Hypo-egoic self-regulation: exercising self-control by diminishing the influence of the self

Theory and research dealing with self-regulation have focused primarily on instances of self-regulation that involve high levels of self-reflection and effortful self-control. However, intentionally trying to control one's behavior sometimes reduces the likelihood of achieving one's goals. This article examines the process of hypo-egoic self-regulation in which people relinquish deliberate, conscious control over their own behavior so that they will respond more naturally, spontaneously, or automatically. An examination of spontaneously occurring hypo-egoic states (such as flow, deindividuation, and transcendence) suggests that hypo-egoic states are characterized by lowered self-awareness and/or an increase in concrete and present-focused self-thoughts. In light of this, people may intentionally foster hypo-egoism via two pathways-(a) taking steps to reduce the proportion of time that they are self-aware (such as repeating a behavior until it is automatic or practicing meditation) or (b) increasing the concreteness of their self-thoughts (such as inducing a concrete mindset or practicing mindfulness). In this way, people may deliberately choose to regulate hypo-egoically when effortful control might be detrimental to their performance.     

The Relationship of Korean Students’ Age and Years of English-as-a-Foreign-Language Exposure with English-Reading Ability: A Cross-Age Study

The differences in spelling error features among learning disabled and normal students spelling instructionally on four grade levels of achievement were investigated. The categories of errors were determined by invented spelling research. The results indicated that the ranking of error features for each group were significantly correlated, and that the range of individual variation about the mean group pattern of spelling error variables was highly similar at each level of achievement. The findings are congruent with the theory of developmental word knowledge and support the position that learning disabled and normally achieving children acquire specific aspects of English orthography in highly similar progressions.     

Mediators of the relationship between media literacy and body dissatisfaction in early adolescent girls: Implications for prevention

This study examined in young adolescent girls the fit of a theoretical model of the contribution of media literacy to body dissatisfaction via the mediating influences of internalisation of media ideals and appearance comparisons. Female Grade 7 students (N = 469) completed self-report assessments of media literacy, internalisation, appearance comparisons, body dissatisfaction, and media exposure. Strong, significant inverse associations between media literacy and body dissatisfaction, internalisation, and appearance comparisons were observed. Path analysis revealed that a slightly modified revision of the model provided a good fit to the data. Specifically, body dissatisfaction was influenced directly by appearance comparisons, internalisation, and body mass index, and indirectly by media literacy and media exposure. Indirect pathways were mediated by appearance comparisons and internalisation. Thus, a relationship between media literacy and eating disorder risk factors was observed. Findings may explain positive outcomes of media literacy interventions in eating disorder prevention.     

Investigation of Body Comparison Among Adolescent Girls1

Grade differences in appearance and nonappearance social comparisons, and targets for body comparison were examined in adolescent girls. A model describing potential contributors to, and consequences of, body comparison tendency was examined. Girls (n= 545) completed measuring social comparisons, targets for comparisons, dieting in response to comparisons, body attitudes, eating patterns, psychological variables, height, and weight. Appearance and nonappearance social comparisons increased with age. Girls reported comparing their bodies most frequently with peers and fashion models. Body comparison tendency was significantly predicted by: importance of thinness, internalization of socio‐cultural ideal, friend concern with weight, body image instability, competitiveness, grade, public self‐consciousness, perfectionism, and family concern with weight. Predictors of dieting in response to body comparison were also explored.     

An ‘Extra Legible Illustration' of the Christian Faith: Medicine,medical ethics and missionaries in the Arabian Gulf1

This article presents a view of missionary medicine in the Gulf and the ethical issues missionary medical practices evoked. It shows that, as both physicians and missionaries, and seeing themselves as an 'extra legible illustration' of the Christian faith (Paul Harrison, Doctor in Arabia, New York, John Day Co., 1940, 23-4), the missionary physicians gave selflessly to provide the best medical care possible according to their individual abilities and given the environment in which they worked. At the same time, they experimented, took risks that were sometimes unnecessary and were forced to make ethical choices that challenged their Christian moral compass. Furthermore, given the remoteness of their stations, they were absolved from professional oversight and second-guessing by patients who had nowhere else to turn. Drawing on this paradox of self-sacrifice and self-service, of Christian benevolence and imperial posturing, the article considers to what extent the mission was an exercise in altruism or imperialism.     

Cork Older Adult Intervention Project: Outcomes of a gestalt therapy group with older adults

The study investigated the effects of a gestalt therapy group with older adults. A total of 43 adults, 65 years or older, were randomised into treatment and assessment control groups of 22 and 21 respectively. ANCOVA results indicated that group therapy participants reported less anger control and more overall expression of anger than the control participants. In addition, they were significantly more agreeable and less hostile and more clear-headed and less confused at the end of the group. These findings were supported by reported emotional changes. Younger group participants were significantly more composed and less anxious than younger control group members. Qualitative results further illustrated this reduction in anxiety. Participants significantly increased their level of clear-headedness and were less confused. Qualitative evidence also illustrated their clear-headedness and agreeableness. Exploratory analysis illustrated substantial learning about oneself by group participants.     

Cognitive reference points

Two methods were used to test the hypothesis that natural categories (such as colors, line orientations, and numbers) have reference point stimuli (such as focal colors, vertical and horizontal lines, and numbers that are multiples of 10) in relation to which other stimuli of the category are judged. In Experiment I, subjects placed pairs of stimuli into sentence frames consisting of linguistic “hedges” such as “— is essentially—.” Results were that the supposed reference stimuli were most often placed in the second (reference) slot. In Experiment II, the subject placed a stimulus in physical space to represent his feeling of the psychological distance of that stimulus from another spatially fixed stimulus. Results showed that, when supposed reference stimuli were fixed, other stimuli were placed closer to them than vice versa. The results have substantive implications for the understanding of internal structure of categories and methodological implications for the mapping of reference points, quantification of linguistic intuitions, and the assumption of symmetry in psychological distance judgments.