Existential dissonance : a dimension of inauthenticity

This paper will initially review integral concepts found within Heidegger’s understanding of existence or being - namely the dialectic between authentic and inauthentic living, and by extension, existential guilt, anxiety, and regret. Next, I will discuss a particular dimension of inauthenticity found at the intersection of existential guilt and regret, termed existential dissonance. This term, adapted from Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance will serve to illuminate several clinical phenomena. To ground this concept further, I will provide two case examples that further express and clarify this concept.

I'm a hypocrite, but so is everyone else: Group support and the reduction of cognitive dissonance

The impact of social support on dissonance arousal was investigated from a social identity view of dissonance theory. This perspective is seen as augmenting current conceptualizations of dissonance theory by predicting when normative information will impact on dissonance arousal and by indicating the availability of identity-related strategies of dissonance reduction. An experiment was conducted to induce feelings of hypocrisy under conditions of behavioral support or nonsupport. Group salience was either high or low, or individual identity was emphasized. As predicted, participants with no support from the salient in-group exhibited the greatest need to reduce dissonance through attitude change and reduced levels of group identification. Results were interpreted in terms of self being central to the arousal and reduction of dissonance.

Dissonance between conceptions of learning and ways of learning for indigenous Australian university students

This article reports on a phenomenographic investigation into conceptions of learning for 15 Indigenous Australian university students over the three years of their degree courses. The ways in which they went about learning were also investigated along with the relationship between individual students' 'core' conceptions of learning and the ways in which they learned. Results indicated that their conceptions and ways of learning were similar in some respects to those found for other university students. However, some students went about learning in ways that were incongruent with the core conception of learning they held. This can be regarded as dissonance between strategies and conceptions of learning. The implications of this for teaching and learning for such students are discussed.

Reacting to an assumed situation vs. conforming to an assumed reaction: The role of perceived speaker attitude in vicarious dissonance

Witnessing an ingroup member acting against his or her belief can lead individuals who identify with that group to change their own attitude in the direction of that counterattitudinal behavior. Two studies demonstrate this vicarious dissonance effect among high ingroup identifiers and show that this attitude change is not attributable to conformity to a perceived change in speaker attitude. Study I shows that the effect occurs-indeed, is stronger-even when it is clear that the speaker disagrees with the position espoused, and Study 2 shows that foreseeable aversive consequences bring about attitude change in the observer without any parallel impact on the perceived attitude of the speaker. Furthermore, the assumption that vicarious dissonance is at heart a group phenomenon is supported by the results indicating that attitude change is not impacted either by individual differences in dispositional empathy or measures of interpersonal affinity.

Cognitive dissonance and the effect of acceptance of methodology, beliefs about religion, religious orientation, and dogmatism on the success of university students in a religious studies course

The problem investigated was negative effects on the ability of a university student to successfully complete a course in religious studies resulting from conflict between the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and the student's system of beliefs. Using Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance as a theoretical framework, it was hypothesized that completing a course with a high level of success would be negatively affected by (1) failure to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies (methodology), (2) holding beliefs about religion that had potential conflicts with the methodologies and objectives (beliefs), (3) extrinsic religiousness, and (4) dogmatism. The causal comparative method was used. The independent variables were measured with four scales employing Likert-type items. An 8-item scale to measure acceptance of the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and a 16-item scale to measure holding of beliefs about religion having potential conflict with the methodologies were developed for this study. These scales together with a 20-item form of Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale and Feagin's 12-item Religious Orientation Scale to measure extrinsic religiousness were administered to 144 undergraduate students enrolled in randomly selected religious studies courses at Florida International University. Level of success was determined by course grade with the 27% of students receiving the highest grades classified as highly successful and the 27% receiving the lowest grades classified as not highly successful. A stepwise discriminant analysis produced a single significant function with methodology and dogmatism as the discriminants. Methodology was the principal discriminating variable. Beliefs and extrinsic religiousness failed to discriminate significantly. It was concluded that failing to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and being highly dogmatic have significant negative effects on a student's success in a religious studies course. Recommendations were made for teaching to diminish these negative effects.

Conceptions of health and illness held by Australian Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Papua New Guinea Health Science students

Health is considered to be a fundamental human right and developing a better understanding of health is assumed to be a global social goal (Bloom, 1987). Yet many third-world countries and some subpopulations within developed countries do not enjoy a healthy existence. The research reported in this paper examined the conceptions of health and conceptions of illness for a group of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Papua New Guinea university students studying health science courses. Results found three conceptions of health and three conceptions of illness that indicated these students held a mix of traditional cultural and Western beliefs. These findings may contribute to overcoming the dissonance between traditional and Western beliefs about health and the development of health care courses that are more specific to how these students understand health. This may also serve to improve the educational status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and potentially improve the health status within these communities.

Elites estatais e reforma do estado na nova rep??blica: o projeto Enap e a forma????o da carreira de gestor governamental no Brasil

Os objetos desta pesquisa s??o: 1) a atua????o das elites burocr??ticas do Poder Executivo Federal no processo de transi????o pol??tica no Brasil, nos anos 1980; 2) as frentes de reforma na Nova Rep??blica, nas ??reas social, econ??mica e administrativa e 3) as tentativas de renova????o da gest??o p??blica representadas pela cria????o da Escola Nacional de Administra????o P??blica (ENAP) e da Carreira de Gestor Governamental (EPPGG). Esse era um contexto de reinstitucionaliza????o da fun????o diretiva do Estado e de deslocamento das fronteiras entre o burocr??tico e o pol??tico no setor p??blico brasileiro. A hip??tese central aqui defendida ?? de que a ENAP e a Carreira de Gestor Governamental eram duas op????es inovadoras frente ao dilema sobre quais seriam os pap??is cab??veis a pol??ticos e administradores na nova ordem democr??tica, mas tamb??m eram op????es sem enraizamento nos pactos e agendas de prioridades que viabilizaram a mudan??a de regime no pa??s. A Escola e a Carreira estavam em disson??ncia com as principais tend??ncias de recomposi????o das elites estatais na transi????o a partir do regime militar e sofreram bloqueios em raz??o disso, mas a pesquisa procurou desconstruir algumas narrativas sobre esses conflitos interburocr??ticos, que associam as resist??ncias impostas ?? ENAP e ?? Carreira pelos grupos de funcion??rios da Fazenda e Planejamento a interesses meramente corporativistas. Com um trajeto pelos estudos sobre as burocracias dos regimes militares e sobre as transi????es no Brasil e na Am??rica Latina, buscou-se aqui uma melhor identifica????o dos grupos integrantes das ???tecnoburocracias??? e de suas contribui????es para a moderniza????o administrativa e econ??mica do pa??s, na segunda metade do s??culo XX. Buscou-se revelar algumas conflu??ncias entre as ideias de tecnocratiza????o e profissionaliza????o das altas fun????es p??blicas e seus elos com as aspira????es pela reconstru????o do Estado sob bases mais democr??ticas, mostrando que, nos anos 1980, as propostas da SEDAP n??o eram os ??nicos projetos de moderniza????o em curso, tampouco os grupos que a elas se opuseram representavam interesses univocamente antidemocr??ticos.

Alice's anima or the obligation of a reading transliteracy

This paper suggests an analysis of "Inanimate Alice" by Kate Pullinger, Chris Joseph and Ian Harper as an example of a transmedia narrative that triggers a new reading experience whilst proposing a literary alterity between reading and performance. Narrative experiences that elect the visual plasticity, interchanging games and tactility as drivers of the creative process are not new. Yet, narrative experiences, which have been created in the gap between reality and fiction, have found on the digital realm the perfect environment to multiple hybrid experiences. Bearing in mind Walter Benjamin’s concept of Erlebnis and Erfahrung, a critical analysis of this digital fiction tries to illustrate how literary art finds its space and time in a metamorphosed continuum only activated by the “patient reader”. All the multimedia hybrids, which this digital literary work may have, challenge readers to interpret different signals and poetic structures that most of readers might not be accustomed to; however even among a cognitive dissonance, meaning is found and reading happens only if time, space and attention are available. All possible transmedia literacies can only respond to this experience of online reading, if they are able to focus and draw attention not to a simple new behaviour or a single new practice, but to a demanding state of affairs that assemble different objective and subjective value forms.

Consuming sports: distinction, univorism and omnivorism

The question of the social usages of culture and its links with social groups continues to be a topic of discussion today. The aim of this article is to contribute to the debate by examining coherence in the choice of physical activities and sports. The study focuses on the upper social groups, questioning, from a macro-sociological standpoint, their possible omnivority and their dissonance of choice with regard to these activities. Based on a quantitative survey of the sports participated in by the French, the study shows that omnivority and massification of activities are major phenomena. However, the upper social groups in France remain distinguishable both in terms of their "high level of omnivority" and their choice of distinctive activities. Dissonance is another of their characteristics but to a lesser extent.

Mastectomy, body deconstruction, and impact on identity: a qualitative study.

Objectives This qualitative study aims at understanding the consequences of body deconstruction through mastectomy on corporality and identity in women with breast cancer. Design Nineteen women were contacted through the hospital. All had to undergo mastectomy. Some were offered immediate breast reconstruction, others, because of cancer treatments, had no planned reconstruction. A qualitative reflexive methodological background was chosen. Method Women were invited to participate in three semi-structured interviews, one shortly before or after mastectomy, and the other interviews later in their illness courses, after surgery. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was performed. The analysis of the first interview of each woman is presented in this article. Results Mastectomy provokes a painful experience of body deconstruction. Even when immediate reconstruction is proposed, contrasted feelings and dissonance are expressed when comparing the former healthy body to the present challenged body entity. Body transformations are accompanied with experiences of mutilation, strangeness, and modify the physical, emotional social, symbolic and relational dimensions of the woman's gendered identity. Although the opportunity of breast reconstruction is seen as a possible recovery of a lost physical symmetry and body integrity, grieving the past body and integrating a new corporality leads to a painful identity crisis. Conclusion With mastectomy, the roots of the woman's identity are challenged, leading to a re-evaluation of her existential values. The consequences of mastectomy transform the woman's corporality and embodiment, and question her identity. Psychological support is discussed in the perspective of our results.