Showing papers on "Psychology of self published in 2008"
TL;DR: The authors argue that narrative identity is closely tied to the subjective interpretation of oneself as happy and present a view of eudaimonic well-being that extends beyond the sense of having pleasure and meaning in one's life to include higher degrees of psychosocial integration in that meaning (measured as ego development).
Abstract: Narrative identity refers to the internal, dynamic life story that an individual constructs to make sense of his or her life. We argue that narrative identity is closely tied to the subjective interpretation of oneself as happy. We present a view of eudaimonic well-being that extends beyond the sense of having pleasure and meaning in one’s life (measured as self-report well-being) to include higher degrees of psychosocial integration in that meaning (measured as ego development). This combination of qualities is characteristic of the good life, or eudaimonia, in a tradition dating to Aristotle. We then describe research showing how several patterns of narrative identity correspond to this extended notion of eudaimonic well-being. First, people at high levels of eudaimonic well-being tend to emphasize personal growth in their life stories, with different kinds of personal growth corresponding to different facets of eudaimonic well-being. Second, these people also tend to frame difficult life experiences as transformative experiences wherein they suffered deep pain but gained new insights about the self. Third, charting the move from suffering to an enhanced status or state, their stories often follow a culturally-shaped script of redemption, which in American society is often conceived as upward social mobility, liberation, recovery, atonement, or the full actualization of the inner self.
369 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an online survey collected data on perceptions of the positive aspects of being a gay man or lesbian (N 553) and qualitative analyses revealed three domains with 11 themes: belonging to a community, creating families of choice, forging strong connections with others, serving as positive role models, developing empathy and compassion, living authentically and honestly, gaining personal insight and sense of self, involvement in social justice and activism, freedom from gender-specific roles, exploring sexuality and relationships, and enjoying egalitarian relationships.
Abstract: The need to provide culturally competent training for counseling gay men and lesbians (as well as other sexual minorities) is limited by the relative scarcity of research. Extant research has focused on psychopathologies and negative life experiences with little attention to the positive aspects of the lives of gay men and lesbians. An online survey collected data on perceptions of the positive aspects of being a gay man or lesbian (N 553). Qualitative analyses revealed 3 domains with 11 themes. The positive aspects of gay or lesbian identity were belonging to a community, creating families of choice, forging strong connections with others, serving as positive role models, developing empathy and compassion, living authentically and honestly, gaining personal insight and sense of self, involvement in social justice and activism, freedom from gender-specific roles, exploring sexuality and relationships, and enjoying egalitarian relationships (lesbian participants only). These findings are discussed in light of recent literature on positive psychology and strength-based therapeutic approaches.
301 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify three narrative types underlying participants' talk about sport and exercise: (a) an action narrative about "going places and doing stuff", (b) an achievement narrative about accomplishment through effort, skill or courage, and (c) a relationship narrative of shared experiences to talk about.
152 citations
TL;DR: The experience of living with dementia in residential care was fundamentally one of experiencing difficult and distressing emotions relating to loss, isolation, uncertainty, fear, and a sense of worthlessness.
Abstract: Purpose: The subjective psychological experience of people with moderate to severe dementia living in residential care is insufficiently understood. In the present study we aimed to explore the subjective experience of life with dementia in residential care from the perspective of the person with dementia, and to understand the psychological impact of being in this situation. Design and Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative study. Eighty individuals with dementia who were living in residential care homes engaged in unstructured conversations with a researcher. We subjected the transcripts of the resultant 304 conversations to interpretative phenomenological analysis in order to develop a thematic account. Results: The experience of living with dementia in residential care was fundamentally one of experiencing difficult and distressing emotions relating to loss, isolation, uncertainty, fear, and a sense of worthlessness. Participants generally tried to cope by accepting and making the best of things and affirming their past sense of self and identity, but some also expressed frustration and anger. Implications: Participants were able to describe aspects of their situation and their emotional response to it, grounded in a strong retained sense of self and identity. The participants’ experience emphasizes the importance of improving the living situation of elders with dementia in residential care settings.
146 citations
01 Jan 2008
118 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that it is critical to view bipolar disorder within a psychosocial developmental framework and consider the impact on the development of self and identity.
Abstract: The majority of patients with bipolar disorder have onset prior to twenty years with early onset associated with increased impairment. Despite this, little attention has been given to the psychosocial developmental impact of this disorder. This qualitative study explored the impact of having bipolar disorder on the development of a sense of self and identity. Key findings from this qualitative study identified that for these participants, bipolar disorder had a significant impact in the area of self and identity development. Bipolar disorder created experiences of confusion, contradiction, and self doubt which made it difficult for these participants to establish continuity in their sense of self. Their lives were characterized by disruption and discontinuity and by external definitions of self based on their illness. Developing a more integrated self and identity was deemed possible through self-acceptance and incorporating different aspects of themselves. These findings would suggest that it is critical to view bipolar disorder within a psychosocial developmental framework and consider the impact on the development of self and identity. A focus on the specific areas of impact and targeting interventions that facilitate acceptance and integration thus promoting self and identity development would be recommended.
105 citations
TL;DR: This study of recovery from schizophrenia is conceptualised from the nursing perspective: the concept of 'Human Responses' based on the role as actor that the individual adopts to rebuild his or her sense of self and to manage the imbalance between internal and external forces.
103 citations
Book•
15 Oct 2008
TL;DR: The self in and as dialogue in individual psychotherapy and Dialogical compromise and psychosocial dysfunction are studied to establish and sustaining dialogue inindividual psychotherapy.
Abstract: 1. Symptoms and common explanations 2. Sense of self in schizophrenia 3. The self in and as dialogue 4. Dialogical impairment and self diminishment 5. Dialogical compromise and symptoms 6. Dialogical compromise and psychosocial dysfunction 7. Establishing and sustaining dialogue in individual psychotherapy 8. Conclusion
102 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the ways in which young people across Canada attempt to exit street life and found that there are several interrelated dimensions to the exiting process including contemplation, motivation to change, securing help, transitioning from the street, changing daily routine, and redefining one's sense of self.
Abstract: This article explores the ways in which young people across Canada attempt to exit street life. Through semistructured interviews with 128 young people and 50 service providers in six Canadian cities, the goal of the research was to identify the strategies and challenges of street exiting to inform service providers and policy makers as to the complexities and struggles involved in young people's experiences with street disengagement. Findings suggest that there are several interrelated dimensions to the exiting process including contemplation, motivation to change, securing help, transitioning from the street, changing daily routine, and redefining one's sense of self.
92 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the uneasy and often conflicted relationship between an older woman's sense of self and her aging body was explored using data from semi-structured interviews with 22 female participants aged 61 to 92 years.
Abstract: This paper explores the uneasy and often conflicted relationship between an older woman's sense of self and her aging body. Using data from semi-structured interviews with 22 female participants aged 61 to 92 years, the paper examines the influence of the loss of perceived physical attractiveness and the deterioration of health and functional abilities on an older woman's sense of identity. The paper discusses the women's experience of the body as both mask and prison of the self and elucidates the challenge of the reflected image to a woman's sense of being youthful on the "inside."
84 citations
TL;DR: Investigation of how people left with autobiographical memory impairments—impairments that also affect the capacity to organize complex linguistic productions such as autobiographical narratives—experience themselves and, specifically, their sense of self found that most individuals felt they did not have to recover their former sense ofSelf because they subjectively seemed to have never lost it.
Abstract: In serious illness or disability, individuals commonly say that their sense of self has dramatically changed. One might expect that the experience of a radically altered sense of self would be even more profound in individuals after neurotrauma because it is the brain itself that suddenly, and often literally, becomes “strange.” The aim of this study was to investigate how people left with autobiographical memory impairments—impairments that also affect the capacity to organize complex linguistic productions such as autobiographical narratives—experience themselves and, specifically, their sense of self. Seven adults who had primarily anterograde memory impairments for 1 year were interviewed. Regardless of the profound changes in their everyday functioning and lives, the stories the participants told evoke a surprising sense of a continuous self. Employing several narrative and discursive techniques, they emphasized sameness and an unbroken connection between their pre- and post-morbid lives. We believe ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a relationship-focused approach to early intervention, Promoting First Relationship, which aims to promote a positive sense of self and of others in a young child.
Abstract: A young child's social and emotional development, which is a positive sense of self and of others, can only be developed in the context of relationships. The first purpose of this article is to describe a relationship-focused approach to early intervention, Promoting First Relationship. The second p
TL;DR: In this article, a grounded theory investigation of how motivation and self-perceptions influence students' emotions, cognitions, and behaviors by focusing on student-athletes is presented.
TL;DR: This article explored how a sense of self is enhanced by becoming and being a textile-maker through creative doing, and a collective sense of belonging develops from belonging to a guild, and found that a sense-of-self comes from an intrinsic need to make textiles that is closely connected to one's personal background.
Abstract: Historically, the occupation of textile‐making has fulfilled basic human needs. It also offers a means of expressing cultural and personal identity and developing self‐awareness. Drawing on an ethnography of a British guild of weavers, spinners and dyers, this paper explores how a sense of self is enhanced by becoming and being a textile‐maker through creative doing, and a collective sense of self develops from belonging to a guild. The findings indicate that a sense of self comes from an intrinsic need to make textiles that is closely connected to one's personal background, affinity for materials, skill mastery, passion for rhythm and process, spiritual commitment and continuity with the past. A collective sense of self is related to sharing occupation and working together as a part of a group. This brings about a sense of belonging, which in turn enhances quality of life and perceptions of well‐being.
TL;DR: Those whose American self was activated recalled more self-focused and less socially oriented memories than those whose Asian self was made salient, with the control group falling in between.
01 Jun 2008
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the role of place in the representation of traumatic experiences in the literature, arguing that the primacy of place anchors the individual experience within a larger cultural context, and organizes the memory and meaning of trauma.
Abstract: A central claim of contemporary literary trauma theory asserts that trauma creates a speechless fright that divides or destroys identity. This serves as the basis for a larger argument that suggests identity is formed by the intergenerational transmission of trauma. However, a discursive dependence upon a single psychological theory of trauma produces a homogenous interpretation of the diverse representations in the trauma novel and the interplay that occurs between language, experience, memory, and place. Considering the multiple models of trauma and memory presented in the trauma novel draws attention to the role of place, which functions to portray trauma's effects through metaphoric and material means. Descriptions of the geographic place of traumatic experience and remembrance situate the individual in relation to a larger cultural context that contains social values that influence the recollection of the event and the reconfiguration of the self. The trauma novel demonstrates how a traumatic event disrupts attachments between self and others by challenging fundamental assumptions about moral laws and social relationships that are themselves connected to specific environments. Novels represent this disruption between the self and others by carefully describing the place of trauma because the physical environment offers the opportunity to examine both the personal and cultural histories imbedded in landscapes that define the character's identity and the meaning of the traumatic experience. The primacy of place in the representations of trauma anchors the individual experience within a larger cultural context, and, in fact, organizes the memory and meaning of trauma. Trauma, in my analysis, refers to a person's emotional response to an overwhelming event that disrupts previous ideas of an individual's sense of self and the standards by which one evaluates society. The term "trauma novel" refers to a work of fiction that conveys profound loss or intense fear on individual or collective levels. A defining feature of the trauma novel is the transformation of the self ignited by an external, often terrifying experience, which illuminates the process of coming to terms with the dynamics of memory that inform the new perceptions of the self and world. The external event that elicits an extreme response from the protagonist is not necessarily bound to a collective human or natural disaster such as war or tsunamis. The event may include, for example, the intimately personal experience of female sexual violence, such as found in Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, or the unexpected death of a loved one, as found in Edward Abbey's Black Sun. The popular trauma theory employed today depends upon the abreactive model of trauma, which is used to assert the position that traumatic experience produces a "temporal gap" and a dissolution of the self. For example, in Worlds of Hurt Kali Tal writes: "Accurate representation of trauma can never be achieved without recreating the event since, by its very definition, trauma lies beyond the bounds of 'normal' conception" (15). This Freudian concept of trauma and memory emphasizes the necessity to recreate or abreact through narrative recall of the experience. Yet, at the same time, this model claims, as Tal makes clear, that the remembrance of trauma is always an approximate account of the past, since traumatic experience precludes knowledge, and, hence, representation. The literary trauma theory articulated by Kali Tal, and critics such as Cathy Caruth, considers the responses to traumatic experience, including cognitive chaos and the possible division of consciousness, as an inherent characteristic of traumatic experience and memory. The idea that traumatic experience pathologically divides identity is employed by the literary scholar as a metaphor to describe the degree of damage done to the individual's coherent sense of self and the change of consciousness caused by the experience. …
TL;DR: In this article, a narrative analysis of interviews with rescuers, bystanders, and Nazi supporters during World War II focuses attention on selfimage, worldview, and cognitive categorization as critical influences.
Abstract: What turns neighbors into genocidalists? Why do some stand by, while others risk their lives to help? A narrative analysis of interviews with rescuers, bystanders, and Nazi supporters during World War II focuses attention on self‐image, worldview, and cognitive categorization as critical influences. Rescuers, bystanders, and Nazis demonstrated dramatically different self concepts, yet identity constrained choice for all groups. A critical aspect of identity is relational: the sense of self in relation to others. Worldview, canonical expectations, and idealized cognitive models are critical determinants, with the ethical importance of values emanating not from particular values but from the integration of these values into the speaker's sense of self. Finally, cognitive categorization carries strong ethical overtones. The dehumanization that spurs perpetrators and the sense of moral salience that drives rescuers work through the cognitive classification of "the other."
TL;DR: This article explored how sport and exercise can contribute to recovery from mental health disorders, using case studies of two men's experiences to illustrate two distinct roles sport-and-exercise can play.
Abstract: Despite continuing interest in the physical activity-mental health relationship, few studies have recently been published concerning the effects of exercise for men with serious mental illness. This study helps fill this gap through an interpretive approach that explores how sport and exercise can contribute to recovery from mental illness. Case studies of two men’s experiences are presented that illustrate two distinct roles sport and exercise can play. In the first case, sport and exercise are central to the participant’s identity and fundamental to his sense of self. For this individual, returning to sport and exercise following remission of psychotic symptoms represents a return to intrinsically meaningful activities. In the second case, sport and exercise are used as a tool or vehicle for desired outcomes that facilitate personally meaningful vocational activities. For this individual, sport and exercise represent a fresh start and a worthwhile use of time.
TL;DR: It is found that negotiating disability was, for many, an emotionally charged and complex process, drawing on one or more strategies: reluctantly employing some meanings associated with 'being disabled' to achieve material ends, creating an understanding of disability that is most in keeping with one's sense of self, and/or rejecting disability in the interests of sustaining an existing identity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze how major institutions are publicly responding to the crime of identity theft, focusing on how individuals are encouraged to responsibilize themselves against this potentiality, and what they should do in the event they are victimized.
Abstract: This paper analyses how major institutions are publicly responding to the crime of identity theft It concentrates on how individuals are encouraged to responsibilize themselves against this potentiality, and what they should do in the event they are victimized These two distinct discourses (prevention and victimization) aim to fashion a hyper-vigilant citizen whose daily routines, home environment, consumption patterns and sense of self are being brought into accord with wider power dynamics These measures can be understood as encouraging a care of the virtual self – a wider social project characteristic of an informational age that encourages individuals to reduce the risks and maximize the potentialities related to their data double In the context of identity theft, however, institutionally promoted methods for the care for the virtual self transcend what is reasonably practicable for most citizens and mask the role played by major institutions in fostering the preconditions for identity theft
TL;DR: In this paper, a social constructionist and interpretive frame is applied to the challenges faced by young women, arguing that they are refracted through socially constructed lenses that operate at a range of levels from the structural to the individual.
Abstract: The multiple and conflicting identity pressures that young women in western society face have been remarked upon in the literature. Adolescence is a time when identity development activity intensifies, and this process can present young people with challenges. In this paper a social constructionist and interpretive frame is applied to such challenges faced by young women, arguing that they are refracted through socially constructed lenses that operate at a range of levels from the structural to the individual. The paper considers the experiences of two different cohorts of young females who participated in research based in two provincial communities in New Zealand. It explores the way in which both groups appeared to segment their sense of self into a present and a future self, emphasising relationship; the key source of their current sense of well-being in the present, and juxtaposing this with an independent, autonomous self in the future for whom relationships appeared to assume secondary importance. ...
TL;DR: This article examined how the psychology of self-esteem could be a meeting ground between humanistic and positivistic positive psychology approaches, and found that the humanistic approach missed such an important factor.
Abstract: Today there are 2 positive psychologies: 1 that is humanistic and 1 that is not Both focus on researching, understanding, and fostering well-being, optimal functioning, and healthy social institutions However, in addition to emerging at different times, the 2 psychologies are characterized by major philosophical and methodological differences that help determine what is seen and not seen from each point of view One area where these distinctions show up most strikingly is in the psychology of self-esteem Although humanistic positive psychology understands self-esteem as playing a key role in human behavior, the more positivistic positive psychology seems to have largely missed such an important factor This article examines how the psychology of self-esteem could be a meeting ground between these 2 approaches
TL;DR: This article argued that a robust, reflexivist account of self-awareness is compatible with reductionist view of persons, and hence with a rejection of the existence of a substantial, separate self.
Abstract: In this paper, I show that a robust, reflexivist account of self-awareness (such as was defended by Dignāga and Dharmakīrti, most phenomenologists, and others) is compatible with reductionist view of persons, and hence with a rejection of the existence of a substantial, separate self. My main focus is on the tension between Buddhist reflexivism and the central Buddhist doctrine of no-self. In the first section of the paper, I give a brief sketch of reflexivist accounts of self-awareness, using the Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti as my example. In the next section, I examine reductionism as it relates to accounts of the self. I then, in the third section, argue that a reductionist account of persons can account for the unique features of first-person contents and our deep and multi-layered sense of self.
TL;DR: It is argued that being active in decisions relating to help seeking and medicine taking for problems with mood is perceived as central in order to (re)find an 'authentic' sense of self.
Book•
28 Dec 2008
TL;DR: The crisis of identity: diagnosing and healing the fragmented self The destabilisation of identity in contemporary social thought The problem of the self and its representation Experiential multiplicity and narrative identity and pathologies of self The unity of the person and the doctrine of imago dei Pannenberg and McFadyen in dialogue with psychology as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Contents: Introduction The crisis of identity: diagnosing and healing the fragmented self The destabilisation of identity in contemporary social thought The problem of the self and its representation Experiential multiplicity and narrative identity and pathologies of self The unity of the person and the doctrine of imago dei Pannenberg and McFadyen in dialogue with psychology Conclusion: reconfiguring theology's dialogue with psychology Bibliography Index.
TL;DR: In the early work of contemporary psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas, there are parallels to Berne's thinking that can be used to more fully develop the vision of human functioning and maturing as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Eric Berne proposed but never fully elaborated his ideas about nonconscious human processes and their role in developing a sense of self. In the early work of contemporary psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas, there are parallels to Berne's thinking that can be used to more fully develop Berne's vision of human functioning and maturing.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a classification of types of legacy actively used to transmit the essence of self, based on the personal stories of 38 women, ranging in age from 31 to 94 and representing diverse marital, parental and health statuses.
Abstract: This article describes a classification of types of legacy actively used to transmit the essence of self. The personal stories of 38 women, ranging in age from 31 to 94 and representing diverse marital, parental and health statuses reveal multiple dimensions of leaving a legacy in terms of content, creation and transmission. A legacy maintains and transmits identity through the occupation of passing along the closely related phenomena of artifacts such as belongings, wills, autobiographies and actions such as health behaviors, career and volunteer roles. All of the women in this study revealed individual ways of passing on their values and sense of self through their behaviors and their belongings as they engaged in a series of end of life occupations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relation between children's perceptions of self and play in 89 school-aged children (52 girls, 37 boys, ages 5 to 8) in two Canadian schools.
Abstract: This study investigates the relations between children's perceptions of self and play in 89 school-aged children (52 girls, 37 boys, ages 5 to 8) in two Canadian schools. The study involves standardized measures, interviews, and drawings to assess children's perceptions of play and self. Teacher ratings of emotional competencies were also collected. Findings show that children's play drawings and corresponding descriptions differ according to gender such that girls referred to more social and psychological aspects of play and boys focused mainly on physical activities. Compared to boys, family structure played a stronger role in girls' play and self-representations in that positive associations were found between number of characters drawn and number of siblings for girls only. Implications for socioemotional and cognitive development are discussed.
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: VISTAS Online as mentioned in this paper is a collection of peer-reviewed articles written by counselors, for counselors, with the purpose of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences.
Abstract: Counseling Association by Dr. Garry R. Walz and Dr. Jeanne C. Bleuer of Counseling Outfitters, LLC. Its purpose is to provide a means of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences. Papers on a program or practice that has been validated through research or experience may also be submitted. This digital collection of peer-reviewed articles is authored by counselors, for counselors. VISTAS Online contains the full text of over 500 proprietary counseling articles published from 2004 to present.
TL;DR: It is suggested that metaphors may aid the assessment of suicidal ideation, promote a sense of a more active self, and signal acceptance and recognition of subjectivity in men recovering from substance abuse and suicidal behavior.
Abstract: The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore and interpret men's experience of sense of self within the context of recovery from substance abuse and suicidal behavior. A secondary analysis of data from a previous study of four young Norwegian men revealed how a shifting sense of self was constructed through the use of metaphors. The analysis identified three themes related to the participants' sense of self: The Meaning of Being Isolated, The Meaning of Being Close to the Point of No Return, and The Meaning of Still Being on the Edge. By acknowledging metaphorical expressions as a source of important knowledge, this study reflects on how mental health professionals can use metaphors in the recovery process. As part of the' treatment alliance and therapeutic communication, we suggest that metaphors may aid the assessment of suicidal ideation, promote a sense of a more active self, and signal acceptance and recognition of subjectivity.