Drawing on research and theory (discussed in Chapter 1) emphasising cognitive-ecological interaction and sampling processes in judgment (e.g., Fiedler, 2000), the present research investigated the role of social sampling (Galesic, Olsson & Reiskamp, 2012) in preferences for wealth redistribution. Two studies (Ch. 2) provide evidence that social sampling leads wealthier people to oppose redistributive policies. Wealthier participants reported higher levels of wealth in their social circles (Studies 1a and 1b) and, in turn, estimated wealthier population distributions, perceived the distribution as fairer and were more opposed to redistribution. Study 2 (Ch. 2), drawing data from a nationally representative survey, revealed that neighbourhood-level deprivation – an objective index of social circle wealth – mediated the relation between income and satisfaction with the economic status quo. In Studies 3a and 3b (Ch. 3), participants experimentally presented with a low (high) wealth income sample subsequently estimated poorer (wealthier) population distributions, demonstrating reliance upon the novel samples. The effect of the manipulation on redistributive preferences was sequentially mediated via estimated population distributions and fairness, such that participants shown a high wealth sample estimated less unequal (3a) or wealthier (3b) distributions, perceived the distribution as fairer and were more opposed to redistribution. Studies 4a and 4b (Ch. 4) tested whether warning against social sampling, providing an alternative sample or both interventions together might serve to reduce social sampling. Whereas providing an alternative sample alone was sufficient to eliminate social sampling (4a and 4b), providing a warning had no effect (4a), and providing both an alternative sample and a warning lead to an increase in social sampling (4a and 4b). Taken together, the findings suggest that a) social sampling produces systematic differences in wealthier and poorer peoples’ perceptions of the income distribution, b) social sampling contributes to divergence in the economic preferences of wealthy and poor and c) social sampling is likely immune to deliberate control efforts.

Despite Carl Gustav Jung’s acknowledgement of Albert Einstein’s influence on his thinking, and despite the significant number of studies into Jung’s interest in physics – and his collaboration with the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli – so far there has been no thorough investigation into the connection between Jung and Einstein. This thesis researches the historical context of the relationship between Jung and Einstein, and the extent of Einstein’s influence on Jung’s concepts and system of psychology, and thereby redresses the balance of the theoretical argument about the intellectual influences on Jung from the field of physics. First, it explores the dynamics and importance of the relationship between the two men, and reconstructs the narrative of this connection. It identifies other key figures who played a mediating role between Jung and Einstein and investigates their involvement in conveying Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity to Jung as well as their part in the formation and subsequent deterioration of the relationship between Jung and Einstein. Secondly, this thesis analyses Einstein’s influence on Jung's reconceptualization of libido as psychic energy, and Jung’s employment of the theory of relativity in his writings, which culminates in his conception of the ‘psychic relativity of space and time’, the idea that underpins his theory of synchronicity.

The aim of this research is to explore the unconscious elements that fuels the ‘radioactive atmosphere’ of psychoanalytic institutions - unconscious sources of the chronic conflicts that sometimes plague the relationships between members of psychoanalytical societies and obscure the path of a constructive resolution of conflict that leads to progress and further development. The starting point of this thesis was Hinshelwood’s (1999) idea about the displacement of negative countertransference feelings from patients to colleagues as a source of tensions amongst analysts. The first part of the thesis (Chapters 1-4) explores the development of the ideas on countertransference and its uses for a better understanding of ‘the patient’, surveys different perspectives on the life in psychoanalytic organizations, and points to the existence of a link between analysts’ analytic attitude towards patients and their attitude towards colleagues. The second part of the thesis presents the empirical study set to test the correspondence between the analyst’s omniscient attitude towards patient and arrogant attitude towards colleagues (Chapter 6). The preliminary findings indicates that ‘sibling rivalry’ and complicated relations during training as one source of conflict in psychoanalytic institutions, and are further investigated in the empirical research presented in Chapter 7, using the psychoanalytically informed research interview as an experimental situation, an original research method. The final chapter examines the main findings of this empirical research.

Aims: To explore female secure forensic mental health (FMH) patients’ therapeutic relationship (TR) quality; the impact of witnessed, or perpetrated, violence upon psychological wellbeing and TRs; and perceived beneficial support following exposure to violence within the units. Background: Female FMH patients possess unique vulnerabilities, psychological and offending profiles; have commonly experienced early childhood trauma, attracted Borderline Personality Disorder diagnoses, and by definition appear highly likely to witness or perpetrate violence. In other settings, strong TRs are consistently associated with positive outcomes, their significance is highlighted within FMH literature yet it is unknown how female FMH patients experience TRs with their clinical teams, or how witnessing or perpetrating violence affects these relationships. Methodology: Qualitative methodology was employed within an interpretivist paradigm. 8 females were recruited through purposive homogenous sampling, across low and medium secure units. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data was analysed by means of thematic analysis. Results: Twenty themes, and accompanying subthemes, were extracted from participants' data. TRs are experienced as challenging, complex, multi-faceted; and impact upon wellbeing and recovery. Violence is perceived as ‘normal’, however incidents have a profoundly negative psychological impact, and affect journeys of recovery. Managing exposure to violence involves the need for patients to take care of themselves. Staff were perceived as trying their best but often getting it wrong, participants expressed the need for pro-active staff involvement. Participants perceived the damage caused to TRs by incidents, as predominantly due to negative changes in staff behaviours. Conclusions: TRs serve a variety of important functions for female secure FMH patients. Witnessing or perpetrating violence negatively impacts upon TRs, wellbeing and recovery. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research, psychodynamic and systemic theories. Implications are discussed regarding: the development and maintenance of TRs, improving psychological containment, FMH workforce development, and the broader management of violence.

Low-intensity parenting programmes play a key role in a public health approach to parenting support and are designed to be a cost-effective intervention for child conduct problems. Several studies that have evaluated a single topic-specific Triple P–Positive Parenting Program Discussion Group, an example of a low-intensity parenting programme, have found promising results for improving child and parent outcomes among parents with young children. This thesis aimed to examine ways to enhance the intervention outcomes of low-intensity topic-specific parenting groups for parents with young children. In study one, the effects of generalisation promotion strategies, such as teaching multiple exemplars, were examined. As a single training exemplar may not be sufficient for parents to effectively generalise parenting skills, multiple exemplars may assist parents to flexibly apply skills across a range of behaviours and settings leading to greater change in child behaviour, parenting practices, and parenting self-efficacy. This study also sought to extend the literature by examining the effects of low-intensity parenting groups with parents of primary school aged children using topics relevant to this development phase and investigating outcomes for mothers and fathers separately. A two arm randomised control trial design was used to compare the two conditions (single exemplar vs. multiple exemplar). Participants were 75 mothers and 58 fathers with a 5-8 year old child displaying at least a mild level of conduct problems. They represented 78 families: 66 two-parent families and 12 single parent families. Among two-parent families, there were 55 mother-father pairs, nine mothers who participated alone, and two fathers who participated alone. The majority of the single parent families were mothers (n = 11). Self-report measures of child behaviour, parenting practices, parenting self-efficacy, parent’s perceptions of their parenting role experience, parental mental health, inter-parental conflict, partner support, and partner relationship satisfaction were completed by parents at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. Satisfaction with each intervention condition and the individual sessions was also examined. Low-intensity topic-specific parenting groups led to improvements on a range of child and parent outcomes for both mothers and fathers of primary school aged children. Receiving multiple exemplars resulted in more robust change in mother- and father-rated child behaviour, mothers’ parenting practices, and mothers’ behavioural parenting self-efficacy at post-intervention. For mothers in the multiple exemplar condition, superior improvements in child behaviour, parenting practices, and behavioural parenting self-efficacy were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Greater improvements in mothers’ setting parenting self-efficacy, mental health, and perceptions of partner support were also found at 6-month follow-up among the multiple exemplar condition. The second study in this thesis added to the literature on low-intensity parenting programmes by exploring whether addressing parental mental health, in addition to parenting, was beneficial for parents with young children. As poor parental mental health is linked with child conduct problems, negative parenting practices, and can negatively impact the effects of parenting programmes for families, simultaneously addressing parental mental health when delivering low-intensity parenting programmes may be advantageous. A mixed-method quasi-experimental evaluation of a combined low-intensity parenting and mental health programme was conducted. Thirteen families with a 3-8 year old child took part in the study. Self-report symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress and ineffective parenting practices were obtained at pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Parents also completed self-report measures of child behaviour, parenting self-efficacy, parent’s perceptions of their parenting role experience, family relationships, and positive mental health at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 parents and explored parents’ experiences of taking part in the programme, their perceived impact of the programme, and their implementation of strategies. The combined intervention produced promising changes in parenting practices and parental mental health. Parents perceived some positive impacts after attending the programme and generally the combined programme was acceptable to participating parents. Collectively, the findings from the two studies suggest that low-intensity topic-specific group parenting programmes have positive effects for young children and parents. Delivering multiple exemplars leads to added benefits and addressing parental mental health simultaneously has positive effects for families.

‘Mothers and daughters on the margins: gender, generation and education’ is a thesis that explores the inter-generational marginalisation of working-class mothers and their daughters both in terms of education, employment and family relationships. In this thesis class is explored through the visual data and interview accounts of nine mother and daughter dyads all residing in the same disadvantaged locality in urban South Wales. The thesis employs sociological and psychological lenses to examine social reproduction, and the ways in which gender, place and class act as barriers to educational progression for the participants, and the psychological, physical and practical costs of social mobility. The thesis argues that women and girls on the margins of contemporary Wales continue to struggle to be agents of their own destiny, against a tide of spatial, structural, social, cultural, economic, psychological and patriarchal processes.

This thesis aimed to investigate the cognitive, affective and social-psychological correlates of primary (selfish, uncaring) and secondary (reckless, prone to boredom) psychopathic traits. The results of Chapter 2 indicate that both primary and secondary psychopathic traits are associated with reduced empathic functioning. These results were supported by findings from Chapter 3, which suggest that elevated levels of secondary psychopathic traits may be linked with a lack of generosity for the out-group, but pro-social sentiment for the in-group. Chapter 4 used eye tracking to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying empathic functioning and showed that primary psychopathic traits were linked with abnormal eye scan paths during an expression recognition task, indicated by reduced dwell time on the eye region of emotional faces. Chapter 5 further examined emotion recognition in an offending sample and revealed poor fearful face recognition among sexual and violent offenders. Furthermore, primary psychopathic traits were linked with greater impairment in fearful face recognition. Taken together, these findings show that primary and secondary psychopathic traits are linked with different patterns of performance on psychological tests. These results support the view that the variance accounted for by these traits should be considered separately in research and in clinical practice.

This thesis reports on the first study into the role of self-conscious emotions, namely pride, shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, in social work practice. Employing a qualitative case study research design, involving the safeguarding service of one local authority, ethnographic constructionist grounded theory methods were used to develop a conceptual understanding of these emotional experiences in the practice of the social workers involved. Integrating data from 246.5 hours of observations, 99 diary entries, 33 assessments written by the social workers, 19 interviews, and 329 pages of documents relating to the organisation, this study analyses the context for these emotional experiences within the case study site, how they were experienced, and their influence on the social workers’ practice. It argues that these emotional experiences are inherently part of practice, influencing what the social workers did and how they did it, which could be manipulated by others to regulate the social workers’ identities so that they acted in institutionally ‘appropriate’ ways. While some social workers felt proud to act in such a manner in some contexts, often resulting in a difficult experience for the parents, most social workers felt constrained, believing they were no longer doing social work, and in some contexts sought to resist the institutional expectations.

This thesis was motivated by a wish to understand the slow response to HIV/AIDS and so seeks to address the questions of why and when people help others. The questions are important, as typically it is others who decide who among those most in need receive help. To narrow the focus to motives of help, the discussions consider the helping of distant others, as typically such actions do not involve material gain to the helper. Related literature exists on charitable behaviour but tends towards a marketing approach. This limits its use in providing specific input regarding motives. The economics literature is far more specific and a review identifies four groups of models. These models have a number of weaknesses, so an alternative is suggested: the balance model, and a responsibility formulation, is proposed for this and existing models, which, it is argued, assist in addressing the questions. Following on from the identification and development of alternative theoretical frameworks, these options are taken through a process of attrition. They are contrasted with evidence and theory from the psychology literature - first on helping and then on harming. This exercise suggests the relative strength of the balance model and the maintenance of a responsible self-image model. Both deal well with explaining how help differs according to context and how individuals might avoid or deliberately misinterpret information. The balance model is used to examine individual helping behaviour, by way of an economic experiment. The model is then expanded to consider the social context, which allows for the consideration of the HIV response. The theoretical discussions and the experimental results suggest that individuals feel a responsibility to help. They can, however, try to avoid information which may prompt such feelings and manipulate themselves to reduce the pressure such feelings place on them to help.

This thesis combined behavioural and fMRI approaches in the study of the role of autistic traits in the perception of emotion from faces and voices, addressing research questions concerning: behavioural recognition of a full range of six basic emotions across multiple domains (face, voice, and face-voice); neural correlates during the processing of a wide range of emotional expressions from the face, the voice and the combination of both; neural circuity in responding to an incongruence effect (incongruence vs. congruence). The behavioural study investigated the effects of autistic traits as quantified by the Autism- Spectrum Quotient (AQ) on emotional processing in forms of unimodal (faces, voices) and crossmodal (emotionally congruent face-voice expressions) presentations. In addition, by taking into account the degree of anxiety, the role of co-morbid anxiety on emotion recognition in autistic traits was also explored. Compared to an age and gender-matched group of individuals with low levels of autistic traits (LAQ), a trend of no general deficit was found in individuals with high levels of autistic traits (HAQ) in recognizing emotions presented in faces and voice, regardless of their co-morbid anxiety. However, co-morbid anxiety did moderate the relationship between autistic traits and the recognition of emotions (e.g., fear, surprise, and anger), and this effect tended to be different for the two groups. Specifically, with greater anxiety, individuals with HAQ were found to show less probility of correct response in recognizing the emotion of fear. In contrast, individuals with LAQ showed greater probability of correct response in recognizing fear expressions. For response time, anxiety symptoms tended to be significantly associated with greater response latency in the HAQ group but less response latency in the LAQ group in the recognition of emotional expressions, negative emotions in particular (e.g., anger, fear, and sadness); and this effect of anxiety was not restricted to specific modalities. Despite the absence of finding a general emotion recognition deficit in individuals with considerable autistic traits compared to those with low levels of autistic traits, it did not necessarily mean that these two groups shared same neural network when processing emotions. Therefore, it was useful to explore the neural correlates engaged in processing of emotional expressions in individuals with high levels of autistic traits. Results of this investigation tended to suggest a hypo activation of brain areas dedicated to multimodal integration, particularly for displays showing happiness and disgust. However, both the HAQ group and LAQ group showed similar patterns of brain response (mainly in temporal regions) in response to face-voice combination. In response to emotional stimuli in single modality, the HAQ group activated a number of frontal and temporal regions (e.g., STG, MFG, IFG); these differences may suggested a more effortful and less automatic processing in individual with HAQ. In everyday life, emotional information is often conveyed by both the face and voice. Consequently, concurrently presented information by one source can alter the way that information from the other source is perceived and leads to emotional incongruence if information from the two sources was incongruent. Using fMRI, the present work also examined the neural circuity involved in responding to an incongruence effect (incongruence vs. congruence) from face-voice pairs in a group of individuals with considerable autistic traits. In addition, the differences in brain responses for emotional incongruity between explicit instructions to attend to facial expression and explicit instructions to attend to tone of voice in autistic traits was also explored. It was found that there was no significant incongruence effect between groups, given that individuals with a high level of autistic traits are able to recruit more normative neural networks for processing incongruence as individuals with a low level of autistic traits, regardless of instructions. Though no between group differences, individuals with HAQ showed negative activation in regions involved in the default- mode network. However, taken into account changes of instructions, a stronger incongruence effect was more likely to be occurred in the voice-attend condition for individuals with HAQ while in the face-attend condition for individuals with LAQ.