This thesis explores post-conflict vrctimhood as it manifests itself In Northern Ireland. While extensive research has been carried out into the subject, most research in psychology considers victlmhood to be. a cognitive or perhaps a clinical phenomenon. This thesis proposes that victimhood is fundamentally a the rhetorical phenomenon by which the possessors of the status can use it to argue about what should be done for victims and perpetrators. Because It is a coveted status, people argue about the limits of victimhood, to whom it applies and how it should be handled. These arguments about what a victim is, who is a victim and what should be done about victims are the focus of these studies. The thesis follows in the tradition of rhetorical and discursive psychology by offering a rhetorical conception of a subject not typically treated as rhetoric. In it, recent research into victimhood is considered which can be reconceptualied in rhetorical terms. The empirical chapters begin by looking at how the nature of victim hood is constructed in newspapers through the use of metaphors. How these newspaper articles argue about what should be done about victims is then explored, by considering their use of argumentation (Chapter 4). The ideological dilemmas surrounding these arguments suggest that there are always opposing ideas to any ideas about how to dea1 with victims. Chapters 5 and 6 explore how the definition of a victim ·and ways of dealing with victims are argued about in political manifestos. Chapters 7 and 8 look at the same issues as in 5 and 6 but from the perspective of victims. Several focus groups are analyse~d and in Chapter 8 particular emphasis is placed on how a rhetorical perspective on needs can give insight into arguments about victimhood.

This thesis associates the cultural elevation of discourse articulating physiologically-centred conceptions of self in mid-nineteenth-century Britain with a shift in power relations. I contend that the proliferation of zoologically- and neurologically-oriented texts, themselves embodying politics of natural truth, constituted a condition of possibility for the emergence of what I portray as a 'technicalization' of power. The articulation of organically determined notions of subjectivity are associated with the constitution of a technical ideal of knowledge production. Further, technical assemblages upon which physiological conceptions of self relied are shown to have helped constitute modes of resistance to discourse concerned with the organic determination of mind and life. Technical entities played an active role in the constitution of organic subjectivities, and organic subjectivities in turn participated in the constitution of technical modes of being. The historical narrative represents the formation of two related disciplines, zoology and psychology, as contingent upon the relative status of different kinds of epistemic equipment. In a natural philosophic context pervaded by uncertainty regarding the relation of matter to spirit, claims that could be made regarding nature were circumscribed by what 'gentlemanly' equals could agree to have 'witnessed.' Gentlemen appealed to differing forms of epistemic equipment in attempts to constitute zoology and psychology as disciplines. The relative success of such appeals was determined not only by the political valency of the claims themselves, but also by the conditions constituted by the types of equipment used to make them. The thesis then goes on to highlight ways in which the disciplined consideration of body and mind as entities determined by nature constituted conditions of possibility for the articulation of tool- and technique-centred subjectivities. The epistemic tools and representational claims appealed to as proof that the self is inherently organic (have) paradoxically participate(d) in the constitution of modes of being that extend the self into the realm of the technical. By the late nineteenth century, the capacities of cognition and replication are beginning to be attributed to the combination of technical and organic entities.

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The present thesis had three aims. First, it investigated the relationship between measures of prayer and mental health. Second, it investigated if a multidimensional measure of prayer had greater utility than a single-item measure in terms of the theoretical domain of prayer. Third, it examined the psychometric properties of established prayer measures. These aims were achieved in six independent empirical studies employing, in total, over 2,000 respondents. The thesis provided a comprehensive review of prayer measures and delivered a psychometric evaluation of 12 measures selected from this review. Results from the psychometric evaluation showed that most of these measures were found to be performing well in terms of reliability. However, the proposed prayer typologies were questionable. A new multidimensional measure of prayer, the Multidimensional Measure of Prayer Behaviour was developed that demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of both test-retest reliabilities and factor structure. A review of the literature on prayer and health suggested that prayer had a positive effect on health. A series of empirical studies were presented that used the Multidimensional Measure of Prayer Behaviour to examine: the relationship between prayer and two models of personality (Eysenckian and the Five Factor Model); the relationship between prayer and wellbeing; and the relationship between prayer and dissociation, anxiety, schizotypy, and alexithymia. Results from these studies showed that: psychoticism was negatively related to all prayer types; prayer types were differentially positively predicted by the Big-Five personality constructs; there was no effect for prayer on well-being; and, overall, there was no effect for prayer on dissociation, anxiety, schizotypy, and alexithymia. Furthermore, these studies showed that a multidimensional measure of prayer has limited utility over and above a single-item frequency of prayer measure. Contributions, limitations and suggestions for future research were discussed.

This thesis discusses theories of well-being with an emphasis on defending a particular kind of hedonism (what I will refer to as 'simple hedonism'). I hope to so show that hedonism as I construe it is tenable as a theory of well-being. Furthermore, will show that it compares favourably to rival theories. In the latter chapters I will explore the putative implications of this theory for the possibility that death is a misfortune for the one who dies. In doing so I will also consider in broader terms the plausibility of Epicurus' claim that death could never be a harm.

This study employed quantitative methodology to examine the role of age, gender, years of living in the United Kingdom, past experiences of therapy, acculturation, public stigma and internalised shame in predicting Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help of first generation Greek immigrants (N=120). The results of the correlational analysis suggested significant correlations between attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help, gender, age, years in the United Kingdom, past experiences of therapy, social stigma and the embarrassment factor of internalised shame. In contrast to the hypothesis and previous studies, acculturation did not correlate significantly with attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Hierarchical regression analysis was further used to present a model of the link between the predictor variables and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. The results suggested that past experiences of therapy and social stigma were the main predictors of attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help, with higher levels of social stigma being the most significant predictor. Internalised shame, gender, age and years of living in the United Kingdom did not have a predictive effect in this model. Implications of the findings to the field of Counselling Psychology are considered. This study appears to be the first to examine the attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help amongst a population of first generation Greek immigrants living in the United Kingdom. The implications of the findings include questioning the utility of a “Western” model of counselling. Considering the possible link between one’s attitudes and their behaviours in relation to seeking help, these findings point out the need for interventions to reduce the social stigma of seeking help of Greek immigrants, which may in turn increase the willingness to seek help for emotional difficulties of this growing immigrant population.

No description available.

Background: Mothers of children with autism typically report lower levels of well-being than fathers. The present study compared the well-being of parents of children with autism, and investigated which variables were related to well-being, as well as which variables predicted well-being. Method: 100 mothers and 81 fathers of children with autism spectrum disorders reported on child characteristics, and their own mental health, stress, positive perceptions and marital satisfaction. Results: Mothers were found to report higher levels of anxiety, depression and stress than fathers, whilst fathers reported higher levels of positive perceptions about their child than mothers. Regression analysis showed that maternal stress was predicted by child behaviour problems and employment status. Father stress was predicted by mothers' depression. Conclusion: Future research needs to explore what other variables may be more predictive of both maternal and paternal well-being, and also by what mechanisms mothers and fathers become stressed. Future interventions will be more effective if targeted in a way that will make the greatest difference for mothers and fathers' well-being.

Narcissists possess an inflated, overly-positive self-view, which they maintain and boost by taking advantage of opportunities for self-enhancement. Leadership is viewed by narcissists as a viable means towards achieving self-enhancement, which gives rise to their leader emergent tendencies. However, the characteristics of their personality suggest that their leadership qualities will decrease over time, although no evidence has previously existed supporting this hypothesised effect. The present thesis provides the first empirical evidence to support the theorised temporal pattern of narcissistic leadership - characterised by initial favourable follower perceptions that wane over time. Additionally, we explored the mechanisms that explain the temporal pattern of perceptions towards narcissistic leadership, specifically transformational leadership and evolutionary strategies towards gaining social status: prestige and dominance. Chapter 1 introduces the relevant aspects of narcissism, leadership and evolutionary psychology, setting the scene for the thesis and presenting the questions pertaining to the temporality of narcissistic leadership that are examined in the subsequent empirical chapters. Chapter 2 (Pilot Study) examines the temporality of narcissistic leadership and the visionary component of transformational leadership through two hypothetical temporal scenarios. The results provide preliminary evidence that narcissistic leadership is perceived favourably for a short duration but not for a long duration, and also suggest that inspirational motivation, a visionary component of transformational leadership, mediates the perceptions of narcissists as effective leaders in the short-term but not over the long-term. In Chapter 3 (Studies 1 and 2), we describe two longitudinal round-robin studies, utilising group members with varying levels of acquaintance, that provide the first empirical evidence that the temporality of narcissistic leadership is characterised by initial positive follower perceptions that wane over time. We also demonstrate that transformational leadership mediates the relationship between narcissism and leadership early on but not later, suggesting that follower perceptions of narcissistic leaders across time is dependent on narcissistic leaders’ demonstration of appropriate transformational leadership behaviours. Chapter 4 (Study 3) provides an evolutionary perspective on the temporality of narcissistic leadership. Utilising a longitudinal, round-robin experimental design similar to the studies in Chapter 3, the results confirm that narcissistic leaders are perceived favourably by followers initially but not over time. Additionally, both evolutionary strategies to gaining social status - prestige and dominance - explain narcissists’ initial success as leaders. However, immediately after leader emergence, only dominance is effective in helping narcissists remain as favourable leaders, but the beneficial effects of dominance dissipate over time. In Chapter 5, we present a summary of the thesis; the theoretical and applied implications of these findings; strengths and limitations of the thesis; as well as future research directions. The findings from this thesis provide the first empirical evidence that narcissists are likely to be favourably perceived as leaders, but only in the short-term. This honeymoon effect of narcissistic leadership is characterised by narcissists’ initial success in exhibiting transformational leader behaviours, and their subsequent failure to demonstrate appropriate transformational leader behaviours over time. From an evolutionary perspective, both dominance and prestigious strategies explain followers’ initial positive perceptions of narcissists as leaders. However, dominance strategies seem to allow narcissistic leaders to enjoy that honeymoon effect for a longer period than prestigious strategies. Nevertheless, persisting with dominance strategies over prestigious strategies beyond the initial phase of leadership culminates in the curtailment of followers’ perceptions of narcissistic leaders.

This thesis is a reflective account of an exploratory action research study set within the sixth form of a rural Community College. It is a multi-voiced, single site study, and is created to capture the experiences and perceptions, into a relatively new 'psychological' phenomenon called NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP), of those taking part. The aim of the study was to systematically implement three small aspects of NLP with participants in an attempt to discover whether the associated underlying principles could be applied and benefit learning for students in asixth form context. The foundation of the study was laid upon contemporary theories of learning relating to the 'whole person' and an in-depth examination of the underlying principles of NLP. However, there was an underlying assumption that the emphasis within NLP laid in examining whether beliefs, goal-setting and, what I refer to as 'Techniques of Change' could benefit learning.