Evidence for an Evolutionary Cheater Strategy—Relationships Between Primary and Secondary Psychopathy,Parenting, and Shame and Guilt

In the present study, shame and guilt proneness were investigated in relation to primary and secondary psychopathy, looking at parental care as a possible mediator. A sample of 388 volunteers participated in an on-line study, completing several self-report measurements. Primary psychopathy, robust to parental care and sex of the participant, was associated with lower guilt proneness after a private transgression and lower negative self-evaluations after a public transgression. Secondary psychopathy was not associated with guilt or shame proneness. Paternal care played a mediating role between primary psychopathy and guilt, but only in male participants. High paternal care was associated with lower guilt repair in high psychopathy males, suggesting that a positive father-son relationship might be essential for development of exploitive strategies in primary psychopathy. The results highlight the fundamental differences between primary and secondary psychopathy, and provide support for the idea that primary psychopathy is an evolutionary cheater-strategy.     

共情对大学生亲社会行为的影响:道德推脱和内疚的多重中介作用

为了探讨道德推脱和内疚在共情与大学生亲社会行为间的多重中介作用。研究采用人际反应指针量表、道德推脱问卷、内疚感问卷和亲社会行为倾向量表对1280名大学生进行测量。结果表明:(1)道德推脱在共情与大学生亲社会行为间起中介作用;(2)内疚在共情与大学生亲社会行为间起中介作用。结论表明:共情可以直接影响亲社会行为,也可以通过道德推脱和内疚间接影响亲社会行为。     

The superego and its vicissitudes in contemporary society

Assuming that psychic reality and social phenomena are two sides of the same social totality, this article attempts to discuss the building up of the concept of superego in the Freudian text emphasizing its social roots and the function it performs as the representative of the symbolic law. Critical turning points in the development of the concept are presented and possible theoretical consequences of Freud's argument in “Civilization and its Discontents” are questioned when considered against the background of our present society determined by globalization and consumption. The author concludes by suggesting that the contemporary superego may represent an erractic reaction against the conditions prevalent in the social realm. Thus it appears to be rather the heir to the initial state of helplessness than the result of a paternal identification. That could account for its role as the representative of the symbolic law.     

Supportive psychotherapy of a psychodynamic orientation as an adjunctive treatment for drug-induced depression: A case study

Abstract

Treatment for drug-induced depression usually consists of cessation or reduction of the causative agent and psychopharmacologic management. In addition, psychotherapy can be useful as an adjunctive treatment. The author presents case material related to a young woman with an inborn physical illness, who became depressed during the course of interferon treatment for a medical complication, hepatitis virus infection. In addition to the cessation of interferon and pharmacologic management, supportive psychotherapy of a psychodynamic orientation was started in order to address the patient’s low self-esteem and anxiety about her future. During the course of psychotherapy, it was understood that the premature cessation of interferon was, to her, a narcissistic injury. It was also important to explore the meanings of her inborn illness and her guilty feelings. After reviewing various formulations of depression, the author discusses the case material from an integrative perspective, which describes vicious cycles of depression.     

Self-conscious emotions in patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain: A brief report

Objective: The role of self-conscious emotions (SCEs) including shame, guilt, humiliation and embarrassment are of increasing interest within health. Yet, little is known about SCEs in the experience of chronic pain. This study explored prevalence and experience of SCEs in chronic pain patients compared to controls and assessed the relationship between SCEs and disability in pain patients.

Design and measures: Questionnaire assessment comparing musculoskeletal pain patients (n = 64) and pain-free control participants (n = 63). Pain was assessed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire; disability, using the Roland–Morris Disability Questionnaire; and six SCEs derived from three measures (i) Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 yielding subscales of shame, guilt, externalisation and detachment (ii) The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and (iii) The Pain Self-Perception Scale assessing mental defeat.

Results: Significantly greater levels of shame, guilt, fear of negative evaluation and mental defeat were observed in chronic pain patients compared to controls. In the pain group, SCE variables significantly predicted affective pain intensity; only mental defeat was significantly related to disability.

Conclusion: Findings highlight the prevalence of negative SCEs and their importance in assessment and management of chronic pain. The role of mood in this relationship is yet to be explored.     

Me against we: In-group transgression,collective shame,and in-group-directed hostility

People can experience great distress when a group to which they belong (in-group) is perceived to have committed an immoral act. We hypothesised that people would direct hostility toward a transgressing in-group whose actions threaten their self-image and evoke collective shame. Consistent with this theorising, three studies found that reminders of in-group transgression provoked several expressions of in-group-directed hostility, including in-group-directed hostile emotion (Studies 1 and 2), in-group-directed derogation (Study 2), and in-group-directed punishment (Study 3). Across studies, collective shame—but not the related group-based emotion collective guilt—mediated the relationship between in-group transgression and in-group-directed hostility. Implications for group-based emotion, social identity, and group behaviour are discussed.     

Exploring negative emotion in women experiencing intimate partner violence: shame, guilt, and PTSD

This study explored the association of shame and guilt with PTSD among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Sixty-three women were assessed by a research clinic serving the mental health needs of women IPV survivors. Results indicated that shame, guilt-related distress, and guilt-related cognitions showed significant associations with PTSD but global guilt did not. When shame and guilt were examined in the context of specific forms of psychological abuse, moderation analyses indicated that high levels of both emotional/verbal abuse and dominance/isolation interacted with high levels of shame in their association with PTSD. Neither guilt-related distress nor guilt-related cognitions were moderated by specific forms of psychological abuse in their association with PTSD. These data support the conceptualization of shame, guilt distress, and guilt cognitions as relevant features of PTSD. Results are discussed in light of proposed changes to diagnostic criteria for PTSD.     

9-11岁儿童对社会性害怕和内疚情绪的理解

社会性害怕和内疚都属于个体体验到的消极情绪,但这两种消极情绪对个体而言都有积极的社会意义,本研究采用临床访谈的方法,以9岁和11岁儿童为被试,探讨他们对内疚与社会性害怕这两种情绪的理解能力,结果发现,(1)随年龄的增长,9-11岁儿童对内疚情绪的理解能力不断提高,但儿童到了11岁仍然不能很好地理解内疚的第二、第三层次。(2)相对于模糊故事,在内疚故事中,儿童表现出更高的对内疚三个层次的理解。(3)两个年龄组的儿童都能很好地理解社会性害怕情绪。因而本研究认为,儿童对社会性害怕情绪的理解明显好于对内疚情绪的理解,且儿童对内疚的理解可能建立在对社会性害怕理解的基础上。     

The idea of a moral psychology: The impact of psychoanalysis on philosophy in Britain1

In this paper the author addresses the question of the significance of psychoanalysis for moral psychology via a more specific question: the impact of psychoanalysis on British philosophy in the twentieth century. He argues that there has been no influence of any real significance, and offers intellectual reasons why not. However, he also argues that there has recently emerged the possibility for a future engagement between psychoanalysis and philosophy, and he offers a history of the emergence of this possibility. In particular, the author discusses how the emerging interest within philosophy to work out a satisfying approach to naturalist moral psychology leads it to a concern with internal mental structure and, most importantly, to transformations of intrapsychic structures. He believes that this will lead philosophy to take a greater interest in psychoanalysis.     

5～9岁儿童内疚情绪理解的特点

选取87名5、7、9岁儿童探讨儿童对违规行为的道德评价对其内疚情绪理解的影响。以期揭示儿童在同伴条件下,对内疚情绪的理解特点。结果发现(1)5～9岁的儿童对违规行为都给出了消极的道德评价,他们已经具备了产生内疚情绪的认知能力,但尚不能进行道德情感推理,即不认为违规者会产生内疚情绪。(2)三个年龄段的儿童大部分对于内疚情绪还不能很好地理解,他们更多地是从行为产生有利于违规者的结果来理解违规者的情绪。