No one here gets out alive: the Bluebeard story in therapy and in the culture

In this paper, the Bluebeard story is used to highlight mechanisms underlying an individual analytic case and some cultural phenomena from a Jungian perspective. I describe a patient whose psyche was dissociated into a tormenting monstrous figure and a regressed childish self, which Kalsched explains as activation of the archetypal defence system. As her analyst, I had to survive attacks of the patient's persecuting inner object, which she related to Bluebeard as a representation of relentless murderousness. At the cultural level, Bluebeard pertains to the concept of the totalitarian object (Sebek 1996) and to the pole of grandiosity of the Russian cultural complex.     

Evaluating arguments during instigations of defence motivation and accuracy motivation

When people evaluate the strength of an argument, their motivations are likely to influence the evaluation. However, few studies have specifically investigated the influences of motivational factors on argument evaluation. This study examined the effects of defence and accuracy motivations on argument evaluation. According to the compatibility between the advocated positions of arguments and participants' prior beliefs and the objective strength of arguments, participants evaluated four types of arguments: compatible‐strong, compatible‐weak, incompatible‐strong, and incompatible‐weak arguments. Experiment 1 revealed that participants possessing a high defence motivation rated compatible‐weak arguments as stronger and incompatible‐strong ones as weaker than participants possessing a low defence motivation. However, the strength ratings between the high and low defence groups regarding both compatible‐strong and incompatible‐weak arguments were similar. Experiment 2 revealed that when participants possessed a high accuracy motivation, they rated compatible‐weak arguments as weaker and incompatible‐strong ones as stronger than when they possessed a low accuracy motivation. However, participants' ratings on both compatible‐strong and incompatible‐weak arguments were similar when comparing high and low accuracy conditions. The results suggest that defence and accuracy motivations are two major motives influencing argument evaluation. However, they primarily influence the evaluation results for compatible‐weak and incompatible‐strong arguments, but not for compatible‐strong and incompatible‐weak arguments.     

Art - A Feasible Illusion

This article discusses the approximation between art and psychoanalysis, considering both as manifestations of the unconscious. Art is viewed as a successful instinctual substitute which differs from the symptom in terms of effectiveness. A work of art is the symbolic universe of the artist, who, by withdrawing into the world of imagination, encounters the pathways of reality. Artistic manifestation is not interpretable, however it communicates with the observer who may also find satisfaction for his own unconscious desires therein.     

The law and lawyers: Through psychodynamic eyes

Abstract

This article looks at some of the unconscious processes that operate among solicitors in general practice. In particular it considers various defences against the anxiety felt by solicitors partly because of the nature of their work and partly because of what is projected onto them by their clients. It argues that these defences have become embodied in the legal system itself as ‘socially structured defence mechanisms’ (Menzies Lyth 1989).     

Who speaks? Who looks? Who feels? Point of view in autobiographical narratives1

In this paper, the author aims to substantiate Freud's claim that neurotic illness creates gaps in autobiographical narratives in terms of the narrator's stating and inducing perspectives. He sketches out the role of narrative perspective and the joint taking of a shared perspective by analyst and patient in psychoanalytic therapy. He introduces four ways of representing perspectives in narratives. Three degrees of narrative distortion are exemplifi ed by three excerpts from life narratives and explored in terms of narrative perspective representation. The most comprehensive perspective representation is achieved in the fi rst example by explicitly stating the present perspective of the narrator as well as the past perspective of the story's protagonist by use of mental verbs. In the second narrative, exclusive use of linguistic forms for inducing the protagonist's perspective both overwhelms the narrator and gives the listener an incomplete picture of what happened. Inconsistent motives, denial of responsibility and omission of detail render the third narrative even more diffi cult to follow. The author discusses the clinical signifi cance of this exploratory analysis of perspectives in narratives in terms of claiming responsibility for one's past action and of level of defence mechanisms, and by highlighting the emotional impact on listeners, which the author suggests is the stronger the more perspectives are left out. He discusses analogies to countertransference. The analysis of narrative perspectives offers an approach for systematic research in psychoanalytic practice.     

Escaping to the Angels: A Note on the Passing of the Manic Defence

This essay examines how some psychologically adroit individuals use creativity as a manic defence against the affects that they cannot bear to experience directly. Conceived within the perspectives of Jungian psychoanalysis, manic creativity is shown to effect a defence against the subjective distress of personal complexes by means of an identification with the archetypal cores of the complexes. This defensive use of creativity, however, may ultimately play a decisive role in healing. Indeed, when considered from a prospective or teleological point of view, manic creativity, for all its insensitivity to the suffering that has inspired it, can also be understood as gradually creating a container in which affects formerly defended against may be received and suffered, felt and grieved. It is in this way that manic creativity, though clearly a defence (and at times a very costly one), participates in the reparative initiative of the self.     

The role of religious beliefs and thoughts of holy defence veterans in accepting the difficulties of imposed war

This study has surveyed the physical, emotional, psychological, educational, vocational, family, social and economic problems of 100 veterans of Iraq's imposed war on Iran. It has examined veterans’ reasons for the acceptance or non acceptance of the difficulties of being a veteran. It has also sought their opinions as to the necessity and usefulness of an active counseling center for facilitating veterans’ problems. One of the most important findings is that 82% of the veterans have easily accepted the problems associated with being a veteran. The most significant factor helping them to accept their various problems has been their religious beliefs. Fifty percent of them did not even know whether the Veterans’ Foundation had a counseling center or not. Sixty four percent of them have considered an active counseling center as necessary and useful, provided that the center (clinic) is independent and not related to the Veterans’ Foundation.     

Aquinas’s Miracles and the Luciferous Defence: The Problem of the Evil/Miracle Ratio

Miracles and the problem of evil are two prominent areas of research within philosophy of religion. On occasion these areas converge, with God’s goodness being brought into question by the claim that either there is a lack of miracles, or there are immoral miracles. In this paper I shall highlight a second manner in which miracles and the problem of evil relate. Namely, I shall give reason as to why what is considered to be miraculous may be dependent upon a particular response to the problem of natural evil. To establish this claim, I shall focus upon Aquinas’s definition of a miracle and a particular free-will defence, the Luciferous defence.

Terror management among Chinese: Worldview defence and intergroup bias in resource allocation

Management of terror of death and its subsequent reactions has been held to be universal. However, with only a few exceptions empirical efforts have so far been focused on people from North American and European countries. Would Eastern philosophical traditions render differential management of the terror of death? The present research aimed at testing the generality of terror management in Hong Kong Chinese samples. Across four studies, we found robust and consistent mortality salience effects, which attest to the generality of terror management. As in previous studies, compared to control participants, mortality salient participants displayed a stronger ingroup bias in person evaluation (Studies 1, 3). Additionally, we found a robust mortality salience effect on intergroup bias in resource allocation (Studies 2A, 2B, 3), which has not been examined in previous terror management research.     

Resolving defence mechanisms: A perspective based on dissipative structure theory

Theories and classifications of defence mechanisms are not unified. This study addresses the psychological system as a dissipative structure which exchanges information with the external and internal world. When using defence mechanisms, the cognitive‐affective schema of an individual could remain stable and ordered by excluding psychological entropy, obtaining psychological negentropy or by dissipating the energy of self‐presentation. From this perspective, defences can be classified into three basic types: isolation, compensation and self‐dissipation. However, not every kind of defence mechanisms can actually help the individual. Non‐adaptive defences are just functioning as an effective strategy in the short run but can be a harmful approach in the long run, while adaptive defences could instead help the individual as a long‐term mechanism. Thus, we would like to suggest that it is more useful for the individual to use more adaptive defence mechanisms and seek out social or interpersonal support when undergoing psychic difficulties. As this model of defences is theoretical at present, we therefore aim to support and enrich this viewpoint with empirical evidence.