The Convergent Validity between Self and Observer Ratings of Personality: A meta‐analytic review

The convergent validity between self and observer ratings of the Big Five dimensions of personality was examined by cumulating research findings across studies. The mean correlation corrected for coefficient α in self‐ratings and inter‐rater reliability in observer ratings was .46 for agreeableness (N=6359, k=53), .56 for conscientiousness (N=6754, k=58), .51 for emotional stability (N=8000, k=55), .62 for extraversion (N=7725, k=50), and .59 for openness to experience (N=5333, k=38). Results indicate that, although there is a high degree of construct overlap, both self and observer ratings have substantial unique variance. Moderator effects were analyzed. The duration of acquaintance (strangers vs close relatives) as well as observer type (peers at work vs relatives) were analyzed. Acquaintanceship had a large moderating effect whereas observer type did not moderate the level of convergence.     

Book reviews

Klein,S. B., & Mowrer, R. R. (Eds.). (1989). Contemporary learining theories: Pavlovian conditioning and the status of traditional learning theory. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. xiv +332. ISBN 0-89859-915-6. £44.95.

Klein, S. B. & Mowrer, R. R. (Eds.). (1989). Contemporary learning theories : Instrumental conditioning theory and the impact of biological constraints on learining. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pp. xiii + 293. ISBN 0-8085-0318-1. £38.

Plotkin, H. C. (Ed.). (1988). The role of behavior in evolution. cambridge, Ma : Bradford Books, MIT Press. Pp. viii + 198. ISBN 0-2692-16107-9. £16.95.

Green, L. & Kage, J. H. (Eds.). (1987). Advances in behavioral economics, Volume 1. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Pp. 307. ISBN 0-471-91199-2. £40.95 (hardback).     

Lay Personality Theories in Interactive Decisions: Strongly Held,Weakly Supported

In interactive decisions, cues to what others will do are important in forming a strategy. Information about others' personalities appears to be potentially valuable for this purpose. We report a series of four studies examining how information about another actor's personality influences people's own choices in interactive decisions. The studies found widespread beliefs that others' personality characteristics are strongly predictive both of broad classes of decision behavior (competition/cooperation, risk‐seeking/risk‐aversion) (Study 1) and of specific choices (Study 2) in single‐agent settings. These beliefs extended to predicting others' choices in interactive decisions (Study 3) and to shaping the predictor's own decisions in interactive play in Chicken and Assurance games (Study 4). Overall, we found extensive evidence that laypeople believe that the personality traits we selected (angry‐hostility, anxiety, assertiveness, excitement‐seeking, and warmth) have substantial effects on behavior in interactive decisions and they act on those beliefs when making their own decisions. The empirical evidence supporting the predictive validity of these traits was, however, quite weak. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bridging the reductive and the synthetic: some reflections on the clinical implications of synchronicity

When Jung introduced the concepts of synchronicity and the psychoid unconscious, he expanded analytical psychology into decidedly uncanny territory. Despite the early interest shown by Freud, anomalous phenomena such as telepathy have become a taboo subject in psychoanalysis. Today, however, there is an increasing interest in thought transference and synchronicity, thus opening the way for a fruitful exchange between different psychoanalytical schools on their clinical implications. I propose to examine some of the ambiguities of Jung's thinking, to clarify how we define synchronicity, the relationship between synchronicities and parapsychological events, and their clinical significance. At the present moment, we are still unsure if such events should be considered as normal and a way of facilitating individuation, or as an indication of psychopathology in the patient or in the analyst, just as we are uncertain about the particular characteristics of the intersubjective field that can lead to synchronicities. Making use of the typology of mind‐matter correlations presented by Atmanspacher and Fach, and the distinction they draw between acategorial and non‐categorial states of mind, I will use two clinical vignettes to illustrate the different states of mind in analyst and analysand that can lead to synchronicities. In particular I will focus on the relationship between analytical reverie and synchronicity.     

Adolescents' use of affiliative and aggressive strategies during conflict with romantic partners and best-friends

Objective: Developmental theory suggests romantic relationships present unique demands when adolescents transition from the interaction patterns of same-sex friendships to cross-gender interactions. A possible response is to incorporate behaviours of the other gender: girls adopting aggressive strategies and boys adopting affiliative ones. The goal of this study is to explore this hypothesis by comparing conflict resolution among romantic couples and same-sex best friends. Method: Observational methods were employed with 37 female best friends, 22 male best friends and 37 romantic couples. Of the romantic couples, 35 also were observed with a best friend. Affiliative and aggressive behaviours were tabulated during two conflict tasks. Results: Female best friends were more affiliative than male best friends and romantic partners; these latter dyads were more aggressive than the female best friends. Within group comparisons indicated that boys and girls decreased their affiliative behaviours, especially verbal humour, and increased their aggressive behaviours, especially teasing, when observed with the romantic partner compared to the best friend. Decomposing the romantic dyad, girlfriends displayed relatively more aggressive behaviours than their boyfriends, and boyfriends exhibited more affiliative behaviours. Conclusions: Findings shed light on gendered shifts in patterns of interaction as adolescents transition from same-sex friendships to romantic relationships.     

Democratisation of wellbeing: stakeholder perspectives on policy priorities for improving national wellbeing through paid employment and adult learning

Recent policy initiatives in the UK have heightened the degree to which wellbeing can be considered a political construct: The acceptance of different policy options for wellbeing depends on the extent to which those options are responsive to popular wellbeing concerns. Drawing on the views of over 400 people gathered through a variety of methods and across the UK, we outline different stakeholder views of what wellbeing is and the priorities that stakeholders believe should be addressed to improve wellbeing. We draw out the implications for reframing policy debates around wellbeing, the practice of career guidance, academic debates around identified wellbeing priorities, and the best means of developing a policy and a practice-oriented and stakeholder-responsive approach to researching wellbeing.     

Multi-family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP) for Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

This article describes the development and methodology of a novel psychosocial intervention for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Originally developed as an adjunctive treatment for children with mood disorders, Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP) has been adapted for children with ASD (MF-PEP-ASD). Consisting of eight sessions, children with ASD and their parents receive psychoeducation and social support, and learn coping, problem-solving, communication, and symptom-management skills in separate and joint sessions. Core treatment components of MF-PEP-ASD include psychoeducation, social skills treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and parent training and involvement. Preliminary qualitative data from parent and child participants have indicated positive and promising findings. Continued evaluation of this treatment using comprehensive outcome and treatment fidelity measures is warranted.     

Healing the wounds of our fathers: intergenerational trauma, memory, symbolization and narrative

This paper explores the history of psychoanalytical approaches to intergenerational trauma, both from the Freudian and from the Jungian schools, and addresses the need when we speak of intergenerational or transmitted trauma to better define the nature and the different categories of trauma with particular reference to extreme and cumulative traumas such as those experienced by the survivors of the Nazi death camps and the Russian gulags. Therapy with survivors and with their children requires a particular adaptation of analytical technique as what is at stake is not so much the analysis of the here and now of the transference and countertransference dynamics which indeed can in the early stages be counterproductive, but the capacity of the analyst to accept the reality of the trauma with all its devastating and mind-shattering emotions without losing the capacity to imagine and to play metaphorically with images, essential if the patient is to be able to create a space for representation.     

Which Kantian Conceptualism (or Nonconceptualism)?

A recent debate in Kant scholarship concerns the role of concepts in Kant's theory of perception. Roughly, proponents of a conceptualist interpretation argue that for Kant, the possession of concepts is a prior condition for perception, while nonconceptualist interpreters deny this. The debate has two parts. One part concerns whether possessing empirical concepts is a prior condition for having empirical intuitions. A second part concerns whether Kant allows empirical intuitions without a priori concepts. Outside of Kant interpretation, the contemporary debate about conceptualism concerns whether perception requires empirical concepts. But, as I argue, the debate about whether Kant allows intuitions without empirical concepts does not show whether Kant is a conceptualist. Even if Kant allows intuitions without empirical concepts, it could still be that a priori concepts are required. While the debate could show that Kant is a conceptualist, I argue it does not. Finally, I sketch a novel way that the conceptualist interpreter might win the debate—roughly, by arguing that possessing a priori concepts is a prior condition for having appearances.