Human self-regulation has, throughout time, been held as one of the most centrally important human virtues. Those who are prone to lapses in self control may be at risk of exposure to a myriad of individual problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction and gambling. The impact of poor self-control also extends far beyond the individual and is responsible for a wide range of economic problems globally and in the United Kingdom (UK). The ubiquity and ever evolving computing power of the mobile phone now affords greater opportunities for behaviour change professionals to design and deliver self-control interventions as people go about their everyday life. Better understanding of how people interact with these technologies and accept such interventions will help professionals to design mobile applications to support good self-control. First, based on an energy or strength model of self-control, the work in thesis presents evidence that self-control resources can be strengthened through regular discrete bouts of exercise (response inhibition training) using smartphone technology, as reported in two longitudinal self-control training studies. Second, insight into how patticipants interacted with the teclmology used to deliver the intervention was gained through a series of post-training interviews. Third, through recorded focus groups, lay perceptions of self-control are explored to see if participant conceptualisations of self-control can help inform the content and design of future mobile training interventions. Finally, this thesis concludes with a general discussion of the thesis findings. Broadly, the work presented centres on the effect of the training, the efficacy and acceptance of the mode of delivery of the intervention, and providing insight for future interventions by delivering a core set of guidelines essential for future designers. The research addresses gaps in the ego-depletion literature and contributes to the advancement of theory and practice.

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Self-concept is a subjective construct at the individual phenomenological level which represents perceptions of one's own attributes, skills and knowledge. With the suggestion that positive self-concept is integral to emotional wellbeing as well as associated with academic success, it has significant relevance within the field of educational psychology. While understanding of the formation, structure and impact of self-concept continues to grow, it also lacks consensus. There is general acceptance, however, that self-concept is nested within social contexts and that significant others such as parents and peers play an integral role. Based on the proposal that self-concept is formed through experience with the environment (Shavelson, Hubner & Stanton, 1976), this review explores the impact of the learning environment on self-concept in adolescence, an age premised to signify the greatest exploration and development of sense of self (Erikson, 1950). When taken in synthesis, the evidence from ten published studies suggests practices within the educational environment may have significant impact on self-concept. The majority of studies (N=7) focused on the impact of ability grouping / setting with evidence suggesting that such practices may result in adverse changes in self-concept. However, this review suggests it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions on the impact of the learning environment on self-concept due to issues of self-concept definition and methodological concerns. It is therefore proposed that there is a need to focus further study at the phenomenological level and seek wider exploration of factors moderating across domains of self-concept.

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Understanding oneself lies at the centre of the human experience. Yet, to study the ‘self’ using the empirical process is an enormously challenging endeavour. The self manifests through multiple layers and aspects, which ultimately combine to form a representation that is unique to each individual. One such aspect of self-representation pertains to the ‘physical self’, which is the focus of studies described in this thesis. Physical self refers to a core component of the self-concept, providing a constant anchor for rest of the self-components. Broadly, the physical self refers to the bodily features and their spatial relationship to each other. Physical self is vital for our social functioning through enabling a key distinction between self and other. Individual differences in physical self-representation can thus help characterise some of the building blocks of larger constructs such as cultural differences, and psychopathology. This thesis focuses on studying physical self-representation across two sensory modalities, visual and auditory. Individual differences are explored at two levels. First, the impact of culture is tested through studying physical self-representation in two different cultural settings, Western Europe and India, since culture is believed to be associated with crucial differences in the nature of self-representations. Second, the impact of autism-related traits is tested through studying how physical self-representation maps onto autistic traits in both clinical and subclinical populations, since atypicalities in self-representation are noted in psychopathological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The main findings from the thesis suggest domain-specific self-representations can function independently of each other where necessary. Nature of physical self-representation shows task specificity, i.e. there are significant differences in response patterns depending on whether it is evoked explicitly or implicitly. These studies also found broadly similar patterns of physical self-representation in two different cultures. Finally, another theme emerging from the studies in this thesis is that individual differences in autistic traits are associated in a modality-specific manner with physical self-representation in both clinical and sub-clinical populations.

Previous analytical studies of the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall (Dieckmann 1981; Neumann 1959, 1979; Riedel 1983; Stein 1987) have emphasised the Jungian conceptualisation of archetypal imagery, and utilise Chagall as an artistic exemplar in support of archetypal theory. This study accepts the archetypal model and base for research, and refines the analytical discussion by incorporating Jung's concepts of religion and Individuation and Samuels' (1989:25-7) conceptualisation of the archetypal filter. The study initially defines: (1) The emergence patterns of archetypal imagery in Chagall's oeuvre during his eight decades of artistic development, and (2) Three 'life-time' periods delineated according to the artist's dates of migration and settlement between Russia, France, Germany, and America: Early-Life (1887-1922), Mid-Life (1923-1951), and Later-Life (1952-1985). A correlation is found between the emergence of, and increase in, Chagall's religious transformative imagery during critical periods in the artist's development, and collective 19th and 20th Century historical events in Russia and Europe. Four Chagallian image categories are then identified and examined for their religious and archetypal content: Natal Faith and The Bible; Zoomorphism, Bimorphism, and Anthropomorphism; Hierosgamos and the Alchemical Couple; and Christ and the Crucifixion. These images are significant for: (1) The visual replication of both physical and metaphorical instances of the transformation process, and (2) The presence of a sacredsecular binary. Discussion of Chagall's particular use of the sacred-secular binary within his imagery is augmented by the artist's writing on natal faith, spirituality, and the process and product of art. The argument is made that: visual emergences of religious transformative imagery concordant with critical points in Chagall's individuation development and/or collective change through historical events is suggestive of an archetypal expression. Chagall's artwork and his personal observations form a creative process perspective that is consistent with the expenencmg and expression of the spirit through the interiority of religious attitude.

While there has been much research investigating the consequences of viewing media violence, there is comparatively little research on the antecedents of viewing it. Television relies primarily on visual imagery but as yet there has been little research concernIng viewers' visual Imagery ability. It is hypothesized that viewers with vivid visual imagery have, in contrast to non-vivid visual imagers, the skills necessary to manipulate violent images of real events and distance themselves from them. Thus it was predicted that non-vivid visual imagers would show more elevated physiological and emotional responses to real violence. If physiology is a substrate of aggression then features that have been seen to change levels of behavioural aggression in previous studies should have similar effects on physiology. Previous research has suggested that it is real rather than fictional violence that has the greatest effect on viewers (Berkowitz & Alioto, 1973; Geen, 1975). It has also been suggested that increases in physiological activity can have an intensifying effect on emotional states, giving it "visceral quality" (Schacter & Singer, 1962; Reisenzein, 1983). Thus it was predicted that real violence would produce the greatest increases In both physiology and negative mood experience. In a series of four experiments 140 participants' heart rates, electrodermal activity and mood states were assessed in response to differing types of film violence. As predicted, participants' physiological responses, particularly heart rates, were more elevated to real violence, an effect that was reflected in negative mood ratings. Variables such as violence-justification and the type of violence were also seen to yield differential physiological activity. There was also evidence, as predicted, that non-vivid imagers were more physiologically reactive to real violence than high imagers, although this was not reflected in mood rating differences. These results suggest that physiological responses are a fundamental component of aggression and that they play an important role in determining the level of emotional experience. Individual difference factors such as visual imagery ability also play an influential role In shaping responses to media violence.

In the decades around 1900, the idea of character functioned as a remarkably versatile means of describing and evaluating both the individual and the collective. Building on the work of recent histories that testify to its importance in the social and political thought of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this study seeks to explore how character was investigated and theorised in England from the 1880s to the First World War. From the 1880s, a number of English thinkers complained that, allthough character was seen as a crucial factor in individual and national success, little was known about its nature and the ways in which it could be recognised and cultivated. In response, a number of studies, colloquia and guides emerged that sought to establish an intellectually reputable means of understanding character. Psychologists, educationists, evolutionists and social theorists elaborated new conceptions of character that reshaped older evangelical and classical accounts by locating character in describable mental, evolutionary and physiological phenomena. These accounts helped reaffirm the significance of character in a respected language and furnished tools for both its efficient cultivation and detection, tools that were felt to be of no little use in a culture anxious over national decline and the direction of social change. This reaffirmation of the value of character came at a price however, as character began to dissolve under the gaze of investigators who became increasingly impatient with the moral connotations of a conception of mind that remained resistant to close scrutiny, particularly as personality was emerging as a more favourable means of envisioning the self. The study of the contemporary debates over the nature and value of character provide an insight into the intellectual preoccupations of the period and a means of further understanding the rise and fall of one of the principal elements of the cultural landscape of late Victorian and Edwardian England.