Combining individuality and relatedness: Representations of the person among the Anglican clergy

Do young people who self-harm experience cognitions and emotions related to post-traumatic growth?

Background

Adolescent self-harm is a vast public health concern with self-harm rates increasing each year. Looked-after adolescents are a group at increased risk of self-harm owing to adverse life-events and attachment issues, giving rise to difficulties with problem solving and relationship difficulties (Ogundele, 2020). Whilst research into risk factors of self-harm is plentiful, fewer studies have explored what factors might facilitate self-harm recovery. This paper investigates whether looked-after adolescents with experience of self-harm can experience cognitions and emotions related to post-traumatic growth (PTG).

Methods

Secondary Data Analysis was conducted on a primary qualitative data set from a study including twenty-four looked-after young people aged between 14 and 21 with experience of self-harm; 20 females and 4 males. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was conducted.

Results

Five themes were identified, four of which shared similarities to prior research into the recovery of self-harm and manifestations of PTG: 1) Self-Reflection, 2) Communication, 3) Embracing and Appreciating Support, 4) Better Management of feelings. The fifth theme suggested a potential barrier to experiencing PTG; 5) Reliance on Self-Harm. Findings revealed four relevant themes suggesting that individuals who self-harm can indeed experience cognitions and emotions relevant to PTG.

Limitations

This study utilised a homogeneous sample, limiting the generalisability of the findings to other populations. Perhaps future research should consider other populations of individuals who self-harm.

Conclusions

We suggest there is a need for interventions for self-harm to focus on protective factors to increase PTG within an individual, potentially moderating the risk of suicide.

A cross-cultural investigation into the relationships among parental support for basic psychological needs, sense of uniqueness, and happiness

A significant number of empirical studies have reported that parental support for basic psychological needs is a robust correlate of adolescent happiness. Yet, less is known about the mechanisms responsible for this link. The present study proposed a model suggesting that personal sense of uniqueness explains why satisfaction of basic psychological needs in parent-child relationships is related to happiness. This mediational model was tested among late adolescents in Turkey and the United States. Analyses relying on structural equation modeling and bootstrapping supported the model in both cultures. Implications of the findings for theory and cross-cultural research are discussed. Directions for future research that could improve our understanding of the dynamic interplay between basic needs, sense of uniqueness and well-being are provided.

Pathways From Personality to Happiness

Personal sense of uniqueness, a major construct in humanistic psychology, has been recently shown to be a robust correlate of happiness. Yet the antecedents of this experience are not known. To address this limitation, we focused on extraversion and openness to experience, the two traits referred to as plasticity in higher-order framework of personality, as predictors of uniqueness and happiness. In light of theory and past empirical research, we proposed that the two traits representing plasticity would promote a sense of uniqueness, which in turn influence happiness. This model was tested in a college sample ( N = 370) by relying on structural equation modeling. Results showed that uniqueness mediated the associations of extraversion and openness to experience with happiness. This model was supported when the effects of neuroticism, a marker of vulnerability to psychopathology, on uniqueness was taken into account. The implications of the findings for future research were addressed and sense of uniqueness as an element of a good life was highlighted.

Transforming From Cocoon to Butterfly: The Potential Role of the Body in the Process of Posttraumatic Growth

The diagnosis of cancer has the potential to elicit positive change (posttraumatic growth [PTG]) through the experience of trauma and adversity. However, psychology and clinical practices and most recently positive psychology have been criticized for their indifference toward the influence of the body on positive psychological functioning. The aim of this study was to broaden the understanding of PTG, including its process and outcomes, using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Ten female breast cancer survivors, from an already existing study, participated in an individual, open-ended interview. These were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for themes that reflected the women’s experience of growing from adversity. The role of the body was found to be a vital component to the process and outcomes of PTG and was deconstructed into three smaller themes: fear of new body, negative effects of chemotherapy on the body (fatigue, loss of desire), and reconnection with body (cocoon to butterfly, listening to body, body as a barometer/monitoring). In addition, the analysis revealed how these 10 women perceived the body as an integral component to their self-identity and how this affected their achievement of PTG. Future research should begin to acknowledge and conduct further study into the neglected role of the body as a contributor or determinant of the PTG process.

'Relating' to voices: Exploring the relevance of this concept to people who hear voices

OBJECTIVES

Conceptualizing interactions between voice hearers and their voices as a 'relationship' has recently become an area of psychological inquiry. To date the literature exploring the details of a hearer-voice relationship has arguably privileged the researchers' account of voice hearing at the expense of the individual's explanatory framework and perspective. The present study aimed to establish the perspectives of voice hearers regarding any 'relationship' they may have developed with their voices.

METHOD

In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 service users who had heard voices for at least 12 months. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

RESULTS

Analysis resulted in five major themes, three of which are discussed here: Defining the 'other' which detailed the personification process; 'Me vs. the Voice' which explored oppositional positioning between participants and their voice and strategies employed to retain power and 'the Voice and Me' which considered the union that was apparent, as well as participants' rejection of a relational concept. The concept of a 'relationship' was both accepted and rejected by participants. Acceptance of relating was relative to the poverty of social relationships. Rejections were considered in terms of preservation of self-hood, conflict with personal explanatory models and constructions of the term 'relationship'.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has provided evidence that supports new developments in working relationally with voices. Working within this frame may help to emphasize hearers' strengths whilst ameliorating distress. However, this concept needs to be posed as a possible rather than an established conceptualization.

Individuality and social influence in groups: inductive and deductive routes to group identity

A distinction between forms of social identity formation in small interactive groups is investigated. In groups in which a common identity is available or given, norms for individual behavior may be deduced from group properties (deductive identity). In groups in which interpersonal relations are central, a group identity may also be induced from individual group members' contributions, making individuality and individual distinctiveness a defining feature of the group (inductive identity). Two studies examined the prediction that depersonalization produced by anonymity has opposite effects for groups in which social identity has been induced or deduced. Results confirmed the prediction that depersonalization increases social influence in groups whose identity was more deductive. In contrast, depersonalization decreases social influence in inductive identity groups. Implications for the role of social identity in small groups are discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).