Reply to Catriona Mackenzie

In her excellent critique of my book Self to Self (2006), Catriona Mackenzie highlights three gaps in my view of the self. First, my effort to distinguish among different applications of the concept ‘self’ is not matched by any attempt to explain the interactions among the selves so distinguished. Second, in analyzing practical reasoning as aimed at self-understanding, I speak sometimes of causal-psychological understanding (e.g. in the paper titled ‘The Centered Self’) and sometimes of narrative self-understanding (e.g. in ‘The Self as Narrator’), but I never explain how these two modes of self-understanding are related. Third, I never explain how my account of autonomous agency can be reconciled with my interpretation of Kant's (e.g., in ‘A Brief Introduction to Kantian Ethics’). In this reply to Mackenzie, I agree with her about all three of these gaps, and I offer some (admittedly incomplete) ideas about how they might be filled.     

Big Five Personality Traits as the Predictors of Creative Self‐Efficacy and Creative Personal Identity: Does Gender Matter?

The aim of this study was to examine the relation of the Big Five personality factors to two self‐concept variables of growing importance in creativity literature: creative self‐efficacy (CSE) and creative personal identity (CPI). The analysis, conducted on a large (N = 2674, 49.6% women) and varied‐in‐age (15–59 years old) nationwide sample of Poles, using the structural equation model, demonstrated that personality factors are responsible for 23% of CSE and 21% of CPI variances. CSE and CPI were associated with all five personality dimensions: positively with Openness to Experience, Extraversion and Conscientiousness, negatively with Neuroticism and Agreeableness. The separate analyses conducted on men and women showed the differences among the predictors of CSE and CPI. Although Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism predicted CSE among both men and women, Extraversion was positively and Agreeableness negatively related to women's CSE. Conscientiousness was positively related to CPI only among men, and Agreeableness was negatively related to it only among women. Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness predicted CPI in the same manner among men and women.     

Undergraduate Marijuana Use and Anger

The Anger Expression Scale and a questionnaire regarding marijuana usage were administered to 497 undergraduate college students enrolled at a rural university in the midwestern United States. Four levels of marijuana use were defined by the questionnaire: nonuser, occasional user, frequent user, and daily user. No significant main effect was found on the Anger-In or Total Anger Expression scales, but differences among the four levels of use were noted on the Anger-Out scale. The trend analysis showed a significant linear trend for the Anger-Out and Total Anger Expression scales. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

La construcción situacional en la ingesta alcohólica

RESUMEN

En la primera parte de este artículo se elabora un modelo de “construcción situacional de ingesta alcohólica”; en la segunda parte se aplica este modelo al estudio de la influencia de la publicidad sobre la ingesta alcohólica. El presupuesto básico de esta investigación era que mientras el sistema perceptivo es diferentemente afectado por los estados momentáneos, los estados experimentales o la propaganda sufrida, la estructura abstracta reflejada por la taxonomía situacional es escasamente afectada por la influencia de las variables experimentales, en este caso, por la propaganda alcohólica recibida. Los resultados encontrados manifiestan que la construcción de las situaciones de ingesta alcohólica está, al menos, modelada por los factores publicitarios, y que esta influencia es mayor cuanto menos es la edad de quien recibe la información.     

Perspectives of a Pastoral Counselor

No abstract available for this article.     

Immigration as a Dynamic Experience: Personal Narratives and Clinical Implications for Family Therapists

This is a reflective account of the experiences of the authors who immigrated to the United States from India at different developmental, historical, political, and social stages. Although their culture-of-origin was the same, the meaning and experience of immigration was different for each author. The narratives show a natural continuum of experiences based on their developmental stage during immigration, reasons for immigration, and the historical context of both India and the US at the time of immigration. A common theme is the ambivalence experienced by them in their process of creating a physical and psychological home in a different culture.     

Forgiveness,its factors,and unforgivable acts in romantic relationships: A mixed-methods study

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study investigates forgiveness, the factors of forgiveness, and unforgivable acts, and analyzes relational and gender differences in participants' qualitative answers. Open-ended questions were answered by 649 participants from Slovakia (532 dating, 117 married; 517 women, 132 men). Responses were analyzed qualitatively using the Consensual Qualitative Research-Modified method, then transformed into quantitative data in order to statistically compare the groups. The results showed that dating individuals tended to see forgiveness as working on the relationship, whereas married individuals viewed forgiveness as an emotional process. Married individuals were more likely to report that shared commitments helped them to forgive. Dating partners tended to look at the situational context. Men were more likely to report that forgiveness was key to the relationship. When forgiving their partner, men focused on internal factors, whereas women needed an apology and acts of love. Infidelity was the most common unforgivable transgression. Therapists may benefit from a more nuanced understanding of forgiveness in dating and married individuals.     

The Relative Importance of Self-Focused and Society-Focused Values in Explaining Political Attitudes in Europe

Personal values predict political attitudes. Previous research in the United States suggests that so-called “society-focused” personal values such as universalism or conservation do so more than “self-focused” values such as self-direction and power. This study seeks to test the relevance of this distinction in a different context with four political attitudes using the European Social Survey. Three mechanisms are suggested to explain effects of self-focused values on political attitudes. Although society-focused values were generally found to be more important in predicting political attitudes, self-focused values made a significant and often substantial contribution. On average, self-focused values were able to predict around half of the variance in political attitudes that society-focused values were. Power in particular played a role in predicting political attitudes, especially support for economic redistribution. Further analyses support the ideas that (1) even the most self-focused value (i.e., hedonism) can play a relevant role in predicting political attitudes, and (2) self-interest may play a role in explaining the effect of self-focused values on political attitudes. Together, these findings highlight that a priori excluding self-focused values from analyses of political attitudes—as studies have done in the past—may lead to important effects being overlooked.     

Students' defending and passive bystanding behaviours when witnessing school bullying in North Western Ethiopia: Roles of personal and situational factors

Guided by Thornberg et al.'s (2012) framework on motivation to intervene, the present study examines whether personal and situational factors are associated with defending and passive bystanding behaviours in school bullying. Self-reported survey data were collected from 612 students (aged 12–16 years) attending grades 7, 8, 9, and 10 in East Gojjam Administrative Zone, North Western Ethiopia. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the strongest, significant predictors of defending were self-efficacy for defending (β = .215, p = .000), affective empathy (β = .173, p = .000), students' experience as victim (β = .119, p = .002), personal sense of power (β = .119, p = .006), followed by moral disengagement (β = .118, p = .002), and age level (β = −.082, p = .036). All variables jointly explained 18.6% of the total variance in defending, F (12, 599) = 11.397, p < .00; with medium effect size (f² = 0.23). In contrast, the strongest predictors of passive bystanding were moral disengagement (β = .233, p = .000), perceived costs and benefits of defending (β = −.163, p = .000), self-efficacy (β = −.139, p = .003), students' experience as victim (β = .097, p = .014), followed by gender (β = −.080, p = .042). The model explained 16.7% of the total variance in passive bystanding, F (12, 599) = 10.043, p < .001; with medium effect size (f² = 0.20). The findings enrich our understanding of factors associated with defending and passive bystanding behaviours. The implications for intervention are discussed. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.     

The Troublesome Concept of the Person

In today'sbioethical debates, the concept of the person plays a major role. However, it does not hold this role justly. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the concept of the person is unsuited to be a central concept in bioethical debates, because its use is connected with serious problems. First, the concept is superfluous. Secondly, it is a confusing concept and it lacks pragmatic use. Thirdly, its use leads to simplifications. Finally, the concept can easily be used as a cover-up concept. Therefore, it is argued that relinquishing the concept of the person could enhance the clarity and quality of bioethical debate. Moreover, the historic origin of much of the present confusion surrounding the concept of the person is clarified. It is demonstrated that three influences resulting from Locke'sideas on the person and personal identity can be determined as contributing factors to the confusion and controversy within the present bioethical debates centering around the person.