THE RELIGION OF NO RELIGION: JUNG’S PSYCHOLOGY IN THE HISTORY OF ZEN BUDDHISM IN THE 20TH CENTURY

In the 1930s, Zen Buddhism was hardly known outside Japan. By the 1960s, it had become by far the most popular form of Buddhism in Europe and the United States. Its popularity was born from the general belief that Zen responded to the psychological and religious needs of the individual without incurring the criticisms customarily levelled against religion. Zen was imagined as a practical spirituality that accepted all religions and religious symbols as expressions of a universal psychological truth. Zen was not itself a religion, but a ‘super-religion’ that had understood the inner mechanics of the psyche’s natural religion-making function. Three authors in particular, namely D. T. Suzuki, Friedrich Spiegelberg and Alan Watts, were pivotal in the formation of this narrative. Using Jung’s psychological model as their conceptual basis, they promoted a vision of Zen Buddhism that laid the foundations for the ‘Zen Boom’ of the 1950s and 60s. This article will examine the pivotal role played by Jung’s psychology in the formation of this narrative. KEYWORDS Zen Buddhism, D. T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Friedrich Spiegelberg, The Religion of no Religion.

A proposed psychological model for understanding and supporting individuals living with tokophobia

Tokophobia is an overwhelming fear of pregnancy and birth that can lead to severe mental health difficulties in the perinatal period. The condition can be experienced by men as well as women and has implications for physical and mental health wellbeing in pregnancy and the postnatal period. Individuals with tokophobia are likely to have experienced previous traumatic events, which can trigger the condition and are also vulnerable to experiencing traumatic stress. This article proposes an adapted psychologically informed trauma model to help health professionals to understand and support pregnant women (and men) living with this condition. The aim of this is to raise awareness of the condition, as well as offer a guide for professionals to support and validate those living with this condition, as well as help them to feel safe and secure with the professional supporting them. It is hoped that this will lead those with tokophobia to experience a sense of safety, calmness, self-efficacy, connectedness and hope in working with professionals supporting them. This may, in turn, lead to them feeling more empowered and connected to becoming a parent and in planning their birth journey for those that are pregnant and living with this condition.

COMPARISON OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT CREATIVITY AS A CULTIVATED SKILL IN THE CLASS ROOM PRACTICES

The research examines and compares public and private secondary school teachers’ perceptions about creativity as a skill that can be cultivated in their class room practices. The researcher adopted PBA, a psychological model of professional behavior analysis for analyzing professionals’ perception. Any professional expert’s positive perception is essential regarding the strategies, to handle the task properly and achieve its maximum objectives. In the present study secondary school teachers of Malir district were taken as population of the study and were divided into two clusters; public and private. For selecting the sample of 560 sizes, each sub group of the sample remained equal by using probability technique. All the clusters were collected randomly. Mixed Method was the adopted research method; quantitative analysis contributes 80% and qualitative analysis contributes 20%. Survey was the research design to collect the data. Close ended questionnaire was developed for collecting quantitative data. In-depth Interview was developed for collecting qualitative data. Independent sample t-test was used to compare the groups quantitatively and thematic analysis for qualitatively. The data triangulation determined the degree of strength of their perceptions. Obtained findings depict that private school teachers’ perceptions are stronger than public school teacher regarding the issue

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL OF CIVIC IDENTITY FORMATION

Aim. The research aims to present the psychological concept of civic identity formation, namely author's view on the nature of civic identity, the stages and psychological mechanisms of civic identity formation. Methods. A system of general scientific methods was used: analysis and synthesis of the main provisions of research sources on the study of civic identity as a complex multidimensional personality formation, comprehension of the psychological foundations of civic identity, systematization and generalization of scientific provisions on the stages and mechanisms of identity. Results. It is proposed to consider civic identity as a kind of organizational identity, which is self-determination in the organizational environment of the state, as well as self-identification with the role of a citizen and is the primary psychological regulator of civic behavior. The main stages of civic identity formation are: perceptual-systemic, normative-community and individual-integrational. The main mechanisms of formation of civic identity are: internalization of stereotypes and attitudes of citizenship; imitation of models of civic behavior; individuation of the meanings (sense) of citizenship; exteriorization of stereotypes, attitudes and patterns of civic behavior; implementation of the experience of interaction with the state and fellow citizens; comprehension of one's own citizenship. Conclusions. Formation of civic identity (civic protoidentity – reproductive civic identity – productive civic identity) is a dynamic process that has staged nature as it involves a series of successive stages, at each of which civic identity undergoes qualitative changes and is formed as an individual's awareness and reflection of his/her place, role and degree of activity in the system of interaction with other citizens and the state.

Formation of an innovation-pedagogical actor in the school environment

Introduction. The need to develop and test a complex of psychological-pedagogical tools for the development of an innovation actor is due to the priorities of the national policy in the field of education, as well as the requirements for the teacher’s competencies in innovation, enshrined in the Professional Standard “Teacher”. Research purpose: the testing of a set of psychological-pedagogical tools for the development of an innovation actor, corresponding to the eco-psychological actor formation model. Materials and methods: during the 2017/2019 academic years, 78 students from schools in the city of Vladimir (Russian Federation) took part in the experimental verification of the eco-psychological model of innovation-pedagogical actor development. On diagnostic sections in the process of tools testing, the following methods were used: a method of determining the degree of manifestation of the organizational-educational models by V.A. Yasvin’s school, A.V. Kaptsov’s method to determine the degree of subjectivity manifestation at each stage of the eco-psychological model, a questionnaire “Personal Characteristics of a Professional” by I.G. Senin and V.E. Oryol, a test “Tolerance to Uncertainty” by D.А. Leontyev, a questionnaire “Creativity” by N.F. Vishnyakova. Research results. The set of psychological-pedagogical tools includes events (workshops, trainings, round tables) aimed at the formation of pedagogical subjectivity in accordance with the staging of the eco-psychological model (from an actor of perceptual activity to an actor of creative self-expression) and the organizational-modular organization of the educational space. The presented results reflect the positive dynamics of manifestation of subjectivity stages: “Master” (p<0.05), “Creator” (p<0.01) in the experimental sample, as well as a change in the manifestation of the innovation-modular organizational-educational model of the experimental school (U(26.40)=336.0, p=0.016). Differences (p<0.05) were found in favor of the experimental school in terms of parameters characterizing creative thinking, open-mindedness, tolerance to uncertainty. It is shown that the eco-psychological model of innovation-pedagogical actor development is effective in the experimental school environment and allows for a systematic analysis of the current state and readiness of an educational organization for innovative changes. The developed set of psychological-pedagogical tools is the basis for the subsequent development of a system of scientific-methodological support of a school team as an innovation-pedagogical group actor.

Operationalizing the Relation Between Affect and Cognition With the Somatic Transform

This article introduces the somatic transform that operationalizes the relation between affect and cognition at the psychological level of analysis by capitalizing on the relation between the cognitive-denotative and affective-connotative meaning of concepts as measured with semantic differential rating scales. Following discussion of levels of analysis, the importance of language at the psychological level, and two principles (inextricability and complementarity) summarizing the relation between affect and cognition that are rendered explicit by the somatic transform, we present affect control theory (ACT) and its Bayesian extension (BayesACT) containing the somatic transform. We conclude by identifying examples of inextricability and complementarity in the social science and neuroscience literatures and discussing how our psychological model might be implemented in a realistic neural model.