Creativity, “Twinning,” and Self-Destruction in the Life and Work of Tennessee Williams

Applying an eclectic psychoanalytic framework, this paper provides a thematic link between the core experiences of Williams' early life and his creative work. Both preoedipal and Oedipal themes are elucidated. The central issue that dominated Williams' mental life was his struggle between a sense of suffocation and confinement, on the one hand, and having artistic and sexual freedom, on the other. The experience of suffocation extended to his dread of becoming mad. This dread derived from his intense twinning or twinship merger with his schizophrenic sister who was confined in an asylum. The study focuses attention on a number of Williams' one-act and full-length plays, written during each of the decades of his public career, as representative of his overall dramatic opus. These works are indicative of his special relationship with his sister as well as of his obsession about self-indulgence and fear of confinement. The later plays suggest that he was subject to identity confusion.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Charles C. Ragin, Fuzzy-Set Social Science
Ofer Feldman and Christ'l De Landtsheer (eds.), Politically Speaking: A Worldwide Examination of Language Used in the Public Sphere
Jim Sidanius and Felicia Pratto, Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression
Nancy C. Unger, Fighting Bob LaFollette     

Crossing the Line: Case Studies of Identity Development in First-Generation College Women

In this paper we present four case studies of adult women from working class backgrounds who attended Hillside College (a pseudonym for one of the seven-sister colleges) during the early 1990s. Although research on women has led, over the past few decades, to a more complex picture of the contexts in which women develop their identities, one important context that has been underexplored is social class. Drawing on data from three lengthy interviews with each of our four participants, our purpose was to explore the identity concerns of adult women from working class backgrounds in their experience getting to and attending Hillside College, which has historically been home to the middle and upper social classes. Implications for college retention are discussed.     

How general is the “General Factor of Personality”? Evidence from the Texas Adoption Project

Using data from samples of 300 and 220 adoptive families from the Texas Adoption Project, aspects of generality of a “General Factor of Personality” (GFP) were examined: across different personality inventories, across different levels of analysis (items, scales) within an inventory, across self- and others’ judgments, and across sexes, ages, and generations. Considerable, though not complete, generality was found. The average correlation between GFPs from items and scales of a given inventory was .90; between GFPs from the scales of different inventories was .48. Also examined were the heritability of a GFP, its degree of correlation with a general cognitive factor, and its ability to predict real-life criteria such as educational level, marital stability, and substance abuse.     

Who knows what's good to eat? Infants fail to match the food preferences of antisocial others

Humans gather most of their knowledge about the world, including objectively true facts and specific cultural norms, by observing and being taught by others. Some individuals are worthy teachers and objects of imitation, having knowledge of cultural practices and positive intentions to inform. Others are better ignored because they are ignorant, because they mean us harm, or simply because we do not wish to be “like them.” This study examines whether 16-month-olds are sensitive to the pro- or antisocial behavior of a source that demonstrates preference for two novel foods. Infants took the emotional reactions displayed by novel and previously prosocial sources, but not antisocial sources, into account when deciding what to eat. These results suggest that others’ social behavior influences infants’ likelihood to match their preferences, illustrating the influence of social evaluation on social learning.     

社会认同理论视野下的社会认同威胁

社会认同威胁是指,在社会比较的情况下,由于群体地位的差异,某一群体的个体在认知、情感上,对自我、所属群体身份的不承认,而产生的一种心理上的疏离感和剥夺感、自卑感。社会认同威胁的结果包括3类：脱离群体、改变群体的状态、接受消极的社会认同结果。外显“社会威胁”的测量方法以问卷调查为主。测量“社会威胁”的内隐方法则以心脏血压和平均动脉血压作为测量指标。社会认同威胁的实验研究将群体分化为内群体和外群体,操纵群体地位的差异,通过模拟社会游戏来了解群体的社会认同威胁及其生理反应。未来的研究将重点关注下述问题：对社会认同威胁概念的建构、跨文化研究及其内隐过程的分析     

运动员退役过程的心理定性分析：成功与失败的个案研究

研究采用定性分析的方法,旨在探索我国运动员退役过程中为什么有的运动员能够顺利退役,重新开创新事业,而有的运动员却不能。研究以Torregrosa等的理论模式为设计思路,采用综合个案研究设计,选取4个成功和4个失败个案,通过访谈、文献和语言分析技术,对8个运动员退役过程中的意识和行为进行剖析。结果发现运动员在退役过程中,主要在心理状态、退役意识、退役计划、自我调节、社会支持和生活满意度6个方面,反映出成功退役的运动员与失败退役的运动员之间的不同特征。成功退役的运动员通常有一个良好的退役意识。主动计划选择退役后的事业发展;退役失败的运动员则表现为对退役问题消极回避的应对行为。文章就这些发现进行了讨论,并建议了进一步定量研究的方向     

小学儿童奖赏公平性的认知发展

采用信息加工研究途径并假设故事情境探索小学儿童对奖赏公平性的社会认知发展,并将儿童的发展与成人作对比。研究结果表明,７,９岁儿童容易将＂均等＂与＂公平＂混淆,还没形成一个稳定的分配模式,而１２岁儿童已能运用＂努力＂、＂成果＂、＂能力＂等规则较为稳定地作出公平奖赏决定或评价,但还没达到对更高层次的社会准则的理解和掌握。儿童这一发展制约于他们的信息加工能力以及获得有关社会价值观的社会化过程。     

多元企业认同的身份构建及其张力调和机理

基于认同驱动的营销关系视角, 系统地探讨了基于多元企业认同的企业身份构建及其张力调和机理。具体地, 通过定性和定量相结合的方法, 首先基于社会认同理论和身份理论, 探索多元企业认同的结构; 其次, 从社会心理学和文化创新的视角, 描绘多元企业认同形成及演化过程; 最后, 探究多元企业认同的身份构建以及身份张力调和机制。在理论上将消费者-企业认同扩展到多个利益相关者与企业的认同, 探索多元企业认同的身份构建及调和过程, 揭示其背后深层作用机理。实践上为企业与客户保持长期、和谐、多赢关系提供重要依据。