Are Lovers Ever One? Reconstructing the Union Theory of Love

Current analytical philosophies of romantic love tend to identify the essence of such love with one specific element, such as concern for the beloved person, valuing the beloved person or the union between the lovers. This paper will deal with different forms of the union theory of love which takes love to be the physical, psychic or ontological union of two persons. Prima facie, this theory might appear to be implausible because it has several contra-intuitive implications, and yet, I submit, it is more coherent and attractive than it seems to be. I shall distinguish three specific models and thereby offer a differentiated account of the union theory which has not previously been provided in the literature (1). I will claim that two of these models (the strong ontological model and the striving model) should be rejected (2). I shall then defend the third model (the moderate ontological model) against certain possible objections (3); but nevertheless, I shall conclude by showing how this model, too, faces further significant objections which ultimately expose the limits of the union theory of love (4). In conclusion, I will sketch the outlines of a non-reductive cluster theory of love.     

Psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale across developmental stage,gender, and country

Adolescents differ in their degree of Environmental Sensitivity, that is, the ability to perceive and process information about their environment. The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale (HSC), a self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity, in two Belgian and UK samples with a total of 3056 adolescents. First, the factor structure, internal consistency, dimensionality, and construct validity of the HSC scale were examined. Second, measurement invariance of the HSC scale across developmental stage, gender, and country was tested. Results supported a bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and three group factors: Ease of Excitation (EOE), Low Sensory Threshold (LST), and Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES). Cronbach’s alpha and McDonalds’s (hierarchical) omega indicated that the HSC scale is a reliable measure of Environmental Sensitivity, except for AES. Furthermore, AES was associated with different personality traits than EOE and LST. Second, the HSC scale was partially measurement invariant across developmental stage, gender, and country. The results provide important insights in the psychometrics of a first measurement of Environmental Sensitivity in early to late adolescents. Implications for further research are discussed.

     

Beziehungen zwischen Interferenzneigung und psychologischer Refraktärzeit

Zusammenfassung Es wurden Beziehungen untersucht zwischen einem Persönlichkeitsmerkmal, der Interferenzneigung, wie sie im Stroop-Test gemessen wird, und der psychologischen Refraktärphase, welche die Geschwindigkeit der Informationsverarbeitung im Human Operator entscheidend bestimmt. 24 Vpn, von denen 12 eine hohe und 12 eine niedrige Interferenzneigung hatten, wurden in 8 verschiedenen Versuchsvariationen Refraktärzeitmessungen unterzogen. Es zeigte sich, daß Vpn mit hoher Interferenzneigung signifikant längere Refraktärzeiten aufwiesen als Vpn mit niedriger Interferenzneigung. Die Differenzen zwischen den Interferenzgruppen nahmen zu mit ansteigender Komplexität der Versuchssituation und waren am deutlichsten ausgeprägt in den Versuchssituationen, welche der im Stroop-Test gegebenen Situation am ähnlichsten waren. Diese Ergebnisse bestätigen unsere Hypothese, daß das Ausmaß der Interferenzneigung in Zusammenhang steht mit der Länge der Refraktärphase. Das Interferenzphänomen kann somit verstanden werden als Ausdruck persönlichkeitsspezifischer Differenzen in der Geschwindigkeit der Informationsverarbeitung.

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On the relation between interference proneness and psychological refractory period

Summary The described experiment investigated relations between a personality trait, the interference as measured by the Stroop-Test, and the psychological refractory period, a determining factor in the speed of information processing by humans. Of 24 Ss, half of which had a high half a low interference tendency, measurements of psychological refractory periods in 8 different experimental situations were made. Ss witha high interference tendency had significantly longer psychological refractory periods than Ss with a low interference tendency. The differences between the two experimental groups increased with rising complexity of the experimental situation and were most clearly outlined in those variations, which were most similar to the situation given in the Stroop-Test. These experimental data proove our hypothesis: that the amount of interference is correlated with the length of the psychological refractory period. Thus the phenomenon of interference may be interpreted as an expression of personality differences in the speed of information processing.

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Von der Philosophischen Fakultät der Freien Universität Berlin 1966 angenommene Dissertation.     

Identity and Its Construal: Learning from Luxembourg

This article examines national identity construal processes within the case study context of Luxembourg. Building on research highlighting the modalities of generalization from case studies, I present the country case that is Luxembourg. This social universe has a foreign population percentage of 47% and what is considered majority and minority becomes increasingly fluid. The migration process itself is fluid, ranging from daily migration, to medium-term stays, return visits and permanent immigration including uptake of citizenship. Within such a fluid environment, where national borders are permeable at the physical level of crossing borders and (national) societies are nested within societies, culture contact is a permanent feature in daily life. Nationality becomes a salient feature as culture contact tends to prompt reflection, resulting in questioning and (re-)negotiation of national identity. This affects the native population as well as the diverse immigrant population – with diversity going beyond the level of country of origin. Many individuals are also of mixed nationality and some examples for the construal process of national identity will be provided, illustrating how national identity is negotiated at individual level. Like a periscope, this country let s us adjust mirrors, permitting us to observe modes of identity construal which would otherwise be obstructed from the field of view. The case study that is Luxembourg allows us to look at the micro-setting of the construction, potentially of something new.     

Insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli reflects individual differences in state negative affect

People differ with regard to how they perceive, experience, and express negative affect. While trait negative affect reflects a stable, sustained personality trait, state negative affect represents a stimulus limited and temporally acute emotion. So far, little is known about the neural systems mediating the relationship between negative affect and acute emotion processing. To address this issue we investigated in a healthy female sample how individual differences in state negative affect are reflected in changes in blood oxygen level-dependent responses during passive viewing of emotional stimuli. To assess autonomic arousal we simultaneously recorded changes in skin conductance level. At the psychophysiological level we found increased skin conductance level in response to aversive relative to neutral pictures. However, there was no association of state negative affect with skin conductance level. At the neural level we found that high state negative affect was associated with increased left insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli. The insula has been implicated in interoceptive processes and in the integration of sensory, visceral, and affective information thus contributing to subjective emotional experience. Greater recruitment of the insula in response to aversive relative to neutral stimuli in subjects with high state negative affect may represent increased processing of salient aversive stimuli.     

A domain‐specific risk‐attitude scale: measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors

We present a psychometric scale that assesses risk taking in five content domains: financial decisions (separately for investing versus gambling), health/safety, recreational, ethical, and social decisions. Respondents rate the likelihood that they would engage in domain‐specific risky activities (Part I). An optional Part II assesses respondents' perceptions of the magnitude of the risks and expected benefits of the activities judged in Part I. The scale's construct validity and consistency is evaluated for a sample of American undergraduate students. As expected, respondents' degree of risk taking was highly domain‐specific, i.e. not consistently risk‐averse or consistently risk‐seeking across all content domains. Women appeared to be more risk‐averse in all domains except social risk. A regression of risk taking (likelihood of engaging in the risky activity) on expected benefits and perceived risks suggests that gender and content domain differences in apparent risk taking are associated with differences in the perception of the activities' benefits and risk, rather than with differences in attitude towards perceived risk. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking thought suppression and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

There are two types of recovered memories: those that gradually return in recovered memory therapy and those that are spontaneously recovered outside the context of therapy. In the current study, we employed a thought suppression paradigm, with autobiographical experiences as target thoughts, to test whether individuals reporting spontaneously recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are more adept at suppressing positive and anxious autobiographical thoughts, relative to individuals reporting CSA memories recovered in therapy, relative to individuals with continuous abuse memories, and relative to controls reporting no history of abuse. Results showed that people reporting spontaneously recovered memories are superior in suppressing anxious autobiographical thoughts, both in the short term and long term (7 days). Our findings may partly explain why people with spontaneous CSA memories have the subjective impression that they have "repressed" their CSA memories for many years.     

Assessing the Influence of Psychosocial and Career Mentoring on Organizational Attractiveness

Past research on mentoring in organizational settings has focused on psychosocial and career mentoring functions more senior employees provide to new hires. In this study, we examined whether the perceived quality of psychosocial and career functions of pre‐hire mentoring and realistic job previews (RJPs) provided to students through mentoring impact organizational attraction and potential applicants' intentions to pursue or accept jobs at their mentors' organization, and ultimately their acceptance of positions with their mentors' organization. We compared face‐to‐face mentoring with online mentoring. A field study was conducted (n=194 European graduate students). Findings indicate that the quality of psychosocial mentoring plays a larger role in organizational attraction and intentions to pursue jobs than the perceived level/quality of career mentoring functions, with RJPs functioning as a suppressor variable. Obtaining a job with the mentors' organization was related to career, but not to psychosocial mentoring functions or RJPs.