耶稣:爱憎分明

《圣经》是一部基督教经典,也是西方文化史上有划时代意义的伟大著作,即使不信仰基督教的中国文化人,也应该认真阅读。西方学界不但把《圣经》和耶稣作为信仰的对象,而且作为科学研究的对象,大体与人文主义发展是平行的,成绩斐然。因此,在学者阅读《圣经》的时候,最好能同时看看西方学界对于《圣经》和耶稣其人的研究成果。由此至少可以看到,《圣经》的形成与神学家的解释不同,历史上的耶稣与《圣经》里的耶稣不同,历史上的基督教也与传教布道中的基督教不同。真、善、美是基督教赞扬的美德,在信仰之前,首先搞清楚信仰对象的真实性,也符合基督精神。《圣经》有多种读法,耶稣也有多种精神。从什么角度,吸取些什么,这是关键。在中外的一些伟人中,不少是基督徒或称扬基督教者;中国的知名文学家中,也有一些是受到基督教熏陶和影响的,耶稣的人格和他的牺牲精神,也往往对革命者起激励作用。但他们对基督和《圣经》的理解,可以肯定是不一样的。这不用说非基督人士了,即使信仰同一部《圣经》和同一个耶稣的基督教内部,理解也往往大相径庭,经过痛苦———包括流血的分裂而现在并存的天主教、东正教和新教,就是大相径庭的历史见证;至于当前的新教,究竟有多少教派,恐怕谁也数不清。《读书》杂志所刊《宽容及爱》,就     

Toward a Pragmatic Psychology

In this article I want to expand on the pragmatism that runs through Being Human: Human Being in order to think about what a pragmatic psychology might look like. Baert (2005) argued that a pragmatist science has to begin with an acknowledgment of the different interests that might be behind inquiry. The aims of inquiry are linked to useful and appropriate methods. I argue that in personality and social psychology the focus should primarily be on achieving hermeneutic understanding, rather than on finding causal explanation.     

Hating the One You Love

Many testimonies, as well as fictional works, describe situations in which people find themselves hating the person that they love. This might initially appear to be contradiction, as how can one love and hate the same person at the same time? A discussion of this problem requires making a distinction between logical consistency and psychologically compatibility. Hating the one you love may be a consistent experience, but it raises difficulties concerning its psychological compatibility.     

Toward a Psychology of Loss

This article argues for the development of an interdisciplinary psychology of loss that is focused on people's pervading commonsense experience and recognition of loss in their own and others' lives. This field may be defined as broader than related fields such as traumatology, thanatology, and stress and coping. The psychology of loss focuses on the perception of major loss deriving from events such as death and divorce, but also on the perception of major loss in connection with such diverse phenomenna as loss of employment, los of bodily functioning, and being the target of violence or prejudice, including genocide. An important research topic for this field concerns people's stories of how major losses are interrelated in their lives. It is argued that perceived loss is a critical phenomenal state that must be dealt with in adaptation to most significant stressors.     

Toward a Psychology of Resistance

Resistance is all around us in contemporary life. It is an everyday phenomenon of personal and cultural life, as the Chaudhary et al. (2017) volume establishes with theoretical analyses and empirical examples from diverse cultural contexts. Resistance functions in the dynamics of person-by-culture encounters when one party takes an opposing position. With the purpose of working towards a unified approach to resistance, the authors in this volume lay down the foundations for a psychology of resistance as an everyday phenomenon. As a basis for analyzing the role of resistance in the dialectical processes of change, the volume presents resistance as: personal and social, oppositional, intentional and future-oriented, transformational and developmental. We see different positions opening up a debate about whether resistance is a particular, intentional and oppositional phenomenon, or is the basic process of all dialectical transformational change. Further resistance to either position is consistent with moving forward in the development of a psychology of resistance.     

I Like You More if I Think You Like Me: The Effect of Metastereotypes on Attitudes Toward People With Deafness

In the present article we aimed at investigating the role of metastereotypes and gender on hearing people’s attitudes towards people with deafness. Ninety-six Italian hearing adults participated in a 2 × 2 experimental study. Participants were presented with the results of a fictitious but apparently real survey concerning the opinions people with deafness have of hearing people. Metastereotypes (positive vs. negative) were manipulated through this presentation. Results showed that metastereotypes interacted with participants’ gender in determining their attitudes towards people with deafness: when positive metastereotypes were activated, women’s attitudes appeared more favorable toward people with deafness if compared to the negative metastereotypes condition. No effect of metastereotypes was observed among male participants. In conclusion, the activation of metastereotypes can be a useful means in intervening to improve attitudes toward people with deafness.     

Toward a Positive Military Psychology

The present study used an informant method of psychiatric assessment to evaluate Saddam Hussein, and these results were compared to a posthumous assessment of Adolf Hitler. Eleven Iraqi adults who lived under Hussein's influence for a median of 24 years completed the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, a measure of 14 personality disorders. The mean consensus among the 11 raters was r = .57. It revealed that Hussein probably reached diagnostic threshold for the sadistic (T score M = 81.0), paranoid (T score M = 79.3), antisocial (T score M = 77.4), and narcissistic (T score M = 74.2) personality disorders. The correlation between the consensus profile for Hussein and a consensus profile of 5 Hitler experts was r = .79, indicating a very strong similarity between the two profiles. It was concluded that Saddam Hussein had many of the same personality disorders or their features as Adolf Hitler, although sadistic features were stronger in Hussein than Hitler. It appeared that a “Big Four” personality disorders constellation emerged for these two dictators, and they were sadistic, antisocial, paranoid, and narcissistic. It was also found that Hussein might have had some traits or features of paranoid schizophrenia. Implications for diplomacy and negotiations with persons with similar personality profiles are proffered.     

Toward a Critical Race Psychology

Critical Race Theory (CRT) emerged as an identity‐conscious intervention within critical legal studies and has subsequently developed an interdisciplinary presence. We draw upon CRT perspectives to articulate five core ideas for a Critical Race Psychology (CRP). CRT perspectives (1) approach racism as a systemic force embedded in everyday society (rather than a problem of individual bias); (2) illuminate how ideologies of neoliberal individualism (e.g., merit, choice) often reflect and reproduce racial domination; (3) identify interest convergence as the typical source of broad‐based support for reparative action; (4) emphasize possessive investment in privileged identities and identity‐infused realities that reproduce racial domination; and (5) propose practices of counter‐storytelling to reveal and contest identity‐infused bases of everyday society. In summary, we propose a CRP that consider race not as one domain (among many) for psychological investigation but instead as a conceptual lens through which to analyze all of psychological science.     

Toward a Psychology of Human Agency

ABSTRACT— This article presents an agentic theory of human development, adaptation, and change. The evolutionary emergence of advanced symbolizing capacity enabled humans to transcend the dictates of their immediate environment and made them unique in their power to shape their life circumstances and the courses their lives take. In this conception, people are contributors to their life circumstances, not just products of them. Social cognitive theory rejects a duality between human agency and social structure. People create social systems, and these systems, in turn, organize and influence people's lives. This article discusses the core properties of human agency, the different forms it takes, its ontological and epistemological status, its development and role in causal structures, its growing primacy in the coevolution process, and its influential exercise at individual and collective levels across diverse spheres of life and cultural systems.     

Toward a Social Psychology of Aging

The articles in this special issue highlight how social psychology can further the understanding of aging. One goal of this special issue is to generate more interest in aging as an area of study for social psychologists. A second goal is to challenge readers to think about how their research interconnects with issues in aging. A third goal is to demonstrate how social psychological processes have direct applications to real-world issues that face people as they age. This introduction to the special issue provides additional examples of how social psychology can contribute to a better understanding of aging.     

I Will Always Love You: Dispelling Marital Myths Through Applications of Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy

Couples often enter relationships with a certain amount of naivety, expecting that just because they are in love, all problems in the relationship will be solved. In fact, love is just a small percentage of what it takes to have a successful relationship. This article will address myths and misconceptions that are critical for couples to recognize and address. In addition, the author will describe numerous cognitive, emotive, and behavioral interventions that have proven to be successful in couple counseling.