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Intrapersonal communication occurs in several modes including inner dialogue and self-talk. The Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans, 1996) postulates a polyphonic self that is comprised of a multiplicity of inner voices. Internal dialogical activity implies an exchange of thoughts or ideas between at least two so-called "I-positions" representing specific points of view. Among the functions served by self-talk are self-criticism, selfreinforcement, self-management, and social assessment (Brinthaupt et al., 2009). This paper explores the relationships among different types of internal dialogues and selftalk functions. Participants included college students from Poland (n = 181) and the United States (n = 119) who completed two multidimensional measures of inner dialogue and self-talk. Results indicated moderately strong relationships between inner dialogue types and self-talk functions, suggesting that there is a significant overlap between the two modes of communication. We discuss several implications of these findings for exploring similarities and differences among varieties of intrapersonal communication.

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Positive orientation (PO) is proposed as a common base for hedonistic and eudemonistic senses of happiness. PO involves a tendency to formulate positive judgments concerning the self, one’s personal life, and the future. Previously, PO had been investigated in the context of the hedonistic approach to well-being. In this article, we tested a broader understanding of PO, which is conceptualized, here, as a latent factor underlying variables that exemplify hedonistic and eudemonistic view on happiness. Using two samples (N = 159 and N = 200), we tested three models of PO extended to include various measures of meaning of life. The extended models fitted the data well. Results suggest that PO can be a general factor that is the basis for integrating two aspects of well-being: searching for positivity and pleasure, as well as striving for meaning.

The purpose of this article is to explore the specific affective organization of personal meanings in midlife crisis in men. Midlife crisis is described as a process of intensive transition of the self including the reinterpretation of time perspective, reevaluation of life values and goals, confrontation with death as a personal event in the future, and planning of the second half of life. Personal meanings referring to past, present, and future were investigated using a self-confrontation method that is sensitive to the affective properties of individual experiences. The intensity of midlife crisis was investigated by means of a Midlife Crisis Scale in a sample of 104 men in Poland. Three groups, one high in midlife crisis (N = 27), one medium (N = 37), and one low in midlife crisis (N = 40) were compared. It was found that the high crisis group had a lower level of affect referring to self-enhancement, a lower level of positive affect, and a higher level of negative affect than both other groups. Moreover, time perspective played a differential role in the organization of the self: in an intragroup comparison of the most influential personal meanings, the high crisis group showed a higher level of negative affect than positive affect for personal meanings referring to the future, but not for personal meanings referring to the past and the present. The relevance of affective organization for midlife crisis is discussed.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between positive orientation (PO) defined as a basic predisposition to perceive and evaluate positive aspects of life, the future and oneself and the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM). Hypotheses postulated positive correlations between PO and extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness; a negative correlation was predicted between PO and neuroticism. Two hundred Polish students completed the following measures: SES (Self-Esteem Scale, Rosenberg), SWLS (The Satisfaction with Life Scale; Diener, Emmons, Larson & Griffin), LOT-R (The Life Orientation Test - Revised; Scheier, Carver & Bridges) and NEOFFI (NEO Five Factor Inventory, Costa & McCrae). The results confirmed correlations between PO and extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism; correlations with openness and agreeableness were not supported. According to canonical correlations, PO shows a clear affinity to the FFM.

The current study aimed to determine relationships between oculomotor behavior and aesthetical evaluation of paintings. We hypothesized that paintings evaluated as beautiful compared to nonbeautiful would be associated with different oculomotor behavior in terms of fixation duration, viewing time, and temporal and spatial distribution of attention. To verify these hypotheses, we examined forty participants that looked at and evaluated 140 figurative paintings while their eye movements were recorded. To analyze data, we used divergence point analysis (DPA) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). The results of the DPA suggested that fixation durations longer than 229 ms are sensitive to the effect of aesthetical evaluation. We also found that the effect of aesthetical evaluation was significant in the time window between 2.3 s and 19.8 s of viewing a painting. The results of the RQA suggested that the participants viewed paintings evaluated as beautiful in a more structured manner compared to those evaluated as nonbeautiful, which suggests higher involvement of top-down processes while facing beautiful artwork. We discuss and refer these results to the literature on cognitive processes related to aesthetical evaluation of paintings.