A Contemporary View of Some of Joseph Sandler's Key Concepts

Three of Sandler's seminal papers—“The Background of Safety” (1960a), “The Concept of the Representational World” (1962), and “Countertransference and Role Responsiveness” (1976)—are scrutinized and discussed to explore the evolution of his thinking over some 40 years. His early insistence on the importance of feeling states and intrapsychic mechanisms and processes, especially those relating to internal objects and internal object relationships, are emphasized as well as the interactions and complementary relationship between theoretical formulations and clinical findings, as exemplified in his research activities in the Index Department of the Anna Freud Centre in London and in his paper on countertransference and role responsiveness. Interrelationships with other concepts, both clinical and theoretical, show up in Sandler's work as well as that of other eminent authors up to the present time, and similarities in conceptualizations are highlighted. Sandler's continuous efforts to clarify psychoanalytic concepts and to integrate differing psychoanalytic conceptualizations and models are illustrated by references to and quotations from the salient papers.     

The psychological costs of knowledge specialization in groups: Unique expertise leaves you out of the loop

Knowledge specialization, such as that present in cross-functional teams, produces both positive and negative outcomes. Our research investigated how unique expertise can lead to feelings of ostracism in the form of being out of the loop. Compared to group members with shared expertise, members with unique expertise felt out of the loop and experienced decreased fulfillment of fundamental needs, particularly when their expertise was to be given less weight in the group’s decision. Possessing unique expertise did not inhibit leadership emergence, even when that expertise should not have been used in the decision-making process. So, although knowledge specialization can have positive consequences for teams and task performance, it also has some negative psychological consequences that need to be understood.     

Portrait of a creatively gifted child facing cancer

Creativity can be demonstrated in various ways. The following case study describes how one creatively gifted boy applied creative skills from one dimension of his life to a totally new one. When cancer halted his musical career, he chose to channel his abilities into a new challenge: controlling pain and writing. The results demonstrated a heroism that opens new avenues to our consideration of what constitutes creativity in human lives.     

Book review

Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: the Communist and Post‐Communist Eras, edited by Sabrina Petra Ramet. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 1992. x + 441pp.     

Persistent Problems in Systematic Psychology IV. Structural versus Functional Analysis

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of iris color on critical flicker frequency (CFF). CFF thresholds were obtained on 56 male subjects between the ages of 18 and 25 divided into three groups on the basis of iris color (blue, green, and brown). The results indicate that iris color is a statistically significant factor in the determination of CFF (p < .05), though it was emphasized that the effect may have been due to the correlation between iris color and other ocular pigmentation. The blue-eyed group received the highest mean CFF and the brown-eyed group the lowest mean CFF with the mean CFF threshold of the green-eyed group falling between these values.     

Unit Cohesion,Resilience, and Mental Health of Soldiers in Basic Combat Training

Military unit cohesion has been shown to correlate with physical and psychological outcomes. However, little is known about the development of cohesion in the early days of military service during Basic Combat Training (BCT) and how it relates to positive support and the negative stressors of training. The current study assessed the development of unit cohesion across the 10-week BCT period (N = 1,939), and the relation of cohesion to stress, resilience, mental health measures, and BCT outcomes (graduation, passing the Army Physical Fitness Test, and final Basic Rifle Marksmanship scores). The sample was primarily male (62%), under age 25 (88%), and unmarried (88%). All putative mediators showed significant change over time. Unit cohesion increased over time (slope 0.22; p < .001), and these increases were associated with decreases in psychological distress (p < .001), sleep problems (p < .001), and tolerance of BCT stressors (p < .001), as well as increases in resilience (p < .001), confidence managing stress reactions (p < .001), and positive states of mind (p < .001). Unit cohesion was indirectly associated with successful graduation and passing the Army Physical Fitness Test through cohesion-related improvement in psychological distress, resilience, and confidence managing reactions to stress. Sleep problems also mediated BCT graduation. Cohesion effects on the Basic Rifle Marksmanship scores were mediated by psychological distress and tolerance of BCT stressors only. These results suggest that unit cohesion may play a key role in the development of psychological health among new soldiers.     

Role of Group Affiliation and Gender on Attitudes Toward Women in the Military

The current study examined attitudes of West Point cadets (N = 218), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets (N = 509), and non-military-affiliated students from civilian colleges (N = 598) toward a variety of roles that women may serve in the military. Respondents were queried whether a woman “should” or “should not” serve in the following military jobs: jet fighter pilot, truck mechanic, nurse in a combat zone, typist in the Pentagon, commander of a military installation, hand-to-hand combat soldier, jet transport pilot, air defense gunner, and crew member on a combat ship. A metric based on a sum of approval across all jobs indicated that women were significantly more approving than men; civilian college students were more approving than ROTC cadets; and West Point cadets showed the lowest overall approval.     

Predictors of Support for Women in Military Roles: Military Status,Gender, and Political Ideology

The repeal of combat restrictions by gender raises the importance of understanding factors related to the acceptance of women serving in the full range of military jobs. Previous research shows military affiliated cadets, especially males, are substantially less approving of women serving in military jobs, especially those involving exposure to direct combat or command positions, than are other college students. The current study extends these findings by considering political ideology in addition to gender and military affiliation, as related to attitudes toward women’s roles in the military overall and in combat roles in particular. Survey data from Service Academy cadets (n = 3,116), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets (n = 1,367), and nonmilitary affiliated college students (n = 2,648), provided measures of whether a woman should or should not be allowed to serve in 9 different military job areas. In addition to overall approval, a scale for combat jobs was created from a subset of 4 of the jobs. Regression analysis indicated that once gender, political party, political position (left/right), and attitudes toward mothers in the workforce overall were controlled, type of college did not add to the prediction of acceptance of women in various military roles. In general, nonmilitary affiliated respondents, women, and those identifying as Democrat offered higher approval scores. Our findings suggest more aggressive programs, designed to educate and socialize these future leaders about women’s roles in the military, may require development.     

Personality Factors,Family Structure,and Sex of Drawn Figure on the Draw-A-Person Test

One hundred seventy-four youthful psychiatric inpatients were given the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP) as part of an assessment battery. Sex of person drawn was compared to subject's sex, Achenbach aggression and delinquency scores, and scores on Children's Inventory of Anger and Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. The sex of the person drawn was also compared to family composition, specifically whether or not the child came from an intact family with both a male and female parent or role model. Results support drawing of a same-sexed individual as normative, regardless of age or sex. Adolescent girls and young boys were the only groups that differed significantly from this norm. Personality measures and family composition were not significantly related to the tendency to draw same versus opposite sex.