CARELESS CHOICES, DREADFUL CONSEQUENCES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF W.W. JACOBS’ THE MONKEY’S PAW AND RICHARD MATHESON’S BUTTON, BUTTON

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the theme of free choices and their relation to the stated consequences embodied in the two short stories, one by W.W. Jacobs entitled The Monkey’s Paw and another one by Richard Matheson entitled Button, Button. The analysis focuses on four aspects; namely, the situational triggers of the free choices, the gripping conflicts in the free choices, the ethical consequences, and the purpose of the twisted endings. The concepts borrowed to support the analysis are the concepts concerning situational choices, morality types, and ethical consequences. The research methods applied in the analysis are the combination of the library research, the textual method enriched with the relevant contexts in order to completely dig out the proposed problems The results of the discussion show that every free choice taken under whatever reason will lead to the stated consequence whether it is unbelievable or impossible. The superstitious atmosphere in The Monkey’s Paw and the mysterious atmosphere in the Button, Button, all lead to the inevitability to avoid the temptation to choose resulting in the disastrous consequences.

Degree of Correspondence Between Retrospective and Proximal Reports of Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms, Symptom Triggers, and Emotions

This study investigated the degree of correspondence of retrospective reports of personality disorder symptoms, triggers, and emotions with reports closer in time to the actual experiences. Retrospective reports of symptoms, triggers, and emotions are heavily used in both clinical and research settings, yet no study has investigated the correspondence for symptoms or triggers of personality disorders. A total of 257 participants, including 75 with BPD, completed overlapping daily, weekly, monthly, and semi-annual questionnaires. Retrospective reports showed: (1) systematic biases, reporting fewer symptom and situational trigger occurrences, and greater emotion intensities; but (2) little unsystematic error, largely reproducing bias-adjusted individual levels of symptoms, situational triggers, and emotions (rs generally .70–.80). People with BPD did not retrospectively misremember their symptoms, triggers, or emotions much more than others. Thus, retrospective reports of symptoms, triggers, and emotions should be adjusted for systematic bias, but after such adjustment can be taken as relatively faithful accounts of individuals' experiences.

Dysphoria in Borderline Persons

This article on dysphoria as a psychopathological organizer in borderline patients examines the borderline personality disorder (BPD) from a contemporary psychopathological perspective, focusing on the dimension of lived experience rather than on the description of psychiatric symptoms. It presents dysphoria as a process which structures the borderline patient’s experience in multiple, psychopathological pathways moving from basic lived experience to symptomatic disturbances (and vice versa), through here-and-now lived experience. It describes the psychopathological features characterizing the BPD basic lived experience (background dysphoria and negative interpersonal disposition) as well as the temporary affect related to situational triggers saturating the BPD here-and-now lived experience (situational dysphoria). It also discusses two specific pathways of situational dysphoria, one organizing and another disorganizing, each ending up in different, acute phenomena. A final paragraph of this article is dedicated to the role of shame in borderline psychopathology.