Object relations (Psychoanalysis)

The two principal areas of research addressed by this study were: a) further validation of
Nowak and Vallacher's mouse paradigm, and b) comparison of literatures all
theoretically derived from principles of hedonics. Validation of the mouse paradigm
included examination of the instructional set and detection of individual differences in
various hedonically derived measures of personality. The mouse instructions were framed
in terms of approach ('less good ' versus ' more good') or in terms of avoidance (' more
bad' versus ' less bad ' ). Inclusion of inventories based on the principles of approach and
avoidance allowed for examination of convergent and discriminant validity.
The mouse procedure was able to differentiate self-esteem, self-stability,
introversion/extraversion, neuroticism/emotional stability, and Strelau's Pavlovian
mobility. Depending on the prime used, some differentiation was also seen with measures
of attachment. Differentiation was not found with the mouse procedure for Strelau's
Pavlovian measures of strength of excitation and strength of inhibition. Two factor analyses of the questionnaires used gave rise to conceptually positive and
negative components. The positive component was related to self-esteem, self-stability,
extraversion, strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, mobility, and inversely related
to anxiety and neuroticism. The negative component positively loaded on neuroticism,
avoidance, dismissing attachment, and fearful attachment, and negatively loaded on selfesteem,
self-stability, and secure attachment.
These components were compared with Vallacher and Nowak's hedonically based mouse
paradigm measures. They were consistently found to correlate with distance under the
approach prime and variability in distance under the avoidance prime. This suggests that
individuals who score highly on conceptually positive constructs (approach
temperaments) have more stable absolute attitudes whereas individuals who score higher
on conceptually negative constructs (avoidance temperaments) have greater variability in
attitude.
The approach instructions initially gave rise to lower evaluation, more variability, and
less time at rest than the avoidance instructions. This trend was reflected in the increase
in correlations over time under the positive hedonic condition and a decrease in
correlations with time under the negative hedonic condition. These results suggest a
suppression effect with negative framing.

The cruelty of Military Police guards at Abu Ghraib prison contributed to American shame and questions regarding how such cruelty emerges. The accepted approach of "situational attribution theory" - based upon Zimbardo's (1973, 2007) social psychological perceptions and results of the Stanford Prison Experiment - proposed that personality or "disposition" has little role in the emergence of such cruelty. Termed "institutional cruelty," this manuscript presents the possibility that understandings and preventive measures afforded by situational attribution theory can be extended via acknowledgement of a greater role played by disposition. Psychoanalytic and object relations approaches are presented to this end. The manuscript addresses the most puzzling characteristics of institutional cruelty: 1) rapidity of onset, taking days or, at most, weeks for initial expression, 2) emergence in ordinary, normal individuals, and 3) emergence in the "mock" situation of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Criminological, organizational culture, and social psychological theories are explored for their application to institutional cruelty.