Search NEL Online

Journal Article 2002; 23(Suppl 4): 47-54 PubMed PMID: 12496735 Citation  Keywords:  Biological Evolution, Choice Behavior, Culture, Humans, Marriage:psychology,.   

: Marriage is universal, and pair bonding is found in other species too with highly dependent young. So marriage functions as a reproductive social arrangement that traditionally involved the extended family. The sexes are not identical in their biological contributions to children's survival, so they seek somewhat different attributes in a mate. Men seek a young, attractive, sexually faithful bride. Women seek a man who is older, taller, and (as in many other species) socially dominant. Both sexes prefer a kind, healthy, attractive, similar mate who is emotionally attached to them. A spouse who fails to maintain sufficiently high mate value is vulnerable to divorce. Infertility and sexual dissatisfaction predict divorce, as does death of a child, but the more children, the stabler the marriage. Cross-cultural data suggest that cruel or subdominant men (e.g., poor providers) and unfaithful women are prone to divorce. Marriages in which the wife dominates the husband in economic contributions, nonverbal behavior, and decision making tend to be less satisfying. In societies in which wives are economically independent of husbands, divorce rates are high. As women's economic power has risen with industrialization, divorce rates have climbed. Economic and fitness considerations also help explain cultural differences in polygyny, age at marriage, arranged marriage, concern with the bride's sexual chastity, and marriage ceremonies. Other factors also affect marital dynamics, such as state subsidies to families, the sex ratio, and influence of the couple's parents....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2002; 23(Suppl 4): 23-29 PubMed PMID: 12496732 Citation  Keywords:  Behavior Control:psychology, Cognition, Competitive Behavior, Extramarital Relations:psychology, Fear:psychology, Humans, Jealousy, Reproductive Behavior, Sexual Behavior:psychology, Sexual Partners:psychology, Socioeconomic Factors,.   

: Long-term committed mating is a fundamental strategy in the human repertoire. Successful enactment of this strategy requires solving two related adaptive problems--fending off potential mate poachers and preventing a mates from defecting. Mate guarding adaptations evolved to solve these persistent problems. Those who failed in mate guarding risked suffering substantial reproductive costs ranging from genetic cuckoldry to reputational damage to the entire loss of a mate. Because the precise nature of the adaptive problems confronted differed historically for the sexes, men and women evolved corresponding differences in the underlying psychology of mate guarding. Men's mate guarding, relative to that of women's, is strongly triggered as a consequence of being mated to young and physically attractive women, being confronted by interested rivals who have superior economic resources or prospects, and having a mate who displays signs of sexual involvement with a rival. Women's mate guarding, relative to that of men's, is triggered as a consequence of being mated to men high in income and status striving, rivals who are more physically attractive, and having a partner who shows signs of emotional involvement with another woman. Behavioral output of mate guarding adaptations range from vigilance to violence....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Editorial 2002; 23(5-6): 379-384 PubMed PMID: 12500156 Citation  Keywords:  Authoritarianism, Conflict (Psychology), Humans, Jews:psychology, Memory:physiology, Neurotransmitter Agents:physiology, Personality:physiology, Psychoanalytic Theory, Temperament:physiology,.   

: Research on personality as a useful construct to understand people's behavior in conflict situations was traced over more than fifty years, and an attempt was made to add neurobiological parameters to psycho-socio-cultural approaches. As a starting point, scientists in exile have been called to mind who had been expelled from Nazi Germany for their Jewish origins. Among them were Adorno and Frenkel-Brunswik whose extensive studies on the authoritarian personality structure were quoted. In their work, personality was defined as a more or less enduring organisation of forces within the individual helping to determine responses in various situations, which is responsible for consistency in behavior. As a next step, Cloninger's psychobiology of personality traits was presented. In his personality concept, four temperamental traits (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependency and persistence) and three character dimensions are included. Temperamental traits are heritable, developmentally stable, emotionally based, uninfluenced by social learning, and linked to specific brain biological features. The temperaments have a certain neuroendocrinological feature which can be determined. Character dimensions develop in a stagelike process from infancy to adulthood and are influenced by temperament, social learning, genetic factors, and random life events. Personality is still considered a useful theoretical approach to conflict management research and practice. A neurobiological point of view seems to be a useful supplementation in addition to traditional psycho-socio-cultural approaches. Measuring biological compounds can supply the conflict manager with an additional tool of knowledge enhancing the ability to understand and anticipate conflict behavior....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2002; 23(3): 219-225 PubMed PMID: 12080282 Citation  Keywords:  Acute Disease:psychology, Adult, Age Factors, Birth Weight, Cognition, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Neuroimmunomodulation, Predictive Value of Tests, Retrospective Studies,.   

BACKGROUND: The Barker Hypothesis suggests that an unfavourable uterine environment can have the effect of programming the body for disease later in life. Research indicates a bidirectional relationship between thought and biochemical reactions, that may be influenced by early programming. Reports suggest that 25% of variance in birthweight is a result of foetal environment and that the health and cognitive deficits do not just affect those with an officially low birthweight.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the influence of birthweight on cognition and minor illness in adults.

METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross sectional design with an opportunity sample of 75 adults. Participants whose birthweight ranged from 2.5 kg to 4.88 kg, completed a symptom check list and general self-efficacy scale, reporting on the previous month.

RESULTS: Analysis of variance indicates that those with higher birthweight have fewer minor illness symptom days and higher general self-efficacy. Regression analysis indicates that birthweight is significantly predictive of levels of minor illness and general self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION: From the findings of this and previous studies, it is possible to infer vertical coactions between foetal environment and immuno competence. It is suggested that birthweight is an early predictor of levels of a cognitive mediator and minor illness. Data were applied to an equilibrium model to represent the relationship in terms of Gottlieb's concept of horizontal and vertical coactions....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Comment 2001; 22(3): 151-152 PubMed PMID: 11449198 Citation  Keywords:  Motion Pictures as Topic, Psychology, Social Behavior,.   

...

Read abstract

Journal Article 2001; 22(3): 155-160 PubMed PMID: 11449189 Citation  Keywords:  Identification (Psychology), Individuality, Internet, Motion Pictures as Topic, Psychology, Social Behavior, Social Environment, User-Computer Interface,.   

...

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2018; 39(3): 159-171 PubMed PMID: 30431743 Citation  Keywords:  Family Conflict:psychology, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Marriage:psychology, Personal Satisfaction, Personality Disorders:psychology, Spouses:psychology,.   

BACKGROUND: Partner conflicts are the most common precipitating factors of decompensation of psychiatric disorders, including personality disorders. Personal characteristics play a fundamental role in both the prediction of marital satisfaction of the individual as well as the satisfaction of the couple as a whole. METHOD: Narrative Review of the articles, books and book chapters within the period 1956 - 2016 using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases with keywords "personality disorder," "partnership," marital problems," "marital conflicts." Additional references were found using reviews of relevant articles. RESULTS: It is evident that patients with personality disorders can have problems with meeting the criteria that contribute to the marital satisfaction and, on the other hand, easily fulfill the criteria that are related to the causes of the relationship breakups. People with personality disorders have substantial problems with starting and continuing a relationship with a partner. They have an unintentional ability to create and maintain problematic relationships. The association between the dysfunctional marriage and personality problems of the partners may have the basis in the insufficient understanding of the behavior of one or both partners. People with personality disorder experience numerous misunderstandings, misinterpretations, communicate poorly, and they are more alert to verbal and physical aggression in the interpersonal relations. They do not recognize that the basis of experienced struggles has a source in their intrapersonal processes and their relationship with the world. Persons with certain personality disorders tend to seek and create a pathologically stable partnership. To understand the dynamics of such relationships, examining personality traits first should be essential. Understanding the maladaptive personality patterns in the context of the relationship should be beneficial for both partners....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2018; 39(4): 331-341 PubMed PMID: 30531709 Citation  Keywords:  Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Anxiety Disorders:psychology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depressive Disorder:psychology, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Disorders:psychology, Middle Aged, Neurotic Disorders:psychology, Outpatients, Psychotic Disorders:psycho.   

BACKGROUND: Much attention has been paid to psychological factors influencing characteristics, severity, and course of mental disorders. The objective of our investigation was to examine the interrelations among quality of life (QoL), self-stigma, and coping strategies, demographics and severity of the disorder in neurotic spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and depressive spectrum disorders. METHODS: A total of 343 clinically stable Czech outpatients with different mental disorders (153 with neurotic spectrum disorders; 81 with depression, and 109 with schizophrenia spectrum disorders) were included. The patients were examined by their outpatient psychiatrists during regular psychiatric checkup and completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Quality of Life Satisfaction and the Enjoyment Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI), the Stress Coping Style Questionnaire (SVF-78), and the Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI). RESULTS: The study demonstrates that the self-stigma and coping strategies are significant factors linked to the QoL in all diagnostic groups of patients. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders had lower scores in QoL compared to the other two groups. The patients with depression or neurotic spectrum disorders had a lesser degree of self-stigma than the patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The severity of the illness significantly correlated with the QoL, self-stigma, and coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation confirmed the connection between the quality of life, self-stigma, coping strategies, and the severity of the illness, in outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, depressive, and neurotic spectrum disorders. A further longitudinal study would be useful to determine the causative relationships of these variables....

Read abstract  Full text PDF