Dancing with identity: Narrative resistance strategies of male and female stripteasers

Using life history interviews with 14 female and 10 male striptease dancers, the researchers examined how the language of deviance is used in the life narratives of exotic dancers. Past studies have oriented toward striptease as an occupational curiosity for men and as deviant for women. This article addressed both genders in one study. Eschewing typical deviance vocabularies of analysis, the authors drew upon “biographical work” as our theoretical orientation to frame the life history interview materials and to develop the concept of “narrative resistance.” Rather than assuming that deviance is inherent to striptease dancing for women, but not men, the authors demonstrated how deviance is a socially constructed narrative resource that all dancers may draw upon to construct an account of self. The narrative resistance strategies discussed here include two deviance exemplars: sleaze and immersion. The authors concluded with two discussions: one regarding gender and biographical work and the other regarding the generalizability of narrative resistance as a biographical work strategy.     

Emotions in memories of success and failure: a cultural perspective

Americans and Chinese tend to behave differently in response to success and failure: Americans tend to persist on a task after success, whereas Chinese tend to persist after failure. This study examined whether cultural differences in emotional reactions to success and failure account for these differences. American and Chinese students recalled personal success and failure events, evaluated the primary emotion evoked by the event, and responded to measures of concerns, appraisals, and willingness to try the same task again. Americans were more likely than Chinese to report that their success enhanced their self-esteem. Chinese were more likely than Americans to estimate that their success would make others jealous and enhance others' respect for their family. Chinese, compared to Americans, viewed failures as more tolerable, as less problematic for their goals, and as less damaging to their self-esteem. Culture moderated the relations between these components of emotion and willingness to try the task again. In short, culturally framed emotional reactions to success and failure result in different patterns of anticipated self-regulation.     

Defining and Measuring Self-Concept Change

The self-concept and the manners by which it changes are two of the most important, and challenging, areas of psychological study. In this review, we define the self-concept as a multifaceted psychological construct, composed of a variety of characteristics. People with low self-esteem, incremental theorists, self-monitors, and people with a high uncertainty orientation and relational self-construal are mentioned as some of the types of people who are likely to undergo change. Various approaches to measuring the self-concept and investigating it across cultures are also discussed. Recommendations for future research include utilizing an intraclass correlation coefficient measure of change, and accounting for context-specific self-definitions in several cultures.     

Animal Faux Pas: Two Legs Good Four Legs Bad for Theory of Mind,but Not in the Broad Autism Spectrum

Research shows that the general population varies with regard to both autistic traits and theory of mind (ToM) ability. Other work has shown that autistic individuals may not underperform on ToM tests when the agent of evaluation is anthropomorphic rather than typically human. Two studies examined the relation between ToM and autistic trait profiles in over 650 adults using either the standard Faux Pas Recognition Test (FPT) or an anthropomorphized version of the FPT (FPTa). Results showed that autistic trait profiles were related to faux pas detection ability in the FPT but not the FPTa. Furthermore, while those with the broad autism phenotype scored significantly worse than those who were typically developed on the FPT, scores did not significantly differ on the FPTa. These findings add to a growing body of work suggesting that ToM ability is not at a global deficit in those on the autistic spectrum, but may relate to the mindreading of specifically human agents.     

Catholic, Calvinist, and Lutheran Doctrines of Eucharistic Presence: A Brief Note towards a Rapprochement

This article explores Schlatter's doctrine of the Trinity in the light of the contemporary debate, focusing on the relation of the economic and the ontological Trinity. It is shown that Schlatter relates God's triune being and God's trinitarian action through the notion of love – where God's love ad extra as well as ad intra is oriented toward the particular in such a way as to enable true otherness. It will be argued, moreover, that Schlatter's contribution to the contemporary trinitarian debate lies in propounding an applied trinitarian theology which is faithful to its object. When God in himself and in relation to creation is oriented toward and actively seeks the other, then theology cannot talk about God's being apart from the actuality of his actions in this world.     

A daily diary study of mental health and community involvement outcomes for three Chinese American social identities

Approximately 100 American youths of Chinese descent participated in a 14-day diary study, completing daily reports on ethnic feelings, American feelings, ethnic community involvement, and psychological well-being. Participants were divided into 4 identity orientations (Chinese, American, bicultural, or other) and then assessed for differential patterns of mental health and community involvement. Chinese-centered identities were characterized by positive well-being and positive self-esteem. However, the American-centered and bicultural groups had well-being and self-esteem levels equal to that of the Chinese-centered group. Although the measures of menial health failed to differentiate the identity categories, both the Chinese- and bicultural-centered groups showed high involvement in Chinese culture, whereas American-centered participants were, significantly less involved.     

The relational-interdependent self-construal, self-concept consistency, and well-being

Examination of the assumptions underlying consistency perspectives in social and personality psychology reveals that they are based on an independent, individualistic view of the self. If the self is constructed as relational or interdependent with others, consistency may be less important in social behavior and well-being. Using a variety of measures of well-being, the studies showed that there is a weaker relation between consistency and well-being for individuals with a highly relational self-construal than for those with a low relational self-construal. Study 3 examined the association between the self-construal, consistency, authenticity, and well-being. These findings reveal the importance of a cultural analysis of theories of the self, personality, and well-being for further theory development.     

Primary process and peer consultation: an experiential model to work through countertransference

Various models exist for peer supervision and consultation of group therapy. This article documents the authors' experience using an experiential group consultation of group therapy model that relies on primary process to overcome countertransference dilemmas. A review of group therapy supervision and consultation models is followed by vignettes from the authors' experience. Discussion of the vignettes highlight critical issues in group consultation and expound upon the strengths and challenges of using an experiential model.