The Craftsman and His Apprentice: A Kohutian Interpretation of the Gospel Narratives of Jesus Christ

Kohutian theory suggests that relationships play a central role in structuring and sustaining the psychological self. In this article, we apply self psychology to the Father-Son dyad found in the Synoptic and Johannine narratives in order to understand the Jesus of the gospels in a new, psychologically informed manner. Conclusions are drawn related to how self psychology can help to elucidate the biblical relationship between God the Father and Son, or the craftsman and his apprentice, as well as how, conversely, the Father-Son dyad described in the gospels can inform self psychology.     

Noise effects on human performance: a meta-analytic synthesis

Noise is a pervasive and influential source of stress. Whether through the acute effects of impulse noise or the chronic influence of prolonged exposure, the challenge of noise confronts many who must accomplish vital performance duties in its presence. Although noise has diffuse effects, which are shared in common with many other chronic forms of stress, it also exerts its own specific influences on various forms of cognitive and motor response. We present a quantitative evaluation of these influences so that their harmful effects can be mitigated, their beneficial effects exploited, and any residual effects incorporated and synthesized into selection, training, and design strategies to facilitate human performance capacities. Predictions of single and joint moderator effects were made on the basis of major theories of noise and performance, specifically those explanations based on arousal, masking, or cognitive-resource mechanisms. These predictions were tested through moderator analyses of effects as a function of task type, performance measure, noise type and schedule, and the intensity and duration of exposure. Observed outcome effects (797 effect sizes derived from 242 studies) varied as a function of each of these moderators. Collective findings identified continuous versus intermittent noise, noise type, and type of task as the major distinguishing characteristics that moderated response. Mixed evidence was obtained for the traditional arousal and masking explanations for noise effects. The overall pattern of findings was most consistent with the maximal adaptability theory, a mental-resource-based explanation of stress and performance variation.     

The use and impact of the analyst's subjectivity with empathic and other listening/experiencing perspectives

As part of the epistemological transition from positivistic to relativistic science that had begun earlier in the twentieth century, Kohut (e.g., 1959, 1977, 1982, 1984) attempted to update psychoanalytic thinking in formulating the empathic mode of observation. The purpose of this paper is to reassess, through a conceptual and historical lens, the considerable controversy generated by the empathic perspective. The author specifically addresses constructivist philosophical underpinnings, the use and impact of the analyst's subjectivity, the inclusion of unconscious processes, the need for additional listening perspectives, and the influence of theoretical models in the organization of empathically acquired data. An illustrative clinical vignette is discussed.     

Where sex was, there shall gender be? The dialectics of psychoanalytic gender theory

Psychoanalytic theories of gender identity have come a long way since Freud. The author reviews two dialectics that have shaped psychoanalytic gender theory thus far: first, the tension between theories that emphasize biological versus sociocultural influences on gender, and second, the dialectic between nomothetic (i.e., universalizing) and idiographic (i.e., focusing on individual variation) approaches. The author argues that psychoanalytic gender theory could be further enriched with more attention to two additional dialectics. One involves the so-called gender binary and the relative focus on cultural versus developmental aspects of the binary; a second involves the relationship between gender identity and desire. Attention to these dialectics can help better integrate theoretical and clinical perspectives on gender identity.     

The role of defeat and entrapment in depression, anxiety, and suicide

Defeat and entrapment are psychological constructs that have played a central role in evolutionary accounts of depression. These concepts have since been implicated in theoretical accounts of anxiety disorders and suicidality. The current article reports on a systematic review of the existing research investigating the links among defeat, entrapment, and psychopathology in the domains of depression, suicidality, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other anxiety syndromes. Fifty-one original research articles were identified and critically reviewed. There was strong convergent evidence for a link with depressive symptoms, across a variety of clinical and nonclinical samples. Preliminary support for an association with suicidality was also observed, with effects not readily explainable in terms of comorbid depression. There was strong evidence for an association between defeat and PTSD, although this may have been partly accounted for by comorbid depression. The findings for other anxiety disorders were less consistent. There was, however, evidence that social anxiety in individuals with psychosis may be related to perceptions of entrapment. Overall, there was evidence that perceptions of defeat and entrapment were closely associated with various forms of human psychopathology. These effects were often in the moderate to large range and superseded the impact of other environmental and psychological stressors on psychopathology. We provide a unified theoretical model of how defeat and entrapment may contribute to these different psychopathological conditions. Clinical implications and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Contextual Inequalities in Religious Youth Programming

Religious congregations are hypothesized to be a community organization affected by contextual inequalities. Survey and interview data are analyzed to investigate the type and prevalence of youth programming in a geographic area. Rather than drawing a sample of religious congregations in the area, the telephone survey was conducted with every congregation located in the three contiguous cities. Coupled with the high response rate (98.9%), this allows for a unique analysis of a total population of congregations in the specified area. In-person interviews were also conducted with religious youth ministers sampled from the broader population of congregations. U.S. Census (American Factfinder, 2000) data on the areas in which the congregations were located was linked to survey and interview data. Results demonstrate contextual effects in religious youth programming, net of denomination, congregation size, and budget. The availability and type of youth programming in different locations relates to the inequalities embedded in these contexts. This study indicates that social disorganization theories apply to religious organizations not in inequalities of the number of congregations located in any particular area but in inequalities in the level of youth programming density available within those congregations.     

Measuring Latent Quantities

A distinction is proposed between measures and predictors of latent variables. The discussion addresses the consequences of the distinction for the true-score model, the linear factor model, Structural Equation Models, longitudinal and multilevel models, and item-response models. A distribution-free treatment of calibration and error-of-measurement is given, and the contrasting properties of measures and predictors are examined.