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    Brain damage and personhood: a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1991) Mackenzie, Anne Jennifer
    In certain cases of specific brain-damage, neurologists are often puzzled about the patient's status as a person. They suggest that the person is changed, diminished, or even absent, but it is not clear why. Can a philosophical account of personhood help answer their questions? My aim is to show that a philosophical understanding of personhood can be improved by taking account of actual cases of brain-damage. At the same time, a philosophical analysis enriched in this way can help to dispel uncertainty and perplexity concerning those cases. I outline a necessary condition of personhood and show reasonable justification for it. The condition combines the notions of consciousness, being a continuing subject of experience, and awareness of being such a subject. Assuming the condition is justified, I go on to consider its application. I suggest that cases of very specific brain-damage may provide clues to capacities which are essential if the condition is to be satisfied. A closer examination of what must be the case if an individual satisfies each of the parts of the condition shows that this is difficult to determine. The main part of my project has two sections. Firstly, I focus on the condition itself. I show that memory for experiences is essential for having a sense of oneself as a continuing subject of experience and I answer possible objections to this claim. Memory alone is insufficient, for the memories need to be processed into something like a narrative. This processing calls for a basic linguistic capacity and so this capacity is also necessary if the condition is to be satisfied. In the second part of my project, I select accounts of brain-damage described in the literature. I choose seven cases where experiential memory is impaired, one case where linguistic capacity is lost, and one case of profound deafness where linguistic capacity did not develop until quite late. A final case is an example of very severe brain-damage where minimal memory and linguistic capacity were recovered while much else remained lost. Considering these two parts together, I point out how the philosophical analysis can help us to understand just what it is that the patients have lost. At the same time, the case studies show that the sense of self is diminished when there are specific memory and linguistic deficits. The patients, despite being mobile, articulate and intelligent, cannot function as persons in many respects. Their difficulties support my claims about the necessity of memory and linguistic capacity. Further support comes from the case where memory and linguistic capacity are recovered to some extent in the face of devastating losses. Overall I try to show that a philosophical analysis of the concept of a person will be enhanced if we take note of cases of specific brain damage. We can gain insights from sympathetic accounts of the lives of these patients and an enhanced philosophical account can contribute to our understanding of the plight of the brain-damaged.
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    The relationship of an instrumented T-group and personality changes in self-concept and self-actualization : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1976) Clarke-Woolley, Cheryl
    The effectiveness of a self-administered, instrumented, sensitivity training method (PROCESS) was examined in terms of personality and changes in self-concept and self-actualization. Subjects included thirty-two third-year University students in Psychology, ten Nursing graduates in a University Nursing Studies programme, and five maximum security psychiatric patients. For the students, a marathon approach was used. A Case Study was made with the patients to subjectively compare group development in PROCESS to the developmental stages occurring in leader-led T- and Encounter groups. All three groups showed a decrease in discrepancy between their perceived Actual behaviour and their perceived Preferred behaviour from before to after their group experience. A holdout control procedure was used. The change was primarily accounted for by a change in Actual, and not Preferred behaviour. All three groups increased their mean scores on POI self-actualization scales, but the control groups' mean scores also increased over the experimental period. Women improved more than men in self-concept, but not in self-actualization. The predicted relationships between affiliation motivation and improvements in self-concept and self-actualization did not occur. Subjects with high PRF Affiliation did not improve more than subjects with low Affiliation. The PRF personality variables of Cognitive Structure and Social Recognition were negatively related to the pre- and post-measures, thus contaminating the findings. Rigid thinking and concern about others' attentions were related to lower self- concept and self-actualization scores. Difficulties with the Hawthorne effect, repeated testing with reflective measures, and the relationship of affiliation to Maslow's hierarchy, were discussed. Methodological, ethical, and theoretical problems with the study of self-administered, instrumented sensitivity groups were summarized. Adequate follow-up studies with behavioural criteria for effective changes as a result of experiencing groups seem to be the greatest need. In a subjective analysis of the group development, several stages of Bennis' and Shepard's, Schutz', and Tuckman's theories of group development were observed. PROCESS seems to be an innovative and viable alternative to traditional psychotherapeutic groups, with a more positive orientation, at least for normally intelligent patients as well as being an effective form of sensitivity training for university students.
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    The relationship between self-construal and psychological and socio-cultural adjustment of Asian Indian international students studying in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 2015) Cooper, Mary Christine
    New Zealand has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of Asian Indian international students undertaking study in this country in recent years, with the majority choosing a Polytechnic Institute to pursue their tertiary education. This phenomenon is part of a global trend which has encouraged a large body of literature describing international students’ acculturation and adjustment experiences. However, as little research centres on Indian students, this study seeks to address in some way that gap by exploring the association between self-construal and socio-cultural and psychological adjustment of Indian international students to life in New Zealand. A total of 39 Indian students, studying at Waiariki Institute of Technology, 63% of whom were males, completed an online survey. The survey comprised of a number of measures investigating the four hypotheses which explore student self-construal and adjustment and those factors that predict and mediate the adjustment of Indian students. The findings of this study show that in spite of India being described as a collectivist and traditional family-centred culture, Indian students adopt a bicultural approach as early as six months after their arrival in New Zealand. They show positive levels of adjustment, with social connectedness and English language fluency having a partial mediating effect on the relationship between the horizontal-relational dimension of self-construal and psychological adjustment. While there are a number of limitations to this study, the findings are encouraging and suggest that Indian students possess a number of attributes that facilitate their adjustment. The influence of the horizontal-collective dimension of self-construal on Indian students’ adjustment highlights the importance of on-campus strategies to encourage the development of meaningful relationships among students which support ongoing adjustment to academic study and life in New Zealand.
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    Fifth form boys' sense of self and the secondary school curriculum : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Stephens, Marilyn
    This study is concerned with how boys grow to be men and the subject positions which the secondary school curriculum constructs, supports, and invites boys to take up. Thirty predominantly Pakeha, high achieving boys from a fifth form class in a single-sex school participated. Two boys in particular were focused on throughout a series of mathematics and English lessons. Using a generative methodology, I investigated and illuminated curriculum enactment as it pertained to the lived realities of these boys. This study supports previous studies which have uncovered the androcentric nature of the school curriculum. It also reveals the contradictory and conflicting subject positions embedded in curriculum enactment in the classroom. The processes of negotiating and mediating these subject positions in the formation of a personal 'sense of self' are complex and involve the curriculum and familial contexts which are class and ethnically located. Two conclusions that I have reached have particular significance for possibilities for change: limited opportunities are afforded by the secondary school curriculum for the boys to develop critical self-reflective skills; those boys whose sense of self is in conflict with a hegemonic masculinity experience little support for their different ways of being in the world. I argue that, through addressing these two issues in curriculum reform, possibilities for change can be created.
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    Harmonisation of the self : narratives of older Chinese about ageing, health and wellbeing : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Health Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Tse, Siu-Chun Cannis
    The older population in New Zealand is increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse. While the New Zealand Government has acknowledged that these diverse groups of older people have their specific ageing processes, needs and expectations, there is a paucity of research conducted to understand their ageing lives and experiences. This research seeks to explore the experiences of ageing among older Chinese migrants through the lens of subjective wellbeing. Specifically, it looks into older Chinese migrants’ experiences of happiness, struggles and challenges while they are ageing in New Zealand. Particular consideration is given to the role the self plays in the creation, restoration and preservation of a sense of happiness in old age. In-depth narrative interviews were conducted with fourteen older Chinese migrants from diverse backgrounds. The analysis was informed by the dialogical self theory, Chinese philosophical perspectives of yin/yang and harmony, Chinese conceptions of happiness and the self and narrative methodology to focus on the dynamics of the self, through which a theoretical link between the self and human experience of happiness is developed. The results indicate several factors that could enhance or undermine the participants’ ability to live happy and satisfying lives. The enhancing factors included: the natural environment, social welfare, health, wellbeing of the offspring, and family, ethnic community and social supports. The potential hindering factors were: language barriers, transportation problems, crimes, and inadequate healthcare services. The central findings reveal that happiness is a function of the harmonious interplay and balance of different aspects (I-positions) of the self within a dynamic, complex and ongoing process of dialogical negotiation. Three prominent pairs of I-positions, including the “independent” and the “interdependent” positions, “xiao wo” (the private and individuated self) and “da wo” (the large self) positions, and the “devoted” and the “affirmed” positions, were identified. Examples from three cases show that happiness may be attained when these self-positions interact with each other in harmony. The research also illustrates that happiness is dependent upon the individual reaching a balance among mind, body and surrounding environments. Furthermore, happiness is dependent upon the balanced dynamic interplay between individual agency and the social structures of changing contexts and situations.
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    Constructing the self : conversations and cardiovascular reactivity : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Lyons, Antonia Catherine
    This thesis develops a theory suggesting that the cardiovascular reactivity exhibited during language use is explicable in terms of self-construction processes. Social constructionist ideas regarding the constructive nature of language were drawn on to outline the ways in which individuals obtain and maintain a sense of self in conversations and other episodes of language use. Three factors regarding conversations were identified as central to self-construction processes, namely the context in which the conversation occurs, the content of the language used, and the resources the individual brings to any particular talking episode. This conceptual scheme was then used to interpret and integrate many diverse findings regarding cardiovascular reactivity, resting blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Based on this theoretical account, it was hypothesized that conversations about the self would be related to greater cardiovascular reactivity than conversations not focused on the self, and further, that conversations about private aspects of oneself would be related to greater cardiovascular reactivity than conversations about public aspects of oneself. The magnitude of differences in reactivity across the three conversations were expected to depend upon various resources the individual brought into the situation, especially their private and public self-consciousness, social competence, tendency to disclose, usual extent of conversations and their usual comfort felt during conversations. To test these hypotheses an experimental procedure was developed where participants had their blood pressure and heart rate monitored every minute (for approximately 35 minutes) by an automatic blood pressure monitor. During this time they were engaged in three conversations with the researcher about private self, public self, and non-self topics. This procedure was subsequently used on 102 women who, following the experiment, completed a questionnaire which included measures of the relevant individual resources. Results showed that as predicted, blood pressure was most reactive when participants talked about aspects of their private self, and least reactive during non-self talk. Heart rate, however, was most reactive when participants talked about aspects of their public self. Of the individual resource variables, usual extent of conversations and usual comfort of conversations modified the differences in reactivity across the private self, public self and non-self talking conditions, both separately and in combination. Differences in diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure reactivity across the three conditions depended on both the usual extent individuals engaged in conversations and how comfortable they usually feel doing so. Unexpectedly, when these resources were considered, reactivity observed during public self talk was significantly different from reactivity observed during either private self or non-self talk. Overall the results broadly supported the present self-construction account of cardiovascular reactivity during language use. They also highlighted the importance of conversational resources, most notably usual extent and comfort of conversations, in affecting cardiovascular reactivity during any specific conversation. The thesis concludes with some reflections on social constructionist ideas, the realist paradigm, and the nature of language in cardiovascular reactivity research.
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    "Theorising self" : poststructuralist interpretations of self construction and psychotherapy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Frewin, Karen
    Through post-structuralist theory this study offers a critical view of relationships between self and psychotherapy. It suggests that ‘belief systems' concerning the self are embodied in institutional and technical practices through which forms of individuality are specified and governed. It proposes that psychotherapy, as 'modern knowledge and expertise' of the psyche plays a role in the stimulation of subjectivity. Making use of narrative inquiry and psychotherapeutics as devices of access to self engagement, it argues that psychotherapeutics are psychological intervention technologies of domination and power functioning to assist the assemblage of selves. The study originates through the assumption that psychological knowledge contributes to the way we are in the world, and that we are often produced with little knowledge of production processes. Concern with subjectification of self, and relationships between assembling of selves and psychological intervention strategies designed to assist assemblage, warrants theoretical discussion combined with an ethnomethodological participant observation strategy. Through a re-presentation and interrogation of contemporary post-structuralist debate on the constitution of self the study considers therapeutic process as a situated product of temporal discursive practices of technology and power and delivery of subjectified self as a terrain of understanding through which psychotherapeutics perform, both as interpretative technology and producer. Narrative is deliberated as an assembling and organising device through which meaning-making can be accessed. Processes of subjectification are constituted through a participant observation study of four psychotherapeutic practices offered through training institutions in New Zealand. They are Bioenergetic Analysis, Gestalt, Narrative Therapy, and Psychodrama. Engagement with training programmes produces five discrete narratives that articulate and reflect on the experience of self in relation to these technologies. The study analyses processes of subjectification through interpretation of the narratives. In particular, interpretation draws attention to issues of embodiment, multiplicity, constraint, and positioning, suggesting that they are articulated through power relations, questions of authority, and of legitimacy.
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    Futurority : narratives of the future : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Social Policy), Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2005) Kenkel, David
    This thesis examines narratives of the future and their impact on late-modern constructions of the self. The argument is made that neo-liberal narratives have effectively promoted an idealised narrative of the self that views the achievement of a desired future for individuals as primarily a function of personal autonomy, effort and intention. The thesis contends that this narrative is promoted in society through multiple trajectories involving an array of social forms and institutions. Education policy and media are considered as exemplary examples of the sorts of social forms and institutions where this idealising narrative is promoted. A limited range of education policy narratives and media narratives are then examined. The position is taken that the adoption of neo-liberal ideals of the self relies on a supporting context of other narratives of the self and society. These are explored. A governmental framework (Rose, 1998) is used to consider the implications for child and adult subjects of the adoption of an individualised culpability for future success, or lack of success within what is argued is a subjectifying discursive regime of the self. Resistance to this governing regime is considered from a number of theoretical perspectives. The contention is made that effective resistance is likely to be local, partial and continuous rather than involving or resembling a disjunctive ideological shift. The thesis engages with post-structuralist ideas and hence is written from a perspective that necessarily incorporates a local and personal narrative.