Researchers have concluded that individuals who perceive extrinsically related goals as relatively more important than intrinsically related aspirations show lower levels of psychological well-being (e.g., Kasser & Ryan, 1993). We found only partial support for the intrinsic goals hypothesis: In this cross-cultural study, Romanians and Americans both showed positive correlations with psychological well-being when community feeling (intrinsic) was considered central to their lives. However, when financial success (extrinsic) was held to be the most central aspiration, only the American sample showed a negative relationship with psychological well-being. Further analyses revealed the meaning of financial success for both cultures: For Americans, financial success was related to “power” and “security,” whereas the same construct more closely related to “self- direction” for the Romanian sample.
Much of my (KMF) writing and research has focused on the exploration of individual and cultural values. I began my academic work using ideas and methods borrowed from the field of social psychology and carried these same tools with me when I undertook a cross-cultural study of values and aspirations. However, over time, I have come to see that the limited perspective of social psychology so narrows the field of vision that it crops out portions of the human landscape that imbue values with meaning. I have since widened my scope to incorporate rich ideas from social and political theory (and other disciplines), and through this interdisciplinary inquiry on hatred hope that a broadened perspective will enrich our understanding of social values. In particular, it seems fruitful to examine hatred not only by looking at the causes and cures long promulgated by social psychologists (empathy, social contact, group dynamics, etc.), but also by attending to concerns of social theorists who explicate the risks (alienation? emotional isolation? hate?) that accompany modern society's emphasis on individualism.After a number of years working mainly in the field of academic and professional counseling psychology, my (FCR) interests turned sharply in the direction of theoretical and philosophical psychology, including the philosophy of social science. I have spent a lot of time trying to identify what I and others call "hidden assumptions," potent but commonly unidentified conceptual and moral underpinnings of psychological theories and the interpretations of research findings. Exploring the topic of hate seems quite valuable in this regard, given that efforts to cope with the enduring threat of hate and violence, in ways that are often not fully appreciated or acknowledged, seems to me to motivate and shape a great deal of modern social science and professional psychology. I hope the reverse is true as well, that these reflections shed some light on the broad topic of hate and violence.Shame exists everywhere there is a mystery.
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