Whilst in government, New Labour defined social exclusion as a state of "disadvantage" resulting from individual psychology: namely, low aspirations, a lack of self-confidence or moral deviancy. Engagement in lifelong learning was considered a means of promoting social inclusion and of overcoming such disadvantage. This policy review…

Repression was considered by Freud as a key mechanism for everyone, especially for normals and neurotics. His Repression paper, written in 1915, was psychoanalytically definitive. Of course, much had been written before and even more was written after. Anna Freud's book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence included repression and was published by…

The theory as it relates to occupational classification and Holland's scheme of consistent patternings was supported. However, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that congruent, consistent, and homogeneous personality patterns are more closely related to high training achievement than are noncongruent, inconsistent, and heterogeneous…

Rationalization was studied by Sigmund Freud and was specifically labeled by Ernest Jones. Rationalization ought to be differentiated from rational, rationality, logical analysis, etc. On the one hand, rationalization is considered a defense mechanism, on the other hand, rationality is not. Haan has done much work with self-report inventories and…

While certain forms of sex behavior may serve as a clue to the existence of mental illness, care must be taken not to view such behavior outside the overall context of a person's particular life situation, since sex behavior is a reflection of the totality of human existence. (Author)

Instruments administered to subjects with physical disabilities included "Disability Effects Scale, and "Attitudes toward Disabled Persons. Results indicated greater flexibility of response among group members able to identify with disabilities than among those unwilling to do so. (CJ)

Research supported in part by Grant MH-11989 from the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service, and in part by a grant-in-aid from the Society of the Sigma Xi.

The relationship between personality factors and political orientation has long been of interest to psychologists. This study tests the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between self-actualization and liberalism-conservatism. The hypothesis is supported. (Author)

Discussion of the creative self considers ideas of the described, not defined, self; the differentiated self; intensity, transformation, and development of the creative self; complexity of the creative self; the dialectical self; dialectical personality traits or bipolar mood disorder; and the inventive self. (DB)

This research was a direct test of the hypothesis that value change as a result of self-confrontation is unidirectional--that is, possible only in a direction that serves to maintain and enhance self-esteem, and thus is consistent with self-conceptions. The effectiveness of a self-confrontation treatment designed to increase the importance of the…

If we define irrationality as thought, emotion, or behavior that leads to self-defeating consequences or that significantly interferes with the survival and happiness of the organism, we find that literally hundreds of major irrationalities exist in all societies and in virtually all humans in those societies. These irrationalities persist despite…

An inquiry was conducted into the question of the influence of Christmas and Easter on the occurrence of death. The authors hypothesized that dying might be postponed until after these two important events resulting in a significantly increased frequency of death after these holidays. Obituaries were read for 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after each…

This study reports the initial results of an attempt at introducing and validating the theoretical construct of loneliness. The conception of loneliness included four components: intensity and types of missing relationships; rationalizations and defenses of feelings of deprivation; time-perspective; and perception of personal abilities to change…

Offers a theoretical discussion of the impact a child's Oedipal experiences have on that child's concepts of succeeding and winning. Considers and discusses the most common situations in which clinical manifestations of fear of success are observed, including romantic relationships, work, and overtly competitive pursuits. (RL)

Identifies fundamental principles of psychology to explain how the self begins and develops over the life span. The influences that contribute to the creation of false and true selves in gifted children are discussed and strategies for promoting the true self of gifted children are offered. (Author/DB)