Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Fantasy”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Male sexual fantasy: multidimensionality in content.

Sixty-six men provided ratings of the extent to which they regarded fantasies depicting nominated sexual activities as sexually arousing. A Male Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (MSFQ) with five subscales was constructed following factor analysis of these ratings. The subscales yield separate scores for fantasies representing sensual, genital, public sex, sexual dominance-submission, and sexual aggression themes. Levels of penile tumescence recorded while men engaged in fantasies depicting content represented in the MSFQ correlated with the extent to which these men earlier had rated these same fantasies as sexually arousing. Since ratings on the MSFQ did not correlate substantially or consistently with scores on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, the Imaginal Processes Inventory, and the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control, sexual fantasy may be mediated by processes different from those involved in non-sexual imagery and daydreaming. The need to validate use of the MSFQ in several clinical contexts is noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

On fantasies of self-creation.

The authors present a psychoanalytic study of fantasies of self-creation. These fantasies constitute important mental structures shaping the lives of many individuals. Although hitherto unreported in the clinical literature, artists have made rich use of self-creation fantasies, and we therefore begin our investigation with representative portraits of self-creators by Milton, Goethe, and two modernists, Luigi Pirandello and F. Scott Fitzgerald. We then describe the psychoanalyses of two men whose lives were shaped and organized by self-creation fantasies, showing the clinical value of uncovering and analyzing these fantasies. We offer some preliminary observations on the cultural significance of self-creation fantasies and their impact on the analyst and the analytic enterprise.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Fantasy and self-esteem of renal dialysis patients and their spouses.

The fantasy life and self-esteem of 22 male and 13 female renal dialysis patients and their spouses were examined using a Self-Esteem Evaluation Scale, Empathic Fantasy Scale, and eight portions of the Imaginal Process Inventory reflecting eight types of fantasy use. For the patient group as a whole, a high degree of fantasy behavior was associated with low self-esteem, but the sex of the patient made a difference. Frequency of fantasy was shown to be indicative of poor adjustment for female dialysis patients, but not for male dialysis patients. Results also indicated that patients, without regard to sex, were more prone toward guilt fantasies in which they were punished for some wrongdoing such as feelings of anger toward people involved in their treatment or envy of others who do not suffer their same disability.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Unconscious fantasies, structural theory, and compromise formation.

Although the existence of unconscious fantasies is an empirical assumption, in the clinical situation unconscious fantasies are treated as if they have a concrete existence. Unconscious fantasies form intermediate links in causal chains of which clinical observations constitute one end, and the components of unconscious conflicts, the other. Like all clinical material, fantasies may be affected by actual experiences; they may also be revised, layered, and can function to alter and disguise other fantasies as well as provide gratification. From a technical standpoint, it is most important to analyze their constituents and to adduce their primary purposes in the clinical situation of the moment. The nature of the evidence that identifies the presence of particular unconscious fantasies is discussed. Although a single analytic session is presented by way of illustration, I am convinced that the analyst's entire understanding of the patient inevitably channels his or her interpretive focus on the associational material of each analytic hour.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Creativity and oedipal fantasy in Austen's Emma: 'An ingenious and animating suspicion'.

Austen's Emma is one of the great novels of the Western tradition. In this paper the author explores the meaning of Emma's 'ingenious and animating suspicion' that Jane Fairfax seduced her best friend's husband, Mr Dixon. The interpretation that a psychoanalytic understanding makes possible shows how this suspicion represents an oedipal fantasy projected on to Miss Fairfax. Further exploration demonstrates how the fantasy is linked both to Emma's systematic unkindness to Jane Fairfax and to Emma's famous insult to Jane's aunt, Miss Bates. Emma's suspicion projects an oedipal fantasy with its incestuous impulses on to her rival and satisfies an envious aggression at the same time. The author's purpose in this paper is to bring to light through psychoanalytic understanding Austen's dramatisation of the complexity and creativity of the oedipal situation. In addition to the regression in oedipal fantasy, the primary process also functions with a progressive quality that expands and enriches the ego, a double movement described in Keats's 'negative capability', which has been elaborated by Bion. The primal-scene fantasies are often brought alive in the analytic transference. These situations and painful emotions are dramatically portrayed through Austen's genius as vehicles for change. A sudden integration follows a phase of disorganization: 'It darted through her with the speed of an arrow. Mr Knightley must marry no-one but herself'. Emma, who is Austen's 'imaginist', moves from the projected fantasy of the sad love triangle through envy aggression and the narcissistic blows of self-doubt and loss of love to moments of illumination and connection.

Creativity↗
PubMed1996

The abortion decision: fantasy processes.

This paper considers that features intrinsic to pregnancy and to an unwanted pregnancy/abortion decision heighten the likelihood of the occurrence, and the importance, of fantasy in the decision-maker's thinking. In addition, investigation of fantasy or non-rational processes in an abortion decision emphasizes the complexity of decision-making in a way which may challenge ideas of decision-making in general. The results of a pilot study using a short fantasy inventory with 20 women facing an abortion decision are presented to highlight fantasy, not as irrational or pathological, but as legitimately coexisting with logical, reasoning, non-fantasy thought in the abortion decision. The clinical value of the fantasy inventory is explored.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2005

Violent fantasy, dangerousness, and the duty to warn and protect.

An evaluation of homicidal ideation is a routine component of a mental status examination and may be evaluated in more depth in forensic evaluations as a dangerousness risk assessment. The evaluation of dangerousness often includes asking about violent fantasies that may have physical or sexual content. The authors examine the circumstances in which the revelation of violent fantasies to a mental health professional may trigger a duty to warn or protect third parties. Legal cases in which violent fantasies were considered in the context of assessing potential dangerousness are reviewed. The research literature on homicidal and sexually violent fantasies in both non-incarcerated and offender populations is examined. No consistent predictive relationship between violent fantasies and criminally dangerous behavior is reported in the available scientific literature. The authors suggest factors that mental health professionals may consider when assessing whether a particular violent fantasy indicates that a patient's thoughts could give rise to a duty.

Confidentiality↗
PubMed1997

Fantasies, coping behavior, and psychopathology.

This study assessed whether consistent relationships exist between the content of self-reported coping behaviors, sustaining fantasies, and ordinary daydreams. A second goal was the identification of coping behaviors associated with psychopathology and an exploration of connections between coping behaviors, fantasies, and daydreams correlated with pathology. College students (N = 119) completed the Tanck and Robbins Coping Behaviors Scale, the Sustaining Fantasy Questionnaire, and 12 Imaginal Processes Inventory scales. Pearson correlations indicated strong support for similar content between coping behaviors and the two types of fantasy. Previously reported relationships between coping behaviors and psychopathology were replicated. Significant intercorrelations were found between sustaining fantasies, daydreams, and coping behaviors that, separately, were found to be significantly associated with psychopathology.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Narcissism and the use of fantasy.

This study examined the relationship between narcissism and the use of daydreams and fantasy in samples of 129 and 193 subjects. In sample 1, it was found that (1) narcissistic individuals experience achievement, heroic, sexual, hostile, self-revelation, and future-oriented daydreams; and (2) these six types of daydreams represent a coherent "narcissistic" fantasy style. In sample 2, narcissistic individuals who were experiencing higher levels of daily stress report using more self-admiration, power and revenge, and suffering fantasies to cope with stress. The narcissistic theme of entitlement is uniquely related to narcissistic fantasy and the narcissists' use of sustaining fantasies to cope with stress. Results are consistent with clinical literature on the narcissistic personality.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1983

Sexual fantasy alternation.

The purpose of this study was (a) to assess the effect of fantasy alternation on sexual arousal, and (b) to assess the means by which fantasy alternation might alter sexual arousal patterns. The rate of alternation of heterosexual and homosexual masturbatory fantasies was manipulated in four adult males with sexual orientation confusion. The results showed that fantasy alternation can change the relative strength of physiologically measured sexual arousal patterns, but the direction and magnitude of the change seems unpredictable. The effect seems to be sensitive to the rapidity of fantasy alternation. Caution in the clinical use of the procedure with actual sexual deviants appears warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Multidimensionality of the content of female sexual fantasy.

A Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (FSFQ) was developed from factor analysis of ratings through which women indicated the erotic potency of fantasies depicting nominated sexual activities. Five dimensions of sexual fantasy (genital, sensual, sexual power, sexual suffering, forbidden sexual-activity themes) are assessed by FSFQ. The extent to which themes within FSFQ were rated as sexually arousing correlated with the levels of physiological response recorded by vaginal photoplethysmography while women engaged in fantasy employing these themes. Sexual fantasy as assessed by the FSFQ correlated only moderately with scores on measures of non-sexual cognition such as the Imaginal Processes Inventory and the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, and women with high and low scores on FSFQ were not readily differentiated by biographic and demographic variables. Contexts in which the FSFQ can be used are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Sexual fantasies, gender, and molestation history.

A total of 314 university students (107 males and 207 females) completed a questionnaire examining reports of childhood sexual abuse history and extent and type of adult sexual fantasies. Multivariate main effects of gender and abuse history were found, as well as a multivariate interaction between these variables. Males had more fantasies of forcing someone to have intercourse with them, participating in an orgy, and having sex with a stranger. Subjects with histories of sexual abuse had more sexual fantasies than their nonabused peers in four of five categories. Finally, sexually abused women reported more fantasies of being sexually forced than did women without sexual abuse histories or men regardless of molestation history. In several instances, fantasies correlated with especially early and extended abuse.

Child Abuse, Sexual↗
PubMed1989

Fantasy proneness, hypnotizability, and absorption--a re-examination: a brief communication.

In a previous study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986) of fantasy-prone persons, "fantasizers" participated in an 8-10 hour, multi-session study. Group selection was based on scoring in the upper 4% of the college population on the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI) of Wilson and Barber (1981) and conforming to the fantasy-prone personality syndrome (Wilson & Barber, 1981) during an interview. Fantasizers differed from nonfantasizers (lower 4% of population) and medium range scorers on measures of hypnotizability (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, Shor & E. Orne, 1962) and absorption (Tellegen Absorption Scale, Tellegen, 1976). In the current study, Ss were selected on the basis of their ICMI scores and participated in a 1-session experiment. As in our first study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986), fantasizers differed from both comparison groups on the measure of absorption and from the nonfantasizers on the measure of hypnotizability. Further, the correlations among fantasy proneness, absorption, and hypnotizability were stable across studies. Fantasy proneness and absorption were not found to be truly discriminable constructs. Unlike our initial study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986), fantasy-prone and medium range Ss were equally hypnotizable. Methodological differences across studies provide a plausible explanation for the disparate results obtained.

Attention↗
PubMed1982

The fantasy residue: an antitherapeutic force on the psychiatric inpatient service.

This paper will attempt a model of organizational behavior to the study of the origin, perpetuation, and rectification of certain antitherapeutic forces (Sacks and Carpenter 1974) on inpatient services, which I shall call the ward's "fantasy residue." The fantasy residue consists of the enduring antitherapeutic patterns of dealing with patients that have become normative for a given ward and evolve from irrational staff responses to a variety of stresses in the absence of appropriate corrective administrative actions. Because they originate in irrational responses to complicated situations of patient management or staff relations, these forces can be called "fantastical." Because they tend to flourish and remain active long after the specific conditions which gave rise to them changed or cease to exist, they are "residual." Hence, the name "fantasy residue." Once established, the fantasy residue can persist either as unacknowledged maladaptive responses in the ward's milieu or as openly espoused, presumedly valid "methods of treatment." In either case, the ward staff an its leaders lose sight of both the irrational base and antitherapeutic consequences of these attitudes and actions. In this sense, a ward's fantasy residue is analogous to a person's ego syntonic character resistances and correction requires a process of confrontation, recognition, and facilitation of objective self-scrutiny among staff and patients.

Countertransference↗
PubMed1983

Sexual fantasy and activity patterns of females with inhibited sexual desire versus normal controls.

Until recent years, female sexual fantasy was generally associated with psychopathology or negative qualities. Sexual fantasy is now regarded by the cognitive-behavioral schools as a normal occurrence serving adaptive functions. No investigation has been made comparing the sexual fantasy and activity patterns of women with a specific sexual dysfunction and women with a satisfactory sexual adjustment. This study compared responses to a fantasy questionnaire completed by 30 women reporting a satisfying sex life and 25 women who came to a sexual dysfunction clinic with a complaint of inhibited sexual desire. This study confirms that females with inhibited sexual desire fantasize less during foreplay, coitus, masturbation and general daydreaming than the controls. The content of fantasies in both groups is similar. The females with inhibited sexual desire do not masturbate less often and do not have fewer orgasms through masturbation than the controls. The females with inhibited sexual desire have fewer orgasms through intercourse alone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The relationship between fantasy proneness and schizotypy in adolescents.

Previous research has found substantial relationships between fantasy proneness and schizotypy in adulthood. The aim of the present study is to examine the connections between these constructs in an adolescent sample. A sample of 511 adolescents filled out a measure of fantasy proneness and a measure of psychotic-like phenomena. The factorial pattern for schizotypal traits in adolescents replicate the earlier documented three-factor structure. Also, the full range of schizotypal features was found to be related to imaginative tendencies tapped by fantasy proneness. Finally, joint analysis of fantasy and schizotypy showed that, in adolescents, fantasy converges with magical ideation and the cognitive-perceptual dimension of schizotypy, but diverges from the interpersonal aspects of schizotypy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Sex, shame and the transcendent function: the function of fantasy in self development.

This paper explores a developmental approach to the sense of self-agency and to its influence on conscious and unconscious fantasy. I suggest that the emerging sense of self-agency offers an over-arching framework for our understanding of the nature and function of fantasy. In this context, intrusive and compulsive sexual fantasies which a person experiences as perverted and shameful, can be seen to serve differing psychic purposes, depending on the level of self-agency which is predominant. The fantasies can serve both as warning signals of the dangers of relationship and as opportunities for the mind to reflect on its own processes. Differing psychodynamic theories of fantasy are examined in terms of the developmental sense of self-agency that they represent.

Autobiographies as Topic↗
PubMed2003

Implicit romantic fantasies and women's interest in personal power: a glass slipper effect?

Three experiments investigated the relationship between women's romantic fantasies and their interest in personal power. Romantic fantasies (associating partners with chivalry and heroism) were assessed using the Implicit Association Test and self-reports. In each experiment, women's implicit romantic fantasies were dissociated with their conscious beliefs. More important, implicit (but not explicit) romantic fantasies negatively predicted women's interest in personal power, including projected income, education goal, interest in high-status jobs, and group leadership appeal. By contrast, men's implicit romantic fantasies were not routinely linked to their interest in personal power. In concert, the findings are consistent with positing a "glass slipper" effect for women that may be an implicit barrier to gender equity.

Adult↗