Ethnic Identity in Emerging Adults in Sub‐Saharan Africa and the USA,and Its Associations with Psychological Well‐Being

Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for psychological well‐being. However, the relationships between these constructs are mainly examined in Western contexts, amongst dominant–non‐dominant groups. We investigate ethnic identity across the mainstream group of a prototypical Western society (the USA) and several multi‐ethnic sub‐Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia), as well as how it relates to psychological well‐being. A total of 1255 university students (61.8% females, M_age = 20.94 years, SD = 2.97) completed a questionnaire with ethnic identity and psychological well‐being measures. Results indicated that ethnic identity was most salient in two different South African ethnocultural samples and least salient in a mainstream US sample. These results suggest that groups that are more exposed to ethnic strain in multicultural societies tend to have more salient ethnic identities. Furthermore, the underlying structure in the ethnic identity psychological well‐being relationship was similar across groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychosis,symbol, affectivity 2: another perspective on the treatment of psychotic disorder

This is the second of two papers concerning our study into an integrated approach to psychotic disorders conducted at the University Psychiatry Unit of Palermo’s Polyclinic over approximately 15 years; this paper concentrates on the clinical phenomena. The study aimed to find the best possible treatment and to improve the prognosis of this patient group. We have explored the efficacy of a range of psycho-therapeutic (cognitive-behavioural, systemic-relational, psychodynamic, group and others), psycho-pharmaceutical, psychiatric rehabilitative and psycho-educational treatments, with a hermeneutic approach instead of a systematic one. The study’s conclusions, described in the paper, are that all psychotic functions start with a nuclear psychic issue connected to emotional development. We describe how the most significant symptoms of acute psychotic manifestations (delusions and misperceptions) make use of an encrypted psychological meaning that can be decoded through the patient’s symbolic language. This language is a key element in diagnosis and in the choice of treatment. The paper describes how we revised our understanding of psychosis from being a brain disease to being a process aimed at the rearrangement of psychic functioning. Our significant results are described.     

Keeping an “I” on PRIDE: Measuring Imitation in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

In parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT), therapists encourage parents to imitate child behaviors in order to convey approval of the child’s actions and promote the development of linguistic and social–cognitive skills. However, the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System (DPICS-IV), used to measure skills taught during PCIT, does not include guidelines for coding parent–child imitation, making it difficult to determine how PCIT affects it. The current study addresses this problem by developing guidelines for coding imitation, which were then used to code DPICS-IV segments from 58 Mexican American families that participated in a past clinical trial. Results suggest that these coding guidelines can be used to reliably measure parent and child imitation. A series of additional analyses supported the construct validity of the codes. Specifically, there was a trend for parent imitation, but not child imitation, to increase more from pre–post treatment in PCIT relative to treatment as usual. In addition, parents who imitate their children were found to have children who imitate them more in return. Finally, improvement in parent imitation, but not child imitation, was significantly related to a decrease in child behavior problems. Further study is needed to determine the optimal frequency of imitation, and findings suggest that additional attention to coaching imitation may be warranted.     

Proper names and how they are learned

Abstract

Proper names function in our conceptual lives as means for denoting individuals in kinds. Kinds are denoted by common names, more precisely count nouns, and so there are important interrelations between proper names and common nouns. All of this shows up in the way we interpret proper names and employ them in everyday inferences. For example, an airline may count three passengers in relation to a single person Jane, if Jane takes three trips with the airline. Each of the three passengers is Jane, but there is only one Jane. To handle such operations we propose a theory of proper names as part of the theory of kinds. This enables us to specify certain resources (some of them unlearned) that are necessary for the learning of proper names and also a theory of how they are learned. We review the experimental literature on the learning of proper names from the standpoint of the theory. We do not extend the theory to cover recognition or recall.     

Personality change following religious conversion: perceptions of converts and their close acquaintances

This study focuses on how converts and their close acquaintances perceive changes in personality characteristics after religious conversion and possible demographic influences of these perceptions. Sixty Slovakian respondents self-defined as having experienced conversions rated themselves twice on measures of Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and meaningfulness in life. The first rating provided retrospective information concerning pre-conversion conditions and the second rating obtained data reflecting the convert's present self-understanding. In addition, every convert was rated on the same characteristics by someone who knew the person well during both pre- and post-conversion times. The convert and the rater both provided demographic information (age, education, religiosity, relationship to conversions and converts etc.). Analyses showed that the converts perceived several personality changes: neuroticism decreased while self-esteem, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion increased. They also reported a large increase in meaningfulness. Perceived changes were in part related to education level and age for converts, and to religiosity in both converts and close persons, suggesting a retrospective bias.     

Diabolic Debates: Replies to Stephen Kent

Steven F. Walker, Jung and the Jungians on Myth: An Introduction. Theorists of Myth Series 4. New York and London: Garland Publishing 1993. xiii+198 pp. $30.00 ISBN 0 8240 3443 0.

Thomas Ryba, The Essence of Phenomenology and its Meaning for the Scientific Study of Religion. New York: Peter Lang 1991. xvii +268 pp. $30.00 ISBN 0 8204 0742 9.     

Caught in the snare of deception: an exploration of the psychology of being deceived through two novels of Henry James

Although all of us become deceived at times, certain individuals are particularly prone to be caught in the snare of deception. The author uses novels by Henry James to explore two pathways by which these vulnerable individuals become deceived. The Portrait of a Lady (1881) illustrates the dynamics of someone who is not chronically deceived, but who surrenders to a deceptive object in order to escape from conflict and pain. The Golden Bowl (1904) illuminates the situation of someone for whom being deceived is a more chronic state, one that mirrors a false internal world. The author considers the obstacles that one encounters when one attempts to emerge from the state of being deceived and the difficulties that the deceived patient presents for the analyst.     

Distorted temporal consciousness and preserved knowing consciousness in confabulation: a case study

In this study we describe a patient, TA, who developed a chronic amnesic-confabulatory syndrome, following rupture of a right internal carotid siphon aneurysm. Our aim was to elucidate as fully as possible the nature of TA's impairment and to test the hypothesis of confabulation as reflecting a dysfunction of Temporal Consciousness, i.e., to become aware of something as part of a personal past, present or future. TA's confabulations were present in answers to questions tapping Temporal Consciousness, i.e., autobiographical episodic memory, orientation in time and place, and foresight of personal future. In contrast, confabulations were not observed in answers to questions tapping Knowing Consciousness, i.e., to become aware of something as a meaning or as an element of impersonal knowledge. In fact, he had normal access to semantic knowledge, including foresight of impersonal future. TA's brain MRI showed lesions involving the right hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, fornix, mammillary bodies, and thalamus. Moreover TA showed sub-cortical lesions involving the caudate and putamen nuclei bilaterally, a lesion site not commonly described in amnesic-confabulatory syndrome. We suggest that this pattern of results is better accounted for within the framework of the Memory, Consciousness and Temporality Theory and reflects a specific distortion of Temporal Consciousness.     

《易经》:早期儒家的形上学与意识进化学

相关资料初步表明,在中国古代,客观地把握人性及人与宇宙交互作用的自觉与努力业已发生。本文试图阐明《易经》的思维理路,借此思维理路,《易经》不仅塑造和影响了早期儒家形上学,而且也塑造和影响了诸如意识研究,尤其是意识学之类的当代研究领域。《易经》的发展及其在西方的传播,正说明了这一点。意识学研究人性,思考存在的其他领域。在这些方面,意识学与《周易》是相通的。将意识学同中国古代思想相比较可以看出,我们现在所研究的意识学在中国古代思想中早已有之。基于这一历史事实,我们有必要在意识学的起始处研究意识学。在意识学研究中,意识进化学是一个不可或缺的、必须进行研究的内容。我们可以通过《易经》来探索意识的进化。     

Religion in Domestic Violence Prevention PSAs: The Role of Religiosity in Motivating Christian Bystanders to Intervene

Domestic violence is an ongoing health issue around the world, propelling individuals and organizations to seek out new and innovative ways to mitigate its widespread reach. Focusing on the potential of religion to positively impact messaging, the current study examines how Christian symbolism might be used to encourage intervention behavior using public service announcements (PSAs). Using a between‐subjects design of Christian Americans as the respondent pool, a religious symbol versus a control ad was utilized. Levels of religiosity were also measured and factors impacting the construct assessed. Findings revealed religiosity, the importance of religion in one's life, was the underlying motivator for highly religious people to act rather than a religious cue. Within religiosity, the perceived strength of faith to one's identity held greater value than church attendance and frequency of prayer. Theoretical implications are discussed as well as insights for people working in public service messaging.