Ho'oponopono, “to make right”: Hawaiian conflict resolution and metaphor in the construction of a family therapy

It has been noted in the literature that community conflict resolution rituals have many structural and functional similarities to the goals and methods of psychotherapy. A Hawaiian form of conflict resolution called ho`oponopono (to make right, orderly, correct) is a case where a conflict resolution format actually was used to create a culturally appropriate family therapy. This was done under the sponsorship of a Hawaiian social welfare organization with Hawaiian ancestry therapists. An important element in the transformation and usefulness of ho`oponopono as a Hawaiian therapy is the maintenance and incorporation of metaphoric understandings about the nature and dynamics of Hawaiian social relations.     

Suppression of social conflict and evolutionary transitions to cooperation

Evolutionary conflict arises at all levels of biological organization and presents a barrier to the evolution of cooperation. This barrier can be overcome by mechanisms that reduce the disparity between the fitness optima of subunits, sometimes called the "battleground" of conflict. An alternative, unstudied possibility is that effort invested in conflict is unprofitable. This possibility has received little attention because most existing models of social conflict assume that fitness depends on the ratio of players' conflict efforts, so that "peaceful" outcomes featuring zero conflict effort are evolutionarily unstable. Here I show that peaceful outcomes are stable where success depends on the difference rather than the ratio of efforts invested in conflict. These difference form models are particularly appropriate to model strategies of suppression or policing. The model suggests that incomplete information and asymmetries in strength can act to eliminate costly conflict within groups, even among unrelated individuals, and thereby facilitate the evolution of cooperation.     

Changes in the P300 amplitude under the influence of "aggressive" computer game in adolescents with various levels of initial aggression and conflicting behavior

Dynamic changes in the amplitude of component P300 of the evoked potentials in different cortical areas were studied as an index of activity of cortical structures responsible for actualization of a computer game with aggressive content with regard for the level of initial aggression and conflict in behavior of adolescent subjects. Dynamic changes in anxiety and aggression evoked by playing an "aggressive" computer game were shown to be dependent on the initial level of aggression and conflict. An increase in P300 in the frontal and orbitofrontal areas of both hemispheres was observed in adolescents with initially high level of aggression and conflict. In adolescents with initially low aggression and conflict, P300 decreased bilaterally in the frontal areas and did not change significantly in the orbitofrontal areas. These findings testify to the bilateral frontal top-down control over negative emotions.     

Political Conflict ana Revolution in an African Town

The emerging patterns of life in contemporary Africa are most apparent in the often competing social and political groupings which have developed as basically rural populations have attempted to deal with the complexities of modern life. During the colonial period, these new groupings—whether rural or urban—were under the control of a dominant administration and seldom came into overt conflict. However, this is not now the case in most African towns. There, as in Ouagadougou, the capital of Upper Volta, a multiplicity of socio-political factions and multiple governing bodies all claim rights to power and legitimacy. The result is more open competition and conflict. This suggests that the "stability" claimed for colonial African societies was more a function of exogenous political factors than of inherent structural features in the social systems described. Until new dominant political structures emerge in Africa and establish mediating linkages with other institutional forms, there may well be a period of conflict and revolution.     

The Customs of Conflict Management among Corporate Executives

This article examines the customs of conflict management among executives at the tops of two large business organizations. The argument advanced here derives from the notion that conflict management varies with the informal norms that govern interpersonal networks. Ethnographic, social network, and perceptual data collected in the present investigation suggest that where executives experience fragmented and atomized interpersonal networks, they are more likely to manage conflict without confrontation than in networks of strongly and densely connected individuals. The results of this study carry implications for the relationship between attitudes and behaviors among corporate managers regarding conflict management, for the normative bases of decision making, and for the "fit" between social context and routine conflict management.     

Longevity suppresses conflict in animal societies

Models of social conflict in animal societies generally assume that within-group conflict reduces the value of a communal resource. For many animals, however, the primary cost of conflict is increased mortality. We develop a simple inclusive fitness model of social conflict that takes this cost into account. We show that longevity substantially reduces the level of within-group conflict, which can lead to the evolution of peaceful animal societies if relatedness among group members is high. By contrast, peaceful outcomes are never possible in models where the primary cost of social conflict is resource depletion. Incorporating mortality costs into models of social conflict can explain why many animal societies are so remarkably peaceful despite great potential for conflict.     

Social Suppressive Behavior Is Organized by the Spatiotemporal Integration of Multiple Cortical Regions in the Japanese Macaque

Under social conflict, monkeys develop hierarchical positions through social interactions. Once the hierarchy is established, the dominant monkey dominates the space around itself and the submissive monkey tries not to violate this space. Previous studies have shown the contributions of the frontal and parietal cortices in social suppression, but the contributions of other cortical areas to suppressive functions remain elusive. We recorded neural activity in large cortical areas using electrocorticographic (ECoG) arrays while monkeys performed a social food-grab task in which a target monkey was paired with either a dominant or a submissive monkey. If the paired monkey was dominant, the target monkey avoided taking food in the shared conflict space, but not in other areas. By contrast, when the paired monkey was submissive, the target monkey took the food freely without hesitation. We applied decoding analysis to the ECoG data to see when and which cortical areas contribute to social behavioral suppression. Neural information discriminating the social condition was more evident when the conflict space was set in the area contralateral to the recording hemisphere. We found that the information increased as the social pressure increased during the task. Before food presentation, when the pressure was relatively low, the parietal and somatosensory–motor cortices showed sustained discrimination of the social condition. After food presentation, when the monkey faced greater pressure to make a decision as to whether it should take the food, the prefrontal and visual cortices started to develop buildup responses. The social representation was found in a sustained form in the parietal and somatosensory–motor regions, followed by additional buildup form in the visual and prefrontal cortices. The representation was less influenced by reward expectation. These findings suggest that social adaptation is achieved by a higher-order self-regulation process (incorporating motor preparation/execution processes) in accordance with the embodied social contexts.     

Natural 1st and 2d degree conditioned food reflexes in the dog in relation to space orientation

In three dogs formation and performance of spatial alimentary natural conditioned responses of the second order was studied when the dog had to find food preliminarily shown to it in one of the four food-distributors (psychonervous activity directed by a food image in terms proposed by I. S. Beritashvili). Characteristics of this form of behaviour were demonstrated and discussed: rapid formation, dependence of performance on the delay time, conflict between responses of the first and the second order. In the second series of the experiments food-procuring behaviour of dogs was studied under conditions of conflict between the quality (value) of alimentary reinforcement and probability of its finding in certain food-distributor. Such kind of behavior was shown to depend on the motivation level and individual characteristics of the dog. Interaction of "informational" (anterior areas of the neocortex, hippocampus) and "motivational" (nuclei of amigdalar complex, hypothalamus) cerebral structures is supposed to underlie the organization of behaviour.     

大学生人格特征与社交焦虑的相关研究

目的:探讨大学生人格特征与社交焦虑的关系,为高校大学生心理教育工作提供理论依据.方法:采用分层整群抽样的方法,对1600名大学生进行心理测评,测评工具包括社交焦虑量表(IAS)和艾森克人格问卷(EPQ).结果:本研究发现,高社交焦虑的大学生为370人,占总体被试的25.6%;女大学生社交焦虑水平高于男大学生,农村、矿区的学生其社交焦虑水平高于城镇学生;逐步多元回归结果发现,内外向、神经质为社交焦虑的有效预测因素,联合解释变异量为23.7%.结论:高社交焦虑的大学生占总体调查人数的25.6%;人格特征、性别、家庭住址是社交焦虑的影响因素;应加强大学生健康个性的培养及社交焦虑的相关干预.     

Dynamic social adaptation of motion-related neurons in primate parietal cortex

Social brain function, which allows us to adapt our behavior to social context, is poorly understood at the single-cell level due largely to technical limitations. But the questions involved are vital: How do neurons recognize and modulate their activity in response to social context? To probe the mechanisms involved, we developed a novel recording technique, called multi-dimensional recording, and applied it simultaneously in the left parietal cortices of two monkeys while they shared a common social space. When the monkeys sat near each other but did not interact, each monkey's parietal activity showed robust response preference to action by his own right arm and almost no response to action by the other's arm. But the preference was broken if social conflict emerged between the monkeys-specifically, if both were able to reach for the same food item placed on the table between them. Under these circumstances, parietal neurons started to show complex combinatorial responses to motion of self and other. Parietal cortex adapted its response properties in the social context by discarding and recruiting different neural populations. Our results suggest that parietal neurons can recognize social events in the environment linked with current social context and form part of a larger social brain network.     

Submission: Its Features and Function in the Wolf and Dog

Submission in the wolf and dog is defined on the basis ot itsmotivation: submission is the effort of the inferior to attainfriendly or harmonic social integration. Submission functions as an appeal or a contribution to socialintegration, but only if it meets a corresponding attitude inthe superior. The form of submissive behavior in wolf and dogis ritualized and symbolized cub-behavior. Two main forms ofsubmissive behavior occur in wolf and dog: active submission,derived from begging for milk or food, and passive submission,derived from the posture which the cub adopts when cleaned byits mother. The definition of submission is generally applicable to vertebratesliving in groups based on intimacy and a social hierarchicalorder. The concept of submission as the role of the defeatedin the terminal phase of fight with the function to inhibitautomatically aggression in the superior should be dismissed.In vertebrates at least three types of conflict with differentterminal phases occur: (1). Severe fight based on intolerance;ends with flight by the inferior or with his death. (2). Ritualizedfight over a privilege; ends with the "giving-up-the-claim ritual"of the inferior, which automatically blocks the aggression ofthe superior. (3). Minor conflict in closed groups; settledby submissive behavior of the inferior. In closed vertebrate groups, intermediate forms between (1)and (3) occur, depending on the proportion between activatedintimacy and intolerance.     

Bound to Lose: Physical Incapacitation Increases the Conceptualized Size of an Antagonist in Men

Because decision-making in situations of potential conflict hinges on assessing many features of the self and the foe, this process can be facilitated by summarizing diverse attributes in a single heuristic representation. Physical size and strength are evolutionarily ancient determinants of victory in conflict, and their relevance is reinforced during development. Accordingly, size and muscularity constitute ready dimensions for a summary representation of relative formidability, a perspective paralleled by the notion that social power is represented using envisioned relative size. Physical incapacitation constitutes a significant tactical disadvantage, hence temporary incapacitation should increase the envisioned size and strength of an antagonist. In Study 1, being bound to a chair increased men’s estimates of the size of an angry man and decreased estimates of their own height. Study 2 conceptually replicated these effects: among men for whom standing on a balance board was challenging, the attendant experience of postural instability increased estimates of an angry man’s size and muscularity, with similar patterns occurring at a reduced level among all but those whose equilibrium was apparently unaffected by this task.     

Culture conflict and coping in a group of aboriginal adolescents

Critical incidents adapted to presentation in picture form were used to investigate responses of Aboriginal adolescents from Elcho Island mission in the Northern Territory of Australia in conflict situations arising from culture contact. These Aboriginal youths are part of a complex environment where choice behaviour is mediated by specific and broader situational characteristics of the social environment. Results showed a relationship between conflict responses and orientation to traditional values and skills, but no apparent relationship between conflict responses and modern value orientation or psychopathology variables. Adolescents who attended high school in Darwin were seen as more mission and academically oriented than locally educated youth. Contrary to expected patterns, males appeared to be less involved in both mission and traditional activities and more restricted by traditional social expectations than were females.     

Hypothalamic levels of LHRF in male mice of differing social status and from individual housing

Swiss male mice were individually-housed or maintained in groups of 8 from weaning until 80 days of age. At this time, the grouped mice were allocated to new groups of 5–6 previously unfamiliar individuals. Identified dominants were then caged with two clearly submissive males for 1 week. At this time hypothalamic samples were taken from the dominant and one subordinate and from a number of long-term individually-housed males. A radio- immunoassay for LHRF was carried out. The levels of this hypothalamic releasing factor were significantly higher in both dominant and subordinate grouped mice than in ‘isolates’. Mice of differing social status showed comparable titres of this hormone. The results suggest that social conflict and/or disturbance augments this factor in mice irrespective of the social status achieved by individual animals.     

Effects of supervisor support and coping on shiftwork tolerance

This study examines the effects of supervisor support and coping on work/non-work conflict and health in shiftwork. It describes a model of shiftwork tolerance that is tested on samples from two populations of shiftworkers. The samples--of nurses and ambulance workers--differed by occupation, gender and shift schedule. Quantitative (survey questionnaire) and qualitative methods (in-depth interviews) were used to triangulate results and to yield richer data on psychosocial variables. Structural equation modelling, using EQS, was used to describe the common path relationships observed within both samples of shiftworkers. The results demonstrated important relationships between social support from supervisors, coping strategies, work/non-work conflict and symptoms that transferred robustly between the two populations of shiftworkers.     

Kin selection-mutation balance: a model for the origin, maintenance, and consequences of social cheating

Social conflict, in the form of intraspecific selfish "cheating," has been observed in a number of natural systems. However, a formal, evolutionary genetic theory of social cheating that provides an explanatory, predictive framework for these observations is lacking. Here we derive the kin selection-mutation balance, which provides an evolutionary null hypothesis for the statics and dynamics of cheating. When social interactions have linear fitness effects and Hamilton's rule is satisfied, selection is never strong enough to eliminate recurrent cheater mutants from a population, but cheater lineages are transient and do not invade. Instead, cheating lineages are eliminated by kin selection but are constantly reintroduced by mutation, maintaining a stable equilibrium frequency of cheaters. The presence of cheaters at equilibrium creates a "cheater load" that selects for mechanisms of cheater control, such as policing. We find that increasing relatedness reduces the cheater load more efficiently than does policing the costs and benefits of cooperation. Our results provide new insight into the effects of genetic systems, mating systems, ecology, and patterns of sex-limited expression on social evolution. We offer an explanation for the widespread cheater/altruist polymorphism found in nature and suggest that the common fear of conflict-induced social collapse is unwarranted.     

Long term follow-up of two sibs with an autosomal recessive form of chrondrodysplasia punctata and epilepsy

Long term follow-up of two sibs with an autosomal recessive form of chrondrodysplasia punctata and epilepsy: A variety of osteodysplasias are referred to with the term chondrodysplasia punctata (CDP). Here we report on two sibs, a boy and a girl, with probable autosomal recessive form of CDP and epilepsy followed-up for 30 and 19 years, respectively. Family history was unremarkable but for consanguinity. Pregnancies and deliveries were uneventful. At birth, length was 46 (-3SD) and 45 (-4SD) cm, respectively. Craniofacial dysmorphism was noted: severe nasal hypoplasia, flat face, hypertelorism, a low nasal bridge, short stature. Skeletal abnormalities included epiphyseal stippling in the thoracic spine, bilateral proximal and distal humeri, femur, tibia and bilateral carpal and tarsal bones. The boy had a hemivertebrae T12, with absence of a rib. After the age of 6 years facial dysmorphism had improved. Final height was 154 cm (-3SD) in the boy and 158 cm (-0,5SD) in the girl. The boy was operated on for scoliosis. Both sibs had club feet, the girl had also genu valgum. IQ was evaluated to be 55 in the girl and 83 in the boy. The first non febrile generalized seizure appeared in the boy when he was 11 months of age, and in the girl when she was 25 months of age. Both had many other seizures and were taking antiepileptics. EEG were abnormal. Karyotypes were normal. Extensive screening for metabolic disorders was normal. Acquired in utero CDP were excluded. We suggest the sibs described in this report have yet another provisionally unique possibly autosomal recessive syndrome, with CDP and epilepsy as phenotypic traits.     

Rats with passive coping strategy have average,but not low social range

Social ranks were determined in rats with different degrees of activity-passivity in coping style. The dominance status of rats was assessed by their behavior during social interaction and during competition for food and water. Coping styles were determined during initial trials of acquisition of active avoidance in a two-way shuttle box. Animals with passive behavior in a shuttle box had average scores of social ranks. Both dominant and subordinate rats displayed significantly more active behavior than subdominant animals. In additional experiment, the rats were caged as a one male-one female pairs. Two weeks later, the social ranks of males were determined during agonistic interactions. Males were caged in triads, and corticosterone levels were assayed in blood samples taken from the tail veins during the first five days. The corticosterone level was significantly higher in subdominants than in dominants. There was no significant difference between the dominants and subordinates in corticosterone levels. The obtained evidence suggests the passive coping in subdominant rats, whereas the dominant and subordinate animals were more "active" under aversive stimulation.