Book reviews

Miles, T. R., & Miles, E. (1990). Dyslexia: A hundred years on. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. pp. 214. ISBN 0-335-09541-0. £32.50 (hardback); ISBN 0-335-09540-2. £10.99 (paperback).

Altmann, G.T.M. (Ed.) (1990). Cognitive models of Speech processing: Psycholinguistic and computational perspectives. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books/MIT Press. Pp. 552. ISBN 0-262-01117-4. £49.50.

Watt, R. (1991). Understanding vision. London: Academic Press. Pp. 301. ISBN 012-738501-0. £18.95.

Hunt, R.W.G. (1991). Measuring Colour (second edition). Chichester: Ellis Horwood. Pp. 313. ISBN 0-13-567686-X. £55.50.

Davidoff, J. (1991). Cognition through color. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 217. ISBN 0-262-04115-4. £24.95.     

Altars for the Morrigan: the legitimizing agency of a goddess in the networked flow of authority of a YouTube sub-culture

ABSTRACT

The Pagan YouTube e-community is an informal, amorphous collectivity within which small sub-cultures evolve around more specific common practices, such as worship of a deity. One such sub-culture is that of altar-creation for the Irish goddess the Morrigan and the mediation of these altars through the recording and uploading of videos on YouTube. A clear culture and consistent aesthetic can be observed in the analysis of the altars mediated in this sub-culture. This article examines the operating authorities that can be traced across its development. Evidence for the networked nature of the group’s social formation—along with the aesthetically conservative nature of the culture evident therein—suggests that the authority structure of the e-community is networked and thus ‘horizontal’: a co-creation of the individuals within the collective. However, the formative influence of a prominent individual demonstrates a ‘vertical’ influence. This article thus argues that an axial horizontal–vertical theoretical model of authority most accurately describes the dynamics of this e-community. Ultimately, it is the implied authority of the Morrigan herself that mediates the flows of authority. It is due to the devotees’ understanding of the Morrigan as the legitimating force that the vertical influences are denied or deflected through a discourse of individualism.     

The puzzle of the self-torturer

I've profited from discussions with Alan Nelson, David Erikson, Yoram Gutgelt, Tony Martin, members of a seminar at New York University, and, especially, Kit Fine.     

DERIVED IDENTITY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY IN WOMEN DIFFERING IN MARITAL AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Derived identity, defined as a sense of self that is overly influenced by and dependent upon relationships with significant others, and depressive symptomatology, measured by the CES-D scale, were assessed in a sample of 564 adult women classified into one of six marital-employment status groups: married professional, single professional, married nonprofessional, single nonprofessional, married nonemployed, and single nonemployed. Married women were found to report more derived identity than single women and when age effects were controlled, married women also had higher CES-D scores than single women. Employment status results in aggregate indicated that for women of equal education: (1) employment outside the home, whether it be professional or non-professional, is related to a more autonomous sense of self than nonemployment and (2) employment outside the home is not associated with lower CES-D scores than nonemployment. Derived identity and depression were also found to be significantly correlated within the total sample and within each marital-employment status group.     

RELATIONSHIPS AMONG FEAR OF SUCCESS, FEAR OF FAILURE, AND ANDROGYNY

Fear of success, fear of failure, and sex role orientation were examined in engineering undergraduates using the Fear of Success Scale (FOSS; Zuckerman & Allison, 1976), the Debilitating Anxiety Scale (DAS; Alpert & Haber, 1960), and the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974), respectively. The correlation (r = 45) between fear of success and fear of failure supported the finding of Criffore (1977). BSRI subscale scores rather than BSRI sex role category scores increased the predictability of FOSS and DAS. Fear of success was found to be a sex-role-related construct whereas fear of failure was found to be a gender-related construct.