Mehr als Intersubjektivit?t

Erich Fromm (1900?C1980) was one of the forerunners of the intersubjective tradition in psychoanalysis. Trained at the Berlin Institute and emigrated to the US he started in the 1930s to reformulate psychoanalytic theory by focusing on man??s need to be related on reality, on others and on himself and herself. Similar to Sullivan, Fromm looked at man primarily as a social being but in contrast to Sullivan, Fromm much more stressed man??s being molded by societal requirements and by an intersubjectivity that is determined by strivings originating in his social character structure. The impact the respective social character orientation has on the patient??s being related to others and to himself and herself is to be recognized in the analysis of the therapeutic processes between analyst and analysand. In principle sociality plays a much bigger role for changing intrapsychic processes. Because of Fromm??s ??societal?? orientation his approach to psychoanalysis is still of relevance to understand how the intersubjective and intrapsychic is interwoven in each individual. Beyond that his approach enables insights into what is going on psychically in society and how these changes are influential to the individual??s welfare or suffering.     

��You��re Such a Girl!�� The Psychological Drain of the Gender-Role Harassment of Men

Men experience gender-role harassment when they are ridiculed or ostracized for being ??not man enough?? (Berdahl 2007). Although men??s emotional (e.g. shame and anxiety) and behavioural reactions (e.g. aggression) to gender-threatening feedback have been documented (Vandello et al. 2008), potential cognitive and self-regulatory consequences of this form of harassment have yet to be investigated. In the present experiment, 84 Introductory Psychology men at a Canadian university (Winnipeg, Manitoba) either experienced or did not experience gender-role harassment (i.e. told they squeezed a handgrip ??like a girl??) before completing a set of tests (an anagram test, a stroop color-naming task, and a subsequent handgrip task). To ensure our experimental manipulation invoked a threat to participant??s sense of manliness, we also included an open-ended measure of self-identification. In accordance with Social Identity research (Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002), we anticipated that harassed men would affirm male self-aspects significantly more so than non-harassed men. Overall, results demonstrated that, as predicted, gender-role harassment significantly threatened participant??s sense of manhood, compromised cognitive ability, and weakened attentional self-control compared to the no harassment control condition. However, contrary to predictions, harassment did not weaken self-regulatory physical strength: men in the harassment condition exhibited increased handgrip strength compared to men in the no harassment condition, suggesting potential compensatory reactions occurred, as well. Implications of gender-role harassment for men??s psychological well-being, intellect, and impulse control are discussed and areas for future research are outlined.     

Aggression and psychopathology in adolescents with a preference for violent electronic games

Associations between a preference for violent electronic games and adolescents’ self‐perceptions of problem behaviors and emotions were examined. It was predicted that a preference for violent games would be associated with negative externalizing characteristics, in particular aggressive emotions and behaviors, on the Youth Self‐Report (YSR), a standardized self‐report measure of adolescent problem behaviors. Thirty‐two 11‐ through 15‐year‐olds (17 girls) listed and categorized favorite electronic games into one of six predetermined categories and completed the YSR. MANOVA revealed significant relationships between a preference for violent games and the Thought Problems subscale (P < .01) and YSR Total Score (P < .05), with trends noted for the Internalizing (P < .06) and Anxious‐Depressed (P < .08) subscales. Expected relationships with externalizing behaviors, including aggression, were not found. However, across all YSR subscales, children with higher preference for violent games had more clinically significant elevations than those with low preference for violent games. On the Total Problems subscale, of the eight children receiving scores in the clinically significant range, six were in the High preference group (three boys and three girls). The failure to find the expected relationships between a preference for violent games and aggressive, externalizing behaviors is puzzling. It is possible that individuals with a preference for violent games may have high exposure to all forms of media violence. Their perceptions of their own behavior, in comparison, may not seem sufficiently aggressive to justify endorsement of problems in this area. Or, playing violent electronic games may promote a disconnection between the emotions normally associated with violence and violent acts. These explanations are consistent with a desensitization model where exposure to media violence decreases sensitivity to aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:134–144, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Balancing connectedness and self-protection goals in close relationships: a levels-of-processing perspective on risk regulation

A model of risk regulation is proposed to explain how low and high self-esteem people balance the tension between self-protection and connectedness goals in romantic relationships. This model assumes that interpersonal risk automatically activates connectedness and self-protection goals. The activation of these competing goals then triggers an executive control system that resolves this goal conflict. One correlational study and 8 experiments manipulating risk, goal strength, and executive strength and then measuring implicit and explicit goal activation and execution strongly supported the model. For people high in self-esteem, risk triggers a control system that directs them toward the situations of dependence within their relationship that can fulfill connectedness goals. For people low in self-esteem, however, the activation of connectedness goals triggers a control system that prioritizes self-protection goals and directs them away from situations where they need to trust or depend on their partner.     

Linguistic Analysis of College Aged Smokers and Never Smokers

College-aged adults represent the largest age group reporting current use of cigarettes. One factor that may account for these elevated smoking rates is tobacco advertisements targeting this population. Given the detrimental influence of smoking advertisements, it is essential to focus on counter measures. A unique and promising approach that may prove useful in preventing individuals from engaging in smoking behavior is to examine the manner in which individuals view smoking as well as how they view themselves. This study presents preliminary data on the use of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count analysis to examine differences in language use among 48 college-aged smokers and never smokers when writing about the way they view themselves with regard to the dangers of smoking. Results revealed significant differences across a number of linguistic domains, indicating that the use of language may have implications for public health messages designed to prevent the onset of smoking, as well as those messages that target smoking cessation.     

Motor processes in children's imagery: the case of mental rotation of hands

In a mental rotation task, children 5 and 6 years of age and adults had to decide as quickly as possible if a photograph of a hand showed a left or a right limb. The visually presented hands were left and right hands in palm or in back view, presented in four different angles of rotation. Participants had to give their responses with their own hands either in a regular, palms-down posture or in an inverted, palms-up posture. For both children and adults, variation of the posture of their own hand had a significant effect. Reaction times were longer the more awkward it was to bring their own hand into the position shown in the stimulus photograph. These results, together with other converging evidence, strongly suggest that young children's kinetic imagery is guided by motor processes, even more so than adults'.     

TEAM SPORTS FOR THE SEVERELY RETARDED: TRAINING A SIDE-OF-THE-FOOT SOCCER PASS USING A MAXIMUM-TO-MINIMUM PROMPT REDUCTION STRATEGY

A program to teach three severely retarded adults to use a side-of-the-foot soccer pass was evaluated. A 9-step stimulus-response chain was taught using forward chaining. In contrast to usual practice, intensive physical prompts were provided initially to teach each response component, then systematically faded. Approximately 20 lessons (trials) were presented in 20-min sessions. A multiple baseline across subjects design showed that the three trainees achieved the no-prompt criterion after 24, 29, and 22 sessions, respectively. Subanalyses indicated that successive response components were learned only after training was implemented. Follow-up data were obtained 57 and 276 days later in the training room and in a gymnasium; in both settings, criterion was achieved with fewer than three reinstructions.     

How one gambles if one must: Effects of differing return rates on multistage betting decisions

In the multistage betting game (MBG), a decision maker (DM) is provided with some capital x which he is required to bet over m (m > 1) mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive alternatives, each of which occurs with probability p_i (p_i > 0, i = 1,…, m; Σ_{i = 1}^mp_i = 1). If y_i is bet on alternative i (y_i ≥ 0, Σ_{i = 1}^my_i = x) and alternative i obtains, the DM's capital for the next stage is y_ir_i, (r_i > 0). The MBG lasts until either the DM loses his capital or N stages elapse, whichever comes first. Each of six subjects participated in six sessions consisting of several hundred 3-alternative MBG stages. A within-subject design assigned negative expected value (EV) bets to the first three sessions and positive EV bets to three more sessions. Significant effects were found due to return rate, capital size, homogeneous runs of either wins or losses, and individual differences. Four maximization of expected utility and two minimization of risk models were presented and tested. A modified logarithmic utility model is proposed, which provides the best fit to the data. The implications of the results and directions for further research are briefly discussed.     

Siblings of children with mental retardation: Family characteristics and adjustment

Siblings of children with mental retardation may be at greater risk for adjustment problems because of family stress related to the needs of the child with mental retardation. Family dimensions were investigated to determine their relationship to sibling adjustment. Adjustment of 12 siblings of children with mental retardation was examined in relationship to family dimensions. These relationships were compared to those for children from families without a disabled child. For both groups, self concept was positively associated with family cohesion, and social competence was positively associated with family promotion of independence. For only the siblings of the mentally retarded children, family conflict was inversely related to social competence, and family organization was positively related to sibling self concept. Our results suggest that family conflict and disorganization appear to have a more negative effect in families with a child with mental retardation.     

The development of the Children's Empathic Attitudes Questionnaire using classical and Rasch analyses

Empathic responding is implicated in antisocial behaviors such as bullying, sexual offending, and violent crime. Identifying children and adolescents at risk for antisocial behavior and evaluating interventions designed to address problem behaviors require valid and reliable measures. Definitional controversies and limited measurement models have hindered measurement. This study describes the development and analysis of the Children's Empathic Attitudes Questionnaire (CEAQ) using both classical and modern techniques. Rasch analyses provided probabilistic results over large item and person groups, enabling meaningful inferences from patterns of responses at the construct level. Analyses of fifth through seventh graders' responses to the final version of the CEAQ provide support for its reliability, validity, and functionality. Four meaningful item clusters were identified, each reflecting more cognitively advanced empathic attitudes. These analyses suggest that the CEAQ provides a theoretically sound, hierarchically meaningful measure of empathic attitudes that will be useful in identification and intervention with children and adolescents at risk for antisocial behavior.