Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Irvine, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-195). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Irvine, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-195).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2005. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 69 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [106]-130). Also available on the Internet.

The aim of this thesis was to explore the relationship between anger and aggression, insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition in psychosis. It is presented as three separate papers: 1) a systematic review examining the relationship between paranoia and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 2) an empirical study investigating predictors and mediators of trait anger across the psychosis continuum: the role of insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition and 3) a critical reflection of the research process. Paper one provides a systematic review of the relationship between paranoia and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A comprehensive search of the published literature identified fifteen eligible studies. The quality of the included articles is critically appraised during the synthesis of the findings. Methodological limitations, clinical implications and recommendations for future research are considered. Paper two provides an examination of predictors and mediators of trait anger across the psychosis continuum, considering the role of insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition. Tests of theory of mind and measures of attachment, hostile attribution bias, paranoia and anger were administered to 174 participants (14 ultra-high risk of psychosis, 20 first-episode psychosis, 20 established psychosis and 120 non-clinical). Multiple regression analysis found attachment avoidance, paranoia and hostile attribution bias were significantly related to trait anger. Mediation analysis revealed paranoia mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and trait anger. The results are discussed with consideration to previous research and limitations of the study. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are also offered. Paper three provides a critical reflection of papers one and two, with reference to their design, implementation and interpretation. Personal reflections of the research process as a whole are also provided.

Humiliation as an emotion may result from everyday interactions between migrants and members of the host country by which the former feels unjustly rejected by the latter. The present study aimed to extend our understanding of whether humiliation influences the acculturation and adaptation processes of migrants. The following issues were addressed: (1) the behaviour and emotional responses to humiliation, (2) the behavioural implications of humiliation for the acculturation strategies, (3) the influence of acculturation strategies on sociocultural and psychological adaptation and (4) the moderating role of a humiliating climate in society on the relationship between acculturation strategies and sociocultural/ psychological adaptation. These issues were addressed in a cross-sectional study which was conducted with migrants (N = 132) residing in Johannesburg, South Africa. The results showed that the behavioural responses to humiliation are indeed dependent on the accompanying emotions of anger and shame. In addition, the present study showed that the behavioural implications of humiliation indeed influenced the acculturation strategies. For instance, relationship-challenging responses to humiliation were likely to lead participants to separate and integrate less, while relationship-maintaining responses were likely to lead participants to integrate. In line with previous findings, the results also showed that integration is the most preferred, while assimilation is the least preferred acculturation strategy. Lastly, only the relationship between integration and sociocultural adaptation revealed to be conditional on a humiliating climate in society. / Psychology

Background and Aims: Existing literature on working with clients who have anger issues in prison settings is largely outcome related with an emphasis on evaluating anger management programmes. Research offering insight into the therapists‟ subjective experiences when carrying out such work is scarce. Thus, this study aims to explore therapists‟ subjective responses to clients who express anger within prison settings, as well as the impact such responses may have on the therapeutic process. Method: Semi-structured interviews are carried out with eight qualified chartered counselling psychologists who have experience of working with client anger within prison settings. Interview transcripts are analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a qualitative methodology that focuses on lived experiences and how people make sense of their experiences. Results: The analysis highlights the different ways therapists understand and manage their reactions to client anger. The two superordinate themes are: (1) THREAT, including subthemes: Threat of burnout; Threat of enmeshment with the client; Threat to the therapeutic relationship. (2) CONTAINMENT, including subthemes: Containing own emotional response; The system as a container; Containment through the therapeutic framework. Conclusion: Participants experienced significant challenges in terms of feeling burnt out, dealing with complex interpersonal dynamics and facing ethical dilemmas. They struggled to work therapeutically with clients‟ expressions of anger, as it produced strong countertransference reactions. This highlights the need for training in these areas to enable therapists to prepare for the challenges that working in a prison context brings. Future research investigating supervision and self-care could build on this current study.

Chinese people have been theorized to be particularly sensitive to social face and avoid direct discussion in conflict to promote interpersonal harmony. This study uses the theory of social face to predict Chinese employees’ strategies to avoid expressing anger with their supervisors in the organizations. Inspired by previous research, this study proposes that anger-expression avoidance is a complex behavior with different motivations and actions, leading to diverse outcomes. It identifies four strategies for the employees to avoid expressing anger with their boss; they are named outflanking (turn to the third party to resolve the anger), withdrawal (staying cool, ignoring, giving the silent treatment), retaliation (covert, indirect revenge, in an attempt to get even or to balance the apparently inequitable situation) and re-channeling (expressing anger on persons or things unrelated to the source of the anger). The results from an interview study conducted in the summer of 2008 can help explain the dynamic structure of anger-expressing avoidance: Why employees in organizations in China avoid expressing anger, how they act, and the consequences. Based on the data collection and analysis, this study has implications both for the general theory of social face and conflict management in China as well as the understanding of how anger-expression avoidance strategies affect organizational relationships and employee future productivity, job satisfaction, and stress.

The present study investigated how young women “do” and “undo” gender in relation to their anger in romantic relationships. With this aim, I conducted in-depth interviews with 24 young women between the ages of 18 and 25. I interviewed participants about the characteristics of their current romantic relationships and their experiences of anger in this context. I used a constructivist grounded theory methodology involving open, axial, and theoretical coding to analyze the data collected through the interviews (Charmaz, 2006). My analysis suggested an emerging theory of young women’s anger in romantic relationships involving 5 categories, 16 sub-categories, and 4 types. Overall, the findings suggest young women experience contradictions about their power in romantic relationships and variability across events in how they “do” and “undo” gender in relation to their anger in romantic relationships. The findings also confirm that for most young women, their power in romantic relationships is associated with how women relate to, understand and express their anger. The emerging theory of women’s anger in romantic relationships provides a tool for further research on anger in the context of romantic relationships and a set of guidelines for clinicians to assess young women’s anger in romantic relationships. / Ph. D.