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Biomedical subjects

G J Neimeyer

Publications and source records attributed to G J Neimeyer.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Identity status and self-construct systems: process X structure interactions.

This study investigated the relationship between identity status and structural dimensions of individuals' self-theories or personal construct systems. The sample was composed of 31 Achievers, 31 Moratoriums, 30 Foreclosures, and 26 Diffusions. Participants completed a modified version of Kelly's (1955) Role Construct Repertory test designed to assess their personal sense of integrative continuity over time. Status differences in self-construct differentiation, integration, and self-certainty were analyzed. Results indicated that Moratoriums and Diffusions had the highest self-construct differentiation. Achievers were the most self-certain in their ratings, Diffusions the least. Status differences in self-theory integration were found, but only when a qualitative, structural analysis of levels of self-construct differentiation and integration was performed. No sex effects were found. Results are discussed as replicating and extending previous work in the area, and future research directions are noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Identity status and personal construct systems.

The relationship between identity status and the structural features of an individual's personal construct system or self-theory was investigated. Personal constructs relevant to 10 contemporaneous roles (myself as a friend, student, son/daughter, and so on) were elicited from 75 late adolescents who also completed an identity-status measure. Correlational analyses between identity-status scores and structural features of the self-system revealed a theoretically interpretable pattern of interrelationships. The implications of these findings for future research is considered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

The impact of structural family therapy training on conceptual and executive therapy skills.

The importance of empirical evaluations of family therapy training is gaining increased recognition. This study reports the results of a controlled assessment of a training seminar in structural family therapy. Changes in the conceptual and executive skills of 44 therapy trainees (22 family trainees and 22 controls) were assessed over a 16-week period using repertory grid and videotaped therapy simulation techniques. Results indicated significant conceptual gains in family therapy trainees, but only among those with little previous exposure to family training. Differences in the overall number as well as the type of interventions were also noted. Results generally supported the predicted impact of therapy training, but left unanswered questions regarding the unique impact of family therapy training over individual training. These qualifications are discussed and directions for future work are highlighted.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

A repertory grid study of restrained eaters.

This study addressed the cognitive processes associated with eating restraint, a subclinical form of disordered eating marked by chronic dietary consciousness, food deprivation and binging-purging. Results of a repertory grid testing of 68 college women indicated that higher levels of restraint were related to more negative and simplistic self-schema. Findings are interpreted as suggesting the importance of considering possible cognitive--as well as behavioural and affective--components in the treatment of disordered eating. This interpretation is discussed in relation to an account of disordered eating based on Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory and treatment implications are noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Death anxiety and counseling skill in the suicide interventionist.

In light of recent evidence that suicide intervention workers may experience greater fear of death than the general population, the present study examined the death anxiety of interventionists and its relation to skill in responding to suicidal clients. A sample of 109 suicide prevention workers from three independent crisis centers were administered the Death Anxiety Scale (Templer, 1970) and the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory (Neimeyer & MacInnes, 1981). Compared to 109 matched controls, the interventionists were found to have significantly lower death anxiety, thereby reversing the earlier finding. Moreover, no linear or curvilinear relationship between death anxiety and suicide counseling skill could be identified. Together, these results give some justification to the traditional neglect of death concern as a factor in screening or training crisis intervention personnel.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1983

Liking preferences toward handicapped persons.

55 students with visible orthopedic disabilities (6 to 51 yr.) and 45 nonhandicapped students (10 to 35 yr.) ranked 6 drawings as liked best in about the same order, wheelchair-bound or nonhandicapped as first and facially disfigured and obesity low.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

A personal construct approach to perception of disclosure targets.

Investigating the perception of targets for self-disclosure from the perspective of the psychology of personal constructs, it was predicted that respondents from a mixed-nationality group would (a) characterize friends more than acquaintances in terms of 'superordinate' personality-descriptive dimensions, (b) 'differentiate' friends more than acquaintances by extensive application of constructs to them, and (c) 'polarize' targets for high disclosure by construing them sharply and meaningfully in terms of personally significant dimensions of meaning. All predictions received significant support for 34 college students (Mdnage 22 yr.) who responded in writing to a questionnaire. The results suggest the fruitfulness of further examining self-disclosure and friendship formation from a vantage point which emphasizes the perceptual and interpretive framework of an adult person.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Constructs and coping: physicians' responses to patient death.

This paper explores the relationship between physicians' personal orientations toward death and their responses to patient death. A group of 25 pediatric residents were asked to complete the Threat Index and to respond to vignettes depicting personal death. Consistent with predictions derived from personal construct theory, particular death orientations were associated with various behavioral and psychophysiological reactions. Residents with high death threat and anxiety were more likely to adopt avoidance and denial strategies and to experience fewer psychophysiological symptoms when faced with a patient's death. Implications of these findings for further research and treatment are discussed.

Adult↗