Shifting shadows: shaping dynamics in the cultural unconscious

Jung has suggested that wars, social upheavals and religions are 'but the superficial symptoms of a secret psychic attitude unknown even to the individual himself, and transmitted by no historian ...' (Jung 1964, para. 315; emphasis author's). With a focus on South Africa and some dream material, I explore this idea with particular emphasis on the cultural unconscious and the emerging theory of cultural complexes. Different cultures demand the repression of different aspects of the self and have different ways of actualizing a moral code. These repressions are part of what make up a dynamic and shifting cultural complex which inevitably plays a part in historical change. In turn, historical change plays its part in shifting these dynamics. In the analytic setting via the transference and countertransference, we are familiar with what is being repressed in relation to shadow dynamics, complexes and obsolete defences. Such dynamics relate to themes of boundary, identity and otherness which, in turn, reach back to early infantile strivings as well as forward in the service of unfolding. Central to this dynamic is the absorption of cultural attitudes--including that which must be repressed, allowed in or defended against. Major political shifts--historical change--inevitably affect cultural dynamics, 'secret psychic attitude(s)' and shifting shadows.     

The self in cyberspace

Abstract: Jung's concept of the Self is compared with current theories of identity formation in post‐modern society concerning the question: is the self constituted through experience and cultural influences—as it is argued by current theories in the social sciences—or is it already preformed inside the person, as Jung argues? The impact of communication media on the formation of identity in today's societies is discussed with a focus on internet communication and virtual realities. The resulting types of identities are conceptualized as polycentric which has surprising parallels to Jung's idea of the Self. The epistemology of constructivism and parallels in Jung's thought are demonstrated. Jung's work in this respect often appears contradictory in itself but this can be dealt with by a postmodern approach which accepts a plurality of truths.     

Intragroup dissonance: Responses to ingroup violation of personal values

The present research draws on cognitive dissonance theory [Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press] and social identity theory [Tajfel, H. (Ed.). (1978). Differentiation between social groups. London: Academic Press] to examine how group members respond to discrepancies between their personal values and the behavior of an ingroup. In two experiments we manipulated whether participants’ ingroup violated a personal value (providing basic healthcare in Experiment 1 and self-reliance in Experiment 2) and measured participants’ emotional responses and strategies for reducing discomfort. As expected, individuals experienced psychological discomfort (but not negative self-directed emotion), when an ingroup, but not when an outgroup, violated a personal value, and this discomfort mediated participants’ disidentification with their group (Experiment 1) and value-adherence activism (Experiment 2).     

Quine on Quantification and Existence

Quine's justly famous paper "On What There Is" introduced a criterion of ontological commitment which has been almost universally accepted by analytic philosophers ever since.In this paper I try to unpack some of the substantive and controversial philosophical commitments that are presupposed by this criterion.The aim is not to show that the criterion is incorrect,but merely that it is not as obvious as it is taken to be by many,and that we might have reasons to explore alternative ways of thinking about ontological commitments.     

民族文化认同与大学生职业成熟度的关系及其心理机制

为考察大学生民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系及其内在心理机制,本研究采用多民族青少年文化认同问卷、大学生生涯自我效能感量表和大学生职业成熟度量表对4292名在校大学生进行测查,结果发现：（1）大学生的主流文化认同、民族文化认同、生涯自我效能感和职业成熟度之间具有明显的正相关;（2）主流文化认同--生涯自我效能感在民族文化认同与职业成熟度之间起链式中介作用;（3）生涯自我效能感中介民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系在男生样本中不显著而在女生样本中显著;主流文化认同、生涯自我效能感分别单独中介民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系在汉族大学生样本中为部分中介,而在少数民族大学生样本中为完全中介。     

集群行为：界定、心理机制与行为测量

集群行为有两个特征：以群体行为的姿态出现; 行为的目的在于提升群体的利益。集群行为理论、精细化社会认同理论和去个性化理论都分别从不同的角度对集群行为的形成、发展及维持进行了解释。其中, 社会认同、愤怒情绪以及效能感描述了集群行为发生前的心理准备状态; 群际间不良的互动模式以及志同道合者的出现, 是大规模集群行为得以引爆的重要条件; 而在集群行为爆发后, 群体内所形成的暂时性的、情境性的“规则”则是集群行为得以维持的关键。目前集群行为研究常用的方法有：特定情境下的参与行为意向测量和对历史数据的回溯。西方集群行为的理论与研究对于探讨我国群体性事件具有一定借鉴意义。     

中国背景下建言行为研究：结构、形成机制及影响

建言行为研究伴随角色外行为研究而兴起, 对其研究顺应了知识管理等管理新理念的要求, 也与弘扬自主创新的时代主题一致。相比国外的盛行, 国内对该主题的本土化实证研究尚待加强。经对以往研究的总结分析, 结合本土化研究取向, 本研究拟采用半结构化访谈、配对成组问卷的现场研究和实验室模拟研究等方法, 以特质激活理论、社会认同理论和经济理性观为基础, 探索中国背景下企业员工建言行为的构思、形成机制及其对组织创新的影响。具体包括以下三个方面：(1)中国背景下建言行为结构研究; (2)建言行为多层次动态形成机制研究, 包括基于特质激活的个体特征对建言行为的影响研究, 基于个人认同的领导行为对建言行为的影响研究, 基于社会认同的组织因素对建言行为的影响研究, 及基于经济理性的个体与情境因素对建言行为交互影响的实验模拟研究; (3)建言行为对组织创新的影响研究。     

疾病的心理防御：人类如何应对病菌威胁

病菌和传染病构成的选择压力导致动物进化出了身体免疫以及行为免疫反应。而人类的大脑进化促使他们发展出了最为复杂的行为免疫系统。很早开始, 我们就依赖自身的各种行为免疫反应抵抗病菌。当这些疾病抵御机制跟群体生活协同进化之后, 我们的很多社会行为和态度都具有了减少疾病感染的功能, 它们包括对外群体成员的偏见、歧视, 以及对内群体成员的从众、服从。而更高层次的文化差异比如集体主义-个人主义, 至少部分原因是要管理与疾病感染有关的风险。本篇综述讨论了与抵御病菌威胁有关的社会行为、态度和其他心理现象。     

始成年期自我同一性发展特点及影响因素

Erikson将自我同一性看作是终生发展的过程并把18~25岁作为发展的关键时期, Arnett根据后现代社会的现实环境将这一阶段命名为“始成年期”。始成年期自我同一性对情感、工作、世界观等自我同一性发展领域的关注度相对青少年期更广泛与深入, 发展任务的繁杂使始成年期自我同一性的发展更具波动性, 并随着个体逐渐成熟而更多处于同一性的高级状态。后现代社会属性是始成年期自我同一性问题的根本, 原生家庭持续影响始成年期自我同一性的发展, 同时学校与工作单位这样的社会机构构成近端环境直接作用于始成年期自我同一性, 自主性在始成年期个体与其家庭及所处社会机构的交互作用中对自我同一性起到关键性调节作用。     

Epistemic Justice and a Role for Virtue in the Politics of Knowing

The dual aim of this article is to reveal and explain a certain phenomenon of epistemic injustice as manifested in testimonial practice, and to arrive at a characterisation of the anti–prejudicial intellectual virtue that is such as to counteract it. This sort of injustice occurs when prejudice on the part of the hearer leads to the speaker receiving less credibility than he or she deserves. It is suggested that where this phenomenon is systematic it constitutes an important form of oppression.