Explanatory Styles of Counsellors in Training

Explanatory style is based on how one explains good and bad events according to three dimensions: personalization, permanence, and pervasiveness. With an optimistic explanatory style, good events are explained as personal, permanent, and pervasive, whereas bad events are explained as external, temporary, and specific. For counsellors, an optimistic explanatory style creates positive expectancy judgments about the possibilities and opportunities for successful client outcomes. In this research study, we explored the explanatory styles expressed in 400 events (200 good events and 200 bad events) extracted from 38,013 writing samples of first year and final year graduate level counsellors in training. Across the three optimism dimensions and within good and bad events, there was one occurrence of a positive relationship between counsellor training time and the amount of expressed optimism. The implications of this study include the need to cultivate optimistic explanatory styles of counsellors in training and practicing counsellors.

Explanatory style in youth self-harm: an Indian qualitative study to inform intervention design

BackgroundThere are very few studies that have examined the effectiveness of psychological interventions (PIs) that have been developed and tested in high-income countries to reduce self-harm in low and middle-income countries.ObjectiveTo evaluate the perspectives and explanatory styles of youth with self-harm and their caregivers to inform the design of an evidence based PI in a non-Western cultural setting. An additional objective was to suggest ways of integrating local practices and traditions to enhance its acceptability.MethodsWe conducted 15 in-depth qualitative interviews with youth with self-harm and four interviews with the caregivers in the psychiatry department of a tertiary hospital located in Mumbai, India. Data were analysed using phenomenological thematic analysis.FindingsFive themes were uncovered: (i) contextual factors related to self-harm including interpersonal factors, intrapersonal factors and socio-cultural factors; (ii) formulation and current feelings about the attempt (iii) family members and friends as the perceived supports and deterrents for future self-harm attempts; (iv) treatment related experiences with counselling, in-patient and outpatient treatment and barriers to treatment; and (v) coping strategies. Recommendations for key areas of adaptation include therapist adaptation, content adaptation to accommodate for cultural considerations and broader social context. Gender based socio-cultural norms, beliefs and stigma attached to self-harm need to be specifically addressed in South Asian setting. Interpersonal conflicts are the most common triggers.Conclusion and clinical implicationsTo our knowledge this is the first study in the South Asian context evaluating explanatory styles of youth with self-harm and their caregivers to inform the design of an intervention to ensure its cultural congruence. Cultural adaptation of an evidence based PI results in competent delivery and ensures best results in diverse ethno-cultural populations.

A tale of two explanatory styles in cognitive psychology

The development of a theory of mechanistic explanation has been a welcome advance over previous theories of explanation, such as deductive nomological explanation. However, despite the claims of some supporters of mechanistic explanation, not all explanation in cognitive science is or should be mechanistic. I defend the claim that functional analysis remains a distinct and legitimate form of explanation within cognitive science.

Ketangguhan Pribadi Orang tua Tunggal : Studi Kasus pada Perempuan Pasca Kematian Suami

Losing a husband due to death causes feelings of griefs and raises some problems. It changes the status of women became a single parent. The aims of this study are to understand what causes single parents to own hardiness and how the hardiness is able to help them rise from the critical period after their husband died. This study uses a qualitative method with a case study research. Informants are three single parents and three significant others. This study uses an in-depth semi-structured interview for data collection. The results show that the three informants were able to rise above the critical period after their husband died and survived as a single parent until now. This happens because all the informants have hardiness. The effort and time required for the informants to rise are different. Three factors that gave contribution to increasing hardiness are mastery experiences, feelings of positivity, and parental explanatory styles. In the other hand, the researcher found another factor that categorized as internal and external factors.

Style of psychological explanation and perception of explanation’s scientificity by people without specialized psychological education

Psychology is criticized for non-replicability of results, practical non-significance and proximity to common sense. Public skepticism towards psychology is linked to underfinancing of academic research and impeding of solving social problems. Explanatory model used by psychologists can make a contribution to the problem. S. Hayes describes two most common explanatory models – mentalistic (behavior of organism explained by hypothetical processes inside organism) and contextual (behavior of organism explained by events outside the organism). Mentalistic and contextual explanations corresponds to methodological and radical behaviorisms, two most common philosophies of science among psychologists, according to S. Leigland. Literature review suggests lack of papers about discrimination between explanatory styles in terms of scientificity among people without specialized psychological education. We hypothesized that majority of participants discriminate mentalistic and contextual explanations of psychological phenomena and rate contextual explanations as more scientific. We tested hypotheses and replicated results with additional samples and stimuli. The overall sample consisted of 57 people who are not enrolled in or graduated from any Department of Psychology, average age – 22 года, 36 out of 57 (63%) – undergraduate students. Respondents filled in an online survey, which was made up of a number of sociodemographic questions and 24 explanations of psychological phenomena (12 mentalistic / 12 contextual). Participants rated scientificity of explanations via Likert Scale from 1 (completely unscientific) to 10 (completely scientific). Results oppose hypotheses: less than 50% of respondents discriminate explanatory styles (8 out of 54, 16%, 95% HDI 8-26%) and those who discriminate rate contextual explanations as less scientific (8 из 8, 93%, 95% HDI 71-100%%). Possible confounding variables: syntax, sentence length, use of psychological terms.

Techniques of Neutralization and Identity Work Among Accused Genocide Perpetrators

Following the 1994 Rwandan genocide, many defendants on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) testified on their own behalf. This article analyzes transcripts of their testimonies to learn (1) how defendants discuss the grave crimes of which they are accused, and (2) how their explanatory styles allow them to rationalize their actions and negotiate their tarnished identities. We find that defendants employ Gresham Sykes and David Matza’s (1957) classic techniques of neutralization as a means of rationalization, impression management, and identity negotiation. Nevertheless, these techniques, along with those developed in the decades since, do not capture all aspects of defendants’ accounts. We thus identify additional techniques of neutralization to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how defendants account for their actions. By extending this classic literature, we call attention to the situational context of international trials, the nature of the crime of genocide, the relatively high social status many defendants once occupied, and existing narratives surrounding the legitimacy of the ICTR. In doing so, our analysis contributes to understandings of narratives of violence and accused genocide perpetrators.

Coping strategies as mediator variables between explanatory styles and depressive symptoms

<p>The main goal of this study was to analyze the relationships among explanatory styles, coping strategies and depressive symptoms. Path analyses conducted with data of 234 individuals showed that Negative Explanatory Style (tendency to explain negative outcomes through internal, stable, and global causes) had both a positive direct effect on depressive symptoms, and an indirect effect on them through the use of avoidant strategies. On the contrary, Enhancing Explanatory Style (tendency to explain positive outcomes through internal, stable, and global causes) had negative direct and indirect effects on these symptoms, but in this case, the indirect effect occurs through the use of problem solving and positive cognitive restructuring coping and the non-use of avoidant strategies. As a whole, the results suggest that to prevent the onset of depressive symptoms or to reduce them once they appear, enhancing explanatory style and problem solving and positive cognitive restructuring strategies should be promoted.</p>