Similarity in cognitive complexity and attraction to friends and lovers: Experimental and correlational studies

Abstract OnlyTwo studies are reported examining whether similarities in cognitive complexity foster different forms of interpersonal attraction. Study 1 provided an experimental test of the hypothesis that perceivers would be more attracted to targets with similar levels of complexity than to targets with dissimilar levels of complexity. Participants read interpersonal impressions reflecting low and high levels of cognitive complexity and completed 3 assessments of attraction (social, task, and intellectual) to the source of the impressions. As predicted, there were significant interactions between perceiver complexity and target complexity such that high-complexity perceivers were more attracted to high-complexity targets than were low-complexity perceivers, whereas low-complexity perceivers were more attracted to low-complexity targets than were high-complexity perceivers. Unexpectedly, however, low-complexity perceivers were more attracted to a high-complexity target than a low-complexity target. Study 2 examined the effects of similarities in cognitive complexity on attraction among 126 pairs of dating partners. Partners having similar levels of cognitive complexity expressed significantly greater intellectual attraction to one another than partners having dissimilar levels of cognitive complexity

Pseudo-epsilon expansion and the two-dimensional Ising model

Starting from the five-loop renormalization-group expansions for the two-dimensional Euclidean scalar \phi^4 field theory (field-theoretical version of two-dimensional Ising model), pseudo-\epsilon expansions for the Wilson fixed point coordinate g*, critical exponents, and the sextic effective coupling constant g_6 are obtained. Pseudo-\epsilon expansions for g*, inverse susceptibility exponent \gamma, and g_6 are found to possess a remarkable property - higher-order terms in these expansions turn out to be so small that accurate enough numerical estimates can be obtained using simple Pade approximants, i. e. without addressing resummation procedures based upon the Borel transformation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 tables, few misprints avoide

Bereavement and palliative care: A public health perspective

In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis upon public health perspectives that place palliative care in the context of end-of-life services across whole populations. There is little corresponding public health interest in bereavement. Yet if we have to develop relevant, coherent, and comprehensive end-of-life care policies and practices, public health approaches to palliative care need to be accompanied by public health approaches to bereavement care. We argue here that palliative care services should match their commitment to providing a good death with a commitment to supporting good grief, and that this means investing their efforts principally in developing community capacity for bereavement care rather than seeking to deliver specialized bereavement services to relatives and friends of those who have received palliative care services

A novel Family Dignity Intervention (FDI) for enhancing and informing holistic palliative care in Asia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background The lack of a holistic approach to palliative care can lead to a fractured sense of dignity at the end of life, resulting in depression, hopelessness, feelings of being a burden to others, and the loss of the will to live among terminally ill patients. Building on the clinical foundation of Dignity Therapy, together with the empirical understanding of dignity-related concerns of Asian families facing terminal illness, a novel Family Dignity Intervention (FDI) has been developed for Asian palliative care. FDI comprises a recorded interview with a patient and their primary family caregiver, which is transcribed, edited into a legacy document, and returned to the dyads for sharing with the rest of the patient’s family. The aims of this study are to assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of FDI in reducing psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and psychophysiological distress in community-dwelling and in-patient, Asian, older terminally ill patients and their families living in Singapore. Methods/design An open-label randomized controlled trial. One hundred and twenty-six patient-family dyads are randomly allocated to one of two groups: (1) an intervention group (FDI offered in addition to standard psychological care) and (2) a control group (standard psychological care). Both quantitative and qualitative outcomes are assessed in face-to-face interviews at baseline, 3 days and 2 weeks after intervention, as well as during an exit interview with family caregivers at 2 months post bereavement. Primary outcome measures include sense of dignity for patients and psychological distress for caregivers. Secondary outcomes include meaning in life, quality of life, spirituality, hopefulness, perceived support, and psychophysiological wellbeing, as well as bereavement outcomes for caregivers. Qualitative data are analyzed using the Framework method. Discussion To date, there is no available palliative care intervention for dignity enhancement in Asia. This first-of-its-kind study develops and tests an evidence-based, family driven, psycho-socio-spiritual intervention for enhancing dignity and wellbeing among Asian patients and families facing mortality. It addresses a critical gap in the provision of holistic palliative care. The expected outcomes will contribute to advancements in both theories and practices of palliative care for Singapore and its neighboring regions while serving to inform similar developments in other Asian communities. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03200730. Registered on 26 June 2017

The impact of mental health recovery narratives on recipients experiencing mental health problems: Qualitative analysis and change model.

BACKGROUND: Mental health recovery narratives are stories of recovery from mental health problems. Narratives may impact in helpful and harmful ways on those who receive them. The objective of this paper is to develop a change model identifying the range of possible impacts and how they occur. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adults with experience of mental health problems and recovery (n = 77). Participants were asked to share a mental health recovery narrative and to describe the impact of other people's recovery narratives on their own recovery. A change model was generated through iterative thematic analysis of transcripts. RESULTS: Change is initiated when a recipient develops a connection to a narrator or to the events descripted in their narrative. Change is mediated by the recipient recognising experiences shared with the narrator, noticing the achievements or difficulties of the narrator, learning how recovery happens, or experiencing emotional release. Helpful outcomes of receiving recovery narratives are connectedness, validation, hope, empowerment, appreciation, reference shift and stigma reduction. Harmful outcomes are a sense of inadequacy, disconnection, pessimism and burden. Impact is positively moderated by the perceived authenticity of the narrative, and can be reduced if the recipient is experiencing a crisis. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that incorporate the use of recovery narratives, such as peer support, anti-stigma campaigns and bibliotherapy, can use the change model to maximise benefit and minimise harms from narratives. Interventions should incorporate a diverse range of narratives available through different mediums to enable a range of recipients to connect with and benefit from this material. Service providers using recovery narratives should preserve authenticity so as to maximise impact, for example by avoiding excessive editing

Self-organisation and psychotherapy

Neste artigo, resultado de uma pesquisa de tipo qualitativo, hermenêutico e documental, procuramos mostrar como as Ciências Cognitivas, desde a sua constituição, têm contribuído para a compreensão do ser humano. Fazemos referência às visões mais racionalistas da mente, que a entendem semelhante a um sistema computacional, até à visão menos (não) racionalista que lhe confere valor cognitivo, envolta em emoções e afetos, que numa visão mais construtivista – ou pós-racionalista – se diria que traduz significados, traduz uma vivência ou uma história narrativa (e) pessoal. Assim, apresentamos o modelo de terapia cognitiva pós-racionalista de Vittorio Guidano, refletindo sobre os fundamentos epistemológicos do Movimento da Auto-organização (MAO), nos quais ele se fundamenta. Descrevemos sumariamente os alicerces epistemológicos do MAO, os quais garantem a este modelo uma dimensão holista e explicativa do processo de construção da identidade humana, que pode ser descrita como processo de conhecimento, capaz de vivenciar e ao mesmo tempo perceber e avaliar a sua própria experiência (autoconsciência). O ser humano age na intersubjetividade, num mundo pluralista, com os seus congéneres, partilhando experiências e interpretando ações (complexificando-se através desses acoplamentos). Pretendemos, também, ilustrar que a matriz de funcionamento interno de cada ser humano, a qual lhe permite ordenar essa múltipla e facetada realidade, assim como formar/construir/ordenar significados pessoais, é o vínculo emotivo-afetivo.In this paper, which is the result of a qualitative, hermeneutical and documental research, we intend to show how the Cognitive Sciences, since their beginning, have contributed to the understanding of human beings. We refer to the rationalistic understanding of the mind (the mind is like a computer system), and also to the non-rationalistic understanding, which attributes to the mind a cognitive value, immersed in emotions and affections. In addition, according to a constructivist or post-rationalistic understanding, the mind translates meanings, an experience or a personal narrative story. Thus, we present the model of post-rationalistic cognitive therapy of Vittorio Guidano, reflecting on the epistemological foundations of the Self-Organization Movement, on which it is based. We describe briefly the epistemological principles of the Self-Organization Movement, which give to this model a holistic and explanatory dimension of the process of construction of human identity. This identity can be described as the human beings’ process of self-knowledge, as we are capable of experiencing and at the same time perceiving and evaluating, our own experiences (self-consciousness). The human being acts on intersubjectivity, in a pluralistic world with his peers, sharing experiences and interpreting actions. We also want to illustrate that the matrix of inner functioning of every human being, which allows us to sort this multi-faceted reality in a single personal order, is the emotional bond.(undefined

Career self: a longitudinal study with college students

O self de carreira constituí um subconjunto organizado do universo cognitivo de uma pessoa, responsável pelo carácter subjetivo que a mesma confere à carreira. Este estudo pretende avaliar mudanças no conteúdo do self de carreira de estudantes universitários, do início para o final do último ano de graduação. Para tal, recorreu-se a medidas repetidas dos índices da Grelha de Repertório da Carreira (Silva & Taveira, 2005; Silva, 2008). Na investigação, participaram 80 estudantes, dos quais 49 são mulheres (61,25%) e 31 são homens (38,75%), com idades entre os 21 e os 45 anos (M= 23,9, DP= 4,31). Os resultados indicam que, no final da licenciatura, os estudantes diminuem a distância como se constrõem em relação aos outros e mantêm uma construção positiva do self de carreira.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: are health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping congruent with women’s accounts?

Background: Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality (TFA) may have profound psychological consequences for those involved. Evidence suggests that women’s experience of care influences their psychological adjustment to TFA and that they greatly value compassionate healthcare. Caring for women in these circumstances presents challenges for health professionals, which may relate to their understanding of women’s experience. This qualitative study examined health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping with TFA and assessed to what extent these perceptions are congruent with women’s accounts. Methods: Fifteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with health professionals in three hospitals in England. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and compared with women’s accounts of their own coping processes to identify similarities and differences. Results: Health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping processes were congruent with women’s accounts in identifying the roles of support, acceptance, problem-solving, avoidance, another pregnancy and meaning attribution as key coping strategies. Health professionals regarded coping with TFA as a unique grieving process and were cognisant of women’s idiosyncrasies in coping. They also considered their role as information providers as essential in helping women cope with TFA. The findings also indicate that health professionals lacked insight into women’s long-term coping processes and the potential for positive growth following TFA, which is consistent with a lack of aftercare following TFA reported by women. Conclusions: Health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping with TFA closely matched women’s accounts, suggesting a high level of understanding. However, the lack of insight into women’s long-term coping processes has important clinical implications, as research suggests that coping with TFA is a long-term process and that the provision of aftercare is beneficial to women. Together, these findings call for further research into the most appropriate ways to support women post-TFA, with a view to developing a psychological intervention to better support women in the future

Dialogical self strategies of self-organization: psychotherapy and restructuring of internal management

A identidade tem sido um conceito central na literatura em psicologia e na forma como as diferentes abordagens terapêuticas têm concebido os processos de mudança. Entre as inúmeras perspectivas desenvolvidas sobre essa dimensão do ser humano, destacamos o paradigma dialógico que tem vindo a influenciar de forma crescente a teoria e prática em psicoterapia. Segundo esta perspectiva, a funcionalidade psicológica está relacionada com o modo como os indivíduos conseguem articular e colocar em diálogo produtivo as suas várias vozes ou posições de identidade. Neste artigo apresentamos uma revisão da literatura sobre as estratégias que subjazem a essa capacidade auto-organizadora do sistema identitário e sobre as diretrizes que poderão orientar uma intervenção terapêutica dialógica quando essa capacidade se torna disfuncional.Self-concept has been playing a crucial role in psychological literature and in the way the different therapeutic approaches conceive the processes of change. From the diverse perspectives developed about this human dimension, we emphasise the dialogical paradigm that has been increasingly influential in the psychotherapeutic theory and practice. According to the dialogical perspective the psychological well-being is dependent on the way individuals articulate and maintain productive dialogues between the different voices of the self or “I-Positions”. In this paper we present a review of the literature on the strategies that underlie this self-regulatory ability of the self-system and the guidelines of the dialogical therapeutic intervention that could be used when these self-regulatory strategies become dysfunctional.(undefined