William L. Dunlop

The integration of agency and communion in moral personality: Evidence of enlightened self-interest.

Agency and communion are fundamental human motives, often conceptualized as being in tension. This study examines the notion that moral exemplars overcome this tension and adaptively integrate these 2 motives within their personality. Participants were 25 moral exemplars-recipients of a national award for extraordinary volunteerism-and 25 demographically matched comparison participants. Each participant responded to a life review interview and provided a list of personal strivings, which were coded for themes of agency and communion; interviews were also coded for the relationship between agency and communion. Results consistently indicated that exemplars not only had both more agency and communion than did comparison participants but were also more likely to integrate these themes within their personality. Consistent with our claim that enlightened self-interest is driving this phenomenon, this effect was evident only when agency and communion were conceptualized in terms of promoting interests (of the self and others, respectively) and not in terms of psychological distance (from others) and only when the interaction was observed with a person approach and not with the traditional variable approach. After providing a conceptual replication of these results using different measures elicited in different contexts and relying on different coding procedures, we addressed and dismissed various alternative explanations, including chance co-occurrence and generalized complexity. These results provide the first reliable evidence of the integration of motives of agency and communion in moral personality.

Sobering stories: Narratives of self-redemption predict behavioral change and improved health among recovering alcoholics.

The present research examined whether the production of a narrative containing self-redemption (wherein the narrator describes a positive personality change following a negative experience) predicts positive behavioral change. In Study 1, we compared the narratives of alcoholics who had maintained their sobriety for over 4 years with those of alcoholics who had been sober 6 months or less. When describing their last drink, the former were significantly more likely to produce a narrative containing self-redemption than the latter. In Study 2, we examined the relation between the profession of self-redemption and behavioral change using a longitudinal design, by following the newly sober alcoholics from Study 1 over time. Although indistinguishable at initial assessment, newly sober alcoholics whose narratives included self-redemption were substantially more likely to maintain sobriety in the following months, compared to newly sober alcoholics who produced nonredemptive narratives; 83% of the redemptive group maintained sobriety between assessments, compared to 44% of nonredemptive participants. Redemptive participants in Study 2 also demonstrated improved health relative to the nonredemptive group. In both studies, the effects of self-redemption on sobriety and health held after controlling for relevant personality traits, alcohol dependence, recovery program involvement, initial physical and mental health, and additional narrative themes. Collectively, these results suggest that the production of a self-redemptive narrative may stimulate prolonged behavioral change and thus indicate a potentially modifiable psychological process that exhibits a major influence on recovery from addiction.

Varieties of moral personality: beyond the banality of heroism.

Four perspectives dominate thinking about moral heroism: One contends that moral action is primarily instigated by situational pressures, another holds that moral excellence entails the full complement of virtues, the third asserts a single superintending principle, and the fourth posits different varieties of moral personality. This research addresses these competing perspectives by examining the personalities of moral heroes. Participants were 50 national awardees for moral action and 50 comparison individuals. They responded to personality inventories and a life-review interview that provided a broadband assessment of personality. Cluster analysis of the moral exemplars yielded three types: a communal cluster was strongly relational and generative, a deliberative cluster had sophisticated epistemic and moral reasoning as well as heightened self-development motivation, and an ordinary cluster had a more commonplace personality. These contrasting profiles imply that exemplary moral functioning can take multifarious forms and arises from different sources, reflecting divergent person x situation interactions.

Hierarchical integration of agency and communion: a study of influential moral figures.

The purpose of this research is to (a) identify which of recent historys influential figures did and which did not personify moral excellence, and (b) to examine the motives that drove these individuals along such divergent paths. In Study 1, 102 social scientists evaluated the moral qualities of influential figures from Time Magazines lists. In Study 2, we selected the 15 top ranking of these figures to comprise a moral exemplar group and the bottom 15 to comprise a comparison group of similarly influential people. We measured the motivational aspects of their personality (agency and communion) by content-analyzing extant speeches and interviews. Moral exemplars exhibited the hierarchical integration of agency and communion by treating agentic motives as a means to an end of communal motives. Comparison subjects, by contrast, personified unmitigated agency by treating motives of agency as both a means to an end and an end unto itself. These results imply that both the strength and structure of a persons motives account for moral behavior.

What Do We Know When We Know a Person Across Contexts? Examining Self-Concept Differentiation at the Three Levels of Personality

OBJECTIVEnPrevious research examining self-concept differentiation (SCD) has been characterized by (a) a focus on behavioral traits and (b) the conflation of mean-level and inter-contextual differentiation. In two studies, we considered non-conflated measures of SCD at the three levels of personality description in relation to adjustment.nnnMETHODnIn Study 1, participants completed measures of adjustment, rated their behavioral tendencies (dispositional traits), produced a list of goals (characteristic adaptations), and recalled a self-defining memory (life narratives), from within professional and personal domains. In Study 2, the procedure was modified: Participants reporting either low or high levels of adjustment subsequently rated their behavioral traits, provided a list of goals, or produced a self-defining memory, from five contexts.nnnRESULTSnIn Study 1, adjustment related positively to SCD at the level of characteristic adaptations but negatively to SCD at the level of life narratives. In Study 2, well-adjusted participants exhibited a greater degree of SCD at the level of characteristic adaptations but a greater degree of thematic consistency at the level of life narratives, relative to those low in adjustment.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese results highlight the dynamic nature of SCD across levels of personality and align with the notion that differentiation represents virtue and vice.

The Life Story: Its Development and Relation to Narration and Personal Identity.

In this article, we review, on three grounds, the nature of the life story. First, we evaluate the appropriateness of the proposal that the life story emerges in adolescence (the time of the traditional identity crisis). Second, we examine the relation between big stories (of which the life story is one) and small stories. Finally, we consider whether the construction of the life story (and narration more broadly) represents the sole mode of identity formation. It is argued here that (a) the belief that adolescence marks the emergence of the life story is based on an unnecessarily limiting requisite for autobiographical reasoning; (b) collective understanding of stories, big and small, would be furthered through a more thorough consideration of their relation; and (c) the construction of a life story represents one of at least two viable routes for identity formation; identity can also be attained via a non-narrative, paradigmatic route.

The autobiography of addiction: Autobiographical reasoning and psychological adjustment in abstinent alcoholics

The narration of drinking experiences plays a central role in many alcohol rehabilitation programmes, yet few researchers have considered whether alcoholics stories about such experiences relate to their psychological adjustment. Here we examine the extent to which drinking stories of abstinent alcoholics reflect autobiographical reasoning processes denoting self-change and self-stability, and whether these processes are associated with adjustment. Participants who revealed a positive self-change in their narratives about drinking demonstrated higher levels of self-esteem, authentic pride, and mental health compared to those who did not. In contrast, those who implied a sense of self-stability in their narratives demonstrated higher levels of hubristic pride and aggression, and poorer mental health. These results suggest that narrating positive self-change in the wake of substance abuse may underlie psychological adjustment, whereas establishing self-stability in these experiences may impede adjustment. More broadly, these findings underscore the importance of recognising the multi-dimensional nature of autobiographical reasoning.

En-Gendering Choice: Preferences for Exercising in Gender-Segregated and Gender-Integrated Groups and Consideration of Overweight Status

BackgroundUnderstanding the contextual preferences that people have for engaging in a health-enhancing physical activity has been identified as particularly important, as these preferences have been implicated in the maintenance of active lifestyle behaviors.PurposeThe primary purpose of this study was to examine adults’ preferences for exercising in both gender-segregated and gender-integrated physical activity groups. The secondary purpose was to examine whether overweight status moderates adults’ preferences for gender-segregated groups relative to gender-integrated groups.MethodSurvey data were obtained from a representative sample of 772 adults (Nmalesu2009=u2009407; Nfemalesu2009=u2009365) in a large city in the United Kingdom.ResultsMales and females reported a stronger preference for exercising with members of their own gender relative to exercising in gender-integrated groups. In addition, overweight participants were found to report an accentuated relative preference for gender-segregated groups when compared to normal weight respondents.ConclusionThese findings suggest that both within-group gender composition and overweight status should be considered as salient contextual factors when attempting to implement successful group-based exercise programs.

How dynamic are exercise group dynamics? Examining changes in cohesion within class-based exercise programs

OBJECTIVEnWithin exercise class settings, group cohesion has consistently been found to predict adherence behaviors, and has been identified as a salient target for intervention-based initiatives. Drawing upon theorizing from the field of group dynamics, exercise class cohesion is often conceptualized as a dynamic construct that requires several classes to form and once it is formed, continues to change over time. Despite the salience of this dynamic contention for informing physical activity interventions, this theorizing has yet to be empirically tested.nnnMETHODnIn this study a multilevel modeling framework was used to examine changes in exercise class cohesion over time. Exercisers (N = 395) completed measures of cohesion following the second, fifth, and eighth classes of their respective programs (N = 46).nnnRESULTSnMean levels of social cohesion changed significantly over time whereas mean levels of task cohesion did not. These patterns were largely consistent across persons and groups.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese findings suggest that within group-based exercise programs social and task cohesion possesses different levels of dynamism, and that this dynamism (or lack thereof) might have important implications for future research and interventions involving physical activity groups.

The distinctive moral personality of care exemplars

Research examining the characterization of moral excellence has been conducted almost exclusively at the variable level of analysis. Such an approach precludes a consideration of personality composition and, as a result, does not provide a complete understanding of moral exemplarity. In the current project, a person-level analysis was adopted to assess the viability of a personality configuration distinctive of care-based moral excellence across adulthood. In Study 1, a cluster analysis revealed that young-adult moral exemplars and demographically matched comparison participants were strongly distinguished on the basis of personality composition. This segregation was largely a result of a heightened level of motivational variables and advanced socio-cognitive development on the part of exemplars. In Study 2, which considered moral excellence in mid- and late-adulthood, these results were replicated. These findings indicate that patterns of care-based moral action are more likely to be evidenced if motivation and socio-cognitive maturity are fostered in tandem.