Categories
Psychiatric Disorders

Diagnostic Features of Dyscalculia

Written by Najwa Bashir

Dyscalculia

Two of the most common learning disorders are dyslexia and dysgraphia. One is dyscalculia, characterized by having trouble with math (Ahuja et al., 2021). Dyscalculia is a learning disorder that makes it hard to understand and use numbers. This can affect students’ mathematics education and well-being (Asalisa & Meiliasari, 2023). According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), dyscalculia is a unique developmental disease that causes problems with speech, motor skills, and the ability to see and understand where things are in space (Aquil, 2020). Although dyscalculia is as prevalent as dyslexia and dysgraphia, it is less well-known and has received less research attention than the other two (Grigore, 2020). Consequently, many educators possess an inadequate understanding of dyscalculia (Kunwar & Sharma, 2020), and pupils afflicted with dyscalculia fail to receive the necessary assistance during their mathematical education (Salisa & Meiliasari, 2023).

Prevalence

Dyscalculia affects 3-7% of all children, adolescents, and adults. Severe, ongoing difficulties with math computations cause significant impairment in the workplace, in school, and daily life. It also increases the likelihood of co-occurring mental problems (Haberstroh & Schulte-Körne, 2019).

According to large-scale cohort research conducted in England, there are significant psychological and economic problems linked to low mathematical proficiency: Of those impacted, 70–90% dropped out of school before the age of 16, and just a small percentage had full-time jobs when they were 30. Compared to people without dyscalculia, their chances of being jobless and experiencing depressed symptoms were twice as high (Parsons & Bynner, 2005). An estimated £2.4 billion is spent annually in Great Britain on expenses related to severe mathematical impairment (Gross, 2006).

Diagnostic Criteria for Dyscalculia

Behavioral specialists can determine whether an individual has dyscalculia or a severe arithmetic problem by using the Dutch protocol “Dyscalculia: Diagnostics for Behavioural Professionals” (DDBP). The following criteria are addressed by the DDBP procedure in order to diagnose dyscalculia:

  • First criterion: To ascertain whether the math issue exists and how serious it is
  • Second criterion: To identify the math issue associated with the individual’s capabilities
  • Third criterion: Assessing the mathematical problem’s obstinacy

The protocol also notes that a fourth criterion—difficulties that predate the age of seven—is incorporated in many studies. For most kids, this is accurate; nevertheless, dyscalculia is typically identified later in life among (very) brilliant kids.

Diagnostic Features of Dyscalculia

The following are the typical features of dyscalculia (Salisa & Meiliasari, 2023):

Trouble understanding and using numbers and amounts starting in preschool

  • It’s hard to make the connection between a number (like 2) and the thing it stands for (like 2 apples).
  • People don’t fully understand the relationship between numbers and amounts (two apples and one apple = 2 + 1).
  • Because of this, it’s hard to count, compare two numbers or amounts, quickly evaluate and name small groups of dots, find a number’s position on the number line, understand the place-value system, and transcode.

Problems with simple math operations and other math-related tasks

  • Individuals don’t understand how to use computation rules because they don’t understand numbers and amounts well enough (17 + 14 = 1 + 1 and 7 + 4 = 13 or 211).
  • Questions with remembering math facts (like the multiplication table), which are facts that let you get the answers to simple math questions without having to do the math all over again.
  • No change from counting to non-counting methods (8 + 4 = 8 + 2 and 2 = 12) when doing math (8 + 4 = 9, 10, 11, 12 = 12).
  • These problems get worse as the math gets harder (bigger number range, written calculations, computations with multiple steps, word problems).

Important

  • Finger-counting is not a sign of dyscalculia; it is a normal way to help you remember math facts and learn how to do calculations quickly and correctly. Finger-counting over and over, especially for simple calculations that are done over and over, does show that there is a problem with the calculations.
  • What matters is not just that there are mistakes in the calculations; what matters is their range, how long they last, and how often they happen.

The main thing that is used to diagnose dyscalculia is a difference between a person’s brain and their supposed math skills. In a full test that can also be used to plan a therapy intervention, the cause of dyscalculia and problems understanding visual information should both be taken into account. This should be taken into account when choosing the right test methods. The new definition of dyscalculia takes into account not only IQ and math success in school, but also problems with basic skills that are common in people with dyscalculia. The IQ difference and the best IQ test for dyscalculia are still debated. One new thing about this work is that it uses a multidisciplinary method to give a full picture of dyscalculia and how to diagnose it. This could help scholars from other fields (Aquil, 2020).

Early diagnosis of dyscalculia will ensure early management of the problem. The aforementioned criteria and diagnostic features can help diagnose dyscalculia.

References

  • Ahuja, N. J., Thapliyal, M., Bisht, A., Stephan, T., Kannan, R., Al-Rakhami, M. S., & Mahmud, M. (2021). An investigative study on the effects of pedagogical agents on intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load: experimental findings with dyscalculia and non-dyscalculia learners. IEEE Access, 10, 3904-3922. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3115409
  • Aquil, M. A. I. (2020). Diagnosis of dyscalculia: A comprehensive overview. South Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(1), 43-59. Available at: https://acspublisher.com/journals/index.php/sajssh/article/view/1124
  • Grigore, M. (2020). Towards a standard diagnostic tool for dyscalculia in school children. CORE Proceedings, 1(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21428/bfdb1df5.d4be3454
  • Gross, J. (2006). The long term costs of literacy difficulties. KPMG Foundation.
  • Haberstroh, S., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2019). The diagnosis and treatment of dyscalculia. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 116(7), 107. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2019.0107
  • Kunwar, R., & Sharma, L. (2020). Exploring Teachers’ Knowledge and Students’ Status about Dyscalculia at Basic Level Students in Nepal. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(12). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8940
  • Parsons, S., & Bynner, J. (2005). National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy. London: Institute of Education.
  • Salisa, R. D., & Meiliasari, M. (2023). A literature review on dyscalculia: What dyscalculia is, its characteristics, and difficulties students face in mathematics class. Alifmatika: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran Matematika, 5(1), 82-94. https://doi.org/10.35316/alifmatika.2023.v5i1.82-94
  • Van Luit, J. E. (2019). Diagnostics of dyscalculia. International handbook of mathematical learning difficulties: From the laboratory to the classroom, 653-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97148-3_38
Categories
Dark Personality Psychology

An Introduction to Machiavellianism

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a diplomat from Florence. He traveled to the courts of Europe and saw directly how the leaders he supported arose and then met their demise.

He wrote The Prince in an effort to get along with the new king (Machiavelli, 1966).

To put it briefly, The Prince is a book with tips on how to get and keep power. Apparently, there are no standard ideals like faith, respect, or humanity in it. In other words, one does what is convenient for him.

I, however, disagree.

Machiavelli wasn’t really a Machiavellian. In fact, he loved his state in a way that was not typical of a Machiavellian. Moreover, his work could also be considered insightful, to a degree.

This particular attribute of his is what makes Machiavellianism a truly distinct personality trait. In some ways, this trait is practically helpful. In other ways, Machiavellianism is destructive.

Before we go into further investigation, let us first define it.

Definition

Based on the works of Niccolo Machiavelli, Machiavellianism is a tendency towards intentionally and strategically manipulating others to gain and keep power and control (Wilson et al., 1996).

However, other researchers characterize it differently. For example, Collison et al. (2018) describes Machiavellianism as a trait concerned with planning, being able to delay satisfaction, and being hostile toward others (Collison et al., 2018).

So, one can view Machiavellianism as both a negative and a positive trait.
Christie and Geis (1970) were the first psychologists to look at Machiavellianism as a way to explain why people behave differently. They came up with a set of tests for ‘Mach’. People who did well on the test – or high-Machs – and people who did poorly – or low-Machs – behave differently in many other areas. These areas are diverse. They range from jobs they choose to how well they do at games where they have to work together.

At this point in time, Machiavellianism is part of the dark tetrad. The Dark Tetrad is a group of dark personality traits that have some overlap: narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism. Prior to that, Machiavellianism was one of the three parts of the Dark Triad, along with narcissism and psychopathy.

I have already talked about sadism.

Paulhus and Williams (2002) were the first to talk about this group of personality traits. Fundamentally, these concepts are different, even though they all have tendency towards cruelty and hostility.

Core Features of Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism is different from the other three traits in two important ways.

  1. People who believe in Machiavellianism are pessimistic, which makes them think that most people, if not all people, only care about themselves.
  2. People who are high in Machiavellianism are flexible in how they deal with others and how they try to trick them (Bereczkei, 2015).

Researchers led by Bereczkei and others discovered that people who are high in Machiavellianism have brain structures that make them cautious when interacting with others. These individuals also have brain changes that show Machiavellianism is linked to being more sensitive to rewards and delaying satisfaction (Bagozzi et al., 2013; Verbeke et al., 2011).

So, having understand what Machiavellianism is, I will now detail experiments that assess this trait’s influence on social life.

Social Functioning of Machiavellian Individuals

Structured vs Non-Structured Environments

In 1993, Shultz looked at how well stockbrokers from companies with different organizational structures did at making sales.

In more organized companies, workers usually follow a proper sales guidebook. Plus, they are given possible clients, and it is almost impossible to change deals to change profits.

On the other hand, there are also companies that are not as tightly organized. These companies allow their employees to “wheel and deal.” Employees are given a short suggestion pamphlet instead of a sales guidebook, they can get clients from anywhere, and there are lots of ways to cheat on profits.

In short-term lab tests, this business structure is more like the kind of setup that lets high-Machs work.

Shultz (1993) divided the range of Mach scores at the middle point to create groups for high-Mach and low-Mach scores.

The findings were interesting.

When companies were not very organized, high-Machs had more clients and made twice as much in fees as low-Machs. On the other hand, Low-Machs made twice as much as high-Machs in organizations with tight structures.

This demonstrates how people high in Machiavellianism can do better than others in an environment where the rules are lax.

Trustful vs Distrustful Bosses

In 1976, Harrell and Hartnagel gave both high- and low-Machs a chance to steal from a worker-supervisor. In one situation, the boss was very sure that the worker would steal, so he or she kept an eye on them during the session. In the second situation, the boss was more trustful and told the worker that he or she didn’t need to be watched as closely.

A lot of people stole from the boss they didn’t trust. The gaps between high- and low-Machs weren’t that big.

High Machs, on the other hand, were much more likely to steal from the trusted boss and also stole more than low Machs. Furthermore, overall, they stole more money than people low in Machiavellianism.

This indicates a greater tendency of those high in Machiavellianism to engage in deceitful behavior in situations where the authority is unsure.

Flexibility and Leadership

In 1980, Drory and Gluskinos looked into how Machiavellianism could be used as a personality style for leadership in controlled task groups.

As part of the study, the subjects were put in charge of task groups that built toy cube bridges in both good and bad conditions. It was shown that the boss had a lot of power when things were going well. In the bad case, on the other hand, the boss was shown to not have much power to lead.
The result of the high Mach led group was the same as that of the low Mach led group.

However, there were big differences in how the groups interacted with each other.

Leaders high in Machiavellianism gave out more directions and did less to ease stress.

The low Machs, on the other hand, behaved the same way in both good and bad cases. Conversely, the high Machs were less directive and asked for help more when things were not favorable.

The study demonstrates the flexibility that is associated with Machiavellianism.

Difference between Machiavellianism and Psychopathy

There exists a major problem in differentiating Machiavellianism.

For one, existing tests for Machiavellianism don’t match up with how experts rate the idea (Miller et al., 2017). Secondly, these tests are almost identical to tests for psychopathy (Vize et al., 2018).

The main issue is that current tests of Machiavellianism are linked to disinhibition tests that look at traits like impatience, laziness, failure, and not sticking with something even when it gets hard. This is a problem because Machiavelli wrote about how to get and keep power, status, and control through caution, calculation, and the careful, thoughtful consideration of risk. These are the exact opposites of being disinhibited. Thus, there is a major issue of conceptually differentiating the two traits.
Based on Collison et al. (2018), both categories should have high levels of opposition, but they should have different relationships with disinhibition. So, Machiavellian individuals would have high levels of restraint while psychopathic people having low levels.

While the research is still going on, it is important to isolate Machiavellianism as a completely separate construct.

Conclusion

Machiavellianism is a ‘dark’ personality trait which includes a manipulative style of behavior in social interactions. It also shows features of preoccupation with gaining power. However, the trait is often misunderstood at its core. Manipulation cannot be considered ‘completely bad’ behavior in various situations. Moreover, delaying gratification is actually considered to be an indication of mental maturity in individual.

Unfortunately, as described above, Machiavellianism is – often wrongly – equated to certain psychopathic behaviors. Further research is, however, required to measure the trait’s intensity. Research in the line of Collison et al.’s (2018) work, in particular, could give a better understanding of the trait and the personality it is most intense in.

References

  • Bagozzi, R. P., Verbeke, W. J., Dietvorst, R. C., Belschak, F. D., van den Berg, W. E., & Rietdijk, W. J. (2013). Theory of mind and empathic explanations of Machiavellianism: A neuroscience perspective. Journal of Management, 39(7), 1760-1798.
  • Bereczkei, T. (2015). The manipulative skill: Cognitive devices and their neural correlates underlying Machiavellian’s decision making. Brain and cognition, 99, 24-31.
  • Christie, R., & Geis, F. L. (2013). Studies in machiavellianism. Academic Press
  • Collison, K. L., Vize, C. E., Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. R. (2018). Development and preliminary validation of a five factor model measure of Machiavellianism. Psychological assessment, 30(10), 1401.
  • Drory, A., & Gluskinos, U. M. (1980). Machiavellianism and leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65(1), 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.65.1.81
  • Harrell, W. A., & Hartnagel, T. (1976). The impact of Machiavellianism and the trustfulness of the victim on laboratory theft. Sociometry, 157-165.
  • Machiavelli, N. (1966). The Prince (New York: Bantam, Original work published 1513).
  • Miller, J. D., Hyatt, C. S., Maples‐Keller, J. L., Carter, N. T., & Lynam, D. R. (2017). Psychopathy and Machiavellianism: A distinction without a difference?. Journal of personality, 85(4), 439-453.
  • Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556-563
  • Shultz, C. J. (1993). Situational and dispositional predictors of performance: a test of the hypothesized Machiavellianism structure interaction among sales persons 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23(6), 478-498.
  • Verbeke, W. J., Rietdijk, W. J., van den Berg, W. E., Dietvorst, R. C., Worm, L., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2011). The making of the Machiavellian brain: A structural MRI analysis. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 4(4), 205.
  • Vize, C. E., Lynam, D. R., Collison, K. L., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Differences among dark triad components: A meta-analytic investigation. Personality disorders: Theory, research, and treatment, 9(2), 101.
  • Wilson, D. S., Near, D., & Miller, R. R. (1996). Machiavellianism: a synthesis of the evolutionary and psychological literatures. Psychological bulletin, 119(2), 285.
Categories
Psychiatric Disorders

Diagnostic Features of Dyslexia

Written by Najwa Bashir

Dyslexia

Individuals with dyslexia face trouble learning to read out loud and spell. According to the DSM5, dyslexia is a type of neurological disease. Neurodevelopmental diseases are genetic conditions that last a lifetime and show symptoms early in life. Research on dyslexia was based for a long time on the idea that it was a specific learning disability. By this, we meant that the disability could not be explained by clear causes like sensory issues or general learning challenges (low IQ). Then, because it wasn’t possible to tell the difference between how well kids with dyslexia and kids with more general learning problems read and use sounds, this way of defining “discrepancy” lost favor (Snowling et al., 2020).

Given that they have problems with the phonological part of language, people with dyslexia have trouble connecting spoken and written language. Decoding words correctly and quickly can make it harder to understand what you read and build your knowledge (Kim et al., 2012). Spelling problems can make it hard to compose written work properly. Dyslexia can make people do badly in school, feel bad about themselves, and lose drive. This doesn’t mean someone is stupid, lazy, or has bad eyesight; it happens to people of all brain levels (Berninger et al., 2013).

At first, the word dyslexia was called “word blindness” (Campbell, 2011). It comes from the Greek words for “days” (lexi, from lexicon) and “ia,” which means “impaired.” People with developmental dyslexia have trouble reading, decoding, and writing words at the word level; writing seems to be the most chronic problem (Berninger et al., 2008). The Working Definition of Dyslexia under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a “specific learning disability” (Roitsch & Watson, 2019). Developmental dyslexia is one important example of a learning disability that has social and emotional effects that aren’t thought to be the main symptoms of the disorder. These problems can still be there or even get worse as an adult (Livingston et al., 2018). Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of the disorder are essential to ensure the prevention of adverse consequences. Given next are the diagnostic features of dyslexia.

Diagnostic Features

The following are prominent features of dyslexia (Roitsch & Watson, 2019):

  1. Trouble developing sound awareness and thinking skills.
  2. Trouble correctly interpreting nonsense or things you need to know.
  3. Trouble reading single words on their own.
  4. Oral reading is wrong and hard to do.
  5. Not being able to read quickly.
  6. Different levels of learning the names of letters and the sounds they make.
  7. Trouble learning how to spell.
  8. Trouble finding words and naming things quickly.
  9. Having different levels of trouble with different parts of writing.
  10. Different levels of trouble understanding what they read.

Most of the time, kids in preschool and early elementary school who have dyslexia have trouble learning to talk, learn sounds and letters, colors and numbers, write, use their fine motor skills, and recognize sight words. The fact that these kids have trouble with pronunciation is often a sign that they might have trouble reading later on. Older kids with dyslexia may have bad handwriting, trouble learning foreign languages, issues with ordering language, trouble remembering things, spelling mistakes, and ongoing reading, writing, and math problems (IDA, 2019). Spelling and remembering words with more than one letter can be noticed in written language. Comprehension and understanding may be hard in reading skills, and reading skills that are slow and often wrong may be noticed. People who have dyslexia often have trouble phonologically coding words, which means they have trouble knowing how words sound and what they mean (Snowling, 2019, as quoted in Roitsch & Watson, 2019).

Cognitively, people with dyslexia have trouble recognizing hidden shapes (Martinelli & Schembri, 2014), shifting their attention, and having problems with parts of their working memory that deal with spoken and written language (the phonological loop) (Berninger et al., 2015). Working memory is one of the most common symptoms of dyslexia that people name. When someone with dyslexia has trouble with working memory, they have trouble temporarily storing knowledge while doing other cognitive tasks at the same time (Baddeley, 1992, as cited in Roitsch & Watson, 2019). Teenagers’ ability to read quickly is affected by their language knowledge, which is linked to their verbal working memory (Shaywitz et al., 2008). Language experts, interventionists, and diagnosticians face new problems with a group of people that consists of those who are talented and also have dyslexia. People who are “twice exceptional” often do better than their regular peers on tasks that test their speech, working memory, and language skills, but they take longer to learn phonological awareness and how to name things quickly. Additionally, these individuals show very high verbal reasoning skills. However, it can be hard for teachers and parents to diagnose dyslexia in these individuals because their abilities often hide the effects of dyslexia on spoken and written language tasks as well as standardized tests (van Viersen et al., 2016), while the core deficits associated with dyslexia remain (Nielson et al., 2016). The same is true for adults with dyslexia: their symptoms are often less obvious because they have learned how to deal with the condition and the problems that come with it. Mental problems like not understanding sounds and naming things quickly, as well as problems with working memory and written language, may still be present (Kilpatrick, 2015), along with other thinking and reading problems (Chung et al., 2011).

Conclusion

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that makes it hard to read, write, spell, and even talk. The International Dyslexia Association says that about 10% of people have dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia cannot meet school standards because of their disabilities, which makes them feel overwhelmed and unimportant. With a world prevalence of at least 10%, a lot of students with dyslexia don’t get identified or get help for their symptoms. However, 90% of dyslexic children can be taught in normal classrooms with other kids their age if they get help early enough. It’s concerning that dyslexia was found in a large portion of the study sample. This highlights the need for more research and programs, such as campaigns to raise awareness among teachers, parents, and school officials. It’s also important to find children who haven’t been diagnosed with dyslexia yet and give them the right help as soon as possible (Sunil et al., 2023). The features mentioned above can help identify and diagnose dyslexia.

References

  • Berninger, V. W., Lee, Y. L., Abbott, R. D., & Breznitz, Z. (2013). Teaching children with dyslexia to spell in a reading-writers’ workshop. Annals of Dyslexia, 63, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-011-0054-0
  • Berninger, V. W., Raskind, W., Richards, T., Abbott, R., & Stock, P. (2008). A multidisciplinary approach to understanding developmental dyslexia within working-memory architecture: Genotypes, phenotypes, brain, and instruction. Developmental neuropsychology, 33(6), 707-744. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565640802418662
  • Berninger, V. W., Richards, T. L., & Abbott, R. D. (2015). Differential diagnosis of dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL LD: Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence. Reading and Writing, 28, 1119-1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9565-0
  • Campbell, T. (2011). From aphasia to dyslexia, a fragment of a genealogy: An analysis of the formation of a ‘medical diagnosis’. Health Sociology Review, 20(4), 450-461. https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2011.20.4.450
  • Chung, K. K., Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W., Tsang, S. M., & Lee, S. H. (2011). Cognitive skills and literacy performance of Chinese adolescents with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 24, 835-859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9227-1
  • International Dyslexia Association (IDA, 2019). Dyslexia Basics. Retrieved from https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics-2/
  • Kilpatrick, D. A. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Kim, Y. S., Wagner, R. K., & Lopez, D. (2012). Developmental relations between reading fluency and reading comprehension: A longitudinal study from Grade 1 to Grade 2. Journal of experimental child psychology, 113(1), 93-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.03.002
  • Livingston, E. M., Siegel, L. S., & Ribary, U. (2018). Developmental dyslexia: Emotional impact and consequences. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 23(2), 107-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404158.2018.1479975
  • Martinelli, V., & Schembri, J. (2014). Dyslexia, spatial awareness and creativity in adolescent boys. The British Psychological Society. Available at: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91865
  • Nielsen, K., Abbott, R., Griffin, W., Lott, J., Raskind, W., & Berninger, V. W. (2016). Evidence-based reading and writing assessment for dyslexia in adolescents and young adults. Learning disabilities (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 21(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.18666/LDMJ-2016-V21-I1-6971
  • Roitsch, J., & Watson, S. M. (2019). An overview of dyslexia: definition, characteristics, assessment, identification, and intervention. Science Journal of Education, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjedu.20190704.11
  • Shaywitz, S. E., Morris, R., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2008). The education of dyslexic children from childhood to young adulthood. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59(1), 451-475. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093633
  • Snowling, M. J., Hulme, C., & Nation, K. (2020). Defining and understanding dyslexia: past, present and future. Oxford review of education, 46(4), 501-513. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1765756
  • Sunil, A. B., Banerjee, A., Divya, M., Rathod, H. K., Patel, J., & Gupta, M. (2023). Dyslexia: An invisible disability or different ability. Industrial psychiatry journal, 32(Suppl 1), S72-S75. https://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_196_23 van Viersen, S., Kroesbergen, E. H., Slot, E. M., & de Bree, E. H. (2016). High reading skills mask dyslexia in gifted children. Journal of learning disabilities, 49(2), 189-199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414538517
Categories
Entertainment Film

10 Movies & Shows on Autism You Should Watch

Written By Najwa Bashir

Whether you are a psychology student looking for movies and shows to understand the diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or someone just interested in enhancing your knowledge about this psychiatric disorder, add the following 10 movies and shows on autism to your watch list! Each of these movies and shows showcases autism in its unique way and will surely serve the purpose you are planning to watch them for!

Hollywood Movies

Rain Man (1988)

Rain Man, with Tom Cruise as the autistic child, is an original and famous movie that changed the way movies hugely show autism. This thriller from 1988, directed by Barry Levinson, got great reviews. Tom Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, and Dustin Hoffman plays Raymond Babbitt, Charlie’s older brother, who is presented as having autism. The movie is about Charlie, a young man who is self-centered and interested in material things. He finds out about his long-lost brother Raymond when their father dies and leaves Raymond a large income. Charlie goes on a road trip with Raymond at first because he wants to save money, but he ends up learning a lot about his brother’s illness and the amazing skills that come with it.

A Brilliant Young Mind (2014)

For people with autism, making new friends can be hard, especially when they are teenagers. This movie is good for the whole family because it shows how a smart young man who has trouble making friends makes friends with a girl when he makes it onto the British team for the International Mathematics Olympiad. The moving story shows that even though it can be hard, making new friends can be done if you have ASD. His family will cheer for both his team and his new friendship.

Fly Away (2011)

The story of Fly Away is about how hard it is for Jeanne to be with her autistic teenage daughter Mandy. Mandy does a lot of bad things that Jeanne has to deal with while she tries to run her own life. Mandy’s behavior gets so bad at one point that her mother has to care for her 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and loses her job as a result. Mandy’s father and Jeanne need to find out if domestic placement is a choice for her. This could give her a safe place to live and more freedom.

Hollywood Shows

Atypical (2017)

This show is about a young man with autism who is 18 years old and wants to find a girlfriend and won’t let the fact that his mother is watchful stop him. His search throws his family into a panic as they try to find their freedom and learn how hard it has been to care for someone with ASD. It’s a show that makes you feel good, breaks your heart, and makes you think.

The Good Doctor (2017)

In The Good Doctor, a young autistic surgeon and genius from a difficult past moves from Wyoming to busy San Jose, California, to work at a famous hospital. His amazing skills and gifts as a surgeon keep him going as he deals with relationships and other problems in a new place. This show is a great medical story that shows the beautiful, unique, and complicated conflicts of life with ASD.

Bollywood Movies

Barfi (2012)

Jhilmil is a young girl with autism who is played by Priyanka Chopra in the movie. Priyanka learned a lot about autistic kids and how they act to get ready for the part. This comedy-drama movie was one of the best-reviewed and most-bought movies of that year. It was also India’s official entry for the 85th Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film.” Jhilmil, played by Priyanka Chopra, is autistic and finds love with Barfi, played by Ranbir Kapoor, who is deaf and dumb. Through Jhilmil’s trip, the movie did a great job of showing a small part of the daily lives of autistic people and the different ways they feel. Chopra’s performance as the character was so complex and natural that The Forum for Autism (FFA) asked her to be the face of their campaign.

Yuuvraj (2008)

The role played by Anil Kapoor in the 2008 movie Yuuvraj is said to have autism. In the movie, he plays Gyanesh, a rock star musician. The movie is based on the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman movie Rain Man. In that movie, Hoffman plays a genius with autism.

The main focus of everything is Gyanesh Yuvvraaj. However, since he is autistic and a genius, he has no idea what money is, so his huge fortune doesn’t affect him at all. He only wants love. Without it, he dies. He has a genius problem by some strange turn of events. He has been very good at all kinds of singing since he was a child. He walks into Deven’s world of music and instantly turns into the hero Deven always wanted to be.

Turkish Shows

Dönence

Gece is at the heart of the story in this drama. She had planned to go to college and spend the summer making music with her boyfriend Emir. But she had to change her plans because her disabled sister Gülce is having a hard time in Istanbul with all the noise and people. Gece finds herself in Foça with her family out of the blue because she doesn’t want to leave her lover and all her dreams in Istanbul. Right away, her whole world changes, then she meets Özgür, a teacher at the sailing club where her brother is a member. After his parents died in a fire, Özgür, a beautiful young man, has given his whole life to his brother Rüzgar, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Gece learns how to look at life more maturely as she spends more time with Özgür, and Özgür learns from Gece that she shouldn’t put life off.

Mucize Doktor

This drama is about Ali, a young autistic genius who just graduated from medical school and had a hard childhood. He is very smart, but his situation makes it hard for him to talk to other people. He really wants to become a surgeon. Adil is Ali’s uncle and the head doctor at the Anka Private Hospital. When Ali gets a good score in TUS, he wants to hire him as an assistant doctor in the hospital where he is the top physician. The hospital, on the other hand, is very against Adil. Ali has to deal with a lot of problems in this new world. Because of how smart he is, he helps many people, gets through tough times, and saves lives. But because of his situation, he also makes mistakes along the way. On the other hand, he keeps fighting his handicap and tries to figure out how to talk to other people. He learns what it means to be a person and slowly starts to stand on his own. In that hospital, Ali learns more than just how to be a surgeon.

Pakistani Dramas

Pyar ke Sadke

Pyar ke Sadke, which was written by Zanjabeel Asim, screens the main characters, Bilal Abbas and Yumna Zaidi. Both of them have Autism Spectrum Disorder and are dealing with life’s problems in their unique ways. Even though they both think about what they want in life all the time, it is clear that they are willing to fight hard for it. It gets worse for both characters because they have to keep up with the rest of the world and even go ahead of it. After all, that’s what their gender roles and societal rules say they should do. The weight of hopes and disappointments is so great that constant pain is unavoidable. Pyar ke Sadkey shows the sad truths of life in the best way possible. The beautiful plot is made even better by the light humor and real feelings of someone with ASD. As the series goes on, we see more changes and unexpected events. We also get to see Yumna and Bilal find peace in each other because only they can understand the pain that their society causes them.

Categories
Cognitive Psychology Dark Personality Psychology

What is the Main Character Syndrome?

what is main character syndrome

Have you ever felt that you are the hero/heroine of your story? Do you feel as if everything in your world has an effect on your ‘story’?

Or, let me put it this way: have you ever felt that you are completely different from everyone around you?

If you have felt this, then chances are that you have ‘main character syndrome’. The main character syndrome is an unofficial term used for the belief that one is the main character of life.

Right there, as a clinical psychologist I am reminded about the concept of fantastical thinking. However, rather than approach the main character syndrome as a disorder of cognition, I will be more nuanced.

By the method of psychoanalysis, I will attempt to show the features and progression of the main character syndrome.

Symptoms of Main Character Syndrome

People at large understand that they are in some ways the main character of their life.

However, a person with main character syndrome tends to go further than that. To be specific, the main character syndrome is the belief that one is the main character of not only their own life, but of the lives of the people around them as well.

There are many parallels between this syndrome and various personality disorders. In particular, there appear to be 6 symptoms.

  • Impairment in empathy
  • Intense relationships
  • A tendency to enjoy attention
  • Self-related fantasies
  • A feeling of superiority
  • Dramatic thinking

Oddly, all of these 6 symptoms can be found in Cluster B personality disorders of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (DSM) V (APA, 2022). These disorders are related to antisocial, narcissistic, emotionally unstable and histrionic traits.

However, I argue in this essay that the symptoms of the main character syndrome are at a sub-clinical level. This means that these symptoms can be found in individuals who do not have major psychological disorders.

So, why isn’t the main character syndrome harmful in itself?

Psychoanalysis of the Main Character

Archetype and Personality

If you understand the archetype of ‘The Hero’, you understand the depth of the main character syndrome. According to Carl Jung (2012), the Swiss psychologist named the Hero as part of the ‘Self’ archetype. The Hero represents the struggles and trials of an individual character as he/she moves towards a grand goal. The Hero already has a view of the world that he is very important.

Moreover, there is a strong element of ‘fantasy.’

I hypothesize here that individuals with this syndrome are also high in openness to fantasy, a trait of the five-factor model of personality.

The main character fantasizes the life he would have dependently or independently of the goals that he might achieve eventually.

Motivation

If you analyze yourself, you will find that you have certain desires. Clark Hull (1937), an American psychologist, pointed out that we have a psychic drive to attain our desires. To reduce this drive, we attempt to move towards a certain goal. This, he said, was ‘motivation.’

Motivation underlies the story of the Hero. He has high ambitions to follow because he has goals which are idealistic. Since he also can fantasize and imagine very vividly, he can translate this fantasy to others around him. And thus, his goals become very attractive – not just to him, but to the people around him too.

Relationships

By focusing on himself, the Hero, in some ways, foregoes the deep emotional connection that he has with others.

But, to a main character, if he has a generally adaptive view of the world, the people around him also represent ‘worthy’ characters in his life.

So, while his empathy is impaired, the Hero maintains some emotional connections.

The relationships might be intense, since the main character takes many things personally and could have overly dramatic reactions. But this is not because the main character is inherently malicious (there is no such thing as inherently malicious). Rather it is because he ascribes a high value to his goals and beliefs.

This, obviously, has a darker side as well.

Conflicts

Suppose that an individual with the main character syndrome has had a tumultuous childhood, or early life. This individual could have distorted views about violence, aggression and morality in general. As a result, they might end up harming themselves, or the people around them

I argue here that this is the case in cluster B personality disorders. This is also found in the subclinical dark tetrad of personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism).

In fact, even if the beliefs of an individual are not antisocial, he/she can still end up hurting others.

Death of the Hero

The ‘Hero complex’ does not carry on for the entirety of his life. According to Joseph Campbell (1987), at a certain point, the Hero experiences ‘ego death.’ This is the point where the Hero complex is resolved.

However, if an individual is reinforced for his/her main character syndrome, it does not die until the reinforcement ends. This could happen in the case of people who acquire affluence based on their drive.

In some cases, it could be that an individual never ceases to move out of the main character syndrome. This can be seen in individuals who just cannot seem to forget small bits of evidence of success they have attained.

It can be found in celebrities, public figures and even antisocial personalities.

A significant number of people who are successful have main character syndrome.

Examples of Main Character Syndrome

I offer no diagnosis here.

However, I can comment on features of the main character syndrome in certain people.

After all, many famous figures have reported feeling the same way. Take, for example, The Weeknd, who mostly sings about experiences of his own (whether real or imagined). If you haven’t heard The Weeknd, do check out his Dawn FM album. I believe that it is a great album to enjoy both musically and psychologically!

One can also find main character features in opinionated athletes. This is in the case of Mohammad Amir, a Pakistani cricketer. Amir espouses his opinions on cricketers as if these opinions are very insightful (even in cases they might not be). Moreover, he finds it easy to communicate with other cricketers as equals. He also appears charismatic but polarizing.

On the other hand, main character syndrome can also cause a person an undue amount of problems. For example, if you look at Charles Manson and his interviews, you will find his beliefs to be very idiosyncratic. This allowed him to manipulate his ‘followers’ into committing heinous crimes.

Conclusion

The main character syndrome can be, in some ways, used synonymously with the Hero syndrome, or Hero complex.

It is a useful syndrome. People who have it are usually charismatic and opinionated.

However, one must remain cognizant that they are not the only main character in the world. This insight is necessary if an individual wishes to not hurt others. If this insight is reached, the main character syndrome can be a powerful motivator.

It can also be looked at as an indicator of a dynamic personality.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).
  • Campbell’s, J. (1987). The hero’s journey.
  • Hull, C. L. (1937). Mind, mechanism, and adaptive behavior. Psychological Review, 44(1), 1.
  • Jung, C. G. (2012). Four archetypes:(From vol. 9, part 1 of the collected works of CG Jung) (Vol. 29). Princeton University Press.
Categories
Current Affairs Psychology in Pakistan

Tax Kum Karo: Analyzing the Relationship Between Income, Taxes and Mental Health in Pakistan

“If money is the bond binding me to human life, binding society to me, connecting me with nature and man, is not money the bond of all bonds? Can it not dissolve and bind all ties? Is it not, therefore, also the universal agent of separation?”

Karl Marx

Pakistan has entered its 5th unofficial year of economic turmoil. While the steep decline seems to have become lesser so, the decline still continues.

An Introduction to Pakistan’s Economic Woes

The National Accounts Committee (NAC) said that the average income per person went up a little from $1,551 in fiscal year 2023 to $1,680 in 2024. For reference, it was $1,766 in 2022 and $1,677 in fiscal year 2021.

On top of that, the Pakistani government is planning to raise direct taxes by 48% and secondary taxes by 35%.

This indicates an overall level of decline in the per capita income and a stark increase in taxes. To top it off, this decline is also in the midst of economic and political turmoil.

As a response to the proposed budget, many salaried people have resorted to protests. Banners are held high of #taxkumkaro (lower the taxes). These protests are still not as rage-filled as the table talk in Pakistani households.

What brews at the domestic and psychological level is far more debilitating than one can imagine.

These are the bare figures of the problem.

In this essay, I will attempt to assess how income and taxes impact mental health. I will also discuss what this means in the context of Pakistan.

Income and Mental Health

‘Tax Kum Karo’ is not just about taxes.

It is also about the shockingly low income of the salaried class that has to now pay additional taxes.

Low-income populations usually live under stressful situations. These chronic stressors ratchet up the risk of worsening mental health problems. Economic turmoil has long been linked to dissatisfaction with life. Poverty is associated with greater risk of common mental disorders (Adler et al., 2016).

According to the World Bank, 40% of Pakistanis are already living below the poverty line, with another 10 million hovering just above it.

This is a colossal figure. I argue here that it is far more pernicious than just a matter of sustenance.

It is a matter of psychological and philosophical devastation of an entire nation.

First, let us do a bit of groundwork and understand how the economy interacts with psychology.

How does Income Affect Mental Health?

Shields-Zeeman (2021) conducted a study on the linkage between income and mental health. They found that income is associated with reduced psychological distress and improved health.

So, combing this research with the fact that poverty exacerbates psychological issues, this presents us with an ugly cocktail.

How does Mental Health Affect Income?

A decline in mental health has a significant cost in the productivity of a country.

A decline in physical health also has a substantial cost on the economy.

In fact, poverty is thought to lower people’s ‘cognitive bandwidth,’ which can change how they make decisions and lead to dangerous health behaviors (Schilbach et al., 2016). Knapp and Wong (2020) wrote an entire essay detailing where economics and mental health meet. They cited productivity costs and the cost of illness (COI) as coming through both direct and indirect means.

Moreover, Marcotte & Wilcox-Gök (2001) conclude that 5–6 million workers in the US between the ages of 16 and 54 lose their jobs, don’t look for work, or can’t find work every year because of mental illness. Researchers think that people with mental illness make between $3,500 and $6,000 less a year compared to those who don’t have mental illness.

However, this relationship is even more complex when both directions are considered.

The Complexity

A review by Shields-Zeeman and Smit (2022) found that increases in income were associated with a small improvement in mental health. However, a drop in income had a larger negative influence on psychological well-being.

These findings suggest that the effect of income loss is more detrimental to mental health than an increase in income is for improving mental health.

This has important implications for those living just above or below the poverty line.

Why?

Because a very short drop in income can present these people a substantial risk to income security and mental health.

In Pakistan’s context, these findings have serious implications. This is because a significant amount of people were pushed to a lower socioeconomic class in the last 5 years (Ali, 2022). In fact, many of these crises featured political turmoil and polarization.

Link to Suicide

Another crucial bit of information is that domestic and financial problems are the two most significant reasons for suicide (Naveed et al., 2023). This, in some ways, solidifies a link between financial problems and severe psychological issues.

In fact, it is even more illuminating as the political polarization effects family leadership (Rashid & Rashid, 2024). This in turn could cause many domestic issues. Thus, the economic crisis and the political polarization have both a direct and indirect effect on mental health in Pakistan.

Taxation and Mental Health

Rawls’ (1971/1999) theory of justice says that countries with more progressive taxation had higher ratings of well-being. Meanwhile, countries with less progressive taxation had more negative daily experiences.

This was corroborated by a study conducted by Oishi et al. (2012).

However, in Pakistan, the current taxation is not progressive. This is because, according to the proposed budget, the people who fall inside the ‘middle class’ are also slapped with very similar tax bracket of the more affluent class.

Moreover, many of the taxes actually target the classes which are underprivileged.

The Pakistani Finance Bill was recently changed to raise taxes on business dairy farms and fuel. Builders and investors’ earnings are also taxed at a rate of 10% to 12%. Besides that, there is now a 10% sales tax on office supplies such as notebooks, pencils, pens, ink, staplers, and more.

MNAs’ trip allowances, on the other hand, has gone up from Rs10/km to Rs25/km.

There are also some seemingly ‘soft’ attempts to recover money from those who d o not pay their taxes.

These policies can be seen as pernicious for the people who they do not benefit.

The problem is that the people who do not benefit from this are also the people who no longer possess financial stability.

Another very important finding indicated by Oishi et al. (2012) was that in low income countries, even progressive taxation does not improve well-being.

Trust

It is no secret, however, that these tax demands are not the government’s own policy.

Most of the tax demands arise from the International Monetary Fund’s camp.

The IMF’s key demands include an increase in the tax revenue target, withdrawal of subsidies, taxes on the agriculture sector, increase in levy and taxes on power, gas and oil sectors, privatisation of sick government organisations and units and improving administration, a ministry official was quoted as saying.

The problem here is that this reduces the utility of government action. Once the utility is lowered, so is the level of trust in the population.

Nations are built on philosophical principles. A nation-state that cannot protect its citizens fails to justify its utility.

This can have an even more grievous impact on the national perception of the government. Rothstein and Uslaner (2005) argue that the social trust of a government is in itself a different dimension.

If social trust is lower, many people in the population reject even the better policies. Thus, if the current party in power has any interest in continuing its service in this fragile democracy, their way of handling the economic crisis is failing.

Conclusion

It appears as if the government of Pakistan has yet to understand basic principles of building trust. This trust is not built by documentation on social media about the work trips of chief ministers. Rather, trust is built based on policies which positively affect the people. One could argue that higher taxation is the way to go.

However, when allowances of government officials are increased at the same time, one can question:

Who is the state protecting?

So far, the tentative budget favors the people who are privileged. It allows room for tax evaders. But unfortunately, it strangles those who are already living below reasonable means.

But the protests of ‘tax kum karo’ rage on. One can only hope that at some point, the middle class could find a way into the power corridors of Pakistan. Perhaps, the people who are suffering the most deserve a chance at ruling.

References

  • Adler, N. E., Glymour, M. M., & Fielding, J. (2016). Addressing social determinants of health and health inequalities. Jama, 316(16), 1641-1642.
  • Knapp, M., & Wong, G. (2020). Economics and mental health: the current scenario. World Psychiatry, 19(1), 3-14.
  • Marcotte, D. E., & Wilcox-Gök, V. (2001). Estimating the employment and earnings costs of mental illness: recent developments in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 53(1), 21-27.
  • Naveed, S., Tahir, S. M., Imran, N., Rafiq, B., Ayub, M., Haider, I. I., & Khan, M. M. (2023). Sociodemographic characteristics and patterns of suicide in Pakistan: an analysis of current trends. Community mental health journal, 59(6), 1064-1070
  • Oishi, Shigehiro & Schimmack, Ulrich & Diener, Ed. (2011). Progressive Taxation and the Subjective Well-Being of Nations. Psychological science. 23. 86-92. 10.1177/0956797611420882.
  • Rashid, Z., & Rashid, S. (2024). Political Instability Causes & Affects. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(1), 294-303.
  • Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1971)
  • Rothstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for All: Equality, Corruption, and Social Trust. World Politics, 58(1), 41–72. doi:10.1353/wp.2006.0022
  • Schilbach, F., Schofield, H., & Mullainathan, S. (2016). The psychological lives of the poor. American Economic Review, 106(5), 435-440.
  • Shields-Zeeman, L., Collin, D. F., Batra, A., & Hamad, R. (2021). How does income affect mental health and health behaviours? A quasi-experimental study of the earned income tax credit. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 75(10), 929–935. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-214841
  • Shields-Zeeman, L., & Smit, F. (2022). The impact of income on mental health. The Lancet Public Health, 7(6), e486-e487.
Categories
Film Entertainment

Is Riley’s Anxiety Justified? – Analysis of the Movie “Inside Out 2”

Riley Anderson. All copyrights of images used in the film belong to Disney and Pixar.

Written by Najwa Bashir

Recently an animated movie named “Inside Out 2” came out and it is all over the internet. From Instagram posts and reels to google YouTube and Google, people are talking about it everywhere. The kids laughed at the intense scenes of the movie

But the adults are seen to be crying at the same scenes!

This is the case especially in the scene where Anxiety seems to have lost control over the situation and Riley gets a panic attack.

Many adults have shared how they could relate to Riley in different situations. However, many scenes in the movie makes us ponder if Riley’s anxiety was justifiable? This article therefore attempts to explain this question by analyzing the movie from the perspective of anxiety.

However, before that, let’s understand what anxiety is.

Anxiety

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), anxiety is a feeling that is marked by stress, worrying thoughts, and changes in the body like higher blood pressure.

Fear and anxiety are not the same thing, but people often use both terms interchangeably. People think of anxiety as a long-lasting, future-focused response to a vague threat, while fear is seen as a useful, present-focused, short-lived reaction to a clear and specific danger (American Psychological Association, 2024).

Feelings of danger, whether they are real or imagined, can cause anxiety. It can cause changes in how you think, feel, and act. When we are in or think we are in danger, our brains release adrenaline, a hormone and chemical messenger that sets off these fear reactions.

This is called the fight-or-flight response. This reaction might happen to some people in tough social situations or when they are thinking about big decisions or events (Felman & Browne,2018).

How Riley’s Anxiety Attempted to Protect Her

First off, anxiety makes Riley make a new friend as soon as she drops off at the college for hockey camp.

This was done in order to prevent the situation where Riley would be left lonely as her friends were going to a different high school. When Joy asked Anxiety why he did that, Anxiety explained; “the next three days could determine the next four years of our lives”. This is not just it, Anxiety also showed the possible worst case scenarios where Riley is sitting alone, eating alone and nobody knows her name except for her teachers, she does not fit in the group of other classmates and so on. This shows how Anxiety was trying to prevent uncomfortable circumstances by preparing for the future in advance.

Extent to Which Riley’s Anxiety Affected Her     

In order to prevent future adversities, Riley’s Anxiety made her leave her best friends on their own and go to make new friends in the high school.

Riley is seen hanging out with them, joining her new friends’ team and even getting her hair dyed like her new friends to fit in. Moreover, she broke her promise of staying together with her best friends, one of her core beliefs. This shows the extent to which anxiety can affect the individual.

Once Anxiety was done ensuring Riley makes new friends for her high school, he begins to analyze the situation of game. Anxiety wanted to make sure Riley is on the team and the coach has positive opinion about her.

However, he could not know about her coach’s opinion without accessing the diary in which the coach wrote everything.

This increased Riley’s anxiety and she started to experience intense symptoms. She felt restless, excessively worried, irritable, and could not sleep, all of which are the symptoms of anxiety (Felman& Browne, 2018).

Anxiety made Riley sneak into her coach’s office and steal her diary. She read what her coach wrote about her and Riley got quite uncomfortable after reading that which made her practice even more.

During the match, she could not concentrate and played so harshly that she hit one of her best friends. The lack of concentration is another symptoms of anxiety (Felman& Browne, 2018). Riley was so disturbed and started doubting her worth. She could remember all negative things about her. This is where Anxiety loses control and Riley gets a panic attack.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM) explains panic attack as a sudden, strong feeling of fear or discomfort that is over in minutes.

A panic attack is marked by four or more of a certain set of physical signs. Among these symptoms are palpitations (a racing or pounding heart), sweating, trembling, or shaking, shortness of breath or suffocating feelings, choking feelings, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or stomach problems, feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint, chills or heat sensations, derealization (a feeling of not being in reality) or depersonalization (a feeling of being separate from oneself), fear of losing control or “going crazy,” and fear of dying (Cackovic et al., 2023).

Riley is seen to experience majority of these symptoms. While everything blurs in front of Riley, Anxiety is seem to go crazy and out of control in the headquarters of her mind. He loses control and fails to find any way to get out of the unpleasant situation.

Finally Joy is successful in bringing Anxiety out of the situation and seeing Riley’s condition, which still did not get better, he apologizes.

Anxiety says, “I’m sorry I was just trying to protect her but you are right, we don’t get to choose who Riley is.” This makes her realize, it is not Anxiety’s fault alone, they were all trying to control Riley in one way or the other which way making Riley what she was not. Nevertheless, Riley only got better when all her emotions hugged her and she was allowed to feel each one of them equally.

Is Anxiety’s Behavior Justifiable?

As far as Anxiety’s behavior is concerned, he was just trying to protect her. However, in doing so, he disregarded the need of other emotions in Riley’s life and took the whole situation in his control which just made the situation worse and things began to get off his hands to the extent that Riley got a panic attack.

Anxiety makes Riley modify her feelings to elicit favorable responses from people and adheres to social norms, which exacerbates her anxiety. This is acceptable to a certain extent as Anxiety was trying to protect her from unpleasant future circumstances.

However, keeping Riley’s old emotions away from her was a wrong move. Anxiety must have not done that. Regardless of this, as he said, he was just trying to protect Riley. Despite everything, the other emotions including Joy understood Anxiety and made him understand that certain things are not in Riley’s control and she must not worry about them, rather she should worry and prepare about things that are in her control. This is one way anxiety can be dealt in a positive way. Joy was empathetic enough to understand Anxiety’s perspective and help him do his work but in a better way.

This empathetic behavior is not only exhibited by Joy and other emotions but also Riley’s best friends who forgave her after all she did with them once Riley told them the main reason for her to do that all (her friends were going to a different high school and she did not feel good about it), and Val, her new friend. When people genuinely feel and comprehend what another person is going through, they are more inclined to provide consolation, support, or help. Maintaining and fostering connections in both the personal and professional spheres requires this kind reaction. Riley experiences ups and downs, but everyone around her, including those she tries to impress, shows empathy for her. One such person is Val, who at the same time gives her comfort and causes concern.Val treats Riley gently, consoles her, praises her, and shows her affection despite her uncomfortable and eccentric conduct. All she wants is for Riley to be herself and not live up to the hidden and explicit expectations.

So, Anxiety’s behavior is justifiable although he took some extreme steps (like keeping Riley’s old emotions away from her and taking full control over everything) which he should not have, however, understanding Anxiety’s perspective is also important as he was just doing it to protect Riley.

Conclusion    

Similar to feelings of anger or embarrassment, anxiety is a natural emotional spectrum. Anxiety rarely lasts and usually goes away on its own in teens. However, for other youngsters, it either doesn’t go away or is so severe that it prevents them from going about their daily lives. It’s also critical to keep in mind that anxiety among teens isn’t inherently harmful. Teens who experience anxiety are more likely to think critically about their circumstances, which helps keep them safe. It may also inspire people to strive for excellence. Additionally, it can assist students in preparing for difficult circumstances like public speaking or athletic contests. Anxiety is not always bad, but one needs to be able to control it and prevent it from superseding everything before it is too late and things go out of hands.

Inside Out serves as a poignant and imaginative depiction of Riley’s inner thoughts, showing us that, despite the difficulties we face, a sense of safety and belonging can be fostered by acknowledging and accepting our feelings and placing a high value on wholesome connections.

References

  • American Psychological Association (2024). Anxiety. Available at: https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
  • Cackovic, C., Nazir, S., Marwaha, R. (2023). Panic Disorder. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430973/
  • Felman, A., & Browne, D. (2018). What to know about anxiety. Medical News Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454#what-is-anxiety
Categories
Cognitive Psychology

Overview of The Cognitive Triad

Aaron Beck was one of the first people to say that the way people think about things can cause symptoms of mental illness. In fact, the way people think about and process personal information can maintain this depressive state.

In particular, Beck’s (1979) cognitive theory says that the cognitive triad is a key process that makes depressive symptoms worse. Often, depression seems like it will never end because of these patterns of thinking.

This concept is a three-part system made up of bad views of the self, the world, and the future.

In this article, I will attempt to describe the cognitive triad using both negative and positive views.

Structure of the Cognitive Triad

One of Beck’s most important ideas is that cognitive mental illness is caused by three categories of maladaptive views about regarding one’s circumstances.

These three categories are shown below:

The Cognitive Triad

People with negative views of the self-think they are not good enough, worthy, or loveable. People with negative views of the world think that the world and other people are unfair and getting in the way of their goals. Lastly, having a bad view of the future means thinking that it will be hard and that the problems you are having now will last forever.  

On the other hand, some people may have a positive view of themselves, the world, and the future. This is called the positive cognitive triad, and it makes them happier, more satisfied with their life, and less likely to become depressed.

To put it another way, being strong helps people think positively. They have a positive view about themselves, the world, and the future. This in turn improves their health and makes them feel less stressed.

Views About Oneself

Negative

A bad view of the self is a trait of many illnesses and feelings. These conditions are obviously not healthy, such as depression or anxiety. People who are sad think they are flawed, inadequate, and unworthy. Tarlow and Haaga (1996) confirmed a link between having a bad view of oneself and having negative feelings in general. This backs up what the older and newer literature indicates.

People with more frequent negative states tend to have more negative views of themselves.

Positive

It is said that resilient people are self-efficacious, bold, and driven (Wagnild & Young, 1990). People with these traits are more likely to talk positively to themselves. So, this improves their self-image and makes them more independent. People who are strong have a good attitude about themselves. This attitude makes them look for and enjoy situations that make them feel good about themselves (Walsh & Banaji, 1997). In turn, they improve their mental health.

Views About the World

Negative

When someone is feeling down, they start to see the world in a bad light. For instance, people who are sad are unhappy with their current life and think that everyone is expecting too much from them. This indicates that they view the world having too many hardships. Moreover, they could perceive themselves as inferior to many people in their surroundings. This connects views about the self to the view of the world as well.

Positive

Conversely, a positive view of the world is common among people who are highly resilient (Parr et al., 1998). These people want to get back on their feet after problems and move on. People who have a positive view of the world are better able to see chances in tough situations and come up with ways to solve problems (Wang, 2009).

So, being able to think straight during tough circumstances makes them less prone to depression.

Views About the Future

Negative

People who have major mental problems might not be optimistic about the future. When someone is sad, they do not usually believe they can achieve their goals. According to a study by Leondari et al. (1998), these ideas about the future self might make it harder for students to do well in school.

However, having views of the future that are too positive could be a major issue as well.

Positive

Research shows that people who are strong are sure in their ability to see the future (Klohnen, 1996). For example, Zaleski et al. (1998) found that college students with a lot of hope are less affected by the bad effects of worry and have fewer health problems as a result. Moreover, they are likely to accept self-agentic talk, such as “I can do this” and “I am not going to be stopped” (Snyder et al., 1998).

According to past studies, people who have a lot of hope are better at fixing problems. Mak et al. (2011) say that they are more likely to take on tasks and use active coping techniques instead of passive-avoidant ones. Because of this, they are more likely to keep going when things get tough or stressful.

Having said this, there are issues with viewing the future too positively as well. For instance, Maden et al. (2016) found that employees who had higher positive evaluations of their future were less satisfied than those who had less positive views.

This could show how having unrealistic positive expectations of the world could negatively impact us.

Final Evaluation

Even though it is very important, it is still not clear what the theory and empirical state of the cognitive triad is. On the one hand, many theories say there is only one dimension. In other words, the triad’s three parts don’t really exist as three separate things; they combine. So, the cognitive triangle describes how people think about the self and two specific parts of the self: the future and the world (McIntosh & Fischer, 2000).

Beck (1979) acknowledged this quandary. However, he said that despite this correlation, the cognitive triad is still useful for clinical work. This is similar to what Albert Ellis said regarding thinking in ‘musts’ – that certain things must happen.

Some studies found that negative views of the self and the future were most strongly linked to depressive symptoms in teens (Braet et al., 2015; Timbremont & Braet, 2006). Other studies also looked at the role of negative views of the world in kids and teens (Epkins, 2000; Jacobs & Joseph, 1997).

There is one broad consensus: our beliefs significantly affect our experience.

This is one of the core curative processes in psychotherapy.

References

  • Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Penguin.
  • Braet, C., Wante, L., Van Beveren, M. L., & Theuwis, L. (2015). Is the cognitive triad a clear marker of depressive symptoms in youngsters?. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 24, 1261-1268.
  • Epkins, C. C. (2000). Cognitive specificity in internalizing and externalizing problems in community and clinic-referred children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29(2), 199-208.
  • Haaga, D. A., Dyck, M. J., & Ernst, D. (1991). Empirical status of cognitive theory of depression. Psychological bulletin, 110(2), 215.
  • Jacobs, L., & Joseph, S. (1997). Cognitive Triad Inventory and its association with symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 22(5), 769-770.
  • Klohnen, E. C. (1996). Conceptual analysis and measurement of the construct of ego-resiliency. Journal of personality and social psychology, 70(5), 1067.
  • Leondari, A., Syngollitou, E., & Kiosseoglou, G. (1998). Academic achievement, motivation and future selves. Educational studies, 24(2), 153-163.
  • Maden, C., Ozcelik, H., & Karacay, G. (2016). Exploring employees’ responses to unmet job expectations: The moderating role of future job expectations and efficacy beliefs. Personnel Review, 45(1), 4-28.
  • McIntosh, C. N., & Fischer, D. G. (2000). Beck’s cognitive triad: One versus three factors. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 32(3), 153.
  • Parr, G. D., Montgomery, M., & DeBell, C. (1998). Flow theory as a model for enhancing student resilience. Professional School Counseling, 1(5), 26-31.
  • Snyder, C. R., LaPointe, A. B., Jeffrey Crowson, J., & Early, S. (1998). Preferences of high-and low-hope people for self-referential input. Cognition & Emotion, 12(6), 807-823.
  • Tarlow, E. M., & Haaga, D. A. (1996). Negative self-concept: Specificity to depressive symptoms and relation to positive and negative affectivity. Journal of Research in Personality, 30(1), 120-127.
  • Timbremont, B., & Braet, C. (2006). Brief report: A longitudinal investigation of the relation between a negative cognitive triad and depressive symptoms in youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(3), 453-458.
  • Wagnild, G., & Young, H. M. (1990). Resilience among older women. Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 22(4), 252-255.
  • Walsh, W. A., & Banaji, M. R. (1997). The Collective Self a. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 818(1), 193-214.
  • Wang, J. (2009). A study of resiliency characteristics in the adjustment of international graduate students at American universities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13(1), 22-45.
  • Zaleski, E. H., Levey-Thors, C., & Schiaffino, K. M. (1998). Coping mechanisms, stress, social support, and health problems in college students. Applied Developmental Science, 2(3), 127-137.
Categories
Psychology in Pakistan

History of Psychology in Pakistan

Written by Najwa Bashir

The formal history of psychology in Pakistan dates back to the 1960’s. In Pakistan, psychology was recognized as a distinct academic discipline over 59 years ago (Zadeh, 2017). According to Michal J. Stevens, Wedding Danny, Dr. Nosheen Khan Rehman, and Taylor and Francis (2004), Pakistan had two universities in 1947. The psychology department was first set up in 1887 at the University of Punjab in Lahore (West Pakistan) and again in 1921 at Dhaka (East Pakistan; now Bangladesh). The University of Karachi, Sindh was founded in 1946, and the psychology school has been running since 1951.

Further psychology departments were set up in Peshawar in 1950 and in Rajshahi (East Pakistan) in 1953. Pakistan’s oldest psychology labs can be found at University of the Punjab, Government College University Lahore, and Dhaka University, which is now in Bangladesh but used to be in East Pakistan. In the 1960s, only the academic and theory parts of psychology were up and running. Experimentation was not a big focus.

In 1964, there were only 250 teachers working, no national psychological association, and no study magazine. However, later on, a psychological laboratory was set up at Punjab University in Lahore to study applied psychology. Universities were also encouraged to do experiments and research in psychology, and more journals for psychological research were published by Michal J. Stevens, Wedding Danny, Dr. Nosheen Khan Rehman, and Taylor and Francis (2004) (Firdous, 2010).

Up until 1960, one of the places where psychology was taught as part of the philosophy curriculum was the Government College in Lahore (Rafiq et al., 2022). GC Lahore used to teach psychology as part of the philosophy curriculum up until the 1960s. Psychology became its department at GC Lahore in 1962, thanks to the strong direction of Dr. Muhammad Ajmal. He became the department’s founder and head (Zadeh, 2017).

Forman Christian College, Lahore, was the second school that taught psychology. At Karachi University, the first separate school of psychology was set up. It was led by Qazi Muhammad Aslam, whose main area of study was philosophy. While Sindh University became its own thing in 1960. Syed Muhammad Hafeez Zaidi was seen in Frontiers of Psychological Research in Pakistan in 1975.

The main goal was for philosophy teachers to become involved in the field of psychology. Due to this, traditional indigenous people started studying psychology, which was mostly based on theory. There were early works in Pakistani psychology written by Hafeez Zaidi and a few others.

After 1960, many psychology schools sprung up. But at first, these departments couldn’t get many students, usually only three to seven. The reason was an opening in the job market. Before 1991, there were more than 10 universities in Pakistan that mostly offered M.A. and M.Sc. degrees in Psychology. Today, in 2018, about 12 universities have started to offer BS (Hons), MS, and Ph.D. studies in clinical psychology.

From the start until now, psychologists have needed a governing group, but the idea hasn’t fully grown yet. The University of Punjab and the University of Karachi both set up the Center for Clinical Psychology because President Zia Ul Haq was very interested in the field (Rafiq et al., 2022).

From 1960 to the present day, the field of psychology in Pakistan has been progressing slowly, but steadily. The growth can be seen in the fact that full-fledged psychology schools have been set up at the universities in Karachi, Sind, and Peshawar. Several associated schools began offering M.A. programs in psychology, and it became a separate subject to study at the Inter, B.A., and BSc levels. In 2007, HEC started a four-year BS Psychology program, which changed the way psychologists are trained at the college level in a big way.

In 1983, two schools of clinical psychology opened in Karachi and Lahore, two of Pakistan’s biggest metropolises. This was a big step forward for clinical psychology. At first, both schools gave people with a Master’s degree a one-year diploma in clinical psychology. After a while, both schools added graduate programs in clinical psychology. Dr. FarrukhZahor Ahmad started the Institute of Clinical Psychology in Karachi. He is a clinical psychologist who first learned his craft at the University of Stanford in Pakistan(Zadeh, 2017).

When the National Institute of Psychology, Islamabad opened in 1976, it added another important milestone to the history of psychology (Zaman, 1991). In 2000, Bahria University in Karachi opened the Institute of Professional Psychology. Several universities in Pakistan offer bachelor, graduate, and postgraduate programs in psychology and clinical psychology. These include the International Islamic University in Islamabad, NUST in Islamabad, and Beacon House in Lahore. The Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA) was founded in 1968, and the Pakistan Association of Clinical Psychologist (PACP) was founded in 1988. Both of these events were major turning points in the field. These are two national groups for psychologists, with the third one being just for professional psychologists(Zadeh, 2017).

Psychological journals can also be used to see how psychology has changed over time. The first psychology magazine came out in 1965, and there were five more until 1991 (Zaman, 1991). The Government College, Lahore’s Journal of Psychology, now called the Psychology Quarterly, has been out since 1962. In 1978, an Urdu journal called “Zehan” started coming out. From 1992 to 1995, the Institute of Clinical Psychology at the University of Karachi put out the Pakistan Journal of Clinical Psychology every other year. Journal printing stopped from 1995 to 2005, but it started up again in 2006 and has been going strong ever since (Zadeh, 2017).

The eleven years from 1995 to 2006 marks the time when the field of psychology grew incredibly in Pakistan and a huge number of people got PhDs in psychology. During this time, a culture of research grew, and as a result of rules set by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), research papers were required for academic job openings and raises (HEC, 2019). These requirements led to a rush of research papers being published in Pakistan, and many new research magazines were also set up. Back then, from 1995 to 2006, the internet wasn’t very common, and even where it was, there weren’t many places where you could get free papers. Many researchers in Pakistan relied on the research magazines that were available in their university libraries. Due to this, these studies were mentioned hundreds of times and were the easiest to find examples of published studies. Also, most of the people who wrote these studies were professors working at both public and private colleges. These professors also oversee MPhil and PhD studies, and most of the research done at that time was for MPhil or PhD theses (Kamrani et al., 2022).

References

  • Firdous, N. (2010). Historical Perspective of Psychology in Balochistan: Depiction, Dynamics and Development. Bi-Annual Research Journal “Balochistan Review”,23(2), 93-111. Available at: http://www.uob.edu.pk/Journals/Balochistan-Review/data/BR%2002%202010/93-111%20HISTORICAL%20PERSPECTIVE%20OF%20PSYCHOLOGY%20IN%20BALOCHISTAN%20DEPICTION,%20DYNAMICS%20AND%20DEVELOPMENT,%20Neelam%20Firdous.pdf
  • Higher Education Commission (2019). Quality Assurance. https://hec.gov.pk/english/services/universities/QA/Pages/faculty-appointment-criteria.aspx
  • Kamrani, F., Kamrani, N., &Kamrani, F. (2022). Eleven Years of Psychological Researches in Pakistan (1995-2006): What Titles Reveal About Pakistani Research. Journal of Professional & Applied Psychology, 3(2), 319-326. https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v3i2.117
  • Rafiq, M., Zareen, G., Khalid, A., Chahal, F. M., Maqbool, T., &Hadi, F. (2022). Clinical and neuropsychology in pakistan: challenges and wayforward. Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences, 5(1), 119-128. Available at:https://readersinsight.net/PJMLS/article/view/2442
  • Zadeh, Z. F. (2017). Clinical Psychology in Pakistan: Past, Present and Future. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 7(11), 26-28. Available at: https://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_11_November_2017/4.pdf Zaman,R.M. (1991). Clinical Psychology in Pakistan. Psychology and Developing Societies. Sage Publication. Available at: http://www.sagepublication.com?content/3/2/221.
Categories
Dark Personality Psychology

An Introduction to Sadism

Sadism is a psychological construct which has a relatively sparse amount of scientific literature.

This is odd as sadism as a literary construct has been under study for centuries. According to Meloy (1997), sadism is basically getting pleasure from someone else’s physical or mental pain or from controlling and dominating them. Sadists are also known as violent narcissists or malignant narcissists because they get pleasure from hurting other people and don’t seem to care that they’re hurting others (Meloy, 1997).

Currently, sadism is also considered to be part of the Dark Tetrad personality traits. These traits also include Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.

So, there are two main components of sadism:

  • Deriving pleasure
  • ‘Hurting’ another human being

Having understood the components of sadism, I will now extend this investigation. In the next section, the subtypes of sadism will be identified.

Subtypes of Sadism

Psychopathic Sadism

Sadistic Personality Disorder was added as a diagnosis with eight criteria to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–III–R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987). To be diagnosed, a person had to meet at least four of these criteria. It’s interesting that none of the factors mentioned sexual sadism. Instead of that, they focused on dominance and power over other people.

This subtype of sadism pertains specifically to the assertion of dominance over other people and derivation of pleasure from that

Nevertheless, whether it is explored in literary pieces like 120 Days of Sodom, or in scientific manuals such as the DSM-V, sadism does have sexual connotations. In the DSM-V, it is considered as a paraphillic feature.

Hence, the next subtype of sadism I am going to explore is of sexual sadism.

Sexual Sadism

The term sadism was originally used to refer to the sexual arousal that some individuals experience in response to others’ suffering (Krafft-Ebing, 1907). This construct is still assessed today, under the more specific term sexual sadism.

Longpré et al. (2018) assessed the taxonicity of sexual sadism by conducting a taxometric analysis of the scores of 474 sex offenders from penitentiary settings on the MTC Sexual Sadism Scale. Their findings indicated that sexual sadism presents a clear underlying dimensional structure.

Thus, one can be sure that sexual sadism is a separate dimension.

However, there are some major issues with understanding sexual sadism. First, as Marshall and Kennedy (2003) have put it, there is a lack of consensus. Scientists are divided over whether the fundamental feature of sexual sadism is controlling the victim, humiliating them, and/or causing them physical pain.

Others have argued that it is none of these. For example, Proulx et al. (2006) have stated that sexual sadists are in fact primary rewarded by the power they exert over their victims, and not the victim’s distress per se.

To put it in a nutshell, there is confusion over whether

  • the infliction of pain gives this pleasure, or
  • the exertion of power over the other person is arousing.

Everyday Sadism

Sadism was thought to be a diagnostic condition until not too long ago. A lot of the study on sadism was done in investigative settings, mostly looking at sex crimes (Mokros et al., 2014). More recently, though, it has become clear that cruel traits can show up in other situations as well. This is called “everyday sadism” to differentiate it from sadism in sex or crime situations (Buckels et al., 2013). The idea of “everyday sadism” was helpful because it shows that these traits are present in community groups (O’Meara et al., 2011).

This further allows researchers to study sadism in various functional fields of life. These areas could be business, politics, work-life and relationships

Relation to Psychopathy

To understand the link between sadism and psychopathy, I will first explain the typology of psychopathy.

Millon and Davis (1998), through the psychodynamic approach came up with ten theory subtypes of psychopathy. These subtypes might be useful as a guide. However, they would be hard to study in the real world because psychodynamics are not easily defined.

Another problem is that it looks like a lot of the groups can be combined. There are times when these theoretical subtypes are too similar to help define accurate subtypes within psychopathy. However, factors that seem to be consistent with Cluster B personality disorders are taken into account. For instance, a “disengenuous psychopath” is someone who always needs attention, acts friendly on the outside, has a vague personality, and is never reliable. These traits are also found in psychopaths, but a psychopath who shows all of these traits to the fullest may indicate a stable form.
In 1998, Millon and Davis came up with three more subtypes: the evil psychopath, the covetous psychopath, and the unprincipled psychopath. These all seem to have a lot to do with different parts of antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and sadism.

Here, we can see how psychopathic behavior can be a source of pleasure. This is especially in the case where the individual exerts their dominance over the other.

Difference between Sadism and Psychopathy

There is an overlap between sadism and psychopathy. Psychopathy is a part of the Dark Tetrad that has links to sexual sadism in both community and clinical samples (Baughman et al., 2014; Mokros et al., 2011).
In spite of these links, there are two types of data that show sadism is not very similar to the other negative personality traits.

Hence, it should be given its own name.

Let us look at these streams of evidence.

Low Correlation

First, the links to the Dark Tetrad aren’t very strong. For example, in one study, daily sadism was linked to psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism with r values of .31–37 (Chabrol et al., 2009). This indicates correlation. However, the correlation is not huge. Thus, it could be assumed that sadism is a separate construct.

Sadism Explains Antisocial Behavior Independent of the Dark Tetrad

In addition to the Dark Tetrad, sadism explains a different kind of antisocial behavior. This is true in the case of cyberbullying (Smoker & March, 2017). It is also exhibited in experiments involving blasting task opponents with white noise (Buckels et al., 2013), or trolling on Facebook (Craker & March, 2016).

So, sadism explains certain antisocial behaviors which are different from the ones observed in classical psychopathy.

Conclusion

Sadism is a unique personality construct. It appears to interact with environmental factors differently. Moreover, its combination with psychopathy or other dark personality traits produces unique outcomes. Hence, there is a need for sadism to be studied more individually. Studying sadism could indeed shed even further light on to deviant behaviors on social media.

Ultimately, by investigating sadism, we could end up discovering even more of the dark side of our personality.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
  • Baughman, H. M., Jonason, P. K., Veselka, L., & Vernon, P. A. (2014). Four shades of sexual fantasies linked to the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 47-51.
  • Buckels, E. E., Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). Behavioral confirmation of everyday sadism. Psychological science, 24(11), 2201-2209.
  • Chabrol, H., Van Leeuwen, N., Rodgers, R., & Séjourné, N. (2009). Contributions of psychopathic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and sadistic personality traits to juvenile delinquency. Personality and individual differences, 47(7), 734-739.
  • Craker, N., & March, E. (2016). The dark side of Facebook®: The Dark Tetrad, negative social potency, and trolling behaviours. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 79-84.
  • Krafft-Ebing, R. (1907). Psychopathia sexualis. F. Enke.
  • Longpré, N., Guay, J. P., Knight, R. A., & Benbouriche, M. (2018). Sadistic offender or sexual sadism? Taxometric evidence for a dimensional structure of sexual sadism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 403-416.
  • Marshall, W. L., & Kennedy, P. (2003). Sexual sadism in sexual offenders: An elusive diagnosis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8(1), 1-22.
  • Meehl, P. E., & Yonce, L. J. (1994). Taxometric analysis: I. Detecting taxonicity with two quantitative indicators using means above and below a sliding cut (MAMBAC procedure). Psychological reports.
  • Meloy, J. R. (1997). The psychology of wickedness: Psychopathy and sadism. Psychiatric Annals, 27(9), 630-633.
  • Millon, T., Simonsen, E., & Birket-Smith, M. (1998). Historical conceptions of psychopathy in the United States and Europe.
  • Mokros, A., Osterheider, M., Hucker, S. J., & Nitschke, J. (2011). Psychopathy and sexual sadism. Law and human behavior, 35(3), 188.
  • Mokros, A., Schilling, F., Weiss, K., Nitschke, J., & Eher, R. (2014). Sadism in sexual offenders: Evidence for dimensionality. Psychological assessment, 26(1), 138.
  • Murphy, C., & Vess, J. (2003). Subtypes of psychopathy: Proposed differences between narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial psychopaths. Psychiatric quarterly, 74, 11-29.
  • O’Meara, A., Davies, J., & Hammond, S. (2011). The psychometric properties and utility of the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale (SSIS). Psychological assessment, 23(2), 523.
  • Smoker, M., & March, E. (2017). Predicting perpetration of intimate partner cyberstalking: Gender and the Dark Tetrad. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 390-396.
  • Waller, N. G., & Meehl, P. E. (1998). Multivariate taxometric procedures: Distinguishing types from continua. Sage Publications, Inc.