Chance, Ambiguity, and Psychological Mindedness

Werman, David S.

doi:10.1080/21674086.1979.11926870

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The present study related PM to three well-established cognitive-style variables: ambiguity tolerance (AT), locus of control (LOC), and magical thinking (MT), toward the end of gaining insight into the relationship between cognitive style and PM. Werman (1979) identified two meanings of ambiguity: (1) imprecision, uncertainty, or vagueness and (2) the presence of multiple meanings (p. 108). Tolerance for ambiguity implies that one is able to deal with uncertainty and/or multideterminacy without regressing to fantasy, or primary-process thinking.…”

Section: Pm and Cognitive Stylementioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychological mindedness and cognitive style

2004

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Psychological mindedness (PM) is theorized to be a cognitively toned personality variable, yet, there is a paucity of research addressing the cognitive components of PM. This study was intended to redress this issue by testing the empirical associations between PM and Ambiguity Tolerance, as measured by the Revised Scale for Ambiguity Tolerance (MacDonald, 1970); Locus of Control, as measured by the Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966); and Magical Thinking, as measured by the Magical Ideation Scale (Eckblad & Chapman, 1983). The results indicated that PM is positively associated with ambiguity tolerance, whereas it is inversely related to external locus of control and magical thinking. These findings suggest a cognitive style profile for PM that includes flexibility, a sense of personal agency, and a propensity for realistic thinking. High-PM individuals are likely to bring these cognitive resources to bear in psychotherapy, a tendency that might explain why high PM patients make better use of treatment.

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Section: Pm and Cognitive Stylementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is likely that ambiguity-tolerant individuals are also psychologically minded. Werman (1979) argued that high-PM patients do better in psychotherapy, in part, because they are able to tolerate the ambiguity inherent in the psychotherapeutic process. 4 The PPI is an 89-item self-report measure of personality traits.…”

Section: Pm and Cognitive Stylementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological mindedness and cognitive style

2004

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“…Another element to consider: the patient was intelligent, educated, and with a good psychological disposition (Appelbaum, ; Werman, ; Beitel et al ., ; Hua et al ., ), and this allowed the capacity for insight and enabled a decrease in projections, corresponding to intrapsychic changes due to analysis (Katz, ; Meadow, ; Bass, ; Raphling, ; Romanowski et al ., ; Hanly, ; Blessing, ; Zack, ; Fisch, ). This was all based on the ongoing process of analysing transference and countertransference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of psychoanalysis in a case study using multi‐perspective methodology: Conflict in choosing a partner due to transgenerational mandate

Tamez¹

2017

The International Journal of Psychoanalysis

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A case study is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and the persistence of its benefits 20 years later in a young woman with severe depression, professional inhibition, and difficulties in partner selection due to transgenerational mandate (TGM). The investigation was carried out with psychoanalytic interviews with the patient and analyst, which were evaluated by both psychoanalytic and non-psychoanalytic judges following a methodology based on one tested in Germany by Leuzinger-Bohleber et al. (2003). The psychoanalytic treatment began in the early 1980s in Monterrey, Mexico. The study concludes that the psychoanalysis was effective in assisting with the patient's character disorder and partner selection, mainly because of the therapeutic alliance, the analysis of transference and character, and the patient's increased capacity for mentalization as a result of the interpretation of the TGMs.

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“…In the correlation analysis, the ambiguity aversion parameter did not correlate with scores of discomfort with ambiguity. In the field of psychology, “ambiguity” means not only imprecision or uncertainty but also the presence of multiple meanings (Werman, 1979 ). Indeed, the items of discomfort with ambiguity subscale imply a distaste for polysemous situations, such as “I dislike it when a person's statement could mean many different things.” On the other hand, ambiguity aversion is constrained to situations in which the probabilities of future outcomes are unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are ambiguity aversion and ambiguity intolerance identical? A neuroeconomics investigation

et al. 2015

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In recent years, there has been growing interest in understanding a person's reaction to ambiguous situations, and two similar constructs related to ambiguity, “ambiguity aversion” and “ambiguity intolerance,” are defined in different disciplines. In the field of economic decision-making research, “ambiguity aversion” represents a preference for known risks relative to unknown risks. On the other hand, in clinical psychology, “ambiguity intolerance” describes the tendency to perceive ambiguous situations as undesirable. However, it remains unclear whether these two notions derived from different disciplines are identical or not. To clarify this issue, we combined an economic task, psychological questionnaires, and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a sample of healthy volunteers. The individual ambiguity aversion tendency parameter, as measured by our economic task, was negatively correlated with agreeableness scores on the self-reported version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. However, it was not correlated with scores of discomfort with ambiguity, one of the subscales of the Need for Closure Scale. Furthermore, the ambiguity aversion tendency parameter was negatively correlated with gray matter (GM) volume of areas in the lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex, whereas ambiguity intolerance was not correlated with GM volume in any region. Our results suggest that ambiguity aversion, described in decision theory, may not necessarily be identical to ambiguity intolerance, referred to in clinical psychology. Cautious applications of decision theory to clinical neuropsychiatry are recommended.

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Chance, Ambiguity, and Psychological Mindedness

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Psychological mindedness and cognitive style

Psychological mindedness and cognitive style

The effectiveness of psychoanalysis in a case study using multi‐perspective methodology: Conflict in choosing a partner due to transgenerational mandate

Are ambiguity aversion and ambiguity intolerance identical? A neuroeconomics investigation

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