Performance Style Notes and Comments II Looking Back and Moving Forward in Psychology

Abstract. My point of departure is Mills ’ proposal that we should break with existing research paradigms in psychology. Traditional psychology is deterministic and assumes (efficient) causation; a second, ‘normative’, psychology is evolving with an emphasis on meaning and context. Narrative is a shared focus of normative psychology and literature. Normative psychology facilitates the achievement of predictability, as well as universals, in accounts of thought and action. Key Words: causation, literature, narratives, normative psychology, performance The relationship between psychology and literature can usefully be conceptualized in three broad categories, varying in levels of abstraction: this is the framework for my earlier discussion on psychology and literature (Moghaddam, 2004). At the lowest level of abstraction is ‘psychology in literature’: literature as a source of psychological data, literature as a source of insights for psychology. The second level of abstraction involves literatur

Psychology is social: Exploring universals in performance capacity and performance style

Our goal in this discussion is to map out a scientifically legitimate and practical path toward internationalizing the social psychology curriculum. Toward developing an appropriate conceptual framework, we distinguish between the study of two different types of performance: performance capacity, how well isolated individuals can perform tasks as determined by their physical characteristics, and performance style, thee way things are done through collaborative meaning making. Whereas performance capacity can be explained causally, performance style is best explained through normative accounts. Social psychology has largely approached questions of performance style by applying a reductionist and causal framework. We highlight the alternative approach reflected in the cultural-narrative turn and identify sub-research areas that need to be strengthened in order to internationalize psychology

Post-Tragedy 'Opportunity-bubble' and the Prospect of Citizen Engagement

This article appeared in Homeland Security Affairs (September 2011), v.7 no.2From the journal's abstract for this article: "Fathali Moghaddam and James Breckenridge examine the 'opportunity-bubble' that allows leaders to mobilize the public immediately following a tragic event. 'Although great crisis will inevitably invite consideration of many alternatives, leadership must pay special attention to opportunities to engage the public as capable partners in their country's response to the crisis -- calling upon them as citizens with civic duties, as well as rights.'"Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Psychology of Specialization and Specialization in Psychology

Some years ago I committed blatant heresy by publishing a book that questions one of the sacred beliefs of the modern world; namely, that specialization is necessarily beneficial. This belief has become sacred because it is derived from two lines of argument, each of which is independently taken for granted as received wisdom. The first line of argument derives from the ideas of Adam Smith (1723-1790), particularly as set out in The Wealth of Nations. By increasing divisions of labor, Smith argued, workers could become more productive, “The division of labour… so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportional increase of the productive powers of labour.” The second line of argument is derived from an even more illustrious source, Charles Darwin’s (1809-1882) monumental scientific treatise on the Origin of Species. The theory of evolution seems to imply that specialization is necessary to maximize the utilization of environmental resources, find ‘vacant spaces’, and increase survival chances. Taken together, Smith and Darwin seem to present increasing specialization as an inevitable and necessary path to increasing production and improving survival opportunities

The New Global American Dilemma and Terrorism

The "New Global American Dilemma" and Terrorism Psychological research on terrorism suffers from two main weaknesses, both of which arise from well known weaknesses in mainstream psychology Psychology journals have produced mountains of "data" about individual difference measures, and particularly since 9/11 we are drowning in oceans of information about terrorists (there is now an international "terrorism studies industry" generating more data than anyone can possibly keep up with); what we lack are conceptual frameworks powerful enough to interpret this information. The concept of significance quest, "an overarching motive propelling suicide terrorism" (Kruglanski, Chen, Deshesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009, p. 335), is integrative and potentially very useful in helping us interpret some of the information being accumulated on terrorism. A second weakness of mainstream psychology is a tendency for researchers to split into "dispositional" and "contextual" camps, each camp supporting a competing picture of behavior as shaped by individual differences or contextual factors. Underlying this debate is the assumption that the contribution of dispositional and contextual factors is fixed. An alternative and more accurate viewpoint is to treat the role of both dispositional and contextual factors as variable. The role of cultural context in shaping individual behavior is not static; rather, this rol

Homeland Security and Support for Multiculturalism, Assimilation, and Omniculturalism: Policies among Americans

This article appeared in Homeland Security Affairs (September 2010), v.6 no.3This article presents data suggesting that Americans' views of policies toward immigrants are pertinent to matters of homeland security. 'Homeland' is a concept shaped partly by how people psychologically differentiate 'citizen' from 'immigrant.' The differentiation of these categories is critical to individuals' political and social identity. Homeland security scholars are unlikely to be aware, however, of this country's substantial majority preference for an alternative to the traditional, yet deeply divided, incompatible policies of assimilation and accommodation. Moreover, the publics' appraisal of the threat of terrorism, the priority they assign to homeland security institutions, their trust and confidence in homeland security organizations, and their support for counter-terrorism measures are linked to their immigration policy preference even after accounting for their race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Homeland security professionals would do well to consider the potential implications of these preferences.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited