Terror Management and Personality: Variations in the Psychological Defense Against the Awareness of Mortality

Drawing on terror management theory (TMT), we discuss the psychological motivations that shape personality at two levels: the characteristically human personality common to us all and the individual differences that distinguish some people from others. TMT posits that the motivation to protect the self against deep-rooted fears about mortality drives people to maintain meaningful, reliable conceptions of reality and positive evaluations of themselves, two broad tendencies that form the foundation of every person’s personality. We review studies showing that mortality reminders increase efforts to bolster cultural sources of meaning and self-esteem in similar ways across individuals and cultures. TMT also posits that individual differences in personality partly reflect the different sources of meaning and self-esteem that people invest in to assuage mortality fears. We review evidence that individual differences predict the degree and direction of people’s defensive responses to mortality reminders. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Therapeutic Contract Program: preliminary report on a behavioral alternative to the token economy

The token economy has been the primary model for the behavioral management of inpatient populations. However, this basically operant approach seldom emphasizes the development of cognitive-coping skills to help patients more effectively manage stressors that result in hospitalization. The Therapeutic Contract Program (TCP) is described as an inpatient-treatment strategy that is designed to help foster such cognitive-coping and self-control skills. While external structure is provided by components of this program, subprograms of the TCP have as their goal the development of internally-attributed coping skills and self-perceptions of competence. This preliminary report describes the structure of the TCP, as well as planned and in-progress measures of program participation and treatment outcome.     

A comparison of the social status and social behavior of Aggressive and Aggressive/Withdrawn boys

The purpose of this study was to clarify contradictory findings concerning the social status of aggressive youngsters. This was undertaken by dividing kindergarten boys into either Aggressive [A] or Aggressive/Withdrawn [A/W] groups, as proposed by Ledingham [1981]. Both groups were found to be high on peer-nominated rejection, but the A group was also high on peer-nominated popularity while the A/W group was low. Similarly, both groups were observed to be high in negative peer interactions, but the A group was also high in positive interactions. It was noted that valuable information regarding the social status and social behavior of aggressive youngsters would be lost if such subgrouping is not undertaken. The relationship between Ledingham's categorizations and others reported in the literature was discussed.This research was supported in part by NIH grant No. 32992 to the first author.     

Spatial knowledge in a young blind child

A set of eight experiments demonstrate spatial knowledge in a 2-year-old congenitally blind child and sighted blindfolded controls. Once the blind child had traveled along specific paths between objects in a novel array, she was able to make spatial inferences, finding new routes between those objects (Experiment 1). She could also do so when the routes were between places in space, not occupied by objects (Experiment II). Deviations from precisely straight routes in Experiments I and II were not due to faulty inferences, but probably came from imprecise motor control, since the same deviations occured when inferences were not required—when the child moved to a place designated by a sound source (Experiment III). This child's performances could not be accounted for by artifactual explanations: sound cues, experimenter bias, and echolocation were ruled out (Experiments IV, V, VI). Further, sighted blindfolded controls performed at roughly the same level (Experiment VII). Finally, Experiment VIII shows that the blind child could access her spatial knowledge for use in a simple map-reading task. We conclude that the young blind child has a system of spatial knowledge, including abstract, amodal rules     

Dreaming for the World: A Jungian Study of Dreams During the COVID-19 Pandemic1

This project explores what dreams might reveal about the collective psyche’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in its first year, before the development of vaccines. A brief survey, distributed to Jungian colleagues and organizations, and to various social media sites, invited people to submit online a dream related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four hundred and thirty-six dreams were submitted. Forty additional Russian dreams were collected and submitted by Russian colleagues. Using qualitative research methods based on phenomenological hermeneutics, the researchers categorized and counted the range of COVID imagery. In addition, the researchers describe a range of psychic responses to the pandemic, including horror, grief, sickness, social discord, and violence, but also images of healing and transformation, increased sense of community, and spiritual renewal. Several healing nightmares are presented. Healing alchemical and anima/animus imagery is described. Twelve dreams are introduced and presented. It is concluded that the collective psyche, rooted in the Self, is a healing resource for social and cultural trauma. This project supports Beradt’s (1968) inspirational study of dreaming in Nazi Germany, as well as recent studies of COVID-related dreams and recent publications on the social nature of dreaming.     

The Effectiveness of Different Recruitment Sources: A Mediating Variable Analysis

Previous research suggests that one or more of three mediating variables account for the relationships between recruiting sources and applicant effectiveness. This paper offers a critical test of the three mediating variables: demographic characteristics, realistic expectations, and perceived person-job fit. Using a sample of 242 newly hired marketing representatives, the study found that employees recruited through college placement offices had better initial levels of performance than did employees recruited through newspaper advertisements. While all of the proposed mediating variables were associated with some recruitment sources, none of them mediated the effects of recruitment sources on performance or turnover. This paper suggests that there may be complex contingency relationships between recruitment sources and employee performance and turnover.     

Preschool peer perceptions of the behavior of hyperactive and aggressive children

To assess if preschool children can successfully identify externalizing symptomatic behaviors in their male classmates, and if these perceptions are associated with peer-rated popularity and rejection, 154 preschool boys and girls were interviewed using a peer nomination procedure. Behavioral data on the same preschool boys (N=86) were also provided by their respective teachers. Preschool children were capable of providing stable nominations of popularity, rejection, and aggression, boys and girls significantly agreed in their nominations, and these nominations were not a function of the age of the rated child, although they differed somewhat as a function of the age of the rater. Teachers and peers reflected significant convergence in ratings of hyperactivity and aggression and teacher ratings of peer problems significantly agreed with actual peer nominations of popularity and rejection. Boys nominated as aggressive were more rejected by their classmates, whereas boys nominated as hyperactive were either more popular and /or more rejected. Limited evidence for differential patterns of relationships among hyperactivity, aggression, and peer status was obtained for both the peer and teacher data.Portions of this paper were presented as part of a symposium, W. Pelham (Chair),Peer relations in hyperactive children: Diagnostic, symptomatic, and treatment consideration, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981. This research was supported, in part, by NIMH grant #32992 to the first author.     

The mediating effects of career indecision subtypes on career-counseling effectiveness

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that career indecision subtypes serve as a mediating variable in regard to career-counseling effectiveness, and to an attempt to detect two other mediators, i.e., individual- versus group-counseling modes and direct versus indirect test interpretation. In a pre-post design conducted on 149 undergraduate clients who went through a standard counseling process it was found that: (a) Different subtype groups gained differentially in their career decidedness; clients who “lack structure” gained the most from the treatment while clients who “perceive external barrier” and who experienced “personal conflict” gained the least, (b) Neither counseling mode nor test interpretation directiveness had significant effects or interactions with career decidedness. It was proposed that career counseling should be conducted with different contents rather than processes in order to benefit clients with various problem types.