Construction Of Self Research Articles

To experience one's physicality through the "bizarre" experience of touching oneself

The touch of oneself is essential in the construction of a conscious self. It contributes to the feeling of ownership of the body. Feeling touched and touching reveals the subject in a being-self inscribed in its environment. This sensory experience can be disturbing for the subject. A study conducted with adolescent girls with obesity has shown that this haptic experience, during a postural session, cangenerate a feeling of strangeness. This singular discovery of oneself reveals the opening towards new exploratory fields of the body self-consciousness, during our care.

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of major depression: a synthesis of phenomenological explanations.

Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy (PAP) combines the use of psychedelic compounds, such as psilocybin, with psychotherapy. PAP has shown some promise as a novel treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and empirical research suggests that its efficacy turns on the altered states induced by psychedelic compounds. In this paper we draw on the literature of phenomenology to explain the therapeutic potential of psychedelic experiences. Svenaeus characterises mental illness as a form of suffering that entails three distinct but related experiences of alienation or "unhomelike being-in-the-world": (1) illness suffering, which relates to embodiment; (2) existential suffering, which relates to self-narratives, and (3) political suffering, which relates to social relationships. Ratcliffe further characterises the experience of MDD in phenomenological terms as a loss of pre-intentional possibility that manifests as excessive noematic feeling in the experience of embodiment, restrictive narratives in the construction of self, and disconnectedness in experience of the social world. We contend that PAP ameliorates the suffering associated with MDD by inducing and consolidating a state of broadened pre-intentional possibility-one that entails sudden, profound and enduring changes in embodiment, self-narratives, and social experience. We argue further that this phenomenological account is consistent with a bio-psycho-social model of mental health and illness, and we frame it as an argument supporting the plausibility of recent claims about treatment success. This helps to justify ongoing future empirical research in this setting.

Web messaging among young people in online services: A descriptive mixed-methods study.

ObjectiveTo describe web messaging patterns and the content of web messages among young people in a Finnish national online service.MethodsA descriptive mixed-method was used. The data consisted of text-based web messaging communication between young people and a counsellor in a nationwide online service between 1 January and 31 December 2018. Web messaging patterns were analysed using descriptive statistics. The content of the messages was analysed with thematic analysis and qualitative results were presented. In addition, the factors associated with messaging patterns and content were analysed.ResultsA total of 1941 messages were sent by 1354 young people. Most of them were between 12 and 17 years old and females. Less than one-fifth of young people had multiple two-way discussions with counsellor. The total period of two-way discussions and the number of words in each message varied widely. The number of words was lower in messages sent by males. The content of the messages was divided into three main themes: interpersonal relationships and environment (Social relationships), oneself (Construction of self), and health-related problems and support received from professionals (Health and wellbeing). The young people’s messages mostly contained topics related to the main theme of ‘Social environment’.ConclusionMost young people sent one message only. Messages ranged from simple, single messages to complex texts describing the daily life of young people. Girls were more active in messaging, and they wrote longer texts.

Positioning Theory for English-Medium Instruction (EMI) praxis: Insights and implications for teaching and research

Developed as a socio-constructivist theory with the aim of understanding discursive construction of selves, Positioning Theory has been applied to the analysis of conversations and narratives across disciplines. This paper provides an overview of Positioning Theory developed by Rom Harré and his colleagues and describes the basic concepts and principles of the theory. By illustrating how it has been applied to studies in contexts that involve English language learners or teachers, the paper identifies ways that Positioning Theory may positively impact classroom practice and outlines areas for further research that EMI classroom practitioners can carry out. A number of practical guidelines for conducting positioning analysis are also offered.

Is the Pursuit of Self-interest Really Selfish? Li Zhi's Challenge to Some Well Established Categories for a New Anthropological Concept

Self-motivation and self-interest are the main themes of Li Zhi’s discourse, worth attention not only for moral implications but also because they are the basis for the construction of a new self, the premise of a renewed anthropological idea of the individual. The article reexamines some of Li Zhi’s ideas that locate the motivation issue in a person able to keep freedom, autonomy and tolerance, and imply his exploration of questions such as human nature, self-cultivation, autonomy and happiness. Li Zhi's construction of the self, based on desire, spontaneity and authenticity, implies the centrality of the same self, the search for happiness, and the consequent basic motivation of human behavior, and the refusal of morality that ignores innate self-interest. Li’s individualistic model claims the priority of free private space for each individual, and yet is framed in a holistic cosmic and social vision. Li Zhi redesigns values such as authenticity, autonomy, inner freedom, and heart-mind.

A Spectrum of Selves Reinforced in Multilevel Coherence: A Contextual Behavioural Response to the Challenges of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Development.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy research for depression and PTSD has been fast tracked in the United States with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) granting breakthrough designations for MDMA (post-traumatic stress disorder) and psilocybin (major depressive disorder). The psychotherapeutic treatments accompanying these psychedelics have not been well-studied and remain controversial. This article reviews the challenges unique to psychedelic-assisted therapy and introduces a newly optimised psychological flexibility model that adapts Contextual Behavioural Science (CBS)/Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to those multiple challenges, including ego inflation, traumatic memories, and the perceived presence of entities. A methodology aligned with biological mechanisms, psychological processes and therapeutic contexts may be advantageous for improving outcomes. This model expands ACT by integrating practices and data from psychedelic-assisted therapy research into a Contextual Behavioural Science framework, allowing both fields to inform each other. Psychological flexibility processes are questioned and adapted to a psychedelic context, and interventions that operationalise these processes are considered. The principle through-line of the paper is to consider varied constructs of Self, as understood by these fields, and integrates respective elements of varied self-models, interventions and data into a Spectrum of Selves model for psychedelic-assisted therapy. Secondly the paper examines how to select and retain new self-perspectives and their corresponding behaviours systemically, drawing from evolutionary science principles. A case example of such behavioural reinforcement is provided, as well as a psychedelic integration checklist to guide the practical implementation of such an approach. This method can enable a coherent therapeutic framework with clear operational relationships between (1) problematic behaviour patterns that an individual wishes to address (2) the guided psychedelic experiences of that individual, and (3) the barriers to maintaining any changes, thus increasing theoretical-practical coherence, broadening treatment benefits and reducing relapse in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Research questions for further developing a CBS-consistent psychedelic-assisted therapy are offered.

PENGARUH KONSEP KENDIRI TERHADAP PENCAPAIAN AKADEMIK PELAJAR UNIVERSITI

The current scenario revealed that many universities, both public and private, are taking various initiatives in improving the quality of academic programs offered. This is because, excellence in academic achievement is one of the determining factors for the graduate employability. However, psychological factors such as self -concept are still under -emphasized as an important aspect in determining academic achievement. Therefore, this study aims to look at the relationship between self -concept and academic achievement of students in Institutions of higher learning. The study uses a survey method in which subjects were selected through simple random sampling involving 160 students (n = 160). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the level of academic achievement and the level of self -concept of the subject in the form of percentage as well as frequency. Meanwhile, regression analysis was used to see the influence of self-concept factors on academic achievement. The findings of the study can be summarized as follows; (i) the majority of subjects had academic achievement at the honors level (51.9%) (ii) the majority of subjects had a moderate level of self -concept (61.3%); and (iii) the self -concept factor which contribute to the highest percentage of changes in academic achievement is the construct of personal self -concept (17.1 percent). In conclusion, this study successfully proves that self-concept has a significant relationship with students' academic achievement and there are self-concept factors that contribute to academic achievement. Implications and recommendations for future studies are also discussed in this study.

Writing and Constructing the Self in Great Britain in the Long Eighteenth Century, ed. John Baker, Marion Leclair, and Allan Ingram.

<i>Writing and Constructing the Self in Great Britain in the Long Eighteenth Century</i>, ed. John Baker, Marion Leclair, and Allan Ingram.

Storying selves and others at work

Abstract This paper engages with the relationship between story ownership – so who owns a story, tellership – so who has the right to tell it, and functions of workplace narratives as well as the broader social practices at work. Drawing upon discourse and narrative analyses, the paper investigates specifically how the negotiation of meaning visible in the often incomplete and fragmented but naturally-occurring narratives points to the discursive struggle over the construction of self within the specific parameters of the notion of professionalism. The paper identifies the facets of story ownership and discusses how each one can be affected by such regulatory forces of the social practices of work.

Playing Dumb: Diplomacy and Dramatised Multilingualism in Thomas Heywood’s If you know not me, you know nobody, part 2

Contrasting Thomas Heywood’s diplomatic scenes in If you know not me, you know no bodie or The Troubles of the Queene Elizabeth (1605), with Francis Thynne’s The Perfect Ambassadour (1578) and Jean Hotman’s The Ambassador (1603), this study considers, with Peter Burke, language culture “in terms of linguistic, cultural and social conflicts as well as of collective solidarities and identities”. It approaches languages in terms of communities as loci of construction and reconstruction of national and territorial identities. Observing Heywood’s Latin-based diplomatic multilingualism, this article examines the process of delocalizing one’s language into a linguistic other and its physical re-localizing on the stage. It probes how diplomatic multilingualism reflects the difficult construction of the English self at the turn of the seventeenth century in terms of absorptiveness and defiance. It analyses how it dramatises the English ambivalence regarding the concepts of community and commonwealth. The first section examines the use of foreign languages in early modern English diplomacy and posits that, after Thynne’s reflection on diplomatic multilingualism, Elizabeth’s Latin should be construed as an object of a proto soft power. Heywood’s transfer of Elizabeth’s diplomatic multilingualism on the stage partakes of a cultural strategy. Thus the article shows how Heywood paradoxically recreates diplomatic otherness as local language. Lastly, it assesses the concord provided by Elizabeth’s stage multilingualism as coercive and potentially inefficient if not handled with measure.

“You Are First a Chinese Citizen, Then A Consumer”: Presenting and Balancing Identities Online as Chinese International Tourists

This paper is based on the analysis of 261 video and word posts collected from four popular social media sites on which Chinese tourists shared their consumption-related experiences during and after the trip. It investigates Chinese international tourists’ diverse presentations of self to a broad audience online through explaining their shopping experiences and product reviews. Tourists are expected to balance multiple identities carefully when they project themselves online as consumers—on the one hand, they present themselves as global consumers and trendsetters who are strategic and savvy; while on the other hand, they still need to preserve and even emphasize their national identity as Chinese patriots. Providing the much-lacking qualitative insight, this study enhances our understanding of international tourists and their consumption behaviors, the construction and presentation of a digital self, and how globalization operates at the micro-level.

"Be the Dream Queen": Gender Performativity, Femininity, and Transgender Sex Workers in China.

An under-researched aspect of transgender sex workers in China pertains to their desires and expressions of femininity. Male-to-Female (MTF) transgender sex workers are a high-risk population prone to depression and stress regarding body image, intimate relationships marked by violence, and social stigma, rendering them vulnerable to hate crimes and discrimination. Ethnographic data from in-depth interviews with 49 MTF transgender sex workers indicate that sex, gender and feminine desire are mutable in the construction of self and subjectivity. This study uses the conceptual framework of gender performativity, that is, gender is performative and distinct from physical bodies and binary classifications. It is not only an individual’s normative gender expressions which are based on the sex assigned at birth, but it also reinforces the normative gender performances of the gender binary. This article argues that the 49 MTF transgender sex workers are embodiments of gendered performances, displaying femininity to ameliorate hate crimes and discrimination as well as reinforce the masculinity and sexuality of their clients and intimate sex partners. Embracing their femininity constitutes a self-help program, enabling them to build self-confidence and develop a positive self-image in the face of overwhelming social disapproval.

Pain, Emotion, and Identity in Early Christianity

Pain has been a topic of sustained study in early Christian history, not least in its role in the construction of a distinctive Christian self and identity. This article addresses the significance of pain in early Christian identity by reframing pain as an emotion and an affective practice, an approach that reflects scholarly re- evaluations of pain in both the neuroscience of emotion and the history of emotions. The essay first addresses pain's function as an emotion, as well as the emotional contours of pain relief. It then traces the role of pain as a marker of identity in Christian literature, including Paul, the Gospel of John, early homiletic and moral exhortations, and martyr literature. Early Christian authors differ in significant ways among themselves on the meaning of pain, but they share a general perspective that the conceptualisation and experience of pain, as part of an overall discourse of passions and emotions, mark Christian identity and set Christians apart from others. Early Christian sources provide an extraordinary and relatively unrecognised resource for observing the development and change of emotional communities, as Christians understood themselves to feel different from others, to feel pain differently.

Language and the Military: Necropolitical Legitimation, Embodied Semiotics, and Ineffable Suffering

This article augments and complicates Nelson's claim that “we talk our way into war and talk our way out of it” ( Dedaić &amp; Nelson 2003 , p. 459). Military endeavors require verbal legitimation, but militarizing participants and wide swaths of the civilian population requires more than just a stated rationale. It requires the complex construction of acquiescent selves and societies through linguistic maneuvers that present themselves with both brute force and subtlety to enable war's necropolitical calculus of who should live and who can, or must, die ( MacLeish 2013 , Mbembe 2003 ). War also involves vexed, stunted, and deadly forms of communication with perceived enemies or civilian populations. And those who are victims of military deeds, including civilians and sometimes service members themselves, are often left with psychic wounds that they cannot talk their way out of, for such wounds resist semantic expression and may emerge through more complex semiotic forms.

Frankenstein Redux

Frankenstein Redux

Eison, Monkan, and the cult of founders in medieval Japan: on the construction of narrative and material selves in East Asian Buddhism

ABSTRACT This article addresses the viability of constructions of a narrative self in light of the Buddhist doctrine of no-self by examining Eison (or Eizon; 1201–90), founder of the Shingon Ritsu movement; his grand-disciple Monkan (1278–1357); and their involvement in the cult of founders in medieval Japan. The article begins by briefly establishing Eison and Monkan’s significance, then looks at Steven Collins’s distinction between systematic and narrative thought in Pali Buddhism. I suggest that this distinction helps clarify the relationship between the self of narrativity and of conventional truth versus the no-self of ultimate truth in Buddhist traditions across times and regions. Then, using Eison, Monkan, and the medieval cult of founders as a case study, I argue that even among scholar-monks actively engaged in such systematic exposition as that related to notions of no-self, the exposition is embedded within a broader devotional framework in which tensions between no-self and a narrative self largely dissolve. I conclude by suggesting that notions of no-self posed little impediment to Eison and fellow monastics’ promotion of a cult of founders that glorifies particular narratively and materially constructed ‘selves.’

(Re)creating a healthy self in and through disability sport: autoethnographic chaos and quest stories from a sportswoman with cerebral palsy

Those with physical disabilities are at increased risk of poor physical, mental and social health. Despite widely reported physiological and psychosocial benefits of sport for disabled people’s health and wellbeing, participation remains low and is in decline. Subsequently, we answer calls for greater focus on individuals’ voices to understand the complexities of disabled people’s participation in sport. Through a narrative autoethnographic approach we critically show and examine the lived experiences of a young female sportswoman with a disability (Gemma), as she reflects on the role of sport in, through and beyond her childhood. Framed within Arthur Frank’s narratives of injury and illness, we highlight the sport-based posthumanist narrative(s) that enabled Gemma’s (re)construction of a healthy self. Ultimately, we offer narrative inquiry, including autoethnographic methods, as a framework for understanding the lived experiences of children and young people with physical disabilities and practical recommendations for expanding narrative resources.

Stories to Tell: Family and Reality in Hip-Hop Autobiographies

Stories to Tell:Family and Reality in Hip-Hop Autobiographies John Paul Meyers (bio) "Hip hop remains a genre largely valued for its seemingly autobiographical nature." –Tricia Rose (136) Autobiography has been a crucial genre of writing for African American culture at least since the publication of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano in 1789: one of the first books chronicling North American slavery from the point of view of a former slave and a book whose publication date is heavy with symbolism. Equiano's autobiography was published the same year that George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States under the newly-ratified Constitution, a document which notoriously counted Black people as only three-fifths of a person for the sake of allotting representatives in Congress. One of the Black American autobiographical tradition's earliest defining moments, therefore, coincides with the beginning of the modern United States itself, at a time when the government officially recognizes Black people as something less than fully human. Over the centuries since the publication of Equiano's text, arguably the best-selling and most influential works by Black American writers have been autobiographies, as V.P. Franklin affirmed when he claimed autobiography as "the most important literary genre in the African-American intellectual tradition" in his 1995 study of these texts (11). In the academy, the study of autobiographies has itself come to prominence over the past few decades, as scholars have been increasingly interested in the construction of self through textual and other signifying practices, a development that is related to the rise of new disciplines since the 1960s, as Ricia Anne Chansky explains: "The field of auto/biography studies developed within the space that women's studies, and then area studies (such as African American studies, Latino/a studies, and Asian studies) carved out in the academy for analyzing identity construction" (xx). Franklin's study of Black autobiographies was published at the tail end of hip-hop's so-called "golden age" usually thought to comprise the years between about 1987 and 1994.1 In part due to the legacy of aesthetic achievements and political [End Page 214] consciousness of that golden age, hip-hop is now viewed increasingly with respect and hip-hop musicians as important public figures and, even, public intellectuals—as evidenced by the creation of archives at elite institutions like Harvard and Cornell for the study of hip-hop, the newly-released 9-CD Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, and the Universal Hip-Hop Museum, to be constructed in the genre's mythical birthplace in the Bronx. Yet, at a time when much popular press hip-hop discourse is short, motivated most strongly by the desire to promote recording sales or concert tickets, and more concerned with celebrity gossip than in-depth discussion of musical and social issues, autobiographies by hip-hop musicians present a rare chance for musicians to engage in extended explanations of their upbringings, lives, and careers. In this paper, I first discuss how hip-hop autobiographies fit into the Black autobiographical tradition and hip-hop media landscape. I then provide an analysis of two important themes in these texts: the influence of family on musical development and the relationship of hip-hop to lived reality. These themes are analyzed in three contrasting autobiographies by hip-hop musicians: Ice by Ice-T and Douglas Century, Decoded by Jay-Z, and Mo' Meta Blues by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Ben Greenman.2 Contrary to some other celebrity autobiographies, all three of these texts move far beyond mere chronology or hagiography in the discussion of their subjects' lives. Lyrical reality has been a frequently debated source of controversy within and outside hip-hop, and Ice and Decoded give a chance for two of hip-hop's most celebrated and controversial rappers to offer their own extended, and conflicted, takes on this issue. Family, on the other hand, is an issue that has received significantly less attention in hip-hop discourse, and my analysis of all three of these autobiographies shows that family is a crucial influence in the development of hip-hop musicians.3 These two themes...

Accounting for the “transcendent self”: spirituality, narcissism, testimony and gift

PurposeThe paper explores the process of construction of the “accountable self”, particularly as this process engages with the spirituality of the self. This study examines the “space of accountability” within which the accountable self constructs itself as such and investigates how different accounts of the self are drawn upon in the making of this space, both defining and transcending it.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies upon archival material concerning accounting and accountability practices about the project for building the altar of St. Ignatius in the Church of Gesù, Rome, Italy (1691–1706). This study examines calculative and narrative accounts about the project from the perspective of the superintendent, who was the sole person accountable for the building works.FindingsWhereas calculative accounts enabled the self to account for actions within the specific space of accountability of the project, narrative accounts opened up this space, providing for a testimony of actions and a gift of accountability towards future indefinite others. This process was prompted by the spirituality of the self and the narcissistic gratification of fulfilling this spirituality.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the literature on the accountable self and to theological perspectives into accountability. This study suggests exploring how different accounts of the self engage with each other through testimony, gift, narcissism and spirituality in the construction of the accountable self, providing for a “transcendent” space of accountability. This research also adds to studies on narrative accounts by showing that they are drawn upon alongside calculative accounts in the construction of the transcendent, accountable self.

The identity work of medical directors as collateral construction

We examine identity work performed by autonomous professionals who undertook management roles and over time experienced shifting pressures from different sources. Over a period of 21 months, we interviewed and observed 20 physicians in four different health care organizations, as they assumed their management role as medical directors of their institutions. We identified three distinct trajectories in their identity work. In particular, individuals who were successful in the role self-defined by including indirect positive definitions of others were also found to integrate positive constructions of self in their new role and to perform it according to expectations. We refer to this interactional accomplishment as “collateral identity work” that sustains the self-narrative by including the definition of others.