The Power of Stories.

Stories hold an important role in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. Their power derives in part from the fact that humans are biologically programmed for storytelling. Stories foster connection with others, socialization, and identity formation. They are integral to all psychoanalytic theories of therapeutic action, and their telling is therapeutic in itself. Psychoanalytic theoretical paradigms can be considered stories, as well. A positive outcome of analytic treatment has the individual emerging with an open-ended story that encompasses past, present, and future. Finally, an autobiographical example demonstrates how shared stories consolidate group identities, uphold and perpetuate a group's power over others, and perpetuate racial and ethnic stereotypes.

Edith Wharton's threshold phobia and two worlds.

The American novelist Edith Wharton suffered an unusual childhood neurotic symptom, a fear of crossing thresholds, a condition that might be called a "threshold phobia." This symptom is identified and examined in autobiographical material, letters, diaries, and selected literary fiction and nonfiction left by Wharton to arrive at a formulation not previously drawn together. A fascinating theme-living or being trapped between "two worlds"-runs through much of the writer's life and work. The phobia is related to this theme, and both can be linked more broadly to certain sexual conflicts in women. This understanding of Wharton's phobia, it is argued, throws new light on the developmental issues and conflicts related to the female "oedipal" or triadic phase, characterized by the need to negotiate the two worlds of mother and of father.

Role of social comparison in effet of the mass media on female college students body image / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To research the effect of the media on women's body image.Methods:The subjects were all from 2 colleges.The subjects of experiment 1 were 63 high and low trait social comparison female students.Among them,high trait social comparison subjects were 31 in the model image group,30 in the product image group.Low trait social comparison subjects were 30 in the model image group,32 were in the product image group.The subjects of experiment 2 were the total of 61 high trait social comparison female students.Among them,30 subjects were analyzed by similarity comparison,and 31 subjects received difference comparison.The instruments included advertisement pictures,body image states scale,the physical apperance comparion scale,and the consumer response questionnaire.Results:Analysis of variance showed that,in the model image level,the score of body image scale in high social comparison group was significantly higher than that in low social comparison group [(5.54±1.05)vs.(4.73±0.92),P<0.001].Regression analysis further showed that social comparison was moderator(ΔR~2= 0.035,P<0.01).For social comparisons mode,score of body image scale in difference comparison group was higher than that in similarity comparison group [(5.55±0.82)vs.(4.56±0.86),P<0.05].Conclusion:These findings suggested that social comparison can be used to prevent female college students' negative body images.