The Use and Evolution of Stories as a Mode of Problem Representation: Soviet and French Military Officers Face the Loss of Empire

Charlick-Paley, Tanya; Sylvan, Donald A.

doi:10.1111/0162-895x.00213

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…At least three other projects exemplify the use of narrative to study political change. Charlick‐Paley and Sylvan (2000) applied Pennington and Hastie's (1986) approach to story construction in decision making to an analysis of former Soviet and French military officers' accounts of the loss of Eastern Europe and Indochina, respectively. Using evidence from the narratives of these officers and corresponding media narratives, they suggested that military personnel formulated new stories to adapt to changing political contexts—stories that justify the change in status.…”

Section: The Politics Of Stories: a Review And Conceptual Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Hammack

Pilecki

2011

Political Psychology

142

120

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The idea of narrative has become increasingly appropriated in empirical research in both psychology and politics, yet there is a notable absence of integrative frameworks that specify a conceptual and methodological approach to narrative research in political psychology. An integrative conceptual framework is proposed and anchored in four principles of a narrative approach: (1) the mutual constitution of language and thought, (2) the need for personal coherence through narrative identity development, (3) the need for collective solidarity through shared meaning, and (4) the mediational property of narrative in social activity and practice. Theory and empirical research related to these principles are reviewed. We argue that a narrative framework has the potential to enhance the relevance and amplify the voice of political psychology within and beyond the academy and to offer new knowledge on the complex and dynamic relationship between context and mind.Since its emergence in the 1970s as a scholarly enterprise seeking to link politics, mind, and behavior, political psychology has struggled to find an anchoring paradigm. Horowitz (1979) argued that the sustenance of political psychology, and its ability to unify social science disciplines, would be determined by its ability to offer solutions to real political dilemmas. This sentiment is echoed in Barber's (1990) call for a progressive and relevant political psychology, as well as Winter's (2000) contention that political psychology must address the practical problems of real life. Both Horowitz (1979) and Smith (1979) suggested that the emergence of political psychology was directly connected to historical concerns and processes related to disciplinary structures. And Smith (1979, 1980) cautiously argued that political psychology might provide a multidisciplinary paradigm for the social and behavioral sciences through its commitment to an analysis of the mind in political context.In some ways, the lack of a coherent unifying paradigm within political psychology is related to the demands of continued disciplinary training for emerging scholars. Hence political psychologists trained primarily in political science might privilege rational choice theory over, say, social identity theory, because that paradigm is considered canonical to their disciplinary practice (e.g., Jervis, 1989). Yet the interdisciplinary nature of political psychology commands the development of conceptual frameworks that can cross borders in fields of knowledge production and, in the process, construct novel ways to approach political problems. In this article, we argue that a paradigm has begun to emerge which not only transcends disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences but also provides a bridge to the humanities. That paradigm is narrative.Calling upon social psychologist Ted Sarbin's (1986a) classic statement of narrative as a "root metaphor" for psychology, we argue that narrative represents an ideal root metaphor for political psychology in its ability to resolve the analyti...

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Section: The Politics Of Stories: a Review And Conceptual Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Hammack

Pilecki

2011

Political Psychology

142

120

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“…One way to establish facts with a listener or reader is to put what you say into the form of a narrative or story (Carranza, 1999; Charlick-Paley & Sylvan, 2000; Cheshire, 2000; Humphreys, 2000; Kwansah-Aidoo, 2001; Langellier & Peterson, 1993; Mumby, 1987; Peterson & McCabe, 1991; Robinson, 2000; Schiffrin, 1990; Silverstein & Cywink, 2000; Sunwolf & Frey, 2001). Typically, this might include a beginning, middle, and end; it might also involve a situation, a problem, and a resolution, or it might involve a complex situation followed by a humorous or unexpected ending.…”

Section: How To Influence People To Say Things (Establishing Facts)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stories usually have many of these ambiguities in patterns and content. Charlick-Paley and Sylvan (2000) found that after losing their colonial empires, the Soviet and French military were able to change their stories.…”

Section: How To Influence People To Say Things (Establishing Facts)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Language use as Social Strategy: A Review and an Analytic Framework for the Social Sciences

Guérin

2003

Review of General Psychology

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Language use as a social strategy is reviewed and a new interdisciplinary taxonomy developed. Four categories are suggested for using language: to get people to do things, to get people to say things, to keep people's attention, and to maintain social relationships. Within these categories, all of the discourse and conversational analysis literatures are reviewed, allowing a common framework within which to make more systematic analyses. Reinterpretations of psychological theories are suggested, and fresh avenues for interdisciplinary research are created. A major imperative from the review is that some form of ethnographic data collection is needed for all analyses of conversations and texts to incorporate more of the social, economic, historical, and cultural contexts into both our observations and theorizing.

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“…It addresses how leaders define the situation and construct the available options(Sylvan and Voss, 1998;Charlick-Paley and Sylvan, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The International Realm, Framing Effects, and Security Strategies: Britain in Peace and War

Lobell

2006

International Interactions

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In combining the domestic and international levels, I contend that the international environment can enable a domestic win-set and thereby guide the formation of a state's international security strategy. The trigger is the nature of and changes in the extant international setting. Based on findings from framing effects and prospect theory, I contend that periods of external crisis, conflict, and war will shift the public's domain to one of relative losses. In this realm, it will be easier for foreign policy advisors who favor offensive security strategies to frame the national debate. Periods of international peace, tranquility, and prosperity will shift the public's domain to relative gains, which will make it easier for advisors who favor risk averse and defensive strategies to frame the national discussion. The outcome can be a more offensive or defensive strategy than the state would have otherwise pursued. I apply the model to Britain to examine Britain's decision to adopt a Limited Liability strategy between 1912 and 1914, and to escalate to a Continental Commitment by 1916 There has been a coherent movement to bring domestic politics "back-in" in security studies and international relations theory. 1 Within this literature, a number of authors have examined the construction of minimum, winning,

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The Use and Evolution of Stories as a Mode of Problem Representation: Soviet and French Military Officers Face the Loss of Empire

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Language use as Social Strategy: A Review and an Analytic Framework for the Social Sciences

The International Realm, Framing Effects, and Security Strategies: Britain in Peace and War

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