Aggressive Assertion Research Articles

Efficacy of transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy for assertiveness: A randomized controlled trial

Assertiveness training has been an essential component in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), for example, in the treatment of social anxiety and in dialectical behavioral therapy. However, the assertiveness construct has garnered little attention in recent clinical research. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an eight-week transdiagnostic stand-alone internet-based CBT intervention specifically aimed at increasing levels of assertive behavior. Following inclusion, we randomized N = 210 participants into three groups: therapist-guided self-help, unguided self-help, and a wait-list control condition. After a one-year follow-up, we employed a linear mixed model to estimate the effects at both post-test and follow-up for the primary outcome measures of assertiveness, Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales, the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and secondary outcome measures of anxiety, depression, and general well-being. We also assessed reliable clinical change. Compared to the wait list at the post-treatment, estimated between-group effect sizes on self-rated adaptive assertiveness were statistically equivalent for the two treatment groups both at the post and at the one-year follow-up time points, ranging from ES = 0.95 to 1.73, with reliable clinical recovery proportions from 19 % to 36 %. The increase in aggressive assertiveness ranged from ES = 0.62 to 0.90 compared to the wait-list condition at post. For social anxiety symptoms, the effects compared to the wait list at post-treatment ranged from ES = 0.67 to 0.93, with a reliable clinical recovery rate from 16 % to 26 %. For self-assessed well-being, the effects compared to the wait list at post ranged from ES = 0.70 to 1.05. No effects were observed for generalized anxiety, although within-group evidence was found for a medium effect on depression one year after treatment. Overall, the two treatment conditions produced similar effects. In general, participation increased healthy assertive expressions regardless of treatment condition, all the while reducing self-assessed social anxiety and, over time, possibly also depression. Participation also improved general well-being. The findings demonstrate that the assertiveness construct can be a suitable target for intervention, with reductions of both psychiatric symptoms and non-syndromal problems in daily life. The study was preregistered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04240249).

Structural Relationships Between Assertiveness and Parenting Styles With Mediating Self-esteem and Anxiety of Singleton Children

Objectives: This study aimed to develop an explanatory model of assertiveness based on parenting styles mediated by anxiety and self-esteem. Methods: This study is descriptive-correlational modeling with partial least squares. The statistical population included singleton children of the sixth grade of the elementary school in the 3rd District of Tehran in the academic year 2017-18. The sampling method was multi-stage sampling; eight schools (four all-boys and four all-girls) were randomly selected from all primary schools in the 3rd District of Tehran, then, a sixth-grade class was randomly selected in each school. The singleton students of those classes participated in the present study as the study sample. The sample size was 118 students (81 girls and 37 boys). The instruments of this research included the Persian forms of adaptive and aggressive assertiveness scales (AAA-S), the Baumrind parenting scale, Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), and Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES). To analyze the data, the SPSS software, version 26. Results: The results indicated that authoritative and permissive parenting styles had a significant effect on assertiveness among the parenting styles. The total effects indicated that authoritative and permissive parenting styles explained 0.22 and 0.20 of the variances of assertiveness. The results also showed that the authoritarian parenting style had no significant effect on assertiveness. Discussion: The suggested model was acceptably fit, according to the results of the study. Permissive and authoritative parenting styles had impact on assertiveness.

The Passionate Fallacy

The Passionate Fallacy

LESS CARE, MORE STRESS: A RHYTHMIC POEM FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE

This article considers a short text that was widely circulated in the mid- Roman Empire, in both a four-line and a six-line version, usually on gemstones. The text is a poem of sorts, but of a quite distinctive type. Part of it can be scanned according to the rules of classical (quantitative) metre, but more striking is the consistent rhythmic (stressed) pattern. Stressed poetry is not otherwise attested so early; this text may point to a substrate, now largely hidden from view, of popular verse that preceded the metrical revolutions of late antiquity and the Byzantine world. The poem is also a piece of visual artistry, designed to be looked at (particularly in its gemstone format). This hybrid status, between high art and popular culture, can also be detected in the content of the poem, which gestures towards both the poetics of intellectual elitism (using intertextual allusion, and dismissing the views of the masses) and a level of sexually aggressive assertion of embodied selfhood. It is a valuable witness to a form of middling literature (and a middling demographic), caught between aspirations to elite-style individuality and the mimetic imperative of an empire-wide consumer culture.

ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЬ ИНТЕРНЕТ-ЗАВИСИМОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ, ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОГО РАЗВИТИЯ И КУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОНГРУЭНТНОСТИ У ДЕТЕЙ МЛАДШЕГО ШКОЛЬНОГО ВОЗРАСТА

The main purpose of our study was to examine the connection between the Internet addiction in junior school children and their intellectual development and cultural congruence. The study involved 92 schoolchildren from Moscow aged from 9 to 10 years. Our hypothesis was that intellectual abilities of schoolchildren would be related to their cultural congruence, as well as to their Internet dependent behavior. The following methods were used to test the hypothesis: Raven Progressive Matrices, the children's version of Personality Factor Questionnaire by R. Cattell, Chen Internet Addiction Scale, Methodology of determining the cultural congruence of a junior school child by Bayanova and co-authors. The results demonstrated that schoolchildren with good intellectual abilities are highly likely to demonstrate high rates of cultural congruence. At the same time, the study found no statistically significant differences in intellectual development between children with propensity to Internet addiction and children with any Internet addiction. At the same time, it identified significant features in behavior of children prone to online addiction. The behavior of such children is often manifested in demonstrating violations of the regulatory situation at school, as well as in displaying non-congruent behavior; in particular, such children are more likely to tell lies, do not listen to teachers, are late for classes, skip classes, and fight. Besides, such students are characterized by more pronounced impulsiveness and motor retardation, aggressive assertion of their position, self-confidence, and leadership qualities. The school environment is characterized by normative rules and procedures, so children are not always able to realize their motives and desires openly. Thus, we can conclude that more impulsive and motorized children, who are also characterized by displaying aggressive behaviors, will be more likely to be characterized by a tendency to Internet dependent behaviors, because it allows them to express their desires and intentions, which often cannot be realized in a strictly regulated school environment. In this way, our research has demonstrated that high intellectual abilities of junior school children are significantly related to their cultural congruence. In addition, their propensity for Internet addiction can be a factor contributing to non-congruent behavior among children aged 9–10 years.

Effect of Assertiveness Training on Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness in Nurses

Background: Assertiveness is one of the most important skills needed by nurses to reduce interpersonal conflict and build an effective teamwork in complex hospital environments. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an assertiveness training program on nurses’ aggressive and adaptive assertiveness. Methods: In this interventional study, participants were 64 nurses working in hospitals of Abhar city in Iran, randomly divided into two groups of intervention (n=32) and control (n=32). Assertive training program was presented as a two-day training workshop (10 hours) to the intervention group, while the control group received no training. Thompson and Burnham’s Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scale were completed by the participants in both groups at baseline, immediately, one and three months after the intervention. After collecting the data, Friedman, Mann–Whitney, Chi-squared, and Fisher tests were used for their analysis. Findings: The mean of adaptive assertiveness score was significantly different between the the two groups immediately (P=0.002) and 1 month after the intervention (P=0.025). The aggressive assertiveness scores were not significantly different immediately, 1 and 3 months after the intervention (P>0.05), but the results of Friedman test showed a statistically significant decrease in the aggressive assertiveness scores compared to its baseline score (P=0.002). Conclusion: The assertiveness training program increased adaptive assertiveness and decreased aggressive assertiveness in nurses. Relevant authorities can design continuous and useful assertiveness training programs to promot this valuable skill in nurses.

Performa Punch: Subverting the Female Aggressor Trope

Performa Punch: Subverting the Female Aggressor Trope

Fading Boundaries: Religion and Spatial Mapping of Nigeria’s Jos North Urban Centre

ABSTRACT Grounded in critical spatial theories, drawing on ethnographic data and with the aid of ESRI ArcGIS (Geographical Information System cartographical software) to represent the city’s religious and spatial formations and transitioning, this article argues that the spatial essentialization of the city of Jos North and the sense of place its inhabitants construe seems to imply nontemporality and inherent fixity of place. It examines how Christians perceive the city of Jos North as a Christian and homogeneous spatial entity that needs preservation in its “original” forms against Hausa-Fulani Muslim migrations and spatial practices. Historically, the continuous migration of Hausa-Fulani Muslims to the city since 1902 has left an indelible spatial imprint on the city’s cultural and geopolitical landscapes. The efforts to halt such spatial transitioning now range from difficulty in securing land by Muslims for residential, economic, or religious purposes to space for burial rites. This research reveals an ongoing effort by Hausa-Fulani Muslims to gain and maintain spatial visibility while Christians strive to reverse such visibility or eclipse it with an aggressive (re)assertion of Christian spatial practices.

Effects of the Imposter Phenomenon on Measures of Assertiveness in Female Professionals in South Africa

Assertiveness is arguably one of the strongest predictors of success among business leaders and professionals. The study focuses on imposter phenomenon (IP), which occurs when an individual, normally considered to be a high achiever, undergoes an internal experience of feeling like an intellectual fraud or experiences a fear of failure upon achieving success, and the relationship of IP with assertiveness. Due to an absence of research on the relationship between IP and assertiveness, particularly in professionals in South Africa, this study investigates the way these two variables relate to each other. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate whether IP is prevalent in female professionals in South Africa, 2) investigate whether IP and assertiveness are correlated and 3) determine whether IP is a predictor of assertiveness. The study was conducted on working professionals in South Africa (N = 165) and questionnaires were distributed online. The instruments used were the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Survey and elements of the Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales. The professionals assessed were drawn from different industry sectors and across all job functions. The results suggest that IP is prevalent in professionals in South Africa and bears a moderately negative relationship to assertiveness. Another finding was that IP is a negative predictor of assertiveness. Gender also had an effect on the relationship between the two variables; the relationship was only found to be significant among women when the sample was split.

Effects of the Imposter Phenomenon on Measures of Assertiveness in Female Professionals in South Africa

Assertiveness is arguably one of the strongest predictors of success among business leaders and professionals. The study focuses on imposter phenomenon (IP), which occurs when an individual, normally considered to be a high achiever, undergoes an internal experience of feeling like an intellectual fraud or experiences a fear of failure upon achieving success, and the relationship of IP with assertiveness. Due to an absence of research on the relationship between IP and assertiveness, particularly in professionals in South Africa, this study investigates the way these two variables relate to each other. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate whether IP is prevalent in female professionals in South Africa, 2) investigate whether IP and assertiveness are correlated and 3) determine whether IP is a predictor of assertiveness. The study was conducted on working professionals in South Africa (N = 165) and questionnaires were distributed online. The instruments used were the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Survey and elements of the Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales. The professionals assessed were drawn from different industry sectors and across all job functions. The results suggest that IP is prevalent in professionals in South Africa and bears a moderately negative relationship to assertiveness. Another finding was that IP is a negative predictor of assertiveness. Gender also had an effect on the relationship between the two variables; the relationship was only found to be significant among women when the sample was split.

Judicial Supremacy, Judicial Power, and the Finality of Constitutional Rulings

It is widely assumed that the Supreme Court of the United States has established supremacy over contested constitutional questions, with the power to make final determinations of constitutional meaning. Since the 1960s, most scholars have assumed that legislatures and courts are engaged in a power struggle in which countermajoritarian courts can assert their will over majoritarian legislatures. More recently, a new generation of scholarship has demonstrated that judicial power often expands as a result of the willful empowerment of the judiciary by actors in other branches. Most scholars working with the latter framework, however, do not dispute that the United States has a regime of judicial supremacy—they simply see the political empowerment of courts as an explanation for why judicial supremacy has emerged despite the initially weak position of the judiciary. I argue that the insights of the political empowerment literature should be pressed further. It makes little sense to use the general label “judicial supremacy” for a system in which judicial power remains dependent on choices made by other political actors. Examining several cases that are generally seen as canonical examples of assertions of judicial supremacy, I find that courts were unable to settle constitutional debates, and in addition often either were unable to achieve their policy aims or did not actually require other political actors to do anything. The logic of new empirical findings about the sources of judicial power should compel scholars to question whether aggressive assertions of supremacy in judicial opinions are in fact accurate descriptions of how judicial power functions in the United States.

Genocide as Social Practice: Reorganizing Society under the Nazis and Argentina’s Military Juntas by Daniel Feierstein, translated by Douglas Andrew Town

History is sadly rife with examples of persecution and violence. From ancient times to the present, many (perhaps most) states have engaged in acts ranging from the aggressive assertions of power to the annihilation not just of individuals, but of groups of people defined as enemies and national, religious, or ethnic Bothers^. That modernity has only intensified state violence was not lost on Raphael Lemkin, who in 1944 considered first the destruction of Armenians and then the later destruction of European Jewry as processes so distinct in history that he coined a new word for the mass slaughters: genocide. Just four years later, in 1948, genocide became a narrowly-defined legal category – so narrow that few genocidaires have ever been held to legal account. No less problematic, claims Daniel Feierstein in his thoughtful, challenging study of comparative genocide, Genocide as Social Practice: Reorganizing Society under the Nazis and Argentina’s Military Juntas, is that few have challenged the definition of genocide or have examined it as a social process inherent to modernity. Feierstein, who first published this sociological work in Spanish in 2007, did not write an archival-based study of genocides and adds little new information about the Nazi or Argentinian juntas, but this does not lessen the importance of the optic through which he views genocide. Indeed, Feierstein carefully analyses the dominant historiographic arguments on the Nazi and Argentinian genocides and then, building off of Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault, he makes a fresh argument that genocide as a social process is a specific Btechnology of power that is intended to destroy social relations based on autonomy and cooperation... that then attempts to create new social relations and identity models through terror^ (36). Hum Rights Rev (2016) 17:121–123 DOI 10.1007/s12142-016-0393-7

On being another: Bersani with Antinioni

In the book Intimacies, which features responses from psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, Leo Bersani explores the possibility of telling a different story about intimacy from that based on the premise of individual difference. This project draws on Bersani's previous writing on psychoanalysis, literature and film, which critically addresses the model of the ego as bound to its own aggressive assertiveness and to its own sexual shattering. The ethical thrust of Bersani's work, particularly recent work on the visual and on cinema co-authored with Ulysse Dutoit, is towards forms of movement in the world which would ‘non-sadistic', and would thus operate differently from the appropriative desire of the ego tied to its own intermittent annihilation. The aesthetic field, and that of film in particular, can, in Bersani's terms, draw the spectator away from their hermeneutic and thus appropriative desire, away from identification, and into their dissemination in a ‘variation of forms'. This article explores these concerns via a consideration of Antonioni's film The Passenger (1975), and of its key motif, in which one character takes on the identity of another. The ‘other' intimacy Bersani and Phillips pursue is addressed through attention to the existential drama of ‘being another', and through the visual style of Antonioni's film.

Ilona Bell Elizabeth I: The Voice of a MonarchElizabeth I: The Voice of a Monarch. Ilona Bell. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Pp. xvi+207.

<i>Ilona Bell</i> Elizabeth I: The Voice of a Monarch<i>Elizabeth I: The Voice of a Monarch</i>. Ilona Bell. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Pp. xvi+207.

The Not-So-Silent Partner: Patterns of Legislative-Executive Interaction in the War on Terror, 2001-2009

The conventional narrative surrounding the post-9/11 “War on Terror” tends to characterize the US Congress as a mostly inactive and compliant bystander, bowing to an aggressive assertion of unilateral presidential authority and power by the Bush administration. However, clarifying the conceptual framework used to examine legislative–executive interactions and congressional foreign policy behavior to account for varying patterns of interaction and varying avenues of influence yields an alternative explanation. While there is some truth to the conventional wisdom about a Congress rallying to support the president in time of war, applying the refined conceptual framework brings a more complex story into sharper focus. Viewed through this alternative lens, we see that members of Congress, and the institution as a whole, played a more discriminating and substantial—yet still predictable—role consistent with the context of the situation and the broad historical forces and patterns that combine to shape congressional foreign policy behavior and influence. Once the context and forces shaping congressional behavior and legislative–executive interactions are understood, congressional engagement (or lack thereof) in the War on Terror from 2001 to 2009 emerges as a relatively predictable sequence of initial compliance, (rallying) giving way first to competition and then to confrontation.

The avant-garde and the unAmerican: Experimental theatre and drama from Europe to the united states after world war II

ABSTRACTSince the inception of the absurd, avant-garde drama has continued to be written. Yet in the late 1960s we entered the era of postmodernism, in which two events inhibited the advance of the avant-garde. The first is the embrace by postmodern playwrights of a stylistic pluralism, an eclectic and often self-reflexive mixing of different styles from different periods. The second was, and is, the postmodern deification of ‘performance’ through the merging of author and director in a single ‘superstar’ and through the breaking down of boundaries between dramatic forms and performance styles, between styles and periods and between the arts themselves. Struggling within the confines of a self-reflexive, formal orientation and against an ill-defined social context of liberal and diffusive pluralism, the American avant-garde has attempted to display a creative and critical vitality, but has raised only minimal expectations. It countenances an active and often aggressive assertion of individual will, yet betrays an uneasy acquiescence and resignation. Its most significant efforts continue to involve the self-conscious exploration of the nature, limits and possibilities of drama and theatre in contemporary society, but the vision of the future provided by such work is tentative and unclear, as if the avant-garde dare not move beyond doubt and distrust towards an inspired vision.

Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales (AAA-S)

Diminished assertiveness has been associated with neuroticism, depression, and anxiety. Although many assertiveness instruments have been developed for research and clinical purposes, one common shortcoming is a lack of discriminant validity with regard to aggression. Further, the wording of many instruments is outdated and discriminatory. The goal of the present research was to develop a more sensitive instrument measuring two distinguishable forms of assertiveness: adaptive assertiveness and aggressive assertiveness. We present data validating such a measure, the Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales (AAA-S). Participants included two samples of college students and a clinical sample of adults with anxiety disorders. The AAA-S demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The aggressive assertiveness scale was associated with various forms of aggression and peer reports of aggressive assertiveness. The adaptive assertiveness scale was associated with competence and peer reports of adaptive assertiveness. Importantly, there were no gender differences in adaptive assertiveness. Clinical implications are discussed.

"Typing" the George W. Bush Presidency

Controversy characterizes the George W. Bush presidency. Amid the clamor, just what type of president has George W. Bush been in practice? This paper inventories the presidential literature to come to a tentative assessment of Bush’s “type.” This paper examines the historical and institutional context of his presidency, his response to institutional challenges he has confronted, his governing style and personality type. Bush's efforts at conservative “regime construction” have been hampered by the intense partisan polarization resulting from his conduct of office. His managerial emphasis and aggressive assertion of Constitutional prerogatives has increased the institutional power of the presidency. His relations with Congress resemble “party government” found in parliamentary systems. Temperamentally, Bush resembles several of his most colorful and consequential predecessors, including Andrew Jackson, Lyndon Johnson, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. It is not too early to label Bush's presidency a quite consequential one.

Influence of Pitch Height on the Perception of Submissiveness and Threat in Musical Passages

Bolinger, Ohala, Morton and others have established that vocal pitch height is perceived to be associated with social signals of dominance and submissiveness: higher vocal pitch is associated with submissiveness, whereas lower vocal pitch is associated with social dominance. An experiment was carried out to test this relationship in the perception of non-vocal melodies. Results show a parallel situation in music: higher-pitched melodies sound more submissive (less threatening) than lower-pitched melodies. RESEARCH by Bolinger, Ohala, Morton and others has established that vocal pitch height (F0) is perceived to be associated with social cues for dominance and submissiveness. In a wide sample of cultures, Bolinger (1964) noted that high or rising vocal pitch is associated with politeness, deference, submissiveness and lack of confidence. Bolinger also showed that conversely, low or falling vocal pitch is associated with authority, threat, aggression, and confidence. Ohala (1984) and Morton (1994) have assembled additional support for this association in ethological studies of non-human animals. Paradoxically, an earlier study by Scherer et al. (1973) seemed to suggest that high vocal pitch is associated with aggression; however, Ohala (1994) has noted that the materials studied by Scherer et al. exhibit marked descending pitch contours. That is, beginning from a high pitch may allow a more exaggerated pitch descent, corresponding to a presumed confident or aggressive assertion. This association has been demonstrated in both ecological and controlled experimental situations. Morton (1994) reviewed vocalizations for 54 species as observed by ethologists. Morton noted that three features appear to be important in aggressive/passive signaling. First, low-pitched sounds are generally associated with aggressive signaling, whereas high-pitched sounds are generally associated with friendly, appeasing, or fearful signals. Second, falling pitch contours are generally associated with aggression, while rising pitches are associated with friendly, appeasing, or fearful signals. Finally, Morton drew attention to the (periodic) tone versus (aperiodic) noise distinction. In general, hostile signals are described as raspy, growling, buzzing, or snarling. Such sounds are often characterized as harsh. By contrast, friendly or appeasing signals are typically described as whimpers, whines, squeaks, squeals, screeches, or chirps. In general, those tones which evoke the clearest pitch sensations are associated with friendly and appeasing signals, whereas unpitched noises or less clearly pitched tones are associated with aggression. To Morton's three factors we may add a fourth - loudness. Loudness seems to be interpretable in two ways. First, loudness may be associated with the urgency of the signal. That is, a loud vocalization may indicate a strong desire to communicate or to communicate clearly. In addition, increased loudness is also likely correlated with hostility or aggression; the acoustic power might suggest the physical power of the individual or signal the individual's willingness to engage in physical confrontation.

Freedom's Freedom: American Enlightenment and Permanent War

This essay analyses the pervasive discourse of freedom mobilised by the US Administration of George W. Bush, locating its roots not only in post-1945 American foreign policy, but in powerful metanarratives of US exceptionalism and destiny and overarching Western concepts of enlightenment, sovereignty, historical progress, reason of state and secular modernity. Hence freedom is revealed not as a set of democratic liberties guaranteed and enabled by the state—as in familiar liberal-humanist accounts—but as a form of license, a series of capacities and powers to make, use and act without constraint. By tracing this onto-technology of freedom through US history, the Cold War and the War on Terror, and considering its functional mirroring by the Islamist threat of the new terrorism, the essay exposes the multiple dangers posed by the aggressive assertion of a simultaneously instrumental and universalising image of historical action and inevitability that rejects any restriction of its powers and any responsibility for their effect. It concludes by speculating upon a recuperated, and fundamentally social, concept of freedom characterised by interdependence, responsibility and contingent action, one that might one day return to freedom the honour of its name.