bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Globalization of Production and the Changing Benefits of Conquest
Authors: Brooks Stephen G.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the conditions under which conquest is likely to reap significant economic rewards. Scholars have largely focused on how the level of popular resistance within the vanquished country influences the benefits of conquest. What needs to be scrutinized in greater depth is how post-World War II economic transformations within the most advanced countries affect the benefits of conquest. This article focuses on examining one particular economic change that has been neglected for the most part in the security and peace literature: the globalization of production. The article delineates four recent changes in the structure of global production and outlines how each of these economic transformations alters the benefits of conquest. The collective impact of the arguments strongly indicates that the benefits of conquest have declined significantly in recent years within the most economically advanced countries.
Integrated Threat Theory and Intercultural Attitudes
Authors: Stephan Walter G. , Diaz-Loving Rolando , Duran Anne
Published: March 2007

In this study, the integrated threat theory of prejudice was employed to examine Americans’ and Mexicans’ attitudes toward one another. According to the theory, four types of threat (realistic, symbolic, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes) cause prejudice. These threats are thought to be caused in part by the amount and quality of intergroup contact. The results of two path analyses indicated that all four threats were significant predictors of attitudes in one sample or the other. Both the amount and quality of contact affected some types of threats. In particular, the quality of intergroup contact (voluntary, positive, individualized, and equal status) appears to play an important role in both intergroup anxiety and attitudes toward the other group.
Value Hierarchies Across Cultures
Authors: Schwartz Shalom H. , Bardi Anat
Published: March 2007

Beyond the striking differences in the value priorities of groups is a surprisingly widespread consensus regarding the hierarchical order of values. Average value hierarchies of representative and near representative samples from 13 nations exhibit a similar pattern that replicates with school teachers in 56 nations and college students in 54 nations. Benevolence, self-direction, and universalism values are consistently most important; power, tradition, and stimulation values are least important; and security, conformity, achievement, and hedonism are in between. Value hierarchies of 83% of samples correlate at least .80 with this pan-cultural hierarchy. To explain the pan-cultural hierarchy, the authors discuss its adaptive functions in meeting the requirements of successful societal functioning. The authors demonstrate, with data from Singapore and the United States, that correctly interpreting the value hierarchies of groups requires comparison with the pan-cultural normative baseline.
Indigenous Chinese Personality Constructs
Authors: Cheung Fanny M. , Leung Kwok , Zhang Jian-Xin , Sun Hai-Fa , Gan Yi-Qun , Song Wei-Zhen , Xie Dong
Published: March 2007

The universality and sufficiency of the five-factor model in the Chinese context were investigated. In Study 1, analysis of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) taken by Chinese students showed four joint factors similar to the domains of the NEO-PI-R. Two unique factors were obtained. The Interpersonal Relatedness factor was defined only by CPAI scales. The Openness domain, however, was not represented in the CPAI scales. In Study 2, involving Chinese managers, the robustness of the Interpersonal Relatedness factor was demonstrated. In Study 3, the six-factor model was confirmed with Hawaiian students. Further analyses showed that the six-factor models were superior to the five-factor models and that the Interpersonal Relatedness scales could not be consistently explained by a combination of the Big Five factors. Implications for the universality of the five-factor model and the cross-cultural relevance of the CPAI Interpersonal Relatedness factor are discussed.
Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Achievement Values
Authors: Nelson Michelle R. , Shavitt Sharon
Published: March 2007

The horizontal and vertical distinction within individualism and collectivism was used as a theoretical framework to predict differences in achievement values across two national cultures: Denmark and the United States. As expected, across multiple methods and informant groups, the United States was found to be more vertically oriented than Denmark and Denmark more horizontally oriented than the United States. These differences in cultural orientations also corresponded to differences in the importance placed on achievement and the display of success. In open-ended responses and quantitative ratings, U.S. individuals discussed the importance of achieving goals more frequently and evaluated achievement values more highly than Danes did. Implications for understanding the cultural antecedents of achievement values are discussed.
Creativity: A Cross-Historical Pilot Survey
Authors: Naroll Raoul , Benjamin E. C. , Fohl F. K. , Fried M. J. , Hildreth R. E. , Schaefer J. M.
Published: March 2007

This is a study of the causes of creative florescences in particular periods of time in certain countries. Five hypotheses were tested which have been proposed to explain such florescences. No support was found for four of these supposed causes: wealth, geographical expansion, democratic government and external challenge. Some support however was found for the fifth hypothesis: the more politically fragmented a civilization at a given time, the higher its creativity level.
The Role of Bilingualism in Cross-Cultural Communication
Authors: Taylor Donald M. , Simard Lise M.
Published: March 2007

Mixed ethnic pairs of Ss (French/English) and same ethnic pairs (French/French and English/English) performed an experimental task designed to assess communicational efficiency. Following the communication task Ss completed a questionnaire which assessed their bilingual skills and attitudes about communicating with a member of a different ethnic group. The Ss, unlike previous studies, were French and English Canadian factory workers who daily interact with members of the other ethnic group. The results demonstrated that cross-cultural communication can be as efficient as within group communication. This efficiency seems to result because of a reciprocal bilingualism where members of each group have some degree of fluency in the language of the other. For the communication task both French and English were used almost equally and positive attitudes about communication were evidenced.
Age and Literary Creativity
Authors: Simonton Dean K.
Published: March 2007

Research on the relation between age and creative achievement could be improved by using: (a) cross-cultural and transhistorical data, and (b) multivariate rather than bivariate analyses. A sample of 420 literary creators was drawn from histories, anthologies, and biographical dictionaries of Western, Near Eastern, and Far Eastern literatures. The modal productive age was then regressed on field and civilization categorical variables, longevity, time, and eminence control variables, and a number of interaction terms. The results confirmed that (a) poetry is produced at a younger age than prose (but failed to find any age difference between informative and imaginative prose), (b) achieved eminence and life span are positive determinants of the modal productive age, and (c) these relationships are cross-culturally and transhistorically invariant.
Pictorial Depth Perception by Children in Scotland and Ghana
Authors: McGurk Harry , Jahoda Gustav
Published: March 2007

An experimental study of the development of pictorial depth perception, conducted in Scotland and Ghana, is reported. Subjects constructed three-dimensional models representing the size and spatial relationships between figures in pictorial scenes in which three depth cues-elevation, texture gradient, and linear perspective-were manipulated. For both samples size accuracy increased with the amount of depth information available; it also increased with age in the Scottish but not in the Ghanaian sample. Spatial accuracy increased with age in both samples, but was influenced by type of depth cue only in the Scottish sample. Scottish children were more accurate throughout than Ghanaian children. However, the evidence reported does not support the view that African children are grossly deficient in perceiving pictorial depth.
Attitudes Related to the Number of Children Wanted and Expected by College Students in Three Countries
Authors: Gough Harrison G. , Gendre Francis , Lazzari Renato
Published: March 2007

A 40-item questionnaire for assessing attitudes toward contraception, abortion, family planning, population management, and modernity was administered to 562 American, 419 Italian, and 136 Swiss college students (515 males, 602 females). Information regarding number of children wanted and expected was also obtained. Transnational difference on the five scales were more pronounced for females than for males. American students scored highest on population management and Swiss students scored highest on modernity. Italian students scored lower than the other two samples on favorability of attitudes toward abortion. The five attitude scales had primarily negative relationships to number of children wanted and expected by male and female subsamples in all three countries. Regression analyses of the attitude measures against the two criteria (number of children wanted and expected) identified linear combinations of the scales that produced, respectively, cross-validational coefficients of .38 and .34 for males and .36 and .40 for females.
Bilingual Semantic Organization
Authors: Barnett George A.
Published: March 2007

To investigate the semantic organization of French-English bilinguals multidimensional scaling (MDS) was applied to a series of direct pair-comparisons among a group of symbols from both of the bilinguals' languages. The terms dealt with the mass media. The results indicate that semantic content, rather than language, is the primary determinant of the bilingual's semantic structure. A two-dimensional solution was produced. The first dimension may be labeled electronic-print and the second, entertainment-information. They account for 75.1% of the variance in the space. The results of a multiple regression indicate that while language can be accounted for in the space it is not explained by the first two dimensions. Thus, language may be considered only a secondary determinant of semantic organization of bilinguals.
Infant Behavior and Maternal Attitudes
Authors: Graves Pirkko Lauslahti
Published: March 2007

Nineteen boys and 20 girls from West Bengal, aged 7-18 months, were observed, together with their mothers, in free activity in a standard setting. The boys' exploratory and attachment behaviors showed developmental trends parallel to trends found among same age American children. The girls showed reduced exploratory behavior and a heightened need for physical closeness with the mother; those behaviors became prominent during the second year of the children's lives. Mothers of boys interacted with the son across a distance, and initiated interaction as well as were responsive to him significantly more than did mothers toward a daughter. They also evidenced a distinct pattern of reciprocity with the son, in contrast to a poorly established pattern of reciprocity between mothers and their daughters. The differential maternal attitudes toward boys and girls became marked during the second year of the children's lives. It was suggested that this culturally determined change in maternal attitudes led to an insecure attachment among girls, which in turn contributed to the children's behavioral sex differences.
Cultural Influences on Clinical Perception
Authors: Li-Repac Diana
Published: March 2007

Five white and five Chinese-American therapists were compared in regard to their conceptions of normality, their empathic ability, and their perceptions of the same Chinese and white clients seen on a videotaped interview. The study found that (1) both therapist groups basically agreed in their conceptions of normality; (2) white therapists were more accurate in predicting self-descriptive responses of white than of Chinese clients; and (3) there were significant differences between ratings of the same clients given by white and Chinese-American therapists. The ratings given by white and Chinese-American therapists were compared on six different rational clusters. Chinese clients were rated higher on a "Depression/Inhibition" cluster and lower on a "Social Poise/ Interpersonal Capacity" cluster by white therapists than by Chinese-American therapists. Chinese-American therapists judged the white clients to be more severely disturbed than did the white therapists. Differences were interpreted as reflections of therapists' biases as well as their own world view.
Meta-Analysis and Cross-Cultural Comparison
Authors: Strube Michael J
Published: March 2007

This article argues for the application of meta-analysis to cross-cultural comparison as an adjunct to traditional review methods. The objective means of combining results of independent hypothesis tests provided by meta-analysis is illustrated through an examination of the literature on sex differences in child competitiveness. The results indicate an overall tendency for males to be more competitive than females. However, analysis within cultures indicates that this is not a universal trend. The utility of meta-analysis and the problems encountered in its cross-cultural application are discussed. It is concluded that the use of meta-analysis in conjunction with cross-cultural comparison provides a means of theory advancement of great potential.
The Development of Mental Addition as a Function of Schooling and Culture
Authors: Ginsburg Herbert P. , Posner Jill K. , Russell Robert L.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the development of mental addition in schooled and unschooled children and adults from a traditional mercantile culture (Dioula, Ivory Coast) and one which is technologically advanced (American). Subjects at three age levels were given a series of mental addition problems; both the accuracy of response and strategies were analyzed. By adulthood, the unschooled Dioulas were as accurate as both schooled Dioulas and Americans. The strategies employed by unschooled individuals at all ages include the use of common number facts and, from 11 to 12 years onward, invented regrouping strategies. The predominant strategy of school children after the age of I 1 or 12 is the mental deployment of the standard written algorithm. The results are interpreted as showing that schooled and unschooled individuals in these cultures develop different but increasingly effective and adaptive methods for dealing with mental addition problems.
Racial/Ethnic Identity of Preschool Children
Authors: Morland J. Kenneth , Hwang Chien-Hou
Published: March 2007

Preschool children from four racial/ethnic groupings in three different sociocultural settings were compared on racial/ethnic identity with a picture interview. One of the settings, Taiwan, was relatively homogeneous in racial/ ethnic makeup; another, Hong Kong, nonstratified; the third, the United States, stratified. In Taiwan and Hong Kong the subjects were Chinese; in the United States they were Afro- and Euro-American. The major hypothesis was supported, for the Taiwan and Hong Kong children differed from the Afro- and Euro-American on racial/ethnic preference, self-preference, and self-perception; from Euro-American on classification ability; and from Afro-American on self-classification. It was concluded that a crucial factor in the development of racial/ ethnic identity was not so much whether the society was multiracial/ethnic or homogeneous, but whether racial/ethnic groupings in the multi-racial/ethnic society were stratified.
The Effects of Language of Data Collection on Derived Conceptions of healthy Personality with Filipino Bilinguals
Authors: Church A. Timothy , Katigbak Marcia S. , Castaneda Imelda
Published: March 2007

Using both free-response and ratings methods, we investigated the effects of language of data collection on healthy personality concepts obtained from Filipino bilinguals. We found substantial comparability in Filipino college students' healthy personality concepts as elicited by Tagalog (a native language)and English free-response questionnaires. Importance ratings of equivalent Tagalog and English characteristics for healthy personality were also similar. Some consistent language differences were found across the two methods, and some of these support a cross-cultural accommodation interpretation of language effects (i.e., that language differences reflect underlying cultural value differences). Greater diversity and refinement of healthy personality concepts were provided in the native language. However, because healthy personality concepts in the two languages did not totally overlap, use of both languages may be advantageous for comprehensive personality descriptions.
Culture and the Structure of Children's Fears
Authors: Tikalsky Frank D. , Wallace Scott Dunham
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relationship between culture and the structure of children's fears. For the fear dimensions determined, the strength, nature, and clarity of this structure was explored. Items from the Louisville Fear Survey for Children were administered to third-grade Navajo and Anglo children, and obliquely rotated common factor analysis was used to estimate the number and nature of dimensions of fear. Levels of fear by sample were tested with an independent sample t-test on the factor scores generated for the two groups. An independent sample Z-test for proportions was used to compare the proportion of unrealistic fears between the two samples. Chi-square tests of independence were used to examine the association between fear and culture by item. The tests of significance strongly suggest that Navajochildren exhibit higher levels of fear than Anglo children. Factor analysis results suggest the existence of three correlated dimensions of fear as well as a large general factor. The nature of the factors obtained for the combined sample differs from that found in previous fear research. Factor analysis results of the Navajo sample alone suggest some similarity with the factor structure reported in previous fear research. Recommendations are made to incorporate culture as an intervening variable in the diagnosis of fear phobia and to examine further the relationship between culture and the structure of fear in children.
The Positivity Bias in Attributions
Authors: Smith Stephanie H. , Whitehead George I. , Sussman Nan M.
Published: March 2007

Two experiments examined whether the attributions people made about others from their own or another culture were subject to a positivity bias, and whether these attributions were affected by a positive in-group bias. In Experiment 1, a Japanese sample made attributions to a person from Japan, the United States, or the Third World who was either promoted or demoted. In Experiment 2, a sample from the United States and the Third World made attributions to a person from the United States or the Third World who was either promoted or demoted. The attributions were not subject to a positive in-group bias. However, the attributions made by the Japanese, Americans, and people from the Third World evidenced a positivity bias, although with cultural variation on the measures on which it was obtained.
Coping Style in Adolescence
Authors: Seiffge-Krenke Inge , Shulman Shmuel
Published: March 2007

The present study compares the coping styles of adolescents in two different cultures. Two carefully equated samples, consisting of 353 German and 187 Israeli adolescents, aged 15 to 17 years, were investigated. Coping styles were defined by a matrix of 20 coping strategies applied across eight different developmental areas. Factor analysis revealed comparable dimensional structures of coping styles. Both German and Israeli adolescents most frequently employed functional forms of coping. The samples differed with respect to their relative emphasis on direct action and help-seeking behavior as compared to internal reflection of possible solutions. In both cultures withdrawal was not used very often. In addition, significant main effects for age and gender were found. Coping behavior among German adolescents was more influenced by situational demands, with pronounced approach-avoidance behavior. Their Israeli counterparts showed less variability in coping behavior across situations, laid greater stress on cognitive factors, and showed a striking decrease in overall coping behavior with increasing age. The discussion focuses on cultural universals and differences in coping behavior and considers the impact of environmental and historical conditions.
Dimensions of Behavior and Home Environment in School-Age Children
Authors: Pinto Aureen , Folkers Eric , Sines Jacob O.
Published: March 2007

The combined etic-emic approach was used to study the conceptual equivalence of objectively and quantifiably measurable dimensions of children's behavior and home environment in the United States and in India. In the United States, information on behavior and home environment was provided on the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC) and Home Environment Questionnaire (HEQ) by the mothers of 681 school-age children. Following the revision of the HEQ and the MCBC for cultural relevance to an Indian population, the mothers of 419 school-age children in India completed both revised questionnaires. Similar dimensions of home environment and children's behavior emerged for both the U.S. and Indian samples. Dimensions of behavior appeared to have similar item content across both cultural groups although the specific item content of dimensions of home environment differed in the two groups. Features of home environment such as Rejection and Affection were consistently related to several behaviors of children such as Aggression and Inhibition, both in the United States and in India. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
Comparisons of Belief-Based Personality Constructs in Polish and American University Students
Authors: Tobacyk Jerome J. , Tobacyk Zofia Socha
Published: March 2007

This two-part study used Rotter's Social Learning Theory as a framework for comparing university students from Poland and from the Southern United States on (a) four belief-based personality constructs: paranormal beliefs, locus of control, irrational beliefs, and social interest; and (b) personality correlates of paranormal beliefs. Both Poles and Americans reported high levels of traditional religious belief, as well as disbelief in superstition, spiritualism, and witchcraft. As hypothesized, the Poles reported a significantly more external locus of control and significantly greater endorsement of irrational beliefs. Also consistent with hypotheses, for the Poles paranormal beliefs showed 10 significant personality correlates, whereas for the Americans only one relationship was significant. These findings are consistent with the notion that within the Polish sociocultural situation, fundamental political and ideological conflicts between the government and the Roman Catholic Church may have optimized personal involvement in choosing beliefs and values, resulting in more central, personally involving, and self-relevant beliefs. In turn, these belief characteristics may result in more significant personality correlates of paranormal beliefs for Poles.
Culture, Self-Construal, and Embarrassability
Authors: Singelis Theodore M. , Sharkey William F.
Published: March 2007

This study investigates individual and cultural differences in embarrassability (i.e., susceptibility to embarrassment). Three hypotheses are formulated. First, the strength of the independent self-construal (the image of self as separate from others) is negatively correlated with embarrassability. Second, the strength of the interdependent self-construal (the image of self as connected with others) is positively associated with embarrassability. Third, Asian Americans are more susceptible to embarrassment than are Euro-Americans. A total of 503 Euro-American and Asian American -university students completed the Self-Construal Scale and the Embarrassability Scale. Results strongly supported all hypotheses. Further, individual differences in self-construal accounted for cultural differences in embarrassability. Many prior studies have associated embarrassability with social deficiencies; the authors propose that embarrassability be viewed in abroader cultural context that considers its functions as an adaptive mechanism.
Attitudes toward Computers, Science, and Technology
Authors: Sensales Gilda , Greenfield Patricia M.
Published: March 2007

A comparative study of the structure of attitudes toward computers, science, and technology was carried out with 320 university students equally distributed by country (Italy and the United States), by field of study (humanities, psychology, science, and engineering), and by gender. The instrument used was a Likert-type scale of 56 statements. First, individual items were analyzed for cross-national differences. Then items showing a range of values within both national groups were analyzed by factor analysis to reveal the latent dimensions underlying the set of items. We extracted three factors that, together, accounted for 39% of the variance: attribution to the computer of negative effects, both at an individual psychological level (Factor 1) and at a social psychological level (Factor 2); and the attribution to science, to technology, and to the computer of positive effects at an instrumental and organizational level (Factor 3). Attitudes toward computers, science, and technology were generally more positive than negative in both countries. Nevertheless, against this background of cross-national similarity, sociocultural factors produced attitudinal differences. In particular, the nationality of the subjects made the greatest difference, whereas gender showed a less important influence than did field of study.
The Development of In-Group Pride in Black Canadians
Authors: Aboud Frances E. , Doyle Anna Beth
Published: March 2007

Age differences in attitudes of kindergarten and third-grade Black children from a majority-Black school in a Canadian city toward Blacks, Whites, and Amerindians, were examined on both the single-response Preschool Racial Attitudes Measure (PRAM) and a new multiple-response measure. On both measures, third graders were more pro-Black than kindergartners. Pro-Black biases were much stronger on the multiple-response measure. Despite this general finding, there was a great deal of heterogeneity in racial preferences. Self-identification scores indicated little confusion about racial labels even in preschoolers. Pro-Black biases were stronger in children with higher Black self-identification and racial constancy. Perception of racial differences increased with age, but reconciliation of these differences also increased. Conservation and reconciliation were not associated with racial attitudes. However, constancy and perceptions of within- and between-race differences were. Strongly biased attitudes toward either Whites or Blacks were associated with perceptions of greater between-race differences, whereas attitudes toward Amerindians were associated with self-identification, constancy, and perceptions of within-race differences. Advantages of the new multiple-response measure of attitudes were discussed.
Acculturation and Stress
Authors: Liebkind Karmela
Published: March 2007

In this study, a model of migration contingencies and acculturative stress was developed on the basis of the acculturation model of Berry et al. and a similar model by Beiser. The study aimed at determining to what extent sociodemographic characteristics, the social context, premigration traumatic experiences, post migration acculturative experiences, acculturation attitudes, and degree of acculturation predict acculturative stress in the refugee family. The two-generation sample consisted of 159 young refugees born between 1969 and 1976 and 121 of their parents or caregivers. The results suggest that acculturation attitudes and degree of acculturation exert different and distinct influences on acculturative stress depending on gender and generation. Acculturation attitudes predicted the stress symptoms of adult females only; for the others in the sample, degree of acculturation was more important.
Contributions of Mexican Ethnopsychology to the Resolution of the Etic-Emic Dilemma in Personality
Authors: Díaz-Loving Rolando
Published: March 2007

The controversy over the existence of etic (universal) and emic (idiosyncratic) psychological concepts and principles can be best resolved empirically. Data and theory pertinent to the generalizability or specificity of theory and measurements in the area of personality are presented. The study of personality traits involves at least two fundamental aspects: (a) the conceptualization of the construct and its characteristics, and (b) the operationalization of constructs, usually through objective psychological tests. From the cultural perspective, it is indispensable to assess the validity of the universalistic (etic) or the particularistic (emic) approach to the various psychological concepts and phenomena. In an effort to clarify this problem, Mexican findings that support the need for the development of "ethnopsychologies" to explain the interaction of psychological phenomena and social and cultural contexts are presented.
Evolution, Culture, and the Five-Factor Model
Authors: Macdonald Kevin
Published: March 2007

Following areview of evolutionary approaches to the five-factor model (FEM), I develop a synthetic perspective that incorporates three levels of analysis: personality systems as universal psychological mechanisms, systematic group (i.e., gender, birth order, age, ethnic) differences that can be illuminated by evolutionary theory, and individual differences. At the level of universal mechanisms, personality systems are species-typical systems with adaptive functions in the human environment of evolutionary adaptedness. At the level of group differences, the evolutionary theory of sex, parent-offspring conflict theory, and life history are used to analyze sex, age, and ethnic differences in personality systems. At the level of individual differences, variation in personality consists of a range of viable evolutionary strategies for humans. Humans evaluate and act on the genetic and phenotypic diversity represented by this range of viable strategies to solve adaptive problems. Evolutionary perspectives on cross-cultural variation are noted and illustrated.
“How Did I Do?” versus “How Did We Do?”
Authors: Earley P. Christopher , Gibson Cristina B. , Chen Chao C.
Published: March 2007

Research shows that feedback concerning a person’s prior performance is an important determinant of self-efficacy and subsequent work activity. In addition, several recent cultural models posit that people use different aspects of their environment in assessing their self-concepts. In this article, the authors explore Triandis’s sampling-probability hypothesis of cultural influence by examining the relationship of an individual’s cultural values and performance feedback referents to an individual’s self-efficacy. A laboratory experiment is used to test hypotheses concerning the nature of self-efficacy and feedback referent (self vs. group) in relation to individualism-collectivism. The results show that, depending on cultural values held, participants relied on different combinations of individual- and group-based feedback. The results are discussed with regard to a general model of self-efficacy and culture in an organizational environment.
Electroshock and Informed Consent
Authors: Breeding John
Published: March 2007

Informed consent is a vital issue in all forms of medicine, especially in psychiatry, where patients are often in extremely vulnerable states of mind, customary practice involves high risk to patients, and the law allows for abrogation of traditional civil rights based on judgments of perceived mental incompetence. This article addresses informed consent related to the practice of electroshock. The author argues that genuine informed consent for electroshock is nonexistent because psychiatrists deny or minimize its harmful effects and, as long as the threat—overt or covert—of involuntary treatment exists, there can be no truly voluntary informed consent. The author discusses four primary ways psychiatry violates informed consent in electroshock practice and presents an outline of important information to know about electroshock. An annotated review of the research is provided to back up each of the author’s assertions about medical effects and lack of efficacy of electroshock.
Positive Psychology and Humanistic Psychology: A Reply to Seligman
Authors: Taylor Eugene
Published: March 2007

Arguments in the current debate between “positive psychology” and humanistic psychology are reviewed with particular emphasis on Martin Seligman’s comment that humanistic psychologists do not represent “positive psychology” because they have generated no research tradition, are narcissistic, and are antiscientific. Each one of these claims is dispelled with specific references to the larger humanistic tradition in American psychology, which includes the psychology of William James; the personality-social psychologists of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Allport, Murray, and Murphy; and the humanistic psychologists, per se, of the 1950s and 1960s. Additional examples of how mainstream cognitive-behaviorism has continued to preempt humanistic and transpersonal psychology are also given. The conclusion, however, is that Seligman may be rushing to exclude on a priori grounds the very tradition his own theory represents.
Ira Progoff (1921-1998): The Creator of the Intensive Journal Method and a New Profession
Authors: Gestwicki Ron
Published: March 2007

Dr. Ira Progoff, who died at the age of 76, was a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Humanistic Psychology beginning with the second issue in 1962 and continued until 1975. His article “Toward a Depth Humanistic Psychology” was published in volume 10 in 1970. This article reviews Progoff’s life and works, his concepts of Holistic Depth Psychology, the creation of the Intensive Journal method, and the applications of these concepts and methods in society. A new helping profession of Intensive Journal consultant illustrates one way Progoff’s concepts and methods of Holistic Depth Psychology have been embodied in society. This article concludes with two examples of research with persons using the Intensive Journal method.
Restoring the Human in Humanistic Psychology
Authors: Garrison Andrew
Published: March 2007

Positivistic psychologies marginalize transcendent human values by reducing them to by-products of naturalistic mechanisms. One result is a depersonalized and depersonalizing psychology. Humanistic psychology reasserted transcendental values and made them the central motives of its theory of human behavior. However, humanistic psychology shared the core secularizing assumptions of positivism in locating transcending values as “inner” impulses and instincts rather than as experiences of real participation in the transcendent order toward which they aimed. Lacking an understanding of a real reference point outside the self, humanistic psychology tended to divinize the self and its higher values, minimizing as it did so the infrahuman and societal conditions of the self. To contribute to a truly human psychology, the radical critique of positivist reductionism that began with humanistic psychology can only move forward by taking seriously the realities indicated by the human experiences of participation in embodied, social, and transcendent being.
A Time for Reflection
Authors: Cain David J.
Published: March 2007

The tragedy of September 11 has had an unsettling effect on us. Assumptions about our safety and security have been shattered. The impact of this devastating event will affect all of us in many ways. For most of us, the disaster has caused us to reflect about the implications of this event. It has also presented us with a challenge, however unwelcome, to do considerable soul searching and reassess ourselves and our daily lives. Drawing from some of the fundamental learnings of existential philosophy and psychology, this article addresses the issues of (a) time, life, and death; (b) meaning; (c) freedom-choice-responsibility; and (d) aloneness and connection. By reflecting on these issues, we have an opportunity to recreate our lives in a manner that enables us to live with heightened awareness of the value of life, greater sensitivity to others, and renewed passion.
The Unfolding of Experience
Authors: Welwood John
Published: March 2007

The basic process of unfolding as a way of discovering newness in human experience is explored here. Two kinds of unfolding are distinguished: (1) sequential or "horizontal" unfolding, in which we develop through time, as new meanings appear, one step at a time, each step partly building on those that have preceded it (as in psychotherapy); and (2) an even more surprising kind of vertical emergence, in which something totally new and fresh breaks through and we see things in a radically different way and discover new depth in our lives (as in meditation). The dynamics of unfolding are then shown (1) to illuminate parallels between certain phenomena in physics, brain functioning, and human experiencing; (2) to clarify the core process of change in psychotherapy; and (3) to shed light on the relationship between therapeutic self-discovery and the more radical kinds of awakening often realized through the practice of meditation.
Pernicious Oneness
Authors: Hendlin Steven J.
Published: March 2007

The multifaceted phenomenon of "pernicious oneness" is continuing to gain strength in the humanistic and transpersonal worlds. In this article I describe "pernicious oneness" and present examples of it as it pertains to transpersonal thinking and practice. Various misunderstandings and confusions with regard to the "oneness" experience are briefly examined. I suggest that the transpersonal community begin to acknowledge and deal with what appear to be the negative effects of "pernicious oneness," and remind the reader of the powerful ego distortions that may negatively influence the effort to transform consciousness. I further suggest that the transpersonal community (and its humanistic sister community) pay more attention to healthy ego development so that ego, instead of being an albatross around the spiritual neck, may become a firm stepping-stone and integral part of the transformative journey. One need not kill ego in order to die into what lies beyond it.
Transpersonal Commitments in Adolescence
Authors: Magen Zipora
Published: March 2007

An expressed desire for commitment beyond self of 1094 adolescents, aged 14-15, from three cultures-Israeli-Moslem-Arab, Israeli Jewish, and American Christian-was examined for its relationship to the nature and intensity of positive experiences, personality traits, and culture. Commitment beyond self (transpersonal commitment) was assessed by means of a Life Aspiration Questionnaire designed for this study. Landsman's Positive Experience Questionnaire (1966), and Cattell's High School Personalitity Questionnaire (1975) were also employed. The major hypothesis was that there will exist a relationship between adolescents' readiness Author's Note: The author wishes to express her gratitude to Professor Ted Landsman of the University of Florida, and to Professors R. Shapira and A. Ziv of Tel-Aviv University for their inspiration and guidance throughout her research. for commitment, their personal attributes, and the nature and intensity of their experiences, beyond cultural differences. The findings show first that adolescents' desire for commitment beyond self was totally unaffected by their cultural background, and second, that adolescents in all cultures who reported positive experiences of high intensity expressed the greatest desire for such commitment.
Vipassana Meditation and the Psychobiology of Wilhelm Reich
Authors: Kahn Michael
Published: March 2007

Theravada Buddhism and Reich's psychobiology appear at first to be polar opposites. Yet there is a Theravada school of meditation, the Vipassana of U Ba Khin, which in both theory and practice turns out to be remarkably close to Reich's worldview and his therapy. The major differences between Reich and this branch of Buddhism are the attitudes toward life and movement, Reich being strongly pro, and the Theravadas being clearly anti. In spite of these differences, there are remarkable similarities. This seems to be another instance of modern Western views having been known in India at least 2500 years ago.
Dissociation and Transformation
Authors: Richards Douglas G.
Published: March 2007

Humanistic psychology looks toward the healthiest, most fully developed individuals as models for human potential. Dissociation of consciousness has generally been seen as pathological. There is increasing evidence, however, that dissociated states of consciousness can also be components of a healthy developmental path. The phenomenon of dissociation into more than one personality, each with a separate sense of self-identity, allows for complex transformative processes to occur within the "community of selves." Evidence for these processes comes from clinical studies of multiple personality, experimental studies of hypnosis, and introspective accounts by dissociators.
A Comparison of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology and Carl Rogers's Person-Centered Therapy
Authors: Tobin Stephan A.
Published: March 2007

This is a comparison of the philosophical, theoretical, and clinical features of Rogers's person-centered therapy and Kohut's psychoanalytic self psychology, including recent modifications of self psychology theory proposed by Robert Stolorow, his co-authors, and other self psychology theorists. The similarities covered are the phenomenological emphasis, the view of empathy, the holistic focus, the field theoretical view of the therapeutic relationship, and the therapies' views of human nature and requirements for growth, including the relative importance of emotion versus cognition in therapy. Some of the differences discussed are the ways in which Kohut and Rogers viewed theory, how the past is dealt with in therapy, the clinical methodologies of the therapies, their views of the necessary length of treatment, the importance of autonomy versus interdependence in human functioning, and differences with respect to self psychology and person-centered training methods. The author concludes that, although there are important similarities between the therapies, there are also significant differences with respect to the importance of consideration of the past, the transferential and countertransferential aspects of the therapeutic relationship, and the relative emphasis placed on developmental issues.
Psychotherapy as Sacred Ground
Authors: Schoen Stephen
Published: March 2007

"The sacred," as fullness of experience, and "the soul," as desiring this fullness, provide valuable touchstones for understanding psychotherapy. This article sketches the course of therapy in these terms, from the soul's initial self-interruption, contracture, and arrogance, to its increasingly wide embrace of self and other.
Training People to Inflict Pain
Authors: Gibson Janice T.
Published: March 2007

This article examines people-police, soldiers, and others-whose institutional role it is in many societies to follow orders that, they know, will cause pain to others. As horrible as it is, evidence shows that most of these people-from Nazi war criminals and Greek military police serving the Greek junta of the 1970s to Uruguayan psychologist-torturers-were, in fact, "ordinary" individuals inflicting pain to achieve mundane goals of everyday lives. Why did they behave as they did? Milgram's theoretical model of obedience to authority, Bandura's psychological mechanisms to reduce strain, and Altemeyer's theory of right-wing authoritarianism, together, suggest that when individuals who are predisposed to obedience are placed in situations in which they are ordered to commit atrocious acts and in which the strain of committing these acts is systematically reduced through training, the likelihood increases that they will become inflictors of pain. Evidence available throughout the world shows that these psychological principles are part-and-parcel of training of military torturers and that mentally normal people can be successfully trained for this horrendous profession. Altemeyer suggested that certain personality characteristics-fearfulness and self-righteousness-make it easier for one to be trained to inflict pain, by arousing hostile aggression and by developing a belief in moral superiority. Unfortunately, the soldier in the regular army is not immune. Neither is the student.
Educating the True Self
Authors: Miller Ron
Published: March 2007

The emerging worldview of holism is commonly associated with post-Newtonian physics, ecological thinking, and various Oriental philosophies, but it also has deep roots in mystical and romantic trends in Western spirituality. This religious humanism, concerned with the "true self' or transpersonal essence of human personality, distinguishes holistic thought from nonspiritual humanistic approaches. The history of holistic education, encompassing such theorists as Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Montessori, and Steiner, clearly demonstrates the influence of this romantic spirituality. This philosophy has been well expressed by three American religious humanists-William Ellery Channing, Thomas Merton, and Matthew Fox-whose thought contributes significantly to the holistic worldview. Finally, it is asserted here that holism is the leading edge of contemporary humanistic thought.
Psychocatabolism and the Dark Night of the Self
Authors: Hale Carl S.
Published: March 2007

Psychocatabolism refers to psychological trauma or suffering that results in the activation of unconscious archetypal energies. These energies cause the dissolution of the inauthentic worldview or ego object, previously conditioned by the social context. The dark night of the self is the descension and simultaneous recentering of the limited ego in the conscious/unconscious field. A cartography of the dark night of the self is discussed, as well as its relation to the process of psychocatabolism. Similarly, the transformation of the ego toward authentic selfhood is addressed as it relates to the human existential situation. Therapeutic applications and contraindications are also considered.