ANTROPOLOGIE SOCIÁLNÍCH VZTAHŮ V SOUDOBÉM VIETNAMU

This review article presents a publication on ethnographic, linguistic, and social relations in the families that remained in Vietnam after the wars. Some family members still face post-war pressures and war trauma. Others face the social imperatives of caring for their elderly or sick relatives. Limitations in personal life are the main concept of the book reviewed which focuses on the role of the personal sacrifice. This is complemented by the social relations of love and care, the cult of ancestors and the demand for filial devotion. In Vietnamese families, these rules are fixed and are reflected in the linguistic means of communication (e.g., mother—child), which the author analyses from the linguistic point of view and documents it with the use of photographs of communication situations. The review points to alternative interpretations and cultural specifics of living traditions of magical thinking and polygamy.

The Psychopathological Foundations of Conspiracy Theorists

<p>The primary aim of this thesis was to understand some of the factors that make an individual more likely to ascribe to conspiracy theories. Ascription to conspiracy theories was conceptualised dimensionally along a continuum labelled Conspiracy Theory Affinity (CTA). Strong CTA reflects both a high level of belief in conspiracy theories and a tendency to create conspiracy theories (conspiracy theorising). To gauge this, I measured level of conspiracy belief, conspiracy pattern perception (conspiracy theory creation), as well as various forms of psychopathology. The findings of the psychopathology study (study 4) suggested that high conspiracy theory affinity individuals are more likely to present with high levels of paranoia, delusion, general mental pathology, as well as a high level and range of schizotypal traits. The conspiracy theory literature has also suggested that a lack of control is germane to development and maintenance of the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Douglas & Sutton, 2008; Groh, 1987; Hofstadter, 1965; Leman, 2007; Newheiser, Farias, & Tausch, 2011; Swami et al., 2013; Sullivan et al., 2010; Whitson & Galinsky, 2008). The literature also suggests that one compensatory strategy commonly used to re-establish a semblance of control is illusory pattern perception. Illusory pattern perception or Apophenia, is when unrelated stimuli (either visual or situational) are perceived to be connected in some meaningful way. Therefore, I also sought to establish if a direct link between illusory pattern perception and CTA actually exists. In studies 1 and 2 I experimentally induced a sense of low control using methods that have proven effective in previous research. The findings of these studies suggested that a lack of control does not necessarily reflect that a person is more likely to engage in conspiracy pattern perception. However, the findings also suggested that when a low level of control is felt by an individual who also has a magical thinking style, they are more likely to demonstrate illusory visual pattern perception. Limitations of these studies and therefore their potential influence on interpretations of the findings were also considered. Another major research aim of this thesis was to elucidate how society perceives conspiracy theorists and how those with strong CTA perceive the label of conspiracy theorist. The findings of two studies (studies 3b and 5) revealed that the majority of respondents considered conspiracy theorists to be characteristically similar to those with current mental health concerns and also convicted criminals, and dissimilar to targets with resolved mental health issues and no current mental health issues (e.g. the average man). In contrast however, those with strong CTA rated the target Conspiracy Theorist significantly more favourably than those with low CTA. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings across these 5 studies are discussed, and methodological limitations are also acknowledged.</p>

The Psychopathological Foundations of Conspiracy Theorists

<p>The primary aim of this thesis was to understand some of the factors that make an individual more likely to ascribe to conspiracy theories. Ascription to conspiracy theories was conceptualised dimensionally along a continuum labelled Conspiracy Theory Affinity (CTA). Strong CTA reflects both a high level of belief in conspiracy theories and a tendency to create conspiracy theories (conspiracy theorising). To gauge this, I measured level of conspiracy belief, conspiracy pattern perception (conspiracy theory creation), as well as various forms of psychopathology. The findings of the psychopathology study (study 4) suggested that high conspiracy theory affinity individuals are more likely to present with high levels of paranoia, delusion, general mental pathology, as well as a high level and range of schizotypal traits. The conspiracy theory literature has also suggested that a lack of control is germane to development and maintenance of the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Douglas & Sutton, 2008; Groh, 1987; Hofstadter, 1965; Leman, 2007; Newheiser, Farias, & Tausch, 2011; Swami et al., 2013; Sullivan et al., 2010; Whitson & Galinsky, 2008). The literature also suggests that one compensatory strategy commonly used to re-establish a semblance of control is illusory pattern perception. Illusory pattern perception or Apophenia, is when unrelated stimuli (either visual or situational) are perceived to be connected in some meaningful way. Therefore, I also sought to establish if a direct link between illusory pattern perception and CTA actually exists. In studies 1 and 2 I experimentally induced a sense of low control using methods that have proven effective in previous research. The findings of these studies suggested that a lack of control does not necessarily reflect that a person is more likely to engage in conspiracy pattern perception. However, the findings also suggested that when a low level of control is felt by an individual who also has a magical thinking style, they are more likely to demonstrate illusory visual pattern perception. Limitations of these studies and therefore their potential influence on interpretations of the findings were also considered. Another major research aim of this thesis was to elucidate how society perceives conspiracy theorists and how those with strong CTA perceive the label of conspiracy theorist. The findings of two studies (studies 3b and 5) revealed that the majority of respondents considered conspiracy theorists to be characteristically similar to those with current mental health concerns and also convicted criminals, and dissimilar to targets with resolved mental health issues and no current mental health issues (e.g. the average man). In contrast however, those with strong CTA rated the target Conspiracy Theorist significantly more favourably than those with low CTA. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings across these 5 studies are discussed, and methodological limitations are also acknowledged.</p>

Magic as Technological Dominion: John Dee’s Hydragogy and the Draining of the Fens in Ben Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass

This paper explores the ambiguous role of magic in the controversy over the draining of the fens, the last bastion of wilderness in seventeenth-century England. In what now looks like an early form of environmentalist resistance to the destruction of these wetlands, opponents of the drainage accused the undertakers of invoking diabolical aid in their audacious efforts to tamper with God’s creation. Evidence of this mentality can be found in both William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Ben Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass. Via a close reading of Jonson’s comedy, this paper navigates the confluence of magic, technology, and “projection” in the ideological debate surrounding the fens. Just as the traditional Vice figures (Iniquity and Pug) find themselves out-devilled by Jacobean Londoners, the play dramatizes the appropriation and displacement of a residual poetics of enchantment by the emergent discourses of economics and applied engineering. A tendency to equate magic with hydro-engineering technology may have been encouraged by John Dee’s involvement in the project. Drawing on an unpublished manuscript in the Ashmole collection at the Bodleian Library, this paper seeks to uncover the extent and impact of Dee’s role in the drainage. Advocates of the drainage, however, not only denied any supernatural involvement but also counterattacked by accusing their opponents of credulity and magical thinking. They characterized the native fen-dwellers as superstitious heathens and cast a scathing eye on local folklore depicting the fens as a demon-haunted wasteland. In pro-drainage documents, the proposed draining of the fenlands becomes tantamount to an exorcism, purging the rural backwaters of paganism and witchcraft. Wetlands management will now be conducted through applied engineering rather than magical incantations. A little known Jacobean ballad, “The Powte’s Complaint” (c. 1619) revives these animistic tropes to protest the fen’s destruction. Jonson’s play may explain why this tactic was doomed to fail and why this poem has been forgotten. As the credibility of magic eroded in the mid-seventeenth century, opponents of the drainage instead sought to stir up public resentment against the foreignness of the Dutch under-takers rather than their supposed collusion with supernatural forces. Jonson’s own projection that the drainage was an impossible con (like alchemy) would prove inaccurate. Nevertheless, The Devil is an Ass stands as the one of the most ecologically-engaged texts in the canon of early modern English drama.

Identity Selection and the Social Construction of Birthdays

We argue that rather than being a wholly random event, birthdays are sometimes selected by parents. We further argue that such effects have changed over time and are the result of important psychological processes. Long ago, U.S. American parents greatly overclaimed holidays as their children's birthdays. These effects were larger for more important holidays, and they grew smaller as births moved to hospitals and became officially documented. These effects were exaggerated for ethnic groups that deeply valued specific holidays. Parents also overclaimed well-liked calendar days and avoided disliked calendar days as their children's birthdays. However, after birthday selection effects virtually disappeared in the 1950s and 1960s, they reappeared after the emergence of labor induction and planned cesarean birth. For example, there are many fewer modern U.S. births than would be expected on Christmas Day. In addition, modern parents appear to use birth medicalization to avoid undesirable birthdays (Friday the 13th). We argue that basking in reflect glory, ethnic identity processes, and superstitions such as magical thinking all play a role in birthday selection effects. Discussion focuses on the power of social identity in day-to-day judgment and decision-making.

The spectral material culture in ordinary life: Re-imagining obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

In 2020 obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was ranked by the World Health Organisation as one of the top-10 most disabling diseases. Today, it is the fourth most common mental disorder in the United Kingdom. This research is based upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted since 2016 in Merseyside and Cheshire, UK, which re-imagines obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals among women who self-diagnosed as having ‘magical thinking OCD’. Referring to variations in the brain, OCD is often described as a type of neurodiversity. While, in popular culture, representations of OCD practices invariably invoke anthropological ideas of magical correspondence and animism as objects are assumed to possess an overpowering agency over the person who is supposed to master their possessions. This study aims to firmly place the notion of OCD in the realm of a spectral material culture and initiate a wider sociological conversation about the ‘haunting’ of a wide range of subject-objects. In doing so, I want to remove magic from the normative shadow of concepts such as the mysterious and the ghostly and instead employ the ordinary everyday as a sociological analytic for understanding the magic of mass-produced things and global processes of automation.

The Year of Enduring COVID-19: Typology of Attitudes Displayed by Health Care Professionals in Ukraine

Aim. Identification and construction of the typology of attitudes of health care professionals in Ukraine to the current COVID-19 situation and vaccination process. Methods. Transcripts of 49 semi-structured interviews subjected to thematic analysis constituted the subject matter of the analysis. On the basis of the categories identified within the thematic analysis process, a typology was developed, with due account of two parameters: the idea about the origin of the virus: artificial or natural, and the attitude of the informants to the policy (implementation of policy decisions) chosen by the authorities to fight the virus. Combination of these two parameters gives four standpoints—types of attitude of health care professionals to the risks associated with COVID-19. Results and conclusion. Analysis of the results has enabled to outline the problem field for assessing the risk of COVID-19, which includes three topics, as well as to point out four typical standpoints in the attitude displayed by health care professionals that are marked as “magical thinking,” “technological thinking,” “negativistic thinking,” “critical thinking.” Originality. The research was conducted during the third wave of coronavirus in Ukraine, therefore, it reflects the analysed opinions of health care professionals about the threat of COVID-19 and vaccination process. The fact that the research was performed using qualitative methods ensured focusing on subjective peculiarities of the perception of changes in the COVID-19 situation.

Magical thinking and moral injury: exclusion culture in psychiatry

Summary This is an article about exclusion. We might not like to admit it – even fail to realise it – but National Health Service (NHS) mental health service structures have become increasingly focused on how to deny people care instead of help them to access it. Clinicians learn the art of self-delusion, convincing ourselves we are not letting patients down but, instead, doing the clinically appropriate thing. Well-meant initiatives become misappropriated to justify neglect. Are we trying to protect ourselves against the knowledge that we're failing our patients, or is collusion simply the easiest option? Problematic language endemic in psychiatry reveals a deeper issue: a culture of fear and falsehood, leading to iatrogenic harm. An excessively risk-averse and under-resourced system may drain its clinicians of compassion, losing sight of the human being behind each ‘protected’ bed and rejected referral.