Fabergé egg of the mind

Greetings to our dear readers.

Let’s start with the question of what is personality?

To that end, we will first quote the article by Blais and his friends from 2021.

Julie Blais, Philip G. Chen, Scott Pruysers. Editorial: Political Psychology: The Role of Personality in Politics. editorial article; Front. Polit. Sci., 21 July 2021.

“Although there is no single definition accepted by all personality theorists, we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively fixed traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior.”

Perhaps, the most common way to study personality has been through the trait approach. Traits, or tendencies, refer to the internal characteristics of a person, which are fairly stable over time and between situations, and help explain differences between people. Today there are several different models that help organize different personality traits, with the FIVE FACTORS MODEL: (FFM; McCrae and Costa, 1987) being the most prominent.

The FFM includes traits of extraversion (e.g., sociability, assertiveness, and thrill-seeking), agreeableness (e.g., trust, modesty, warmth), conscientiousness (e.g., competence, self-discipline, and achievement), neuroticism (e.g., anxiety, irritability, and vulnerability), and openness to experience (eg, unconventional ideas, fantasy, and values). A competing model, HEXACO [Honesty, Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness] (Ashton and Lee, 2007), similarly includes traits of extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness; However, HEXACO redefines agreeableness (e.g., forgiveness, gentleness, and patience) and neuroticism (renamed emotional stability) while adding the sixth trait of honesty-humility (e.g., fairness, avoidance of greed, modesty).

In contrast to these general traits, the Dark Trinity model (Paulhus and Williams, 2002) defines the three more traits of psychopathy (e.g., rigidity, impulsivity, antagonism), narcissism (e.g., self-aggrandizement, antagonism), and Machiavellianism (e.g., manipulation, planning, antagonism). While other individual traits (eg, authoritarianism, sadism, etc.) and other models (eg, Light Triad) exist, FFM, HEXACO, and Dark Triad tend to be the most common.

Board of Directors: Photographed by courtesy of Shimshony Sarit

Read more: Remote understanding of a leader’s personality and motives, whether according to the literature or according to the “directory of characters”

Greetings

We will discuss “voodoo death” first. Voodoo death is a term coined by Walter Cannon in 1942, also known as psychogenic death or psychosomatic death. It is a phenomenon of sudden death caused by a strong emotional shock, such as fear of some external force. Voodoo death is particularly noted in indigenous societies, but also in concentration camps or prison camps, and the situation is not specific to a certain culture. [W.B. Cannon, “Voodoo” Death, American Anthropologist, 44, pp. 169–181, 1942]. Leach, in an interview with Medscape Medical News, noted that these people usually go through five distinct stages that include: withdrawal, apathy, abulia [loss of willpower], mental akinesia [motor immobility] and psychogenic death.

Read more: Understanding “voodoo” death and a particular subset of suicide through the activity “Directorate of Internalized Characters”

The concept of cognitive dissonance was first proposed by the psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956. It is a situation of discrepancy between attitudes or between an attitude and an action derived from conflicting attitude. Cognitive dissonance expresses an inconsistency between any elements of knowledge, attitude, emotion, belief, or value, as well as a goal, plan, or interest. The theory of cognitive dissonance holds that conflicting cognitions serve as a driving force that forces the human mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to change existing beliefs, in order to minimize the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions [see Wikipedia entry on cognitive dissonance]. In other words, the theory is based on the idea that people strive for internal consistency and harmony in their beliefs and attitudes. When there is inconsistency or conflict, they experience discomfort, and this discomfort motivates them to resolve the inconsistency by changing their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

Leon Festinger [1919-1989]

Although reducing cognitive dissonance may make it easier for a person, some of the ways to reduce cognitive dissonance involve distorting the truth, which can lead to wrong decisions. Festinger suggests that the dissonance can sometimes be resolved by finding and adding a third piece of information relevant to both beliefs. Ways to deal with the dissonance include:

Changing Beliefs: People may change one or more of their beliefs to make them consistent with each other or with their behavior.

Acquisition of new information: People may seek new information that supports their existing beliefs or helps justify their behavior.

Minimization: People may downplay the importance of the conflicting beliefs or behaviors, actually convincing themselves that the inconsistency is insignificant.

Seeking social support: People may seek support from others who share similar beliefs or engage in behaviors consistent with their own, providing a sense of validation.

Behavioral change: Changing a person’s behavior to conform to their beliefs or attitudes is another way to reduce cognitive dissonance.

Read more: Cognitive dissonance and its perception through the “directorate of internalized figures”

Greetings

First, let’s mention again that in the model we propose for the “self”, one must first differentiate between the primary self, which is actually the basic biological core consisting of several innate structures and which is subject to development during life. and the “social self” [consisting of “secondary selves”], which is a structure that develops during a person’s exposure to social influence, and consists of internalizations of figures significant to a person, originating either from external groups or from imaginary groups (related, for example, to a story, a myth, a movie, etc.) that were having a considerable effect on the person). We will note here that at birth there are innate patterns for most parts of the self such as the “social self” and its parts that form nuclei for a possible future development of these structures.

The “secondary selves” included in the “social self” comprise: 1] the variety of representations of the “Me” that originate from attitudes and feelings towards the self and its representations in different periods of life 2] the representations of internalized figures that often originate from significant figures that the person is exposed to during his life but as mentioned may also be imaginary characters represented in books, films, etc. that have had a considerable influence on man. 3] The person’s representations of the “subculture” [subculture refers to social influences in the milieu [environment] in which the person lives and are not necessarily related to a specific person],

We call the social self metaphorically the “directory of characters” or more specifically the “directory of internalized characters.”

We note that, as we mentioned before, in this board there is usually a hierarchy in which there are more influential and dominant figures that we metaphorically called “Dictator Self or Selves” and these set the tone and even censor what content, attitudes and behaviors cannot be contained in the board of figures. We note that the person as a whole is not aware of the influence of the board of characters and recognizes the influence as coming from himself and his own will and positions. We will also note that, as a rule, the board of directors is very dynamic and there are constant struggles and power relations between the internalized characters that make it up over the positions that will be expressed when the internal “dictator or dictators” dictate the tone.

Read more: Understanding psychological conflict and transference through the lens of the “Directorate of Internalized Characters”

Hello everyone, in this short conversation we will discuss the effect of the board of internalized characters on compliance with drug treatment.

First, we will mention that in the model we propose for the “self”, one must first differentiate between the primary self, which is actually the basic biological nucleus consisting of several innate structures and which is subject to development during life. and the “social self” [consisting of “secondary selves”], which is a structure that develops during a person’s exposure to social influence, and consists of internalizations of figures significant to a person, originating either from external groups or from imaginary groups (related, for example, in the form of a story, from a myth, from a movie, etc.) that were having a considerable effect on the person). We will note here that we assume that at birth there are innate patterns for most parts of the self such as the “social self” and its parts that form nuclei for a possible future development of these structures.

The “secondary selves” included in the “social self” include 1] the variety of representations of the “I” that originate from attitudes and feelings towards the self and its representations in different periods of life 2] the representations of internalized figures that often originate from significant figures that the person is exposed to during his life but as mentioned may also be imaginary characters represented in books, films, etc. that have had a considerable influence on man. 3] My representations of the “subculture” [subculture refers to social influences in the milieu [environment] in which the person lives and are not necessarily related to a specific person].

We call the social self metaphorically the “directory of characters” or more specifically the “directory of internalized characters.” We note that, as we mentioned before, in this board there is usually a hierarchy in which there are more influential and dominant figures that we metaphorically called “the dictator self or selves” and these set the tone and even impose censorship on what content, attitudes and behaviors cannot be contained in the board of figures. We note that the person as a whole is not aware of the influence of the directorate of visualizations and recognizes the influence as coming from him, from himself and his own will and attitudes.

How, then, do these internalized significant secondary figures influence medication compliance?

Read more: The effect of the directorate of internalized characters on compliance with drug treatment

Greetings,

This time we will open this conversation with an example of an imaginary character taken from literature and go back to its origins in the second half of the 18th century. The subject of the example is the imaginary character of Werther.

“The Sorrows of Young Werther” is a novel from letters written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and which was published in the second half of the 18th century [1774].

The book was published in the fall of 1774 at the Leipzig Book Fair and is one of the representative works of the German “Sturm und Drang” stream.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)

The book consists mainly of letters written by the hero Werther to his friend Wilhelm. At the ball, Werther meets Lotte, the daughter of a clerk who takes care of her eight siblings. Werther knows she is engaged, and yet falls desperately in love with her. and spends time with her often.

But when Albert, Lotte’s fiancé, returned, Werther felt the hopelessness of his love for Lotte. Later Lotte marries Albert. And after a meeting in which the emotion overwhelms Lota, she kisses him with feelings of guilt and runs away. Werther sinks into despair, hopelessness and endless mental darkness. He writes a farewell letter and shoots himself to death.

With the publication of the book, according to one version, Werther’s character became a role model for many young people who probably internalized his character and identified with it and perhaps for some of them he became the dominant character in the “board of internalized characters” that build their “social self”. There was even a clothing fashion inspired by the character of yellow vest pants and a blue jacket and even other products mentioned in the book. Some talk about it as mass hysteria or the “Werther phenomenon”. And there are reports that a wave of suicides or at least a number of suicides was observed following the book, a phenomenon called the “Werther effect”.

Read more: Imaginary characters that populate the “board of internalized characters” that together constitute the “social self”

Greetings

Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by a variety of fantasies and grandiose behaviors, a great need for admiration and a lack of empathic ability [the ability to step into the other’s shoes]. Figures in history who are mentioned in this context are Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Henry VIII alongside many others.

For example, many historians and biographers claim that Napoleon Bonaparte: the French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and related wars exhibited characteristics consistent with narcissistic disorder: he had a grand and grandiose vision for himself, he was preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, and he believed that he was special and unique.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)

According to the American DSM-5 classification approach, the disorder is diagnosed in early adulthood after adolescence and manifests itself in five or more of the following characteristics:

1. A sense of grandiose self-importance: such as a tendency to overestimate skills and achievements, expecting those around to recognize one’s superiority even though he has no corresponding achievements and skills.

2. Preoccupation with fantasies about success, beauty, extraordinary abilities, or ideal love.

3. The person believes that he is special or unique, and feels that only special and unusual people like him will be able to understand him.

4. Man needs a lot of admiration for the environment.

5. The person has a feeling that he is entitled to special privileges (the person has an unrealistic expectation of preferential treatment and that others must pay attention and immediately fulfill his expectations).

6. Man uses others to achieve personal goals within his interpersonal relationships.

7. Lacks empathy (a person lacks or is unable or unwilling to recognize the feelings of others).

8. Often a person is jealous of others or he believes that he is the object of others’ jealousy.

9. The person often tends to demonstrate an arrogant attitude or behavior.

It seems that many of those with narcissistic personality disorder are characterized by unstable, incomplete and insecure attachment characteristics due to their experience with significant relationships in their early past that were unstable or ambivalent and did not provide sufficient security and left the person hurt without the ability to develop defenses [defense mechanisms].

The cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] understanding of the disorder speaks of a thought and emotional system characterized by systems of perception of excessive and “inflated” self-importance, great difficulty in identifying with and developing empathy for others, and a great emphasis on one’s position and status.

Interestingly, for narcissistic personality disorder, CBT can be helpful in preventing and mitigating behaviors that cause stress in their relationships. CBT can also help narcissists challenge distorted, internalized beliefs about themselves that can trigger emotional outbursts and narcissistic rage. In addition to subculture characteristics, research suggests that childhood experiences can play an important role in causing this personality disorder. Negative childhood experiences, such as rejection or criticism by parents, may contribute to the disorder in adulthood. At the same time, on the other hand, too much unrealistic praise and admiration from parents and the environment can lead to this.

Read more: Narcissistic personality disorder according to the approach of the Reference Group Focused Therapy [RGFT]