The promise of qualitative inquiry for positive psychology: Diversifying methods

Abstract

This article offers a corrective for positive psychology, viewing qualitative methods as a paradigm of equal value to quantitative methods for psychologists interested in better understanding human strengths. Gergen, Josselson, and Freeman’s framework for qualitative psychology in general, along with other qualitative theory, will be utilized as a basis for application to positive psychology in particular. Qualitative inquiry’s potential for enriching positive psychology will be described, noting several qualitative research approaches. Then, the role of qualitative psychology in promoting the flourishing of positive psychology will be examined, discussing implications for theoretical advancements, building community, and enhancing psychology through interdisciplinarity. Finally, the possibility for qualitative methods in positive psychology to build relationships between academia and society will be explored; in particular, the nature of this collaboration, and the communication of positive psychology to the public will be noted. The conclusion notes how such potentials may be realized given current realities.     

Mother runners in the blogosphere: A discursive psychological analysis of online recreational athlete identities

ObjectivesQualitative research on physically active mothers has shown that recreational sport may allow women to resist good mother ideals that often constrain exercise. The purpose of this study was to extend this understanding in a socio-cultural context by examining how recreational athlete mother identities were constructed within one form of new media - blogging.DesignA qualitative approach grounded in discursive psychology was used to theorize athlete mother identities as subject positions constructed within particular discourses circulated within a blog.MethodCritical discourse analysis of 30 stories and 177 reader comments from the North American online running community Another Mother Runner, was conducted. Visual data analysis of 102 images accompanying stories also contextualized the textual meanings of discourses and subject positions.ResultsTwo primary discourses were identified: discourse of transformation and empowerment and a discourse of disruption and resolution. Subject positions constructed within these two intersecting discourses were role mother/advocate and resilient mother runner.ConclusionsThis study extends discursive psychology literature in sport and exercise psychology as well as media work on athlete mother identities within sport psychology into the realm of the internet and identity construction.     

An overview of transpersonal psychology

Abstract

An overview of transpersonal psychology is provided with specific focus on a number of its central themes (nonduality, intrinsic health, self‐transcendence, and inclusivity) and practices (meditation, ritual, and inquiry). The relationship of transpersonal psychology to both mainstream psychology and spiritual wisdom traditions is discussed. The field's implications for diversity issues, research, and service applications are also considered.     

The exclusion of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy from the publicly financed medical health sector in Sweden

Abstract

Schreber's fantasy of turning into a woman to be fertilized by God and produce a new race of mankind was a major motive for Superintendent of Sonnenstein, Dr Guido Weber, to maintain that Schreber was a case of chronic and incurable paranoia and unfit for life in society, failing to see the difference between the concrete and the metaphorical. Schreber not only proved Weber wrong, but prophetically anticipated a number of issues in current awareness of gender psychology and gender roles in society.

In Schreber's system the two principal elements of his delusions (his transformation into a woman and his favored relation to God) are linked by the assumption of a feminine attitude towarh God. It will be our task to show that there is an essential genetic relation between these two elements. Otherwise we shall be like a man holding a sieve under a he-goat while some one else milks it. Sigmung Freud     

The alchemy of training

Abstract: Training in Zurich has its own special character but also is marked by the very fact that it is in Zurich. Zurich radiates its own distinct energy and carries a specific historical significance in the world of analytical psychology. This, like all things with psychic energy, has a spectrum of meaning. This spectrum, as well as the ‘spirit’ of the place, will be critically examined, taking into account the ‘blessings’ and ‘curses’ of such genius loci. Training in Zurich is experientially based and is first and foremost an initiation: an initiation into symbolic life, or rather life where symbol plays an important role. Training is understood to involve a transformation of one's self, much like the 8^th century alchemist Morienus Romanus understood the opus as a ‘human transformation system’. It is not merely an education. The requirement of ‘immersion’ is core to the experience of becoming an analyst in Zurich and this sets up a valuable discomfort between rational intellectual learning and intuitive experience, between knowing and not‐knowing. How does this dis‐serve the making of an analyst? What is implicit in this immersion and its discomfort? Does it have a role in today's emphasis on clinical and empirical training? Does Zurich still offer something unique and valuable in the world of training, or is it passé? From these questions, the dichotomy of what is ‘urgent’ and ‘essential’ in training will be examined.     

Philosophical foundations of humanistic psychology

Abstract

From the perspective of the history of Western thought, humanism is a philosophy based on the belief that the human is irreducible to other forms of life, whether material or Divine. To the extent that humanistic psychology has its roots in the humanist tradition, it shares this conviction that the human cannot be understood except in its own terms. This report will review the philosophical precedents for this perspective on the nature of human functioning, and will then consider whether or not the fruits of humanistic‐psychological labor over the last 35 years have borne out the promises of its approach.     

The ecology of physical activity and sport: Merging science and practice

Abstract

A focus on the ecology of physical activity and sport will merge science and practice within the field of sport psychology. To support this contention, this paper identifies shortcomings of prominent theories within sport psychology by grouping them into meta-theoretical categories labeled dispositional-biological, cognitive behavioral, cognitive-phenomenological, and social-comtructionist. The solution to these shortcomings is an ecological meta-theory that definer the field of sport psychology as the study of how individuals encounter their physical activity and sport environments. Analysis and intervention of this targeted subject matter can be at the physiological, interpersonal, interpersonal, community, and/or institutional and public policy level. A meta-theory that defines ecological information within physical activity in sport as the primary subject matter of study and intervention will develop an autonomous field of study and practice.     

Bridging the gaps: Weaving multicultural and humanistic perspectives into transpersonal education

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the interface of multicultural and humanistic values in the teaching of spirituality and the transpersonal in graduate counseling courses. We share our experiences in curriculum development and encounters with Western psychology from an Eastern (Vedic) worldview. Themes of ethnocentrism and separations (by professional specialty) are addressed. We conclude with recommendations that will enhance “bridge‐building” between these specialties and promote further dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration.     

The role of ultrarunning in drug and alcohol addiction recovery: An autobiographic study of athlete journeys

PurposeThere is contentious understanding of the role of sport in adult recreational drug and alcohol addiction recovery. This study explored athlete autobiographies as cultural sites of analysis in relation to the role that one sport (i.e., ultrarunning) plays in addiction recovery capital pathways.DesignWorking at the intersection of an autobiographical approach grounded in relativist narrative inquiry, a social constructionist narrative thematic analysis was conducted of two autobiographies--Catra Corbett and Carlie Engle—about addiction recovery through ultrarunning (i.e., distances of 43 km or more). The narratives used to construct life transformation and recovery capital in relation to ultrarunning were centralized in the analysis using Frank’s (2013) work on illness narratives and the body.ResultsTwo narrative themes threaded athletes’ addiction recovery journeys: chaos narrative and quest narrative. Two sub-themes related to fluid identity transformation intertwined with ultrarunning were identified within these narratives: 1. ‘addict-runner’ (chaos) and 2. ‘addict runner to ultra-runner’ (quest). Nuanced meanings of suffering were connected to identity transformation and running and two forms of addiction recovery capital: human (e.g., psychological adjustment, life perspective) and social (e.g., family connection, community).ConclusionsThe research findings provide insight into the role of sport in psychosocial aspects of addiction recovery using an autobiographical approach grounded in narrative theory. This study also extends work in sport psychology focusing on autobiographies as research and pedagogical resources to learn more about athlete mental health.     

The utility of modern theories of intergroup bias for research on antecedents to team identification

ObjectivesMuch of the literature on team identification has focused on assessing outcomes to the construct rather than on motives for its development and maintenance. This article comments on research and theorising in social psychology that can contribute to an understanding of motives for team identification.DesignA review and comment on the application of theories of intergroup bias to the study of team identification.MethodFour modern theories of intergroup bias—social identity theory, optimal distinctiveness theory, uncertainty-identity theory, and terror management theory—are overviewed. Potential applications of these theories to future research on motives for team identification are also offered.ResultsIt is argued that the four theories share similar tenets with reference to motives for social identity. A programme of research that evaluates these motives in the context of sport team identification is offered.ConclusionsIt is hoped that this paper will stimulate research into precursors of team identification and that the findings from such research will help sport teams and governing bodies to promote or control certain types of spectator behaviour.     

The adolescent first kiss

Abstract

This essay proposes a more intense exchange between humanistic psychology and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Certainly, the two fields are aware of one another but an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and superficial knowledge characterize their relationship. If we examine some of the suppositions governing each approach, there are points of similarity. Both see “psychology” in its truest meaning as defined by ethics. Both countenance the importance of the social and the unique individual (the particular for Lacan). There are also glaring differences on key questions. With respect to these differences, the author reads humanistic psychology through a Lacanian lens to indicate how Lacanian concepts can answer some of the recognized impasses of humanistic psychology (such as the question of evil) where humanistic psychology is other to itself.     

The influence of the Chinese sport system and Chinese cultural characteristics on Olympic sport psychology services

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of sociocultural factors on Chinese Olympic sport psychology services.Design and methodsFifteen sport psychology consultants (SPCs), who served Chinese national teams for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, participated in this study after the Olympics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within three months of the closing of the Olympics, followed by a hybrid approach to inductive and deductive thematic analyses.ResultsTwo general dimensions of sociocultural influence on Chinese Olympic sport psychology services were identified: (a) the Whole-Nation System and (b) Chinese cultural characteristics. They consisted of eight higher order themes, which comprised 26 lower order themes. This study revealed that Chinese sport psychology services were enhanced by recognizing the features of the Whole-Nation System (e.g., resource centralization and top-down management) and the successful blending of these features with Chinese cultural characteristics (e.g., holistic thinking style, keeping face and interpersonal order) into the psychological service.ConclusionsSociocultural factors had a marked influence on Chinese Olympic sport psychology services, which enabled Chinese SPCs to provide a culturally competent service (e.g., prioritizing collective interests, respecting the authority of administrative officials and coaches, and keeping face with others) for the Beijing Olympic Games.     

Meaning-creation,selfhood, and religion: From religious metanarratives to spiritual self-narratives

Abstract

This paper attempts to support the idea that the psychology of religion might be developed as an applied branch of cultural psychology. The scope of the argument is both theoretical and empirical. On the one hand, it is argued that religion functions as the most powerful semiotic system which provides subjects with metaphors, narrative frameworks, rituals and other cultural resources for personalised meaning-construction and life-designing. On the other hand, it is illustrated with an exploratory qualitative study how a specific type of community, a Catholic Seminary, produces a particular set of religious symbols and how their members write their narrative identities in multiple and unstable ways through dialectical tensions and creative self-invention. Thus, the psychology of religion becomes a fruitful laboratory to further investigate the mutually generative interplay between culture and self in order to better understand the plastic process of continuous self-identity formation and transformation.     

Reproducible research in sport and exercise psychology: The role of sample sizes

ObjectivesWe aim to introduce the discussion on the crisis of confidence to sport and exercise psychology. We focus on an important aspect of this debate, the impact of sample sizes, by assessing sample sizes within sport and exercise psychology. Researchers have argued that publications in psychological research contain numerous false-positive findings and inflated effect sizes due to small sample sizes.MethodWe analyse the four leading journals in sport and exercise psychology regarding sample sizes of all quantitative studies published in these journals between 2009 and 2013. Subsequently, we conduct power analyses.ResultsA substantial proportion of published studies does not have sufficient power to detect effect sizes typical for psychological research. Sample sizes and power vary between research designs. Although many correlational studies have adequate sample sizes, experimental studies are often underpowered to detect small-to-medium effects.ConclusionsAs sample sizes are small, research in sport and exercise psychology may suffer from false-positive results and inflated effect sizes, while at the same time failing to detect meaningful small effects. Larger sample sizes are warranted, particularly in experimental studies.     

Critical reflections on second-generation mindfulness-based interventions

ObjectivesThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical introduction on Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (SG-MBIs) to sport and performance psychology scholars and practitioners.MethodThis essay is written as a commentary on Roychowdhury et al.’s, (2021, this issue) article in this issue. Specifically, I apply theoretical insights from Roychowdhury et al., (2021, this issue) to the practical model of SG-MBIs.ResultsI find that SG-MBIs attempt to respond to ethical concerns with the ways that mindfulness has been commodified, secularized, and universalized through appeals to cultural authenticity.DiscussionWhile acknowledging the cultural contexts from which practices like mindfulness have been taken is important, appeals to cultural authenticity often reproduce fixed and essentializing constructions of culture and are easily coopted by neoliberal multiculturalism.ConclusionAs sport and performance psychology professionals reflect on the next generation of mindfulness-based interventions, it will be important to attend to the contextual flexibility of neoliberalism to universalize and essentialize.     

Evolutionary sport and exercise psychology: Integrating proximate and ultimate explanations

ObjectivesThis review aims to demonstrate the utility of integrating the insights of evolutionary psychology with sport and exercise psychology. Specifically, we offer a primer on evolutionary psychology that we then discuss in the context of several research avenues in sport and exercise. Next, we discuss how evolutionary psychology can inform our understanding of sporting culture.DesignReview paper.MethodsTheory and research are selectively reviewed in efforts to demonstrate the utility and limits of evolutionary psychology as an approach to sport and exercise psychology.Results and conclusionsEvolutionary psychology offers researchers in sport and exercise psychology an improved capacity to produce proximate explanations (i.e., how psychological mechanisms interact with the environment to produce behavior) by generating productive and novel hypotheses from ultimate explanations (i.e., why a psychological mechanism evolved a particular design; Tooby & Cosmides, 1992, 2005). The worth of integrating proximate and ultimate explanations is demonstrated by the ensuing novel insights of popular avenues of sport and exercise psychology including (a) the interrelation between motivation and reasoning and their relative influence on exercise behavior, (b) sex differences in sport participation, (c) performance in sport, and (d) group dynamics in sport. Unlike specific fields of psychology, evolutionary psychology is a metatheoretical approach that can foster mutually productive linkages between currently disparate areas within sport and exercise psychology, and with neighboring disciplines.     

Beliefs about memory among psychology students and their professors in psychodynamic clinical and experimental study programs

IntroductionResearch has shown that lay people, and even psychologists, may have distorted knowledge about memory functioning. May different study programs in psychology influence their ideas?Objective(s)The study was aimed at evaluating psychology students’ and psychology professors’ knowledge about memory and factors potentially affecting the accuracy of episodic memory reports in clinical and legal contexts.MethodA questionnaire was administered to introductory and advanced students of psychology enrolled at different curricula – experimental psychology and clinical psychology with a psychoanalytical orientation – and to professors teaching the courses in the same curricula.ResultsResults showed that advanced students and professors in experimental psychology have higher general knowledge of factors influencing memory performance than their peers, including memory issues of particular relevance to clinical psychology; no difference between the curricula was found for the introductory students.ConclusionThe results are discussed in terms of the risks that the lack of knowledge on memory functioning of the psychologists with a psychodynamic orientation may have in producing wrong reports in forensic contexts.     

Movies: The Land of the Free

Abstract

Modern woman in search of a spirit

Oh to be ravished!

Puer psychology and nazism

Von franz reflects

Steps toward receiving woman

To communicate or not to communicate     

Soul pain and the therapeutic use of ritual

Abstract

This paper will explore the relationship between ritual and transformation. It will show how a therapist and a monk work together to create sacred spaces in which individuals can experience transformation of and through their personal histories, linking their past, present and future to address their soul pain through ritual.

It is illustrated with case studies which will demonstrate the phases of ritual work which are collectively important as part of the psycho-dynamic therapeutic process.     

FEPSAC's role and position in the past and in the future of sport psychology in Europe

ObjectivesOn the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), this article aims to give an overview of the development of sport psychology in Europe and the role FEPSAC played in this period, and draw some conclusions for the future challenges facing FEPSAC.MethodHermeneutical interpretation of historical documents available from FEPSAC and other sources.Results and conclusionIt is argued that sport psychology in Europe developed independently from the discipline in America, but also with great variety, due to different cultural, linguistic, and psychological traditions. The separation of Europe in two socio-economical and political blocks after World War II even strengthened these differences. When sport psychology started to recover after the damages of the war, a continental organisation was established as a logical consequence of the historically related differences. The strategic orientation of FEPSAC in the period of the two blocks is characterised by a diplomatic balance and high respect of the language and cultural differences, necessary requirements to allow maintaining the mutual exchange in areas of common interest. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the major strategic goals of FEPSAC revolved around: keeping contact with the Eastern European sport psychologists despite the economic difficulties in these countries; finding a common European understanding and giving this a voice in the world; and the support of the young generation and the development of sport psychology as a professional field. Unification and diversification are identified as the future challenges FEPSAC will be facing when attempting to remain the leading sport psychology organisation in Europe.