A Functionalist Perspective on Social Anxiety and Avoidant Personality Disorder

A developmental-evolutionary perspective is used to synthesize basic research from the neurosciences, ethology, genetics, and developmental psychology into a unified framework for understanding the nature and origins of social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder. Evidence is presented that social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and avoidant personality disorder may be alternate conceptualizations of the same disorder because they have virtually the same symptoms and genetic basis, and respond to the same pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. A functionalist perspective on social anxiety is formulated to (a) explain the origins of normative states of anxiety, (b) outline developmental pathways in the transition from normative anxiety to social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders, and (c) account for the processes leading to gender-differentiated patterns of anxiety-related disorders after puberty

The attachment system and physiology in adulthood: normative processes, individual differences, and implications for health.

Attachment theory provides a conceptual framework for understanding intersections between personality and close relationships in adulthood. Moreover, attachment has implications for stress-related physiology and physical health. We review work on normative processes and individual differences in the attachment behavioral system, as well as their associations with biological mechanisms related to health outcomes. We highlight the need for more basic research on normative processes and physiology and discuss our own research on individual differences in attachment and links with physiology. We then describe a novel perspective on attachment and physiology, wherein stress-related physiological changes may also be viewed as supporting the social-cognitive and emotion regulatory functions of the attachment system through providing additional energy to the brain, which has implications for eating behavior and health. We close by discussing our work on individual differences in attachment and restorative processes, including sleep and skin repair, and by stressing the importance of developing biologically plausible models for describing how attachment may impact chronic illness

Relationship between personality change and the onset and course of alcohol dependence in young adulthood

Aims  To examine the reciprocal effects between the onset and course of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and normative changes in personality traits of behavioral disinhibition and negative emotionality during the transition between adolescence and young adulthood. Design  Longitudinal–epidemiological study assessing AUD and personality at ages 17 and 24 years. Setting  Participants were recruited from the community and took part in a day‐long, in‐person assessment. Participants  Male ( n  = 1161) and female ( n  = 1022) twins participating in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Measurements  The effects of onset (adolescent versus young adult) and course (persistent versus desistent) of AUD on change in personality traits of behavioral disinhibition and negative emotionality from ages 17 to 24 years. Findings  Onset and course of AUD moderated personality change from ages 17 to 24 years. Adolescent onset AUD was associated with greater decreases in behavioral disinhibition. Those with an adolescent onset and persistent course failed to exhibit normative declines in negative emotionality. Desistence was associated with a ‘recovery’ towards psychological maturity in young adulthood, while persistence was associated with continued personality dysfunction. Personality traits at age 11 predicted onset and course of AUD, indicating personality differences were not due to active substance abuse. Conclusions  Personality differences present prior to initiation of alcohol use increase risk for alcohol use disorder, but the course of alcohol use disorder affects the rate of personality change during emerging adulthood. Examining the reciprocal effects of personality and alcohol use disorder within a developmental context is necessary to improve understanding for theory and intervention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90257/1/j.1360-0443.2011.03617.x.pd

Application of Gray's theory of personality to the DSM-III-R personality disorders : multivariate and behavioral findings

Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth of published reports on the descriptive features associated with the personality disorders. Despite growing recognition of the existence and clinical relevance of these disorders, there has been relatively little systematic experimental research performed, perhaps because of an absence of a testable, guiding theoretical framework. In the recognition that descriptive studies without the benefit of a guiding theoretical framework can only provide limited understanding, this study examined the applicability of Jeffrey Gray's structural and behavioral theory of personality to a subset of the DSM-HI-R personality disorders. Two independent samples, a normative and a research sample, were employed in this study to test some of the basic assumptions of Gray's theory. The normative sample consisted of 477 college undergraduates. This sample's primary roles in this study included the evaluation of some of the structural assumptions of Gray's model as well as the provision of a context for understanding the smaller research sample. The research sample, self-selected based on individual perceptions of oneself as being anxious or impulsive, was composed of 77 persons who responded to advertisements in local periodicals. This sample's principle roles in this research included: (a) the further evaluation of some of the structural assumptions of Gray's theory, (b) the evaluation of Gray's behavioral predictions arising from his structural model, and (c) the evaluation of the applicability of a subset of the DSM-III-R personality disorders, specifically the "anxious-fearful" and "erratic-dramatic" disorders, to Gray's structural and behavioral theory

Compliance patterns and teacher personalities in private and public school organizations in West Virginia

The purpose of this study was to explore administrator compliance orientation and teacher personality relationships and differences between Catholic private and public school organizations in West Virginia. The Personality Research Form, Form E (Jackson, 1974) was administered to 41 teachers of a Catholic private school organization and to 38 teachers of a public school organization. Statistical analysis of the Personality Research Form, Form E (PRF-E) data using an ANOVA method revealed significant differences between the school organizational groups for 5 of the 22 personality traits measured. The results indicated public school teachers were higher achievers, more that aggressive, more concerned with their reputation and what other people think, did not accept criticism as readily, and demonstrated lower self regard than did the private school teachers. The teacher personality traits of achievement and social recognition were highly correlated which suggested that the teachers were achievement motivated by excessive concern for favorable perception by significant others. The Administrator Compliance Orientation Inventory, a self-constructed, 10-item, forced choice questionnaire based on Etzioni’s (1975) compliance theory, was administered to the five private and the five public school principal organizational participants. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to the compliance orientation test scores to examine for statistically significant differences in test scores between the Catholic private and public school organizational groups. Significant differences were found in the administrator coercive compliance and normative compliance scores. A significant difference was not revealed between the two school organizations in the administrator remunerative compliance scores. The results indicated that the public school organization placed more emphasis on the exercise of coercive compliance and less emphasis on the exercise of normative compliance to control teacher subordinates than did the private school organization. Spearman (1949) correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationships between the administrator compliance orientation and the teacher personality traits. Statistically significant relationships were found between the administrator coercive compliance orientation and the teacher personality trait of aggression and between the administrator normative compliance orientation and the teacher personality trait of social recognition. These research findings supported I Etzioni’s (1975) theory for congruent compliance relationships. Further research is recommended for better understanding application of this study to educational settings

Relationships between psychosocial characteristics and democratic values in Iranians: a cross-cultural study

This paper investigates the extent to which differences in people’s socio-political attitudes and behaviours are underpinned by individual characteristics. Two groups of volunteers: (a) an Iranian sample that have been resident in UK for less than two years, and (b) a British sample, took part in this study. A series of validated scales was used to examine differences in levels of empathy, theory of mind, flexibility, suggestibility, emotionality, openness, normative identity style, interpersonal trust, cooperativeness, emotionality, prosocial behaviour, egalitarian sex role, and authoritarianism between groups. Self-reported socio-political tendency, in terms of adherence to democracy, was also assessed. The results show significant differences in levels of these variables between the two cultural groups. Furthermore, the findings shed some light on the psychological and social factors that are related to democratic values and that predict this outcome in the two groups. Implications of the findings for policy makers and educational systems are discussed

Terror threat perception and its consequences in contemporary Britain

The terrorist attacks of 9/11, and subsequent terrorist acts around the world, have alerted social psychologists to the need to examine the antecedents and consequences of terrorist threat perception. In these two studies we examined the predictive power of demographic factors (age, sex, location), individual values and normative influences on threat perception and the consequences of this perception for behavioural change and close relationships. In study 1 (N = 100) gender, benevolence values and normative influences were all correlates of threat perception, whilst sense of personal threat was correlated with increased contact with friends and family. In study 2 (N = 240) age, sex, location, and the values of Openness to Change and Hedonism, all predicted threat perception, which in turn predicted behavioural change and relationship contact. Such findings point to the important role social psychologists should play in understanding responses to these new terrorist threats

Human Security: Does Normative Europe Need a New Strategic Narrative?

Alongside a sustained debate about the role of the EU in the international system and the nature of its power as an external actor, foreign and security policy making continues to reflect an awkward mixture of civilian, military and normative instruments, and ambiguous goals. The European Security Strategy of 2003 and the drive, via ESDP, to make the EU respond more effectively to crises, are the most systematic attempts yet to resolve this incoherence and to project the EU as a different kind of international actor by deploying an integrated range of civilian and military capabilities and resources. This paper examines whether the EU also needs a new conceptual framework for its international presence which can organise and improve the integration of its civilian and military characteristics , and at the same time express to both its own citizens and the outside world, the values and goals which underpin its external action. The paper takes the concept of Human Security and explores whether a Human Security doctrine could provide a shared strategic narrative for the EU which would serve to clarify and consolidate the nature of EU actorness. The paper takes the example of the EU mission to DR Congo in 2006 to show how a Human Security doctrine could provide conceptual coherence to the exercise of EU external power

Work Teams

Work teams are composed of two or more individuals; who exist to perform organizationally relevant tasks; share one or more common goals; interact socially; exhibit interdependencies in task workflows, goals, and/or outcomes; maintain and manage boundaries; and are embedded in a broader organizational context that sets boundaries, constrains the team, and influences exchanges with other units in the organization. Work team effectiveness is enabled by team processes that combine individual efforts into a collective product