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Biomedical subjects

J S Efran

Publications and source records attributed to J S Efran.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Coping styles, paradox, and the cold pressor task.

The study investigated how coping style differences affected performance on the cold pressor task. Reactions of "monitors" (individuals who prefer having information about stressors) and "blunters" (individuals who avoid cues connected with stressors) were compared, using different instructional sets. The study also assessed the effectiveness of paradoxical intention compared to more traditional cognitive strategies. Monitors and blunters were identified using Miller's recently developed Behavioral Style Scale. All instructional sets improved performance in comparison to a control condition, and individuals generally did better when an instructional set supported their preferred coping style. Paradoxical intention did not show any decided advantage over other strategies. The desirability of designing stress management programs to fit individual coping style patterns is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Personality as the basis for theoretical predilections.

Four groups of behavioral scientists with divergent theoretical persuasions--43 sociobiologists, 25 behaviorists, 35 personality psychologists, and 16 human developmentalists--showed significantly different mean scores on two measures of philosophical assumptions: the World Hypothesis Scale (WHS) and the Organicism-Mechanism Paradigm Inventory (OMPI). The OMPI, which appears to be more psychometrically sound than the WHS, showed in 12 additional groups of subjects (N = 622) consistent correlations with self-report and peer ratings of personality, intellectual and interpersonal style, and occupational interests. Taken together, the two studies suggest that behavioral scientists' philosophical presuppositions (e.g., whether reality is better described by stable, isolated elements or changing holistic patterns; and whether persons are passive and reactive or purposive and active) may mirror their views of themselves.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Paradox in psychotherapy: a cybernetic perspective.

Recent uses of the term "paradox" in the field of psychotherapy have distracted attention from the concept's broader implications. All therapy can be seen as paradoxical because of the recursive nature of self-evaluation. Using agoraphobic problems as illustrative, and starting from the notion that the core issue for the agoraphobic is a demand for absolute control of his environment, we argue that therapy requires the bonding of two observers--the therapist and the "client-as-observer". Negotiations issuing from this bond are crucial to outcome, even when behavioral techniques, often considered to have automatic effects, are used. Behavior therapy, like all other psychotherapy, is not simply action--it is action contextualized by a specific, negotiated social contract.

Agoraphobia↗
PubMed1977

Should fearful individuals be instructed to proceed quickly or cautiously?

Snake or cockroach phobic Ss were given opportunities to approach a live specimen. Those instructed to go "as far as they could" made significantly more progress in overcoming their fear than Ss asked to proceed cautiously. They also did better than the group especially urged to push themselves, although this difference was not significant. Implications for treatment strategies are discussed.

Animals↗