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Sympathy
Selected AbstractsADAM SMITH AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SYMPATHY WITH NATUREPACIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2006PATRICK R. FRIERSON However, Smith's "all important emotion of sympathy" (Callicott, 2001, p. 209) seems incapable of extension to entities that lack emotions with which one can sympathize. Drawing on the distinctive account of sympathy developed in Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, as well as his account of anthropomorphizing nature in "History of Astronomy and Physics," I show that sympathy with non-sentient nature is possible within a Smithian ethics. This provides the possibility of extending sympathy, and thereby benevolence and justice, to nature. [source] Providence and Sympathy: Consoling the Bereaved in the Late Eighteenth CenturyGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2006Anna Richards In the Enlightenment period restrictions were imposed on mourning practices but grief was valued as a sign of natural humanity, as long as it remained moderate. Consolation was offered to the bereaved to help them temper excessive sadness. In the second half of the eighteenth century, influenced by the period's psychological thinking, the theory and the practice of consolation became more secular and more individualised than they had previously been; consolers took the demands of self-interest and of the emotions into account to a greater extent. This meant an emphasis on the role of providence in the death of the loved one and on the need for sympathy. This article discusses the consequences and the challenges of these developments for consolatory texts. It suggests that they called for narrative strategies and concludes that the ,Trostschrift' and the sentimental novel began to occupy some of the same ground at this period. [source] Towards a debugging system for sensor networksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2005Nithya Ramanathan Due to their resource constraints and tight physical coupling, sensor networks afford limited visibility into an application's behavior. As a result it is often difficult to debug issues that arise during development and deployment. Existing techniques for fault management focus on fault tolerance or detection; before we can detect anomalous behavior in sensor networks, we need first to identify what simple metrics can be used to infer system health and correct behavior. We propose metrics and events that enable system health inferences, and present a preliminary design of Sympathy, a debugging tool for pre- and post-deployment sensor networks. Sympathy will contain mechanisms for collecting system performance metrics with minimal memory overhead; mechanisms for recognizing application-defined events based on these metrics; and a system for collecting events in their spatiotemporal context. The Sympathy system will help programmers draw correlations between seemingly unrelated, distributed events, and produce graphs that highlight those correlations. As an example, we describe how we used a preliminary version of Sympathy to help debug a complex application, Tiny Diffusion.,Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] In Sympathy with Narrative CharactersJOURNAL OF AESTHETICS AND ART CRITICISM, Issue 1 2009ALESSANDRO GIOVANNELLI First page of article [source] John Thelwall and the Politics of SympathyLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 9 2010Mary Fairclough John Thelwall's diverse achievements in the fields of literature, science and politics have been read as the reason for his omission from the Romantic literary canon. But Thelwall's scientific research arms him with a unique understanding of the connections between these disciplines, which upset the very notion of canonicity. Thelwall's model of sympathy, developed in his Essay Towards a Definition of Animal Vitality (1791) offers a physiological understanding of the term which he applies to radical effect in his literary and political works. For Thelwall, sympathy is the physical force through which one organ of the body is inextricably connected with the rest. This physical model radicalises the sentimental tropes Thelwall employs in The Peripatetic (1793), where benevolence is figured as an instinctive impulse. In Thelwall's political lectures, sympathy is an index of solidarity, but its rational, material basis offers a riposte to charges that Thelwall seeks to exploit the unruly energies of his audience. Thelwall figures sympathy instead as the medium for his political ideal, the diffusion of information and ideas. [source] The Hard People: Rivalry, Sympathy and Social Structure in an Alpine ValleyAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2001Barbara Waldis The Hard People: Rivalry, Sympathy and Social Structure in an Alpine Valley. Patrick Heady. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1999. xi. 248 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index. [source] Quine, Davidson, and the Naturalization of MetaethicsDIALECTICA, Issue 2 2001Robert Feleppa Quine's ethical views typify what might seem to be natural sympathies between empiricism and ethical noncognitivism. LikeAyer, he sees a case for noncognitivism rooted in an epistemic discontinuity between ethics and science. Quine argues that the absence of genuine moral observation sentences, and thus the absence of empirical checkpoints for the resolution of theoretical disputes, renders ethics, as he terms it, "methodologically infirm" However, recent papers in this journal make clear that Quine appears to be voicing mutually incompatible commitments to both noncognitivism and cognitivism. Here I argue that Davidson's theory of interpretation offers promising ways to resolve these tensions. His constructive program fleshes out the implications of Quine's largely destructive critique of intensional semantics and contains a fairly well-articulated account of evaluative semantics, one which seems to combine cognitivist and noncognitivist elements harmoniously. Moreover, it is argued that Davidson's long-standing differences with Quine over the epistemological status Quine accords observation sentences with do not undermine Quine's metaethical critique. [source] The Politics of Sir Thomas Fairfax ReassessedHISTORY, Issue 300 2005LUKE DAXON Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612,71) was one of the most distinguished parliamentarian soldiers of the Great Civil War. He assumed command of the New Model Army at its inception in 1645 and was at its head during the succeeding five years when it was transformed from a victorious military force into an engine of political revolution. An inarticulate and in some respects a staid and conservative figure, Fairfax has often been depicted as an impotent opponent of the army's radicalization or as a political innocent manipulated by his subordinates, principally Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton, for their own ends. This article seeks to challenge these conceptions. It examines the political connotations of his conduct during the war and his readiness to stand by his men throughout their conflict with the parliamentary Presbyterians after it. It further probes his response to the upheavals of 1648,9 and his attitude to the new republican regime. Whatever his reticence, Fairfax's actions do not resemble those of an apolitical neutral and a balanced assessment of his sympathies has the virtue of explaining much about how the army was able to retain a remarkable unity of purpose, albeit sometimes tenuous, as it stepped onto the political stage. [source] The Fourth Duke of Newcastle, the Ultra-Tories and the Opposition to Canning's AdministrationHISTORY, Issue 292 2003Richard A. Gaunt This article explores the Ultra-Tory opposition to the formation of George Canning's administration in March,April 1827 and subsequent events leading up to the beginning of the duke of Wellington's ministry in January 1828. It concentrates, in particular, upon the role of Henry, fourth duke of Newcastle (1785,1851) who emerged as the leading Ultra-Tory in the period. The article re-examines the events of the year with two considerations in mind: first, the effect of Canning's appointment on the position of the king and the ,open' status of Catholic Emancipation (given Canning's sympathies for a settlement of that question); secondly, the potential for the formation of a united ,Protestant' party in parliament out of the materials provided by Canning's opponents. It concludes that the events of the year were pivotal in transforming the Ultra-Tories from grumbling, but acquiescent, backwoodsmen into a political group and in demonstrating, well before the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts and Catholic Emancipation, that they were unlikely to find a receptive following from either George IV, Wellington or Peel. [source] Territorial sense of community, ethnic prejudice and political orientationJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Miretta Prezza Abstract This research focused on territorial sense of community and ethnic prejudice. In particular, we related these two constructs and investigated their relationship to individual characteristics (personal political orientation, contact with immigrants, etc.) and community-level ones (such as ethnic composition and the political orientation of the local government). Two studies were conducted in four small towns in central and southern Italy. For each study, 160 people were contacted. The instruments used were a questionnaire, the Italian Sense of Community Scale and the Blatant Prejudice Scale. The results showed that territorial sense of community is not related to ethnic prejudice or to the ethnic heterogeneity of the territory. It was also found that people with right-wing political sympathies revealed higher levels of prejudice than people with left-wing sympathies. Finally, in a town with a stable and consolidated left-wing orientation of the local government we found, when the influence of personal political orientation was controlled for, lower levels of prejudice than in a town with a right-wing orientation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Here Lies the Supreme Court: RevisitedJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 1 2008GEORGE A. CHRISTENSEN Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals. ,William Ewart Gladstone [source] Do Strong Group Identities Fuel Intolerance?POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2006Evidence From the South African Case One conventional explanation of intergroup conflict is Social Identity Theory. That theory asserts that strong ingroup sympathies can give rise to outgroup antipathies which in turn fuel intolerance and conflict. While embraced by both macro- and microlevel analysts, this theory actually has not been widely investigated outside a laboratory environment. In this article, I test hypotheses linking group identities with intolerance, based on a 2001 survey in South Africa, a country where group identities have long been politicized. My empirical findings indicate that group identities are not useful predictors of South African intolerance. Indeed, for neither the black majority nor the white minority do ingroup identities activate very much outgroup intolerance. Moreover, group identities are positively, not negatively, correlated with holding a South African national identity. These findings, based on unusually broad indicators of both identity and tolerance, suggest that the causes of group conflict lie elsewhere than in group attachments. [source] Pietro Aretino, religious writerRENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 3 2006Raymond B. Waddington Although Pietro Aretino's vernacular biblical paraphrases and saints' lives were popular and greatly admired in the sixteenth century, modern scholarship often has dismissed them as commercial potboilers. This study presents the case that Aretino was a serious reformer in religion and possibly a Nicodemite. It traces his long relationship with Antonio Brucioli, who was an important conduit of Protestant writings and whose reformist Bible translation enabled Aretino's paraphrases. Relying on their letters, it examines Aretino's friendship with Pier Paolo Vergerio and his attraction to Bernardino Ochino, both of whom became apostates, and his reaction to the arrest of his confessor for having Lutheran sympathies. Aretino's biblical paraphrases were esteemed in Italian reformist circles and translated into French by a prior attached to Marguerite of Navarre's court. In England Sir Thomas Wyatt based his Lutheran Penitential Psalms on Aretino's I sette Salmi. [source] The Melanchthon Circle's English EpicycleCENTAURUS, Issue 1 2006Katherine A. Tredwell Abstract. As persuasive signs of divine providence, astronomy and astrology held a special place in the natural philosophy of Philip Melanchthon. Both the highly predictable motions of celestial objects and the benefits they contributed to human life were held to demonstrate the existence of an intelligent and caring creator who was actively involved in the world. Melanchthon's influence on a small group of Lutheran astronomers has long been recognized. This article proposes the term mathematical Philippist to designate individuals outside the Lutheran confession, or of unknown religious affiliation, who adopted Melanchthon's providential view of the heavens. Two 16th-century English mathematicians, Leonard and Thomas Digges, qualify as mathematical Philippists on the basis of their familiarity with and approval of Melanchthon, despite circumstantial evidence that at least one (Thomas) had Calvinist sympathies in other areas of his life. The identification of a Philippist strand in English mathematics illustrates the shortcomings of any attempt to assess possible interactions of science and religion strictly along confessional lines. [source] Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in FranceCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Didier Fassin Immigration policies in Europe in the last three decades have become increasingly restrictive. During the 1990s, political asylum lost much of its legitimacy, as new criteria based on humanitarian claims became more common in appeals for immigration. Asylum seekers were increasingly identified as illegal immigrants and therefore candidates for expulsion, unless humanitarian reasons could be found to requalify them as victims deserving sympathy. This substitution of a right to asylum by an obligation in terms of charity leads to a reconsideration of Giorgio Agamben's separation of the humanitarian and the political, suggesting instead a humanitarianization of policies. Sangatte Center, often referred to as a transit camp, became a symbol of this ambiguous European treatment of the "misery of the world" and serves here as an analytical thread revealing the tensions between repression and compassion as well as the moral economy of contemporary biopolitics. [source] Relocating Participation within a Radical Politics of DevelopmentDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2005Sam Hickey In response to (and in sympathy with) many of the critical points that have been lodged against participatory approaches to development and governance within international development, this article seeks to relocate participation within a radical politics of development. We argue that participation needs to be theoretically and strategically informed by a radical notion of ,citizenship', and be located within the ,critical modernist' approach to development. Using empirical evidence drawn from a range of contemporary approaches to participation, the article shows that participatory approaches are most likely to succeed: (i) where they are pursued as part of a wider radical political project; (ii) where they are aimed specifically at securing citizenship rights and participation for marginal and subordinate groups; and (iii) when they seek to engage with development as an underlying process of social change rather than in the form of discrete technocratic interventions , although we do not use these findings to argue against using participatory methods where these conditions are not met. Finally, we consider the implications of this relocation for participation in both theoretical and strategic terms. [source] Picture this: emotional and political responses to photographs of the Kenneth Bigley kidnapping,EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2006Aarti Iyer The use of photographs to augment media reports of kidnapping victims in Iraq has sparked debates over the effects of such images on the public and, ultimately, the politics surrounding the event. We considered the effects of such images in a sample of British university students during the 2004 kidnapping of British citizen Kenneth Bigley. Drawing on emotions theory, we examined the effects of graphic images on emotional reactions and attitudes towards negotiations. Half of the participants were exposed to photographs of the victim that had recently been published in a national newspaper. The other half were not shown any images. As predicted, the photographs increased fear reactions amongst participants compared to no photograph controls. Fear and sympathy, but not anger, predicted attitudes towards negotiation. The photographs used in this study thus indirectly increased participants' support for negotiating with and submitting to the demands of the captors. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Stereotypic ingroup bias as self-defense against relative deprivation: evidence from a longitudinal study of the German unification processEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Manfred Schmitt In a longitudinal questionnaire field study on psychological consequences of German unification, the intergroup situation between East and West Germans was investigated. Data were collected in 1996 and 1998. The sample consisted of 585 East Germans and 387 West Germans who had never lived in the other part of Germany. It was assumed that East Germans' social identity is threatened due to their fraternal deprivation in comparison with West Germans. It was predicted that East Germans would employ ingroup bias as an identity management strategy in order to protect their emotional well-being against harmful consequences of fraternal deprivation. In line with this prediction, it was found that (a) East Germans feel fraternally deprived compared to West Germans on important quality of life dimensions, (b) they display ingroup bias vis-à-vis West Germans, (c) ingroup bias increases with increasing East German identity, (d) ingroup bias is determined longitudinally by relative deprivation, and (e) ingroup bias buffers the effect of relative deprivation on mental health over time. As expected, ingroup bias and the effects of ingroup bias were larger for the dimension of personal integrity than for the dimensions of sympathy and competence. Ingroup bias is interpreted as compensatory self-enhancement. West Germans feel fraternally privileged compared to East Germans and consider their advantages to be undeserved. Unexpectedly, West Germans display outgroup bias on the stereotype dimensions of integrity. This bias is interpreted as an effort to appease the moral outrage of East Germans and to silence their own guilty conscience due to undeserved advantages. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Providence and Sympathy: Consoling the Bereaved in the Late Eighteenth CenturyGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2006Anna Richards In the Enlightenment period restrictions were imposed on mourning practices but grief was valued as a sign of natural humanity, as long as it remained moderate. Consolation was offered to the bereaved to help them temper excessive sadness. In the second half of the eighteenth century, influenced by the period's psychological thinking, the theory and the practice of consolation became more secular and more individualised than they had previously been; consolers took the demands of self-interest and of the emotions into account to a greater extent. This meant an emphasis on the role of providence in the death of the loved one and on the need for sympathy. This article discusses the consequences and the challenges of these developments for consolatory texts. It suggests that they called for narrative strategies and concludes that the ,Trostschrift' and the sentimental novel began to occupy some of the same ground at this period. [source] French Views on Thatcherism and BlairismHISTORICAL RESEARCH, Issue 182 2000Jacques Leruez The French like terms ending in ,ism', especially when they appear to represent a substantial ideological proposition or, at the very least, a definite change in the methods of governance. Thus, both Thatcherism and Blairism have held considerable interest for both the educated public and the media. If Thatcherism was generally condemned as reactionary, there was none the less a certain amount of admiration for Lady Thatcher's ,conviction'. As for Blairism, while considered a betrayal of socialist ideals by the more traditional left wing, it is looked upon with some sympathy in centrist and even right-wing circles. [source] Recent Perspectives on Leprosy in Medieval Western Europe1HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2010Elma Brenner Responses to leprosy in medieval Western Europe were complex and often contradictory. Recent scholarship has challenged the predominant earlier view that lepers were excluded and stigmatized, suggesting instead that lepers were believed to have been chosen by God to be redeemed, and were thus the objects of sympathy and compassion. Research in the fields of history, archaeology and literature has addressed the social and religious status of lepers, the clinical identity and prevalence of medieval leprosy, and the medieval medical understanding of the disease. Much research has also focused on the endowment and functioning of leper hospitals (leprosaria). Although these institutions were situated outside towns and cities, they were still connected to mainstream society as a key focus of charity. The study of leprosy in the Middle Ages has been a vibrant field of scholarship in recent years , yet much still remains to be discovered about medieval lepers, leprosy and leprosaria. The field would benefit from studies comparing the situation of lepers in different regions, and from greater consideration of leprosy in its broader cultural, political, iconographic and ethical context. Such work would contribute not only to our understanding of leprosy, but also to the wider social, medical and religious history of the medieval West. [source] Tradition and Sacred TextsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Robert Murray It places a particular stress on the central place of liturgy in this relationship. It then compares Catholic views with those of the Eastern Orthodox, noting particularly what Syrian exegesis has to teach Western readers, and with those of Protestant and Anglican Christianity. It then addresses the claims of the heirs of tradition, believers, to be interpreters of scripture vis-à-vis scientific biblical scholarship, concluding that they have great advantages in sympathy and imagination in entering into dialogue with the texts. [source] Religious Involvement, Conventional Christian, and Unconventional Nonmaterialist BeliefsJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 4 2006TONY GLENDINNING This article uses a Scottish national sample to examine the relationship between church involvement, religious socialization among nonattenders, orthodox Christian beliefs, and a variety of unconventional nonmaterialist beliefs. Greater conventional religious belief is strongly associated with supposed alternatives but nonetheless, nonattenders are more likely to believe in the unconventional over and above any enduring sympathy they may hold for Christian doctrine. One group in particular stands out: belief remains high among nonattenders who once went to services regularly and seriously contemplate reengaging with organized religion. The article discusses the importance of these findings for "believing but not belonging." [source] Helping Following Natural Disasters: A Social-Motivational Analysis,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 11 2009Zdravko Marjanovic The present investigation explores how judgments of responsibility influence affective and helping reactions toward natural-disaster victims. Guided by Weiner's (1995, 2006) theory of social motivation, we hypothesized that judging victims responsible for a disaster would indirectly lead to low rates of helping. Two studies tested this hypothesis. In Study 1, a bogus earthquake was used to test experimentally the effects of responsibility judgments (low, high). In Study 2, we surveyed attitudes about the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our results showed that Weiner's model was supported across studies. Responsibility judgments led to anger and sympathy, and sympathy led to helping intentions, which in turn led to helping behavior. Comparisons across studies and the relationship between helping intentions and behavior are discussed. [source] Attributions of HIV Onset Controllability, Emotional Reactions, and Helping Intentions: Implicit Effects of Victim Sexual Orientation,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2007Jason D. Seacat A vignette methodology was used to investigate the effects of systematically manipulating HIV onset controllability and victim sexual orientation on (a) participant attributions about a victim (i.e., perceptions of victim control, responsibility, and blame); (b) participant emotional reactions (anger and sympathy) toward a victim; and (c) participant helping intentions toward a victim. Weiner's (1980a, 1980b, 1995) attributional helping model was tested to determine whether participant anger and sympathy mediated the onset controllability/helping intentions relationship. A total of 399 undergraduate psychology students completed the survey. Statistically significant effects were found for HIV onset controllability and victim sexual orientation on participant attributions, emotional reactions, and helping intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are addressed. [source] Perceptions of Deservedness of Social Aid as a Function of Prenatal Diagnostic Testing,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Karen L. Lawson This study examined whether judgments of deservedness of social aid subsequent to the birth of a disabled child vary as a function of prenatal diagnostic testing (PDT) use as predicted by the attribution-affect-action model (Weiner, 1980). A sample of family physicians/obstetricians (n= 341) and a university employee sample (n= 281) made attribution ratings in 3 scenarios in which an at-risk pregnant woman gave birth to a disabled child. The findings indicate that women who chose not to use PDT or who chose to continue the pregnancy following a diagnosis were judged more responsible, more to blame, and less deserving of both sympathy and social aid subsequent to giving birth to a disabled child than were women to whom testing was not made available. [source] Reactions to a Motor-Vehicle Accident in Relation to Mitigating Circumstances and the Gender and Moral Worth of the Driver,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2000NORMAN T. FEATHER Male and female students (N= 153) at the Flinders University of South Australia read scenarios describing a motor-vehicle accident that varied mitigating circumstances (driving on a slippery road vs. driving at high speed), gender of driver, and the moral worth of the driver (very dependable and trustworthy vs. not dependable and a bit untrustworthy). Results showed that mitigation affected judgments about the driver's responsibility, seriousness of the offense, driver's deservingness of penalty imposed, harshness of penalty, positive affect about the penalty, and sympathy for the driver, consistent with a social cognitive process model (Feather, 1996c, 1998). Moral worth affected judgments about the driver's moral character, harshness of penalty, and liking and sympathy for the driver. Participants attributed higher moral character to the female driver and also reported more liking for the female driver. There was some limited evidence for an in-group gender bias. [source] Tender Affective States as Predictors of Entertainment PreferenceJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2008Mary Beth Oliver Four studies were conducted to explore how tender affective states (e.g., warmth, sympathy, understanding) predict attraction to entertainment that features poignant, dramatic, or tragic portrayals. Studies 1 and 2 found that tenderness was associated with greater interest in viewing sad films. Studies 3 and 4 found that tender affective states were associated with preferences for entertainment featuring not only sad portrayals but also entertainment featuring drama and human connection. Results are discussed in terms of how these forms of entertainment may provide viewers the opportunity to contemplate the poignancies of human life,an activity that may reflect motivations of media use related to meaningfulness or insight rather than only the experience of pleasure. Résumé Les états affectifs tendres comme variables explicatives des préférences de divertissement Quatre études furent menées afin d,explorer la manière dont les états affectifs tendres (par exemple la chaleur, la sympathie et la compréhension) prédisent une attirance envers un divertissement qui présente des mises en scènes poignantes, dramatiques ou tragiques. Les études 1 et 2 ont révélé que la tendresse était associée à un plus grand intérêt pour le visionnement de films tristes. Les études 3 et 4 ont révélé que les états affectifs tendres étaient associés à des préférences envers un divertissement qui non seulement présente des mises en scène tristes, mais qui présente du drame et des relations humaines. Les résultats sont commentés en lien avec la manière dont ces formes de divertissement peuvent procurer aux spectateurs l'occasion de contempler le caractère poignant de la vie humaine : une activité qui peut refléter des motivations de l'usage des médias liées à la quête de sens et la lucidité plutôt qu'à la seule expérience de plaisir. Abstract Der Zustand des Mitgefühls als Prädiktor für Unterhaltungsvorlieben In vier Studien wurde untersucht, wie mitfühlende affektive Zustände (z.B. Wärme, Sympathie, Verständnis) die Zuwendung zu Unterhaltungsinhalten mit melancholischen, dramatischen oder tragischen Darstellungen voraussagen können. Studien 1 und 2 zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen Mitgefühl und einem größerem Interesse, sich traurige Filme anzusehen. Studien 3 und 4 zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen mitfühlenden Gefühlszustände und Vorlieben für Unterhaltung, die sich durch Drama und menschliche Beziehungen auszeichnet, aber nicht durch traurige Darstellungen. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Blick darauf diskutiert, wie diese Formen der Unterhaltung den Zuschauer die Möglichkeit bieten, über die Melancholien des Lebens nachzudenken , eine Aktivität, die auf eine Mediennutzungsmotivation hindeutet, die mit Bedeutungszuweisung und Reflexion zusammenhängt und nicht ausschließlich mit dem Erleben von Freude. Resumen Los Estados Afectivos Tiernos Que Predicen la Preferencia hacia el Entretenimiento Cuatro estudios fueron conducidos para explorar cómo los estados afectivos tiernos (a saber, cordialidad, compasión, entendimiento) predicen la atracción hacia el entretenimiento que pone de relieve representaciones conmovedoras, dramáticas, o trágicas. Los estudios 1 y 2 encontraron que la ternura estaba asociada con un gran interés por ver películas tristes. Los estudios 3 y 4 encontraron que los estados afectivos tiernos fueron asociados con las preferencias por el entretenimiento que pone de relieve no sólo representaciones tristes, sino también entretenimiento representando drama y conexiones humanas. Los resultados fueron discutidos en términos de cómo estas formas de entretenimiento pueden proveer a los espectadores de una oportunidad para contemplar las condiciones humanas con profundidad,una actividad que puede reflejar las motivaciones del uso de los medios relacionadas con el significado ó el entendimiento más que sólo la experiencia del placer. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] Desensitization to media violence over a short period of timeAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 2 2009Kostas A. Fanti Abstract This study investigated the desensitization to violence over a short period of time. Participants watched nine violent movie scenes and nine comedy scenes, and reported whether they enjoyed the violent or comedy scenes and whether they felt sympathetic toward the victim of violence. Using latent growth modeling, analyses were carried out to investigate how participants responded to the different scenes across time. The findings of this study suggested that repeated exposure to media violence reduces the psychological impact of media violence in the short term, therefore desensitizing viewers to media violence. As a result, viewers tended to feel less sympathetic toward the victims of violence and actually enjoy more the violence portrayed in the media. Additionally, desensitization to media violence was better represented by a curvilinear pattern, whereas desensitization to comedy scenes was better represented by a linear pattern. Finally, trait aggression was not related to the pattern of change over time, although significant effects were found for initial reports of enjoyment and sympathy. Aggr. Behav. 35:179,187, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The reduction of psychological aggression across varied interpersonal contexts through repentance and forgivenessAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2006Judy Eaton Abstract Research on the resolution of interpersonal conflict has shown that forgiveness is important in reducing aggression and promoting prosocial interactions following a transgression. Although the benefits of forgiveness have been demonstrated in a variety of relationship contexts, a single theoretical model has not been tested across these different contexts. In this study, we employed an attributional framework to examine the relationship between attributions of responsibility for a transgression, repentance, emotions, forgiveness, and psychological aggression toward three different categories of transgressor: a coworker, a friend, and a romantic partner. One hundred and seven participants were asked to describe a recent transgression with a coworker, a friend, and a romantic partner. In each case, responsibility for the event, the degree to which the transgressor apologized, anger, sympathy, forgiveness, and subsequent psychological aggression toward the transgressor were measured. A basic model of aggression reduction, whereby repentance facilitates forgiveness and reduces psychological aggression, was reliable in each category of transgressor. A comparison of the models showed minor differences in how individuals respond to transgressors. Although coworkers apologized less, they were just as likely to be forgiven as romantic partners and friends. In addition, participants were least likely to respond with psychological aggression when a friend transgressed against them. This research provides a theoretical framework within which to study forgiveness and aggression across a variety of contexts. Aggr. Behav. 32:1,12, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||