Defensiveness

The original 88-item version of the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) has been ignored in recent studies. The current study examined the scoring instructions in the DSQ-88 manual by investigating how the items used to score specific defense styles loaded in an exploratory factor analysis. It also sought to confirm a two-factor model of ego defense styles in a sample of 493 employees at a large, established university in Jamaica, West Indies. The DSQ-88 was administered to employees by research assistants during work hours as part of a larger study. Twenty-six of the 33 items used to score maladaptive action in the DSQ-88 loaded above .40 on a general maladaptive factor in the current data. Principal components analyses resulted in two factors (maladaptive and adaptive) which accounted for 39.4% of the variance and included items from 18 defense mechanisms. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model with items from acting out, fantasy, help-rejecting complaining, splitting, inhibition, omnipotence-devaluation, passive-aggression, projective identification, regression, somatization and projection loading on a maladaptive factor and items from humor, sublimation, suppression and denial on an adaptive factor. Recommendations are made for the development of another shortened version of the DSQ-88 for use with employee populations.

In archaeological research, a categorical distinction between fortified and unfortified settlements has been established and preserved for a long time. In the usual methodological approaches this scheme is accompanied by the assumption that sites with
complex fortifications had an important meaning. They were considered strategically more highly ranked in the settlement
hierarchy of the surrounding landscape, connecting other settlement types and places by being central to all regional human activities. The established elites, to which the archaeologists of the last hundred years referred to as ‘kings’, ‘warlords’, ‘Fürsten’,
‘priest-chiefs’, ‘big men’, and so on, were thought to have had their established reign controlled from these spots. A massive amount of theoretical literature was published that tried to simulate possible models, trying to explain those constellations. If one takes a closer look at settlement organisations and the type of fortification constructions in the ethnographical record, two
conclusions can be drawn: that the term fortification cannot only be restricted to those phenomenon that are normally classified under this topic by archaeologists, and that fortifications are not always erected by a restricted and privileged community of
‘elites’.

Objective: Three studies tested a novel model of the narcissism-paranoia link, whereby narcissism (primarily its socially maladaptive facets) is associated with paranoia via over-use of defensive self-protection and/or under-use of self-affirmation.
Methods: In Study 1, 245 online volunteers (87% female; MAGE=20.92; 44% White-British) completed trait measures of narcissism, self-enhancement/protection strategies and paranoia. In Study 2, 116 students (82% female; MAGE=20.23; 70% White-British) completed baseline measures, then reported state reactions and paranoia following two difficult and two pleasant interpersonal events after 3-10 days. In Study 3, 517 online volunteers (64% female; MAGE=22.76; 77% White/Caucasian) completed baseline measures, experienced a standardised social exclusion (vs. neutral) manipulation (Cyberball), then reported state reactions and paranoia.
Results: In Study 1, narcissism was associated with higher paranoia via defensiveness. In Study 2, this was replicated in difficult but not pleasant events, and was driven by the Entitlement/Exploitativeness facet of narcissism. In Study 3, narcissistic rivalry and vulnerable narcissism, but not admiration, were associated with Cyberball-related paranoia via general defensiveness and denigration of others. 
Conclusions: Individuals high in narcissism—especially its socially maladaptive facets—who over-rely on defensive self-protection strategies in response to threat, are particularly vulnerable to paranoia. Findings help to understand individual differences in paranoia.

Discrepant high self-esteem (i.e., high explicit and low implicit self-esteem) has been associated with a number of defensive behaviors. This study investigated the use of behavioral self-handicapping as a preemptive defensive strategy among those with discrepant high self-esteem. Participants were told that an upcoming test of an important ability was only diagnostic of either exceptionally high or very low skills (i.e., only success or failure was diagnostic of ability) and were given the opportunity to behaviorally self-handicap by selecting from a range of performance-detracting versus neutral music choices. Results showed that when success was diagnostic, participants with discrepant high self-esteem engaged in significantly greater behavioral self-handicapping than other participants. This suggests that (1) the defensiveness of those with discrepant high self-esteem extends to the use of preemptive strategies such as self-handicapping, and (2) this defensiveness is triggered when the situation provides a test of exceptionally high ability.

This article analyzes Schmemann's ecclesiology in the context of his attempt to give an assessment of the Church's attitude to life; as well as the problem of defensiveness in Orthodoxy; reductionism of ecclesial culture; "rejection" of the world and traditionalistic isolation. The author focuses upon the socio-cultural interpretation given by Schmemann to such important categories of the ecclesial language as "piety," "humility," "churchliness," "spirituality," etc.; showing that in real life these categories express the isolation and stereotypification of Orthodoxy. In the context of "lived" religion, these categories deliver a protective and reductionist message, justifying a kind of anthropological pessimism, "religion of guilt" and psychological self-closure of a person. The theologian juxtaposes two religious traditions: one based on the defensiveness and the other based on a sense of joy; the feeling of God's presence and affinity to the Kingdom of Heaven. According to the author, the accents put by Schmemann in his ecclesiology can promote the formation of ethics of laity and a more adequate attitude towards the world in the 21st century Orthodoxy.

The original 88-item version of the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) has been ignored in recent studies. The current study examined the scoring instructions in the DSQ-88 manual by investigating how the items used to score specific defense styles loaded in an exploratory factor analysis. It also sought to confirm a two-factor model of ego defense styles in a sample of 493 employees at a large, established university in Jamaica, West Indies. The DSQ-88 was administered to employees by research assistants during work hours as part of a larger study. Twenty-six of the 33 items used to score maladaptive action in the DSQ-88 loaded above .40 on a general maladaptive factor in the current data. Principal components analyses resulted in two factors (maladaptive and adaptive) which accounted for 39.4% of the variance and included items from 18 defense mechanisms. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model with items from acting out, fantasy, help-rejecting complaining, split...

Hyperactivity of endogenous opioid systems has been postulated to mediate the associations between defensive/repressive coping styles, enhanced stress responsivity, and reduced immunocompetence. Study 1 examined whether repressive/defensive coping would be ...

OBJECTIVE Three studies tested a novel model of the narcissism-paranoia link, whereby narcissism (primarily its socially maladaptive facets) is associated with paranoia via over-use of defensive self-protection and/or under-use of self-affirmation. METHODS In Study 1, 245 online volunteers (87% female; MAGE =20.92; 44% White-British) completed trait measures of narcissism, self-enhancement/protection strategies and paranoia. In Study 2, 116 students (82% female; MAGE =20.23; 70% White-British) completed baseline measures, then reported state reactions and paranoia following two difficult and two pleasant interpersonal events after 3-10 days. In Study 3, 517 online volunteers (64% female; MAGE =22.76; 77% White/Caucasian) completed baseline measures, experienced a standardised social exclusion (vs. neutral) manipulation (Cyberball), then reported state reactions and paranoia. RESULTS In Study 1, narcissism was associated with higher paranoia via defensiveness. In Study 2, this was re...

The universities and colleges play an important role in human development in any country as they provide the training essentials for doctors, engineers, nurses, teachers, scientists, etcetera, and foster the economic, social and knowledge level of country .Hence, it is vital to have a high quality education in the country. In order to achieve the high quality education, burnout level is to be reduced by all instructors to a minimum level in the universities and colleges as burnout is considered as one of the most important factors in influencing organizational effectiveness. As such this study aimed to analyze the effect of organizational silence and its dimensions on burnout at AlQunfudah College of Technology in Saudi Arabia. Primary data were used and collected by distributing self-administered survey questionnaires to 72 instructors at the college. The questionnaire was developed to detect the organizational silence dimensions (acquiescent silence, defensive silence, and prosocial silence) and the level of burnout. Out of total 90 questionnaires distributed, 72 instructors responded, the response rate was 80%. Regression results indicated that there is statistically significant effect for organizational silence and its dimensions on burnout at AlQunfudah College of Technology in Saudi Arabia.

Psychophystalogy, 34 (1МЧ7), 3W-4Q5. Cambridge University Press. Printed in the USA. Copyright CO 1947 Society for Psychophysiological Research Daily mood states and ambulatory blood pressure DAVID SHAPIRO." LARRY D. JAMNER.h and IRIS B. GOLDSTEIN'1 ...