Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and the Personal Construction of Self

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Mark Weinberg ◽  
Johann Louw ◽  
Helgo Schomer

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) has attracted a great deal of media attention in recent years, much of it unfavourable. Despite increasing evidence that ME may have a viral, immunological, or neurological aetiology, this publicity has led to people with ME experiencing negative reactions from many medical doctors and lay-people, who have regarded them as depressed at best and malingerers at worst. Two questions are examined in this article: What is the effect of such negative reaction on the self-concepts of sufferers? Does diagnosis of ME improve self-concept? A rating-style repertory grid was drawn up following semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 diagnosed ME sufferers. This was administered to a sample of 50 people with ME. The results indicated that a change in self-concept had indeed occurred since contracting ME, but that diagnosis had no effect on this change. ME sufferers actually identified themselves in the same negative terms as they perceived their unfavourable public stereotype.

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Ketron ◽  
Kelly Naletelich

Purpose Although the functional benefits of e-books have been discussed in the emerging literature on the e-reader platform, the hedonic/emotional aspects of e-book usage have not been explored. This study aims to explore the impact that e-readers have on consumers’ connections with books. Relying on self-concept theory and possessions as the extended self, the authors address the following two questions: What are the hedonic differences between e-books and printed books, and, if the functional benefits of e-books are so compelling, then why do some people still use printed books? Design/methodology/approach The researchers pursue a qualitative design through the use of semi-structured interviews, with a combination of base questions and follow-up questions tailored to the individual respondent. Findings The results reveal six primary themes: convenience, change, community, collection, connection and children. Within each, functional benefits are identified, confirming prior literature on these benefits, and hedonic/emotional themes emerge, revealing that e-readers are capable of changing consumers’ connections with books. Namely, while e-books offer functional benefits over printed books, consumers feel less connected to books read using an e-reader platform and prefer to purchase the printed versions of books that hold special meanings for them. These findings align with self-concept theory and indicate that printed books are an extension of the self, one that cannot be completely replaced by e-books. Originality/value This research adds to the emerging literature on e-books by demonstrating that e-readers have emotional implications for consumers as components of the self-concept/extended self. Prior literature has focused solely on the functional benefits associated with e-books but has not directly addressed the role of books in the self-concept.


Dementia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 147130122199435
Author(s):  
Trang T Nguyen

In Vietnam, the majority of dementia caregivers are women. They play multiple social roles, confronting role conflicts, and caregiving burdens with insufficient social supports. Dementia caregiving alters their self-concepts, or who and how good they think they are. This secondary analysis study aims to explore self-concepts of Vietnamese female caregivers of people with dementia. In total, data of 21 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, including six follow-up interviews, conducted with 13 Vietnamese female caregivers of people with dementia, were drawn from a larger study for analysis following the thematic coding procedure. Results showed that the self-concepts of female caregivers in dementia care were complex, contextualized, and manifested in different aspects. First, the guided self and the performed self emerged from the data as the key themes consistently shared by female caregivers. Their guided self was the self that their social norms and cultural traditions told them about who they should be, while their performed self was the self they demonstrated to the outside world. The mismatch between these two types of self (self-discrepancy) caused distress among caregivers. Second, caregivers’ self-concept was the combination of the three key types of the self: the moral self (a filial daughter or a responsible wife); the feminine self (a patient and graceful women); and the worthy self (a devoted and helpful caregiver). Understanding Vietnamese female caregivers’ self-concepts, self-discrepancy, and its impacts on their well-being can be used to inform the development of interventions and social services for this underserved group.


Psichologija ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Dalia Kujalienė

Straipsnio tikslas yra parodyti repertuarinių gardelių technikos (RGT), kaip Aš sistemos tyrimo metodo galimybes, atlikus trijų individualių atvejų analizę. RGT, kuri yra pagrįsta G. A. Kelly’o asmenybės konstruktų teorija, leidžia suderinti nomotetinės ir ideografinės psichodiagnostikos principus, atskleisti unikalų asmenybės Aš sistemos turinį, struktūrą, savigarbos lygį. Tyrimui naudotas RGT variantas – įvertinimų gardelė. Atlikta individualių duomenų koreliacinė analizė, apskaičiuoti konstruktų intensyvumo balai ir gardelės sąryšio balas, tiriamųjų Aš sistemos pavaizduotos grafiškai. Trys pateikti atvejai atspindi skirtingą tiriamųjų Aš sistemos turinį, struktūrą ir savęs vertinimą. Savęs interpretavimui tiriamieji naudoja įvairius konstruktų rinkinius. Atsiskleidė trys skirtingos Aš sistemos struktūros – monolitinė, integruotoji ir difuzinė. Koreliacijos tarp realaus ir idealaus Aš koeficientas atskleidė tiriamųjų savigarbos lygį. Išryškėjo vienas bendras visiems tiriamiesiems bruožas –  „privalomojo Aš“ reikšmingumas Aš sistemoje. Rezultatai padeda suprasti problemas, su kuriomis tiriamieji gali susidurti. THE POSSIBILITIES OF REPERTORY GRID TECHNIQUE AS A METHOD OF RESEARCH OF THE SELF-SYSTEMDalia Kujalienė SummarySelf is a topic of great interest and very widely researched problem in psychology. Nevertheless after a century of researches and discussions there is no theory and definition of the self which would agree most of scholars with. Very viable is distinction between two fundamental aspects of the self, the “I” and the “Me”, self as a subject and self as an object. I-self is the knower, the active agent responsible for constructing of the Me-self. “I” initiates and controls activity, processes information about self. “Me” represents all things known about self. “Me” came to be labeled the self-concept and has received major attention of researchers. There are many definitions of the selfconcept. Discussions about its nature, structure and influence on the functioning of a person are still continuing. One can find very little agreement in consideration of these questions. It is possible to trace out three common themes that almost all scholars recognize: knowledge about the self, evaluation of self and feelings towards self. Because of theoretical confusion there is no satisfactory method of research of self-concept. Various theoretical models of the selfconcept are in essence sets of dimensions which are invented by authors. Researches using the methods, based on these models, almost always confirm theoretical presumptions. The question arises: are these dimensions really those which exhaustively reveal true content and structure of self-concept? Some authors question the purposefulness of nomotethic investigation in this area and suggest to change the point of view to the problem from researcher’s perspective to the perspective of participants, and apply ideographic, phenomenological methods for the research of self.One of the method of the investigation of self, poorly known in Lithuania, is repertory grid technique based on G. A. Kelly’s personal construct theory.From the standpoint of personal construct theory self can be treated in three ways: 1) as an object (element) that can be evaluated by some dimensions, 2) as construct “Me – not-Me” (construct is a dimensijon used by the person for interpreting of himself and surrounding world), other objects can be evaluated as “like Me” and “not like Me”; 3) as a system of constructs – self-system, the sum of constructs related with the pole “Me” of construct “Me – not-Me”. Selfsystem is the central part of personal construct system and influences all its functioning. As every construct system self-system is just one of possible ways of interpreting of self and thus it may be not accurate and adequate. The main function of self-system is to help the person to predict his reactions to future events and to control his needs, emotions and actions.Repertory grid technique allows to reveal unique individual content, structure and evaluative aspects of the self-system and thus shows person’s view to himself from his own perspective. In order to investigate the self-system two schemes may be used. First, when various aspects of the self (Me as I am, as I would like to be, as I ought to be, etc.) are used as elements. Second, when various aspects of the self are used as constructs. In this case other people important to the person under investigation are used as elements. The content of self-system can be revealed through constructs that are related to different aspects of the self. The structure of self-system can be find out, analisying relationships of constructs. The evaluative aspect of self-system becomes clear from the relationship between real and ideal self.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the possibilities of repertory grid technique as a method of research of the self-system by presenting three individual cases. The rating grid was used. The scheme of investigation: 1. filling in of the list of elements; 2. construct elicitation using dyads of elements; one of elements always was “Me as I am”; 3. rating of elements on each construct on 5 point scale. The result of this process – an element by construct matrix of ratings that could be analysed by various methods of mathematical statistic. Correlation analysis was performed. Intensity and relation scores were computed. The graphical representation of self-systems was presented.Three given cases represent very different content and structure of the self-system and self-evaluation of participants. Each participant used different set of constructs for self-interpretation. Three types of the structure of self-system were revealed: monolithic, integrated and diffuse. Through the correlation between real and ideal self the level of self-evaluation emerged. One common feature of participants was detected – the importance of “ought self”. Results help to understand the personal problems that participants can face with.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Muthia Noor Hikmah ◽  
Muhammad Syafiq

This study was aimed to explain the self-concept of a prisoner who jailed for premeditated murder and factors that  influence self changes. A qualitative approach with a case study method was used. One participant and three significant others were involved in this study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using Thematic Analysis (TA). The result of this study indicates that there is a change of participant’s self-concept as the impacts of his murder act and his imprisonment. Before the murder case, the participant experienced some degrees of incongruence between actual and ideal self. After the murder case and his life in prison, the participant’s self incongruence tends to decrease. There are  several  factors that influence the participant’s self-congruence, namely: social supports they received both psychologically and materially from relatives and  friends, the ability to learn from his past experience, having self-acceptance and gratitude shown by  accepting the punishment and sentence in the prison, and good adjustment during his life in prison. Abstrak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana gambaran konsep diri dan faktor apa saja yang dapat mempengaruhi perubahan diri pada seorang narapidana kasus pembunuhan berencana. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara semi-terstruktur dan dianalisis menggunakan Analisis Tematik. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan terdapat perbedaan konsep diri pada subjek antara sebelum dan setelah melakukan pembunuhan. Hal ini mengindikasikan adanya perubahan konsep diri. Sebelum melakukan pembunuhan, subjek memiliki kecenderungan inkongruensi yang lebar antara diri yang diidealkan (ideal self) dan diri nyata (actual self). Namun, setelah melakukan pembunuhan justru konsep diri subjek cenderung mendekati kongruensi karena tindakan pembunuhan yang telah dilakukan berhasil mengurangi diskrepansi antara diri ideal dan diri nyata. Selain itu, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan ada beberapa faktor yang mempengaruhi perunahan konsep diri subjek, yaitu adanya dukungan yang diterima secara psikologis dan materiil dari orang-orang terdekat, kemampuan mengambil pelajaran dari pengalaman masa lalu, adanya penerimaan diri, serta kemampuan penyesuaian diri yang baik selama menjalani hukuman di Lembaga Pemasyarakatan.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent A. Mattingly ◽  
Gary W. Lewandowski ◽  
Amanda K. Mosley ◽  
Sarah N. Guarino ◽  
Rachel E. A. Carson

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