The Influence of Relational,Individual and Collective Self-Aspects on Stress,Uplifts and Health

The theoretical framework of the tripartite self was used to explore the links between relational (R), individual (I) and collective (C) self-aspects, corresponding sources of stress and uplifts, and health outcomes in a sample of 355 Australians (147 men, 208 women). Results supported a self-uplift congruence model of well-being, whereby the strength of a self-aspect guided the experience of recent uplifts in a corresponding R, I or C domain, which, in turn, contributed to well-being. There was partial support for a self-stress incongruence model of ill-being, whereby a strong self-aspect combined with recent stress in a mismatched domain contributed to ill-being. These findings, which highlight the role of the self and the importance of identifying relational, individual and collective sources of stress and uplifts, provide a promising new approach to understanding psychosocial influences on health and illness.     

Self-Presentation Concerns and Health Behaviors Among Cosmetic Surgery Patients

The present investigation examined the relationship between self-presentational motives and physical activity in a population of cosmetic surgery participants. Participants were 50 female and 5 male cosmetic surgery patients (CSPs; M age = 38.5 years) who completed a battery of self-report measures following either vein or acne treatment. Analyses revealed significant group differences on self-presentational concern and public self-consciousness between: (a) those who elected the treatment for appearance motives and those who elected treatment for health-based motives, and (b) the more frequent (3 or more times per week) and less frequent (2 or less times per week) exercisers. Greater self-presentational concerns and greater public self-consciousness were associated with having appearance-related motives for treatment and with being a less frequent exerciser.     

Teasing,rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings

Media commentators have suggested that recent school shootings were precipitated by social rejection, but no empirical research has examined this claim. Case studies were conducted of 15 school shootings between 1995 and 2001 to examine the possible role of social rejection in school violence. Acute or chronic rejection—in the form of ostracism, bullying, and/or romantic rejection—was present in all but two of the incidents. In addition, the shooters tended to be characterized by one or more of three other risk factors—an interest in firearms or bombs, a fascination with death or Satanism, or psychological problems involving depression, impulse control, or sadistic tendencies. Implications for understanding and preventing school violence are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 29:202–214, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Self-perceived Authenticity is Contaminated by the Valence of One’s Behavior

Two studies tested whether people are biased to infer that their positive actions are more authentic than their negative actions. In Study 1, participants identified a positive or negative personal characteristic and assessed the authenticity of past behavior that reflected that characteristic. In Study 2, people imagined themselves performing positive and negative behaviors that they authentically did or did not want to perform. Both studies showed that people’s judgments of the authenticity of their behavior were contaminated by their perceptions of the valence of their behavior even when the objective authenticity of the behavior was controlled. Future research must disentangle authenticity and positivity to determine the degree to which each contributes to positive outcomes that have been attributed to authenticity.     

Foucault’s turn from literature

This paper lays the groundwork for formulating an approach to literature which pushes Foucault’s thought in directions which he perhaps envisaged, but never pursued. However, one of the major obstacles to formulating a Foucauldian philosophy of literature is the fact that Foucault’s thought itself turned away from literature in the late 1960s. Why does literature apparently disappear from Foucault’s writings after 1969? And why does Foucault’s own re-writing of his theoretical biography elide this earlier interest in literature? In order to answer these questions we will have to find out what role literature played in his early thought. What is at stake here, is not just a better understanding of Foucault’s thought, but more importantly, the possibility of reviving one of the potential lines of flight which that thought cut short as a result of its own endless turning. Hence, my ultimate aim will be to address the question of what can be reclaimed today from Foucault’s abandoned engagement with literature.     

Social anxiety, sexual behavior, and contraceptive use

Two hundred and sixty college students completed a questionnaire that provided information regarding their sexual experience, knowledge, and attitudes; their self-evaluations on dimensions related to sexuality; and their level of heterosocial anxiety (anxiety experienced in social interactions with members of the other sex). Compared with subjects low in heterosocial anxiety, highly anxious respondents were less sexually experienced, engaged in sexual activity less frequently, had fewer sexual partners, were less likely to have engaged in oral sex, expressed a higher degree of apprehension about sex, and had a somewhat higher incidence of sexual dysfunctions. In addition, low socially anxious women tended to use the pill, whereas highly anxious women preferred the condom. High and low heterosocially anxious respondents also differed on self-ratings related to their sexuality but did not differ in their attitudes or knowledge regarding sex. The results are discussed in terms of the cognitive, behavioral, and affective concomitants of social anxiety.     

The effect of prolonged practice of pursuit eye movement

Prolonged exposure to a reciprocating motion that is tracked by the eyes results in diminished extent of perceived motion. Investigation of this effect showed that it becomes manifest only in perceived motion that is caused by ocular pursuit, but that it is not an eye muscle effect. It may consist in a changed evaluation of eye movements. The results throw some light on the relations between the processes that are caused by different stimuli for motion.