Mass psychology of the led and the leaders

Abstract

Some salient features of a Sullivanian perspective are given as a background for a discussion of the case of Anna. Lived experience is mentioned as of equal importance as fantasy. Technically, analytic inquiry in the form of questions is stressed. In his review of the case presentation, the author observes that too much emphasis is given to content, compared to form. He notes that the therapist does not report key transference and non-transference interactions with the patient and further suggests that the patient still has significant narcissistic problems. He suggests that it is time to confront the patient with her characterological ways of relating to the analyst.     

The Relation Between Appraised Mismatch and the Duration of Negative Emotions: Evidence for Universality

Emotions are processes that unfold over time. As a consequence, a better understanding of emotions can be reached only when their time‐related characteristics can be assessed and interpreted adequately. A central aspect in this regard is the duration of emotional experience. Previous studies have shown that an emotional experience can last anywhere from a couple of seconds up to several hours or longer. In this article, we examine to what extent specific appraisals of the eliciting event may account for variability in emotion duration and to what degree appraisal–duration relations are universal or culture specific. Participants in 37 countries were asked to recollect emotional episodes of fear, anger, sadness, disgust, shame and guilt. Subsequently, they were asked to report the duration of these episodes and to answer a number of questions regarding their appraisal of the emotion‐eliciting event. Multi‐level analyses revealed that negative emotions last especially long when the eliciting event and its consequences are perceived to be incongruent with the individual's goals, values and self‐ideal, creating a mismatch. These relations are largely universal, although evidence for some limited variability across countries is found as well. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Pseudocontingencies derived from categorically organized memory representations

Pseudocontingencies (PCs) allow for inferences about the contingency between two variables X and Y when the conditions for genuine contingency assessment are not met. Even when joint observations X _i and Y _i about the same reference objects i are not available or are detached in time or space, the correlation r(X _i ,Y _i ) is readily inferred from base rates. Inferred correlations are positive (negative) if X and Y base rates are skewed in the same (different) directions. Such PC inferences afford useful proxies for actually existing contingencies. While previous studies have focused on PCs due to environmental base rates, the present research highlights memory organization as a natural source of PC effects. When information about two attributes X and Y is represented in a hierarchically organized categorical memory code, as category-wise base rates p(X) and p(Y), the reconstruction of item-level information from category base rates will naturally produce PC effects. Three experiments support this contention. When the yes base rates of two respondents in four questionnaire subscales (categories) were correlated, recalled and predicted item-level responses were correlated in the same direction, even when the original responses to specific items within categories were correlated in the opposite direction.     

Christian‐Muslim relations in the African context

Abstract

The course of Islam and Christianity in Africa as well as statistical figures suggest a wide variety within, as well as considerable divergence between, both religions in the many African contexts. Though the majority of African Muslims still stick to a ‘traditional African Islam’, we observe a resurgence of Islam reflecting a growing religious awareness, on the one hand, and tendencies towards an ideological re‐interpretation (Islamism), on the other. Trends in resurgent Islam are highlighted by the examples of Islamic internationalism and da'wa, the modernisation of Islamic education, and the proliferation of Islamic political groups all over the continent. Various dimensions of Christian—Muslim relations in Africa today show areas of conflict as well as of cooperation and exchange. Against the background of the economic and social disintegration of many African societies, there is no alternative to inter‐religious dialogue which must be based on an authentic African theological foundation, being rooted in the African heritage shared by Muslim and Christian communities alike.     

Shall we continue or stop disapproving of self-presentation? Evidence on impression management and faking in a selection context and their relation to job performance

The self-presentation tactics of candidates during job interviews and on personality inventories have been a focal topic in selection research. The current study investigated self-presentation across these two selection devices. Specifically, we examined whether candidates who use impression management (IM) tactics during an interview show more faking on a personality inventory and whether the relation to job performance is similar for both forms of self-presentation. Data were collected in a simulated selection process with an interview under applicant conditions and a personality inventory that was administered under applicant conditions and thereafter for research purposes. Because all participants were employed, we were also able to collect job performance ratings from their supervisors. Candidates who used IM in the interview also showed more faking in a personality inventory. Importantly, faking was positively related to supervisors’ job performance ratings, but IM was unrelated. Hence, this study gives rise to arguments for a more balanced view of self-presentation.     

Altruism in adolescents and young adults: validation of an instrument to measure generative altruism with structural equation modeling

Aim of this study was to develop and test a research instrument to measure generative and functional altruism in adolescents/young adults. In an anonymous questionnaire survey using standardised questionnaires, 873 students were recruited in academic high schools and professional schools. The 7-item Generative Altruism Scale (GALS), which includes affective and behavioural elements, correlated with relevant external measures that correspond with the underlying construct. Confirmatory factor analysis proved an acceptable model fit with characteristics of χ² [df = 14, N = 846] = 129.946, p < .001, CFI = .91, AIC = 157.946, and SRMR = .048. Female and male students differed significantly with respect to altruism scores (F = 25.5; p < .0001). The GALS could be used for empirical studies analysing the connection between altruism and the development of ethical values and prosocial behaviour. Particularly, compassion as an intrinsic motivator could be fostered in appropriate education programmes.     

Playing Mating Games in Foreign Cultures: A Conceptual Framework and an Experimental Paradigm for Inductive Trivariate Inference

A conceptual framework is presented for studying trivariate inference, in which the influence of a primary independent factor, x, on a dependent variable, y, depends on a secondary factor, z. In two experiments, this was operationalized as the contingency between mating strategies, x, and mating success, y, for targets stemming from different tribes, z. In Experiment 1, z was manipulated to produce four contingency types: control, orthogonal, suppressor, and spurious correlations. Performance variation was not restricted by encoding capacity; explicit and implicit measures were more accurate at the trivariate level than at the bivariate level of assessment. Aside from normal regression effects, neither task complexity nor competition among influence factors led to impaired performance. Impairment was evident mainly in a radical discounting effect for spurious correlations due to representational conflicts. Experiment 2 demonstrates that the difficulties with spurious correlations can be overcome when temporal cues disambiguate the joint influence of x and z on y.