恐惧管理研究:新热点、质疑与争论

恐惧管理理论(Terror Management Theory,简称TMT)认为,死亡恐惧为人类发展提出了新的适应性问题,多重机制因此进化而来以维护心理平衡。大量的实证研究验证了TMT的基本假设,但在解释死亡突显效应背后的动机上还存在争议。该文首先介绍了由文化世界观、自尊及亲密关系组成的三重防御系统,之后重点评述了批评者从认知闭合、意义维持、联结动机以及控制等视角对死亡突显效应背后真实动机做出的新的阐释,最后指出未来研究应当尝试将死亡觉知的必然性与不确定性所引发的不同效应分离开来。     

GOD AS A COMMUNICATIVE SYSTEM SUI GENERIS: BEYOND THE PSYCHIC, SOCIAL, PROCESS MODELS OF THE TRINITY

With an aim to develop a public theology for an age of information media (or media theology), this article proposes a new God-concept: God is a communicative system sui generis that autopoietically processes meaning/information in the supratemporal realm via perfect divine media ad intra (Word/Spirit). For this task, Niklas Luhmann's systems theory is critically appropriated in dialogue with theology. First, my working postmetaphysical/epistemological stance is articulated as realistic operational constructivism and functionalism. Second, a series of arguments are advanced to substantiate the thesis: (1) God is an observing system sui generis ; (2) self-referential communication is divine operation; (3) unsurpassable complexity is divine mystery; (4) supratemporal autopoiesis of meaning is divine processing; (5) agape is the symbolic medium of divine communication. Third, this communicative model of God is developed into a trinitarian theology, with a claim that this model offers a viable alternative beyond the standard (psychic, social, process) models. Finally, some implications of this model are explored for constructive theology (conceiving creation as divine mediatization) and for science-and-religion in terms of derivative models: (1) God as a living system sui generis and (2) God as a meaning system sui generis .     

Meaning making,self‐determination theory,and the question of wisdom in personality

Self‐determination theory (SDT) has advanced the most comprehensive model of motives for human flourishing in the field of personality psychology and beyond. In this article, we evaluate SDT relative to the process of meaning making, particularly from a narrative perspective, showing what SDT can and cannot explain about the construction of self‐identity and its relation to human flourishing. On the one hand, SDT explains how subjective assessments of need fulfillment drive the process of self‐determined living. The internal motives that follow such fulfillment serve as important themes in people's life stories that predict several markers of hedonic and eudaimonic well‐being. On the other hand, SDT's focus on subjective fulfillment limits what SDT can explain about how wisdom, which is a canonical good of both eudaimonia and meaning making, helps people make sense of life's more difficult or unfulfilling events. SDT may facilitate a facet of wisdom that is more subjective and experiential but not the critical facet of wisdom defined by objectively more complex structures of interpretation.     

Disquiet in the consulting room: everything/nothing that is said here is confidential

Writing from experiences in the consulting room in private practice in Australia, the author refers to the layered complexity of a conflict of ethical duty which has legal and social implications. The paper explores how the ethics that are congruent with creating a safe vas bene claustrum can be diametrically opposed to the social and legal structures and processes on which we all rely. It is suggested that within the vas, analysts and analysands engage in a shared process of emotionally connected, layered, symbolic thinking. Subpoenas directed at analysts are seeking concrete evidence that will stand up in court. The paper argues that this is a category error based on ignorance and misconceptions of what analytic work entails. The intrusion of a subpoena into the vas has the potential to cause havoc in the mental health and the lives of already vulnerable, possibly traumatized and isolated individuals. It can undermine a fundamental human right and undermine the profession of psychotherapy as a whole. The paper proposes that analysts have an ethical obligation to protect the work contained within the vas from these category errors and to educate other professionals as to why we cannot provide the kind of evidence that the courts require.     

Lost in the crowd: Conformity as escape following disbelief in free will

Belief in free will is founded on the idea that people are responsible for their behavior. People who believe in free will derive meaning in life from these beliefs. Conformity refers to succumbing to external pressures and imitating others’ behaviors. Sometimes, conformity involves a loss of self-awareness, which reduces perceived meaninglessness. We tested if disbelief in free will increases perceived meaninglessness and if people subsequently become more conformist to address this negative existential perception. We conducted three studies to test this hypothesis. In Study 1, experimentally induced disbelief in free will resulted in perceived meaninglessness. In Study 2, perceived meaninglessness correlated with conformity. Finally, in Study 3, perceived meaninglessness mediated the relationship between disbelief in free will and conformity, especially under high self-awareness. We conclude that perceptions about meaning play a central role in the relationship between disbelief in free will and conformity.     

文章结构清晰度对修改的影响研究

研究了文章结构清晰度对文章修改的影响。高低水平的作者各分别修改结构清晰度不同的材料。实验结果表明,文章修改质量的水平差异显著;文章结构清晰有助于修改者在修改过程中建构文章的整体模式,从而促进意义错误的修改。文章结构清晰度对修改的影响主要是通过影响工作记忆资源的分配而实现的。     

The Structure of Grandparental Role Meaning

The present study explored the viability of Kivnick's 5-factor model of grandparental meaning (Kivnick, 1983), wherein this model was tested and subsequently refined on a sample of traditional grandparents (N = 102), and then cross-validated using a sample of custodial grandparents (N = 101). The data suggested that Kivnick's model of grandparental meaning was untenable in both grandparent samples. Instead, a single-factor model was supported in both samples. This suggests that grandparental meaning is best understood without regard to Kivnick's distinctions (Kivnick, 1983). This may reflect a cohort effect in the meaning of grandparenting, as evidenced in the diversity of roles into which grandparents are thrust, increased role confusion, as well as the idiosyncratic manner in which grandparents are often forced to define their roles in today's society.     

The Younger Generation of Culture Scholars and Culture-studies in Russia Today

I consider the main problem areas within theacademic project ``The 1990s: The Semantics ofRussian Culture,' undertaken by researchers,recent graduates, and the first post-graduatesof the Moscow Institute for European Cultures.The areas include new figures on the publicscene; new forms of communication; newinstitutions; current processes in culture andsociety. I examine the social and historicalframework of the formation of culture studiesas an academic discipline in contemporaryRussia, the alternative perspectives and tasksof the sociology of culture in Russian today.     

压力性生活事件与青少年自尊：被动性社交网站使用和人生意义感的中介作用

采用青少年生活事件量表、被动性社交网站使用量表、生命意义感量表以及自尊量表对605名青少年施测,旨在探讨压力性生活事件对自尊的效应以及被动性社交网站使用和人生意义感的中介作用。结果发现：被动性社交网站使用和拥有人生意义感在压力性生活事件与自尊之间起中介作用,压力性生活事件分别通过被动性社交网站使用、拥有人生意义感的中介作用和被动性社交网站使用与拥有人生意义感的序列中介作用对自尊产生效应。     

成人在语境中的母语词汇意义学习

语境学习是成人获得词汇意义的主要方式, 大量研究者使用语境学习范式考察成人母语词汇意义学习的问题。已有研究将词汇意义学习分为两大阶段：习得词汇的对应概念阶段和将新词的意义整合到已有的语义网络中的阶段。基于词汇意义学习两大加工阶段中语境学习的相关研究, 梳理了词汇、语境、被试因素对成人词汇意义学习的影响, 指出未来研究需要进一步关注新概念学习、隐喻意义学习等问题。