Unconscious Identity Research Articles

Masks and Faces in the Setting at the Time of Coronavirus.

The "health emergency" forced analysts to seek new ways of continuing with analysis. The article focuses, in particular, on the changes brought about in the setting by the presence of the sanitary mask, following a line that begins with the theme of the "mask" in the collective uses of human cultures, and develops through the Jungian concept of persona, as opposed to the "face" that may convey an authentic image of oneself. A clinical vignette illustrates the issues that the mask raises in the setting by obstructing the communication of emotions. When there is no transformative processing of concrete data, "unmasking" can also lead to an uncanny encounter and to moments of darkness and confusion in analysis, when the analyst experiences the kind of "unconscious identity" between therapist and patient that Jung defined as nigredo. The article is intended as a contribution to the analytic community's current reflections on the new and unforeseen challenges encountered in analysis at the time of the Coronavirus. It is possible to learn from these experiences with a view to integrating new elements and thus modify one's own internal setting, the compass with which each analyst orientates himself.

Willful testimonial injustice as a form of epistemic injustice

AbstractIn the debate on epistemic injustice, it is generally assumed that testimonial injustice as one form of epistemic injustice cannot be committed (fully) deliberately or intentionally because it involves unconscious identity prejudices. Drawing on the case of sexual violence against refugees in European refugee camps, this paper argues that there is a form of testimonial injustice—willful testimonial injustice—that is deliberate. To do so, the paper argues (a) that the hearer intentionally utilizes negative identity prejudices for a particular purpose and (b) that the hearer is aware of the fact that the intentionally used prejudices are in fact prejudices. Furthermore, the paper shows how testimonial injustice relates to recognition failures both in terms of a causal as well as a constitutive claim. In fact, introducing willful testimonial injustice can support the constitutive claim of such a relation that has so far received little attention. Besides arguing for a novel form of testimonial injustice and contributing to the recent debate on the relation between epistemic injustice and recognition failures, this paper is also motivated by the attempt to draw attention to the inhumane conditions for refugees at the border of Europe as well as elsewhere.

Event-related potential correlates of implicit processing of own- and other-race faces in children

Human adults typically experience difficulties in recognizing and discriminating individual faces belonging to racial groups other than their own. The origin of this “other-race” effect is set in infancy, but the understanding of its developmental course is fragmented. We aimed to access the mechanisms of the other-race effect in childhood by unraveling the neural time course of own- and other-race face processing during a masked priming paradigm. White 6- and 7-year-old children (N = 19) categorized fully visible Asian (other-race) or White (own-race) target faces according to gender. Target faces were preceded by masked same-identity or different-identity prime faces, matching the target for race and gender. We showed an early priming effect on the N100 component, with larger amplitude to different-face pairs than to same-face pairs, and a later race effect on the N200 component, with larger amplitude to own-race face pairs than to other-race face pairs. Critically, race did not interact with priming at any processing stage (P100, N100, P200, N200, or P300). Our results suggest that race could have a temporally limited impact on face processing and that the implicit and unconscious identity processing of own- and other-race faces could be similar in 6- and 7-year-olds, depicting an immature other-race effect during childhood.

Temporo-parietal contribution to the mental representations of self/other face

Face recognition requires comparing the current visual input with stored mental representations of faces. Based on its role in visual recognition of faces and mental representation of the body, we hypothesized that the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) could be implicated also in processing mental representation of faces. To test this hypothesis, we asked 30 neurotypical participants to perform mental rotation (laterality judgment of rotated pictures) of self- and other-face images, before and after the inhibition of rTPJ through repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. After inhibition of rTPJ the mental rotation of self-face was slower than other-face. In the control condition the mental rotation of self/other faces was not significantly different. This supports that the role of rTPJ extends to mental representation of faces, specifically for the self. Since the experimental task did not require to explicitly recognize identity, we propose that unconscious identity attribution affects also the mental representation of faces. The present study offers insights on the involvement rTPJ in mental representation of faces and proposes that the neural substrate dedicated to mental representation of faces goes beyond the traditional visual and memory areas.

Intergenerational, Unconscious, and Embodied: Three Underdeveloped Aspects of Erikson’s Theory of Identity

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to highlight three aspects of Erikson's theory of identity that have been left relatively undeveloped. The first is Erikson's embedding identity development in an intergenerational framework. Within this framework, adolescent identity development and adult generativity development are interdependent, and the dynamics of this dyadic interrelationship need to be further researched. The second is the issue of unconscious identity development. I discuss three ways Erikson discussed unconscious identity processes: ‘automatic’, ‘silent’, and ‘sinister’ processes. The third underdeveloped aspect is the body, and the manner in which identity development is theorized as invigorating and vitalizing due to integrating the biological, psychological and social. Attention to each of these issues can serve to broaden our current concept of what identity is, and how it develops.

Career transition as identity learning: an autoethnographic understanding of human resource development

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the phenomenon of career transitions in terms of learning using an autoethnographic story of our own career moves. In the contemporary world of globalized flexible employment, inter-organizational career moves are increasingly prevalent and the learning associated with such transitions needs to be better understood within human resource development (HRD). We show that the learning required in career transitions extends beyond the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of new skills to the appropriation of new identities. We overview identity theorizing and, adopting a social constructionist perspective, explain the concept of identity work to understand the nature of identity learning in career transitions. We then reflexively examine our autoethnographic methodology, proceed to tell the story of our career transitions, and then interpret this story in terms of identity learning. Conclusions are drawn showing how the learning associated with career transitions involves conscious and unconscious identity work to release an established way of being, cultivate a new and desired way of being, and to cope with the existential anxieties associated with transition. Significant implications for international HRD scholarship, policy, and practice are proposed.

"The Return of the Repressed: Promises and Perils of Bringing ""The Unconscious"" into Identity Work"

This symposium is concerned with the unconscious aspects of identity construction in and around organizations. Scholars have long acknowledged that identity work is only conscious at times of potential change, while it continues below the surface of awareness for most of individuals’ lives. This symposium aims to investigate when, how, and why researching its less conscious aspects may enrich identity scholarship—and what difficulties may accompany the endeavor. The four papers do the following: provide a novel metaphor for the unconscious currents in identity work, discuss how unconscious learning underpins identities that survive the loss of one’s organization, describe how work-life narratives may function as a social defense that sustains traditional work and gender identitites, and examine the identity vicissitudes of independent workers. Following the presentations, Sally Maitlis, a leading scholar of identity dynamics and the interplay between affect and sensemaking, will facilitate an interactive discussion on the potential and perils involved in this avenue of research. Making Waves: A Metaphor for (Un)Conscious Identity Work Presenter: Glen E. Kreiner; Pennsylvania State U. Presenter: Chad Murphy; Pennsylvania State U. The Accidental Entrepreneur? Unconscious Identity Learning in an Organizational Bankruptcy Presenter: Eliana Crosina; Boston College Presenter: Michael G. Pratt; Boston College Agony and Ecstasy: Identity Dynamics in the Pursuit of Personalized Work Presenter: Gianpiero Petriglieri; INSEAD Presenter: Susan J. Ashford; U. of Michigan The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense Presenter: Irene Padavic; Florida State U. Presenter: Robin Ely; Harvard U. Presenter: Erin Marie Reid; Boston U.

Regression in the countertransference: working with the archetype of the abandoned child

The author describes briefly some experiences of his sense of non-existence as an analyst in relation to five patients. He considers the possible countertransference significance of these experiences and puts forward a hypothesis that his sense of non-existence as an analyst might be a clue to regression in the patient to the anxieties of a baby without a mother, even though other clinical evidence of regression might be lacking. Referring back to Jung's early formulation of transference and countertransference as aspects of the unconscious identity shared between analyst and patient, he further develops his hypothesis, suggesting that, in the cases he has presented, analyst and patient were relating through shared dynamic roots in the archetype of the abandoned child. He briefly demonstrates how the understanding thus achieved was of clinical use in the analyses of the patients he has presented.

Ethics and the sexual countertransference

In this paper I shall suggest that, in addition to 'conscience', the archetype of Eros plays an important part in 'benign relatedness' and that this is what constitutes an ethical attitude. I also propose that the idea of 'benign relatedness' can provide us with a workable concept for those serving on Ethics Committees especially when our Code of Ethics is unclear or limited. I attempt to show that the analytic attitude is essentially ethical and define what I see as the analytic attitude as a way of demonstrating this. By discussing the neurotic sexual countertransference and unconscious identity I hope to clarify the main reasons for unethical enactments. I use examples of ethical problems, including a personal experience, to illustrate the kinds that occur and lastly I discuss how mourning plays an important part in the resolution and avoidance of these problems.

Is unconscious identity priming lexical or sublexical?

We examined unconscious priming in a stem-completion task with both identity and form-related primes. Participants were given exclusion instructions to avoid completing a stem (e.g., ca- - -) with a briefly flashed masked word (e.g., candy). In Experiment 1, priming of around 7% occurred for both identity (e.g., candy) and form-based (e.g., windy) primes at a 33 ms exposure duration. When examining only trials in which the participants failed to identify the prime, this effect increased to 12% for identity primes, but remained the same for form-based primes. In Experiment 2, priming without prime identification was 9% for identity primes, 4% for homophone primes, and 3% for orthographic control primes. Although identity priming was greater than form priming in both experiments, regression analyses revealed that orthographic and phonological overlap alone between the flashed primes and targets could completely account for unconscious identity priming. Hence, we conclude that masked words may only activate their sublexical orthographic and phonological representations and not their lexical representations.

Play: The lantern of hope

Play is the lantern of hope whereby children are able to let go of more conscious patterns, thoughts and structures in order to freely express feelings by experiencing, through imagination, their deeper connections to their unconscious identity. Play leads into group relationships; play can be a form of communication; and lastly, play is in the service of communication with oneself and others. Stories through imaginative play, art and drama, are discussed with respect to the ongoing link between the inner meaning of life and the elements of the natural world. Play as a therapeutic tool illuminates the way as children seize the emerging moments as an opportunity to project their inner feelings and awareness. Transformative by nature, play becomes the opportunity for individual and group insights as personal and archetypal myths are recalled as a means of directing learning and creating ultimate healing.

Identity, culture and the postmodern world

Beginning and the end. An introduction - writing the self the home, the journey and the border identity and narrative identity and the unconscious identity and difference Foucault - discipline and the self Foucault - sex and the technologies of the self the conditions of postmodernity from Marxism to postmodernism consumer identity and commodity aesthetics national identity - Englishness and education race, ethnicity and nationness culture, imperialism and identity.

Developing insight through supervision: relating, then defining

By the use of tape recordings, I attempt to understand the main ways in which a supervisor helps the supervisees to gain insights into their work with their patients. Through this research I became aware that insights come into being by way of a process involving unconscious identity and differentiation. I have use supervisory examples to illustrate the ways in which the supervisor interacts with the supervisee.