The Meaning of Being: Husserl on Existential Propositions as Predicative Propositions

Axiomathes - This essay examines how Husserl stretches the bounds of his philosophy of meaning, according to which all propositions are categorical, to account for existential propositions, which...     

Sabina Spielrein: From Being a Psychiatric Patient to Becoming an Analyst Herself

In this paper, I evaluate Sabina Spielrein’s life and ideas from a contemporary understanding. I do this by considering the context and situation in which she lived: a journey from being a hospitalized psychiatric patient to becoming a psychoanalyst herself. From her crucial life experiences she learned that the main psychic conflicts stem from the struggle between life and death, and not from opposing ego drives and sexual desires. Spielrein’s considerable creative potentials were nurtured, as well as blocked by her inner conflicts, but also by the enormous historical conflicts of her time.

     

Persevering with Positivity and Purpose: An Examination of Purpose Commitment and Positive Affect as Predictors of Grit

Grit, defined as a passion and perseverance for one’s goals, has been consistently demonstrated as an adaptive resource across multiple domains. Less explored, however, are the correlates of and sources from which grit is derived. The current studies examined two plausible candidates for promoting grit, positive affect and commitment to a purpose, using college student samples from Canada and the United States. Study 1 confirmed our predictions that grittier students tended to report greater positive affect and purpose commitment, and demonstrated that these variables appear to be unique and independent predictors of grit. Study 2 examined these claims using two-wave data collected across a semester, and found that while both purpose and positive affect were initially correlated with grit, only initial levels of purpose predicted grit at wave two. In other words, having a life direction may help more than positive affect when predicting who is likely to become grittier over a college semester. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

From Mind Perception to Mental Connection: Synchrony as a Mechanism for Social Understanding

Connecting deeply with another mind is as enigmatic as it is fulfilling. Why people “click” with some people but not others is one of the great unsolved mysteries of science. However, researchers from psychology and neuroscience are converging on a likely physiological basis for connection – neural synchrony (entrainment). Here, we review research on the necessary precursors for interpersonal synchrony: the ability to detect a mind and resonate with its outputs. Further, We describe potential mechanisms for the development of synchrony between two minds. We then consider recent neuroimaging and behavioral evidence for the adaptive benefits of synchrony, including neural efficiency and the release of a reward signal that promotes future social interaction. In nature, neural synchrony yields behavioral synchrony. Humans use behavioral synchrony to promote neural synchrony, and thus, social bonding. This reverse‐engineering of social connection is an important innovation likely underlying this distinctively human capacity to create large‐scale social coordination and cohesion.     

Relational Conversation: Meaningful Communication as a Therapeutic Intervention

The author makes a distinction between communication that deepens a relationship and communication that resolves conflict. An approach to therapy, relational conversation, is presented in which meaningful conversation is designed to increase relational fortitude and promote a consistent level of intentional and loving connection. The approach is based on the body of literature that supports the theory that good communication is important to good relating.     

Personality Maturation during the Transition to Working Life: Associations with Commitment as a Possible Indicator of Social Investment

The social investment theory (SIT) proposes that personality maturation is triggered by transitions into age‐graded roles and psychological commitment to these roles. The present study examines the predictions of SIT by focusing on the transition from student life to working life. We analysed three‐wave longitudinal data and compared participants who made the transition into working life (N = 226), participants who combined education with work (N = 387), and participants who did not make the transition at all (N = 287). In contrast to the predictions of SIT, we found no differences in personality maturation between individuals who made the transition into working life and those who did this only partly or not at all. Psychological commitment to work did not explain individual differences in personality maturation for those who made the transition (partly) into working life after controlling for multiple testing. Therefore, the present study did not support the predictions of SIT. © 2019 The Authors European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

Talking to God Among a Cloud of Witnesses: Collective Prayer as a Meaningful Performance

There has been much work on the effects that individual prayer has on a variety of social‐psychological indicators, yet there remains a lack of research on collective prayer. While it is tempting to assume that collective prayer may be analyzed as the aggregate of individual prayers, the research presented in this article suggests that worshipers pray differently when in community than when by themselves. To understand the role of collective prayer in the practices of faith communities, I draw on work on group culture and ritual to create a framework for analyzing collective prayer. I assert that collective prayer represents a meaningful social performance that locates those conducting it within wider fields of meaning. I conclude with suggestions for future work, including examining how collective prayer acts as an element of conflict as well as unity.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Suicidal Ideation Among Bipolar Patients: Existential But Not Religious Well‐Being as a Protective Factor

Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) are at an increased risk of Suicidal ideation, attempts, and death. Moreover, a strong association exists between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and suicidal ideation among individuals with BD. Yet growing evidence suggests that existential well‐being (EWB) may be a protective factor against suicidality. In this study, adult BD patients (N = 112) provided data on CSA, religious well‐being (RWB; spiritual life in relation to God), EWB (purpose/meaning in life), and suicidal ideation. Participants were between 19 and 65 years of age. The majority was female and described their race/ethnicity as African American. Results indicated that CSA was negatively associated with EWB and was not related to RWB. Further, EWB mediated the association between CSA and suicidal ideation, whereas RWB did not. Having meaning/purpose in life may serve as a protective factor against suicidal ideation among individuals with BD who experienced CSA, whereas having a relationship/belief in God may not serve the same function.     

Existential Counseling as a Vehicle to Support Latina Breast Cancer Survivors

Latinas in the United States experience high incidences of breast cancer diagnosis (American Cancer Society, 2012 ). Researchers (e.g., Abraído‐Lanza, Chao, & Gammon, 2004 ; Ashing‐Giwa, Padilla, Bohorquez, Tejero, & Garcia, 2006 ) indicated that Latinas report heightened levels of psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, existential concerns) when compared with other cancer survivors. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide an overview of the mental health concerns of Latina breast cancer survivors and their families, (b) discuss the use of existential counseling to decrease psychological distress, and (c) integrate cultural variables to support cancer recovery from a culturally sensitive perspective.     

Making Gender Comparisons More Meaningful: A Call for More Attention to Social Context

We challenge researchers to consider sex and gender as a marker for possible social contextual differences. Disappointed by both philosophical and empirical attempts to find coherence in research making gender comparisons, we selectively review studies showing both context-specific similarities between women and men where overall comparisons found differences as well as context-specific differences where general patterns of similarity existed. These examples cut across embedded levels of social context, ranging from those immediately proximal to the individual (interpersonal) to organizational and broad societal structures. They suggest that seemingly identical contexts can have sweepingly different impacts on women and men and that effective social interventions be gender-sensitive.     

人格:从本质论到社会建构论

“本质论”作为认识和理解世界的一种方式,认为任何事物(包括人类)都有它自己特殊的本质,这些本质是可以界定和被发现的,它们内在于事物之中,并且可用来解释事物如何反应(行动)。本质论的观点反映在人格研究中,便是认为要从纷繁复杂、稍逊即逝的表面行为背后寻找影响和支配人的行为的深层人格“实体”或“本质”。这个人格“本质”内在于人的行为之中,     

The Problem of Behaviour Change: From Social Norms to an Ingroup Focus

Social norms are of increasing interest to public policy experts and those conducting behaviour change interventions (e.g. safe driving, recycling). While there is agreement that social norms play a central role in explaining behaviour, such consensus is lacking when it comes to explaining the process through which this occurs. Economics, social marketing and political science focus on individual self‐interest and goal satisfaction and social (dis)approval. In contrast social psychology also incorporates collective interests through its analysis of social identity and ingroup processes. To fully understand behaviour change, it is argued that greater engagement is needed with the links between shifts in social identity, and ingroup norms. As definitions of who “we” are shift, so too does what “we” do. Implications for behaviour change interventions are discussed.     

Justice as a Family Value: How a Commitment to Fairness is Compatible with Love

Many discussions of love and the family treat issues of justice as something alien. On this view, concerns about whether one's family is internally just are in tension with the modes of interaction that are characteristic of loving families. In this essay, we challenge this widespread view. We argue that once justice becomes a shared family concern, its pursuit is compatible with loving familial relations. We examine four arguments for the thesis that a concern with justice is not at home within a loving family, and we explain why these arguments fail. We develop and defend an alternative conception of the justice‐oriented loving family, arguing that justice can—and, for the sake of justice, should—be seen as a family value.     

Marital and Existential Pain: Dialectic in Bergman's "Scenes From a Marriage"

Marital pain and existential pain are discussed in terms of the movie "Scenes From a Marriage" by the Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman.