Action and emotion in everyday life

This study of naturally occurring behaviour employed a "beeper technique" to investigate the actions carried out by 152 subjects in eight different groups, viz. adult students, employed students who were also parents, unemployed, art students, doctoral students, alcoholics, retired people and a control group. Actions were sampled for seven subsequent days, five times per day between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. at randomly selected occasions. Each action was rated on a number of variables, shortly after it was sampled (median delay approximately 10 min). Some of the findings were: Time allocation corresponded well with national estimates. Being under situational control was highly aversive. Instrumental and consummatory orientations correlated positively. The background variables were, on the whole, only rather weakly related to action ratings, but it was found that women and retired persons tended to report a higher level of well-being.     

The Death of Resistance

For any conceptual distinction to be useful ( 5 ) within the field of family therapy, it needs to lead to some clear answers to the question: What does this distinction mean for clinical practice? The distinction between (a) the family-as-a-system, and (b) family-therapy-as-a-system leads to a clinical perspective, or stance, that includes a focus on changing. Once this focus is clear, the therapist can help to create the expectation of changing and consequently promote changing. That is, techniques can be developed using positive feedback loops. ¹ 1 It is important to remember throughout this essay that “positive” and “negative feedback loops,”“deviation-amplifying,”“deviation-counteracting processes,” etc., are just heuristic devices or metaphors. Human systems do not have such things. Human systems are described by an observer “as if.”
Moreover, this distinction leads to a therapeutic stance in which not changing is a surprise.     

Logical versus psychological necessity: A discussion of the role of common sense in psychological theory

Smedslund's has argued that psychological theory should be concerned with the logical analysis of common sense since (a) empirical data are "arbitrary" and no general and empirical laws can exist when it comes to human action; and (b) theoretical explanation of data is likely to be empirically empty—psychological theory often cannot be falsified. The argument was supported mainly by an analysis of Bandura's self-efficacy conceptions. Bandura's approach is, however, not developed to the point of being an explicit theory, a fact that explains why it can be demonstrated as being non-distinguishable from the naive analysis of action. Many well developed theories of decision making, such as Tversky's EBA theory, transcend common sense and are falsifiable. Common sense is, furthermore, subject to change over time and differs between cultures, and even between individuals. There is no such things as the common sense. It is also inconsistent and ambiguous and uses a loose mode of thinking which can often provide post hoc explanations but no predictions. Therefore, common sense probably offers little in the way of profound insights. Furthermore, the problems of inferrring general laws from unique events have not stifled progress in the natural sciences and should not discourage psychologists. The case for general laws in psychology is still being heard. Besides, even if findings are restricted in time and space they concern important questions of how people act here and now. Finally, Smedslund's attempt at logical analysis of treatment rules is shown to provide little more than semantic explication of the chosen definitions of key terms; in no way can such explication serve as a substitute for empirical research on psychotherapy effects.     

Social Networks and the Development of Close Relationships

This study examines the linkage between dose heterosexual relationships and their social networks of dose friends and family members. The central proposition of this study states that relational development will be positively associated with each partner's involvement in the other's social network and the degree of overlap in the individual social networks of each partner. Generally, the findings were consistent with this proposition. Among the indicators of network involvement and overlap, the range of network involvement (i.e., number of known members in the partner's network) emerged as the most powerful predictor of relational development. Findings are reviewed in light of existing theories and research, and suggestions for future research are made.     

Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Perceived Importance of Conversational Constraints

This study investigates how cultural groups may differ in their perceptions about preferred communication behavior. It focuses on the importance attached to “conversational constraints” in conversation. For the primary goal of requesting, the following five conversational constraints are identified: (a) concern for clarity, (b) concern for avoiding hurting the hearer's feelings, (c) concern for nonimposition, (d) concern for avoiding negative evaluation by the hearer, and (e) concern for effectiveness. Five hypotheses are formulated regarding the relationships between individualistic-collectivistic orientation (an important dimension of“culture”) and these five conversational constraints. Data were collected from 892 participants (undergraduates studying in Korea, Hawaii, and the mainland United States). After being presented at random with one of the six request situations, participants rated the perceived importance of each conversational constraint in that situation. The results indicate that the perceived importance of clarity was higher in the more individualistic cultures. On the other hand, the perceived importance of avoiding hurting the hearer's feelings and of minimizing imposition were higher in the more collectivistic cultures. The perceived importance of effectiveness and of avoiding negative evaluation by the hearer, on the other hand, did not significantly differ across the three cultural groups. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.     

Reliability and stability of adult attachment patterns

A basic premise of attachment theory is that internal models of attachment remain relatively stable across the life span. We examined stability and change in adult attachment representations over 8 months in a sample of young adults (N = 144; Mean age = 24.5 years). Attachment patterns were assessed by categorical and continuous ratings across three methods—self-report ratings, expert ratings based on semi-structured interviews, and reports of romantic partners—and showed moderate stability. Interview ratings tended to show higher stability than self-report ratings. Changes in attachment ratings (across methods) were not consistently related to life events that had occurred in the intervening 8 months. The relationship between reliability and stability was discussed, and where the “true” stability could be estimated independent of unreliability, it was found to be very high (r's ranging from .72 to .96). The results highlight the importance of using multiple indicators in assessing adult attachment and using continuous rather than categorical ratings in the assessment of stability.     

Volitional problems in trying to quit smoking

A series of interviews was conducted with 10 patients in an anti smoking clinic. Earlier results implying that volitional breakdowns in trying to quit smoking occur under emotional stress and are preceded by distorted reasoning were replicated. The patients were also asked about techniques they used to resist temptations. These techniques involved (a) bringing to mind values and wishes incompatible with the wish to smoke, and (b) diverting attention to some other action. Such acts may be interpreted as processing mental energy rather than information, pointing to a need for a broader conception of the regulation of action than is available in contemporary work on decision making.     

Prediction of valency and productivity: An empirical study of longterm group psychotherapy

With reference to W. R. Bion's theory about individual's reactions to group stimuli the main hypothesis was formulated thus: individual's Valency (V) and Productivity (W) undergo changes in certain (definable) directions under the influence of longterm group psychotherapy. The main hypothesis was refined into seven sub-hypotheses. These were measured by four projective tests: Reaction Group Situation Test (RGST), Self Perceptual Q-sort (SPQ), Q-SORT(overt) and Q-SORT(covert). 48.0% of the total number of modalities, 120 out of 252, developed in a predicted and eligible direction. 29.0%, 74 modalities out of 252, remained unchanged whereas 23.0%, 58 modalities out of 252, developed in an opposite to predicted and non-eligible direction. Group members' Productivity (W) developed most of all the modalities in a predicted (eligible) direction. Group members' Valency and Productivity pattern (VP) changed least of all the modalities. The group members Valency (V) for the basic assumption Dependency (baD) developed most of all the modalities in an opposite to predicted, i.e. non-eligible direction.     

Workers With AIDS: Hypothetical Supervisors' Willingness to Make EAP Referrals

This study investigated the willingness of 86 hypothetical supervisors to refer subordinates with five types of problems (AIDS, HIV-positive, alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse, and job impairments) to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The overall hypothesis was supported. The more severe the worker's problem, the more likely supervisors were to engage in an EAP referral.