The Bright Forms Shining in the Dark: Juliet Mitchell's Theory of Sibling Dynamics as Illuminated in A. S. Byatt's “The Chinese Lobster”

Through a reading of A. S. Byatt's “The Chinese Lobster,” this paper illustrates some implications of Juliet Mitchell's theory of the role of siblings in mental life. Mitchell's recent work elucidates a complex web of fantasies, desires, and conflicts centered on sibling-figures. The paper begins by outlining several of Mitchell's concepts: the sibling crisis; lateral fantasy; laterally based narcissistic identifications; and the role of lateral relatedness in object love, self-esteem, thirdness, and hysteria. Byatt's story provides a springboard for exploring the profound relational significance of these ideas.     

Effects of instruction modality and readback on accuracy in following navigation commands

In 3 experiments, the authors simulated air traffic controllers giving pilots navigation instructions of various lengths. Participants either heard or read the instructions; repeated either all, a reduced form, or none of the instructions; and then followed them by clicking on the specified locations in a space represented by grids on a computer screen. Execution performance for visual presentation was worse than it was for auditory presentation on the longer messages. Repetition of the instructions generally lowered execution performance for longer messages, which required more output, especially with the visual modality, which required phonological receding from visual input to spoken output. An advantage for reduced over full repetition for visual but not for auditory presentation was attributed to an enhanced visual scanning process.     

Beyond self-esteem: influence of multiple motives on identity construction

Diverse theories suggest that people are motivated to maintain or enhance feelings of self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness, belonging, efficacy, and meaning in their identities. Four studies tested the influence of these motives on identity construction, by using a multilevel regression design. Participants perceived as more central those identity elements that provided a greater sense of self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness, and meaning; this was found for individual, relational, and group levels of identity, among various populations, and by using a prospective design. Motives for belonging and efficacy influenced identity definition indirectly through their direct influences on identity enactment and through their contributions to self-esteem. Participants were happiest about those identity elements that best satisfied motives for self-esteem and efficacy. These findings point to the need for an integrated theory of identity motivation.     

Narcissism and childhood recollections: a quantitative test of psychoanalytic predictions

Different psychotherapeutic theories provide contradictory accounts of adult narcissism as the product of either parental coldness or excessive parental admiration during childhood. Yet, none of these theories has been tested systematically in a nonclinical sample. The authors compared four structural equation models predicting overt and covert narcissism among 120 United Kingdom adults. Both forms of narcissism were predicted by both recollections of parental coldness and recollections of excessive parental admiration. Moreover, a suppression relationship was detected between these predictors: The effects of each were stronger when modeled together than separately. These effects were found after controlling for working models of attachment; covert narcissism was predicted also by attachment anxiety. This combination of childhood experiences may help to explain the paradoxical combination of grandiosity and fragility in adult narcissism.     

Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: integrating process models of life satisfaction

The authors examined the interplay of personality and cultural factors in the prediction of the affective (hedonic balance) and the cognitive (life satisfaction) components of subjective well-being (SWB). They predicted that the influence of personality on life satisfaction is mediated by hedonic balance and that the relation between hedonic balance and life satisfaction is moderated by culture. As a consequence, they predicted that the influence of personality on life satisfaction is also moderated by culture. Participants from 2 individualistic cultures (United States, Germany) and 3 collectivistic cultures (Japan, Mexico, Ghana) completed measures of Extraversion, Neuroticism, hedonic balance, and life satisfaction. As predicted, Extraversion and Neuroticism influenced hedonic balance to the same degree in all cultures, and hedonic balance was a stronger predictor of life satisfaction in individualistic than in collectivistic cultures. The influence of Extraversion and Neuroticism on life satisfaction was largely mediated by hedonic balance. The results suggest that the influence of personality on the emotional component of SWB is pancultural, whereas the influence of personality on the cognitive component of SWB is moderated by culture.     

Promotion of social change: a conceptual framework

This paper argues for the need to advance promotion efforts and proposes a conceptual framework for promotion of social change. A brief review is presented of traditional frameworks for the prevention of mental and social disorders and the promotion of wellness and social competencies, with attention to the ways in which promotion of social change extends and departs from these frameworks. In a framework for promoting social change, we advocate for promoting dynamic processes within systems, rather than outcomes within individuals. Systems are viewed as flexible and capable of facilitating multiple adaptive pathways for individuals and groups. Promoting social change also involves careful attention to critical analysis, values, language, and contextual processes. Examples are discussed throughout to illustrate how these principles have been used in the past and can be implemented in future efforts to promote social change.     

Anticipated bias from an outgroup: An attributional analysis

Utilizing a group product evaluation paradigm, a study was conducted to investigate anticipated outgroup evaluations. Specifically, it was proposed that ingroup members view outgroups in a way that leads them to anticipate discrimination. Results indicated, as predicted, that while subjects expected outgroup members to favour their own (outgroup) product, they expected impartial judges to agree with their own more favourable rating of the (ingroup) product. It is thus suggested that while subjects saw outgroup members as biased in their anticipated evaluations, they saw their own evaluations as relatively impartial. The results are discussed as an expression of ethnocentric attribution.     

Discrimination based on response-produced stimuli

This study outlines a simplified operant conditioning procedure for investigating discrimination based on response-produced stimuli. The method, using concurrent schedules of reinforcement, greatly reduced the complexity of the procedures and the number of training sessions necessitated by a recently offered alternative technique. Calculations of Weber’s Constant for discrimination between response-produced stimuli are presented and the relevance for learning theory of empirical studies concerning response-produced stimuli is indicated.