds the incongruent presence of homophobia. Hence, homosexual behavior is juxtaposed by anti‐homosexual behavior. This study shows that this irony is necessary if the hustler is to maintain his alleged heterosexual identity. Hypermasculinity and strategies of economic survival in the highly competitive southern California bodybuilding scene are also examined in relation to hustling and more generally to American masculinity. Contradictions in bodybuilding are shown to be more problematic than studies of other street hustlers and prison populations where homosexual behavior is juggled with heterosexual identity.     

Expressive control,expressive consistency,and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality1

Does expressive behavior reflect personality? This paper proposes that expressive control is an important “moderating variable” affecting expressive behavior, expressive consistency, and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality. To demonstrate this, a study was carried out in which 68 subjects were selected, according to a 2×2×2 factorial design, who were low and high on assessed extraversion, neuroticism, and self-monitoring (a measure of expressive control). Subjects were then videotaped as they role-played being teachers. A number of specific expressive behaviors were measured (subjects' stride length, graphic expansiveness, percent of forward eye-contact, and percent of time talking), and also groups of naive judges rated how “extraverted” and “anxious” subjects appeared. The following results supported our hypothesis: (1) Self-monitoring was significantly related to subjects' expressive behaviors and judged personalities, while assessed extraversion and anxiety were not. (2) Expressive control was used to suppress the “accurate” display of anxiety but not extraversion. (3) Bodily expression was less controlled than facial or vocal expression. And (4), persons low and high on self-monitoring showed different patterns of cross-situational and cross-channel (face, body, voice) expressive consistency.     

The social construction and interpretation of deviance: Jonestown and the mass media

This paper reports on an investigation and analysis of social reactions to the events of November 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. Critical attention is focused on the manner in which an official reality of these events was fashioned and presented by the mass media. Findings support the contention that the resulting interpretation was highly selective and stylized. Reasons for the symbolic construction of this reality of Jonestown are explored and related to the role played by experts and public officials. These findings are interpreted by way of the sociopolitical process whereby events are labeled and explained as social problems or deviance.     

theorizing non-linear communities: on social deviance and housing the homeless

Theories of deviance abound; however, little attention has been given to the construction and meaning of deviance in postmodern society. According to some theorists, one conceptual variant of postmodernism is chaology or non-linear dynamical systems theory. In this article, the relevance of chaos theory for advancing our understanding of social deviance is examined. In particular, such notions as non-linearity, fractal space, attractors, self-similarity, bifurcations, and dissipative structures are described as constitutive of the postmodern agenda. These insights are then applied to the difficult and complex issue of housing the homeless, especially shelter strategies designed to create personhood and place for the poor and disenfranchised.     

Beyond social deviance: substance use disorders and the dimensions of psychopathy

High rates of comorbidity between psychopathy and substance use disorders (SUD) have long been recognized. However, the extent to which relationships between SUD and psychopathy extends beyond shared relationship with general antisociality remains undetermined. We examined zero-order and unique relationships between the elements of psychopathy and four categories of SUD; alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioid dependence. The sample consisted of 399 European American and African American male county jail inmates. The relationship between psychopathy and SUD extended beyond general antisociality to core features of the psychopathic personality. Relationships were relatively stable across ethnicity but were more generalized across SUD categories for European American inmates. The relationship between SUD and impulsive and irresponsible behavior was most consistent across categories of SUD; relationships with other elements of psychopathy varied according to category of SUD.     

Deviant scientists and scientific deviance

Fraud in the form of data fabrication/manipulation by scientists, heretofore ignored owing to its presumed nonexistence, is discussed as an area of potential interest for the study of deviant behavior. By way if illustration, twelve recent cases of scientific fraud are described. These examples serve to highlight the question of prevalence as their existence is evidence that deviance in science exists, and belies the argument that the normative structure of science makes such acts unlikely. Primary attention was given to the problem of explaining this atypical form of deviant behavior. Current popular efforts tend to be either individualistic “bad apple” explanations, or indictments of the pressures to produce inherent in the structure of modern science. A sociology of scientific deviance 1s offered by reveiwing the potential contributions of anomie, interactionist, and conflict theories. All were found to have significant application to the study of scientific deviance as a number of questions for further research are suggested.     

Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: the role of affect and cognitions

To investigate the role of affect and cognitions in predicting organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and workplace deviance behavior (WDB), data were collected from 149 registered nurses and their coworkers. Job affect was associated more strongly than were job cognitions with OCB directed at individuals, whereas job cognitions correlated more strongly than did job affect with OCB directed at the organization. With respect to WDB, job cognitions played a more important role in prediction when job affect was represented by 2 general mood variables (positive and negative affect). When discrete emotions were used to represent job affect, however, job affect played as important a role as job cognition variables, strongly suggesting the importance of considering discrete emotions in job affect research.