Looking a Hundred Years Back: Remarks on the Concept of "Wishing" in Psychoanalysis

While the concepts of "wish" and "wish fulfillment" have indeed remained central since the start of classical psychoanalysis, they are only weakly anchored both in theory and practice. It has become common today for psychoanalysts to use the term "to wish" in the sense of "to want" or "to intend." As a first step, it will be emphasized that "wish" should not be constructed along the lines of "intention." An examination of the relationship of "wish" to "wish fulfillment" is then followed by an evaluation of its practical significance for psychoanalysis and for our understanding of mental life in a general sense. Turning to an example dream sequence, we will arrive at the psychoanalytic core of the issue: the assumption of hidden, non-obvious, non-recognizable wish fulfillment scenarios. At this point in the discussion, a method of access will be sketched out - the dramaturgical approach - that, although it makes use of the idea of free association, does so in a manner that diverges from Freud's original recommendation.     

Reflections on Spiritual Maturity and Gerotranscendence: Dialogues with Two Sufis

ABSTRACT

Late life development-from the perspectives of spiritual development and gerotranscendence-has been studied using the Life History Approach followed up by thematic semi-structured interviews with Iranian Sufis residing in Sweden. On the basis of this study and proceeding from the theory of gerotranscendence, this article illustrates the distinct role of aging in the development toward wisdom and maturity when mystical ideas are already integrated into individuals' ways of thinking. This is achieved by contrasting, in terms of certain gero-transcendent dimensions, an aged Sufi's view of her/his Self and the surrounding world with that of a middle-aged Sufi.     

How farsighted are behavioral tendencies of approach and avoidance? The effect of stimulus valence on immediate vs. ultimate distance change

Research suggests that affective stimuli facilitate behavior that causes a compatible change in distance (i.e., approach positive and avoid negative stimuli). In natural settings, however, behavior often causes different consequences at different points in time. It is unclear whether affective stimuli interact with immediate or ultimate action-consequences (i.e., consequences that are more removed in time). To shed light on this, we tested whether stimulus valence facilitates behavior that ultimately causes a compatible change in distance, even when this behavior immediately causes an incompatible distance change. Participants moved a manikin on a computer screen toward or away from a positive or negative word. On half of the trials, moving the manikin ultimately in one direction required an initial movement in the opposite direction. Results from two studies showed that stimulus valence facilitated ultimate-compatible distance change regardless of the initial direction. This suggests that affective stimuli facilitate behavior that is relatively farsighted.     

Approach, avoidance, and inhibition: Personality traits predict cognitive control abilities

The extent to which approach and avoidance personality trait sensitivities are associated with specific cognitive control abilities as well as with verbal and nonverbal domains remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated whether approach and avoidance trait sensitivities predict performance on verbal and nonverbal versions of the Stroop task, which taps the specific cognitive control ability of inhibiting task-irrelevant information. The findings from the current study indicate that whereas approach (specifically, Extraversion) sensitivity was predictive of verbal Stroop performance, avoidance (specifically, Behavioral Inhibition System) sensitivity was predictive of nonverbal Stroop performance. These results provide novel evidence suggestive of the integration of motivational personality traits and the ability to inhibit task-irrelevant information in a domain-specific fashion.     

Perceived consequences underlying approach goals and avoidance goals in relation to anxiety

Numerous studies have examined anxiety from a cognitive and affective perspective but relatively little research has studied anxiety from a motivational perspective. There are theoretical grounds (e.g., Gray, 1982) for expecting anxiety to be characterised by heightened avoidance motivation, but this motivational bias is not thought to be accompanied by diminished approach motivation. A cross-sectional, mixed model design was used to investigate individuals’ response-variations on personal approach and avoidance goal systems. A convenience sample comprising an anxious group (n = 41) and non-anxious group (n = 33) completed tasks that measured number of self-generated approach goals and avoidance goals, and number of associated positive and negative consequence steps for goals. As predicted, anxious individuals, relative to non-anxious individuals, generated more avoidance goals and more negative consequence steps in response to goal non-attainment (irrespective of goal type) but did not differ on number of approach goals or positive consequence steps in response to goal attainment (irrespective of goal type). The present findings highlight the importance of personal goal systems in understanding the nature of anxiety.     

Mapping moral motives: Approach, avoidance, and political orientation

Recent critiques of moral psychology and the contemporary culture wars highlight the need for a better understanding of diverse moral perspectives. A model of moral motives is proposed. The fundamental approach–avoidance distinction in motivation is crossed with self-other focus to create four moral motives: Self-Restraint (avoidance-self), Social Order (avoidance-other), Self-Reliance (approach-self), and Social Justice (approach-other). Three studies explored these motives in the context of political orientation. Overall, political conservatism was associated with avoidance motives and liberalism with approach motives. Approach–avoidance motives were also associated with distinct patterns of results regarding authoritarianism, social dominance, and positions on contemporary social issues. Responses of campus political groups demonstrated the utility of the moral motives in providing a more nuanced view of politics that also takes into account the model’s second dimension, for an emphasis on Self focus (personality responsibility) versus Other focus (social responsibility) further distinguished between conservative groups. Moral and political implications are discussed.     

Approaching math increases math = me and math = pleasant

In two studies, we examined the effect of extensive practice in approaching math on implicit identification with math, implicit math attitudes, and behavior during a math test. The results from Study 1 demonstrated that women trained to approach math showed more identification with and positive implicit attitudes toward math than women trained to avoid math. Notably, this latter pattern of findings was only evident for women low in initial identification with this field. The results from Study 2 replicated these findings by showing that women who were initially low in math identification and trained to approach math showed more implicit identification with math and attempted more items on a math test than women trained to respond to math in a neutral way. The implications of these findings for current theorizing on the gender gap in women’s representation in math related careers are discussed.     

Physiological markers of challenge and threat mediate the effects of performance-based goals on performance

We predicted that adopting a performance-approach vs. performance-avoidance goal would lead to physiological responses characteristic of psychological states of challenge vs. threat appraisals, respectively. Furthermore, we predicted that these states would mediate the effects of goals on performance. Twenty-seven undergraduate females performed a task described as identifying either exceptionally strong performers (performance-approach goal) or exceptionally weak performers (performance-avoidance goal). Participants’ cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) was recorded while they performed the task. As predicted, participants in the performance-approach goal condition performed better on the task than did those in the performance-avoidance goal condition. Also as predicted, those in the former condition exhibited a challenge pattern of CVR whereas those in the latter condition exhibited a threat pattern of CVR. Furthermore, physiological responses mediated the effects of performance-based goals on performance.     

情绪调节自我效能感与主观幸福感：情绪调节方式的中介作用

本研究的目的在于探讨青少年情绪调节自我效能感与主观幸福感之间的关系及情绪调节方式在其中的中介作用。采用《情绪调节自我效能感量表》、《情绪调节方式量表》和《主观幸福感量表》对1128名中学生进行测查,结果表明：(1) 情绪调节自我效能感与情绪调节方式、生活满意度、积极情感、消极情感关系紧密;(2) 情绪调节自我效能感和情绪调节方式可显著预测主观幸福感;(3) 减弱调节在情绪调节自我效能感与主观幸福感间起部分中介作用。