Simon Boag

Macquarie University · School of Psychological Sciences

Personality assessment helps us to predict how people behave under various circumstances or how well a person might perform within certain roles. However, there are reasons to question the supposed ‘construct validity’ of tests designed to assess various personality attributes including dispositional traits. To demonstrate this, the paper first dis...

Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis redresses faults in Freud’s original conception to develop a coherent theoretical basis for psychodynamic theory. Simon Boag demonstrates that Freud’s much maligned ‘metapsychology’, once revised, can provide a foundation for evaluating and integrating the plethora of psychodynamic perspectives,...

Dynamic personality approaches provide an important step forward for twenty-first century personality theories because they promise greater explanatory power compared with latent trait approaches. Nevertheless , whether dynamic personality theories satisfactorily address motivated action remains unclear. To address this, this article discusses the...

Scientific psychology involves both identifying and classifying phenomena of interest (description) and revealing the causes and mechanisms that contribute towards these phenomena arising (explanation). Within personality psychology, some propose that aspects of behavior and cognition can be explained with reference to personality traits. However,...

Background: Past studies have primarily focused on the impact of body weight perception on psychological health. However, other components (e.g., perceived body fat and muscularity) may also play a role. This study aimed to examine the association between weight status (i.e., normal weight and obesity/overweight) and psychological health, and how d...

Introduction Trust is foundational to all social science domains, but to date, there is no unifying theory or consistent measurement basis spanning the social sciences. This research hypothesized that trust forms the basis of an ontology that could unify the social science domains. The proposed ontology comprises a Cartesian plane with axes self-tr...

The present paper introduces a theoretical model that addresses the interplay between insecure attachment, internal narratives, and defensive behaviour. Drawing from attachment theory research, we conceptualize the “internalized defensive narrative” (IDN) as a mental representation associated with attachment-insecurity. The model illustrates how th...

Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is extensively implicated as a risk factor preceding the development of Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Traits (OCPT). Nevertheless, the majority of individuals with a history of CAN do not go on to develop OCPT. To date, little research has investigated potential model networks that may help contribute to explaining...

Adverse childhood experiences are regularly implicated as a risk factor in the development of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Traits (OCPT). Nevertheless, the majority of individuals exposed to adverse childhood experiences do not go on to develop adult OCPT. This study aimed to investigate whether attachment or metacognition best mediate the asso...

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an alternative state of consciousness char-acterised by changes in affect, feelings of relaxation, and tingling sensations on the body. Online videos designed to stimulate ASMR in viewers have become increasingly popular. Although there is evidence that ASMR may improve sleep, emotion regulation, and r...

Explaining how both repression and self-deception occur provides an ongoing challenge for both psychology and philosophy. This chapter examines repression and self-deception in light of the static and dynamic paradoxes of self-deception and the problem of knowing in order not to know. The chapter first addresses these logical paradoxes to both clar...

Background: Recent research has highlighted the relevance of a gut-health promoting diet as a possible treatment and prevention for depression. A dietary pattern with consumption of fermented food and high consumption of dietary fiber can promote gut health, physical health, and might even improve mental health. This study aimed to investigate the...

Contemporary attachment researchers claim that attachment-anxiety is associated with a hyperactivating defense strategy while attachment-avoidance is associated with a deactivating defense strategy. However, to date, no study has comprehensively examined the basic patterns of specific defense expression in the two dimensions of attachment insecurit...

Otto Kernberg presents a sophisticated approach integrating neurobiology and object relations and calling for revisions to both drive theory and the dynamic unconscious. This commentary briefly addresses Kernberg’s revision of drive theory before focusing upon his theory of splitting and the dynamic unconscious. Although Kernberg’s theory of affect...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01110.].

This thesis addresses two long-standing dilemmas in personality psychology. The first dilemma is that of identifying the latent dimensions of personality. The second is to identify how best to measure psychological constructs. Novel solutions to both of these problems are presented in two articles. The first article (published), ‘An atlas of person...

Associations between unmet interpersonal needs and different aspects of suicide have been observed in both Western and non‐Western cultures using the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ). However, measurement invariance is a prerequisite for comparing differences between culturally different groups, and to date, no studies have examined measurem...

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a pleasurable, head-oriented tingling sensation, typically induced by exposure to audiovisual triggers, producing feelings of relaxation and euphoria. This article explores the induction of ASMR experiences in a laboratory setting amongst non-specialised participants, as well as the relationship betwee...

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a pleasurable, tingling sensation induced by exposure to specific, audio-visual triggers, producing feelings of relaxation and euphoria. This article examines the relationship between ASMR propensity using a recently developed self-report measure (ASMR-15), Big-Five personality factors, and sensory-pro...

Identifying factors that predict who may be at risk of suicide could help prevent suicides via targeted interventions. It is difficult at present, however, to predict which individuals are likely to attempt suicide, even in high ­risk populations such as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) sufferers. The complexity of person-­situation dynamics m...

Mark Solms provides a sophisticated extension and clarification of Freud's Project in light of current neuropsychoanalytic thinking and Friston's free-energy principle. This commentary focuses upon Solms' view of repression and defence in his updated Project, whereby Solms extends his recent work on the topic. After noting similarities and differen...

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a multidimensional sensory-affective experience typically described as a head-oriented tingling sensation that occurs upon exposure to specific audiovisual triggers. Previous work using a 15-item multidimensional measure of ASMR propensity (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response Scale [ASMR-15]), with se...

A decrease in glutamate in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been extensively found in animal models of chronic pain. Given that the mPFC is implicated in emotional appraisal, cognition and extinction of fear, could a potential decrease in glutamate be associated with increased pessimistic thinking, fear and worry symptoms commonly found in p...

The aim of the current investigation was to explore the nature of music-evoked visual imagery in listening contexts designed to elicit such imagery. In Experiment 1, 53 participants listened to 2.5-min excerpts of classical and popular music with their eyes closed and answered questions about their visual imagery and emotional experiences. In all,...

The importance of reflective awareness for clinical practice is generally well recognised across a variety of therapeutic approaches. Psychodynamic approaches traditionally also recognise that defense mechanisms provide major impediments to reflective awareness. Recently, however, the neuropsychoanalyst Mark Solms proposes that the dynamic unconsci...

In this article, we review Davanloo's metapsychology of the unconscious and how it can contribute to the current psychodynamic understanding and treatment of psychosis. In this framework, current attachment and emotions become connected with unconscious conflict-laden feelings about early attachment trauma at the core of the unconscious conflict. T...

The aim of this paper is raise and address questions regarding the status of objectivity for the generalized latent variable model (GLVM) in psychometric research, given the conceptual, logical and mathematical problems of circularity, conditional independence, and factor indeterminacy, respectively. The question of objectivity for the model is exa...

Conservation psychology is an emerging field, with few studies examining the role of advertising imagery on environmental attitudes and behaviours. This study aimed to expand the knowledge in this field, by examining how different types of imagery affect pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Undergraduate psychology students from Macquarie Un...

Altered states of consciousness refer to qualitative shifts in an individual’s overall pattern of mental functioning. This article presents the 3-part development and validation of a multidimensional self-report measure of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). ASMR is an intensely pleasurable, head-orientated tingling sensation that typicall...

Objective This paper aims to examine the development of personality research within Australia, from the emergence of Australian psychology to the current time. Method The paper first identifies the central role of personality research in shaping early Australian psychology. The paper then addresses the emerging directions of Australian personality...

The present study examined whether general mental ability (GMA) moderated the link between confidence and integrity test scores. Participants were 477 Australian adults who completed an online survey that gauged GMA, confidence in the accuracy of responses to GMA items, and the Hilson Safety/Security Risk Inventory as a measure of integrity. Result...

Background: Personality traits may influence development and adjustment to ongoing pain. Over the past 120 years, there has been considerable research into the relationship between pain and personality. This paper presents new evidence for common personality traits found amongst chronic pain sufferers. In particular, it evaluates evidence for Clon...

The merits of Freudian dream theory continue to be debated and both supporters and critics appeal to empirical evidence to support their respective positions. What receives much less attention is the theoretical coherency of either Freudian dream theory or alternative perspectives. This paper examines Freudian dream theory and J. Allan Hobson’s alt...

Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis redresses faults in Freud’s original conception to develop a coherent theoretical basis for psychodynamic theory. The book argues that Freud’s much maligned ‘metapsychology’, once revised, can provide a foundation for evaluating and integrating the plethora of psychodynamic perspectives, by devel...

This study examines attitudes towards interfaith relationships between individuals living in the conflict state of Israel. An exploratory method was used and interviews were conducted with Jewish Israeli, Christian Palestinian, and Muslim Palestinian students currently living in Israel. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that emerged...

Those high in the Dark Triad traits, i.e. narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism are often painted as either the "villains" or the "perpetrators". The consensus of personality research thus far is that these traits function by playing offense. Nonetheless, there is scope to understand the defensive stance of these traits. In this online quest...

This study sought to investigate if a short mindfulness induction can augment empathic functioning, while taking into account the role of the personality traits. Analysis of 102 participants suggests that a short mindfulness induction is most effective in improving cognitive empathy in individuals with lower trait Conscientiousness and Extraversion...

Of the topics found in psychoanalytic theory it is Freud’s philosophy of mind that is at once the most contentious and enduring. Psychoanalytic theory makes bold claims about the significance of unconscious mental processes and the wish-fulfilling activity of the mind, citing their importance for understanding the nature of dreams and explaining bo...

This article replies directly to the two cornerstones of Hobson’s legendary transposition of Freud’s dream theory, that is, the theory’s presumed empirical untestability and its scientific obsolescence or replaceability in the scientific arena. After an outline of Freudian dream theory, empirical data coming from two research paradigms (“children’s...

In this chapter I propose that Freud’s theory of repression, broadly formulated, is essential for understanding the psychology of science. The possibility of self-deception and motivated ignoring in science is first discussed in the context of ‘turning a blind eye’, ‘blindness of the seeing eye’ and selective inattention. The relationship between h...

The perennial interest in psychoanalysis shows no signs of abating and the longevity of psychoanalytic theory is seen in the varied extensions and elaborations of Freudian thinking in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive theory. Nevertheless, the scientific standing of psychoanalysis has long been questioned and developments in the fields of th...

This article addresses the relationship between religious and/or cultural affiliation and attitudes toward cross-cultural and interfaith relationships among university students in Australia. The questions of interest were as follows: (1) what is the relationship between the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and attitud...

This paper addresses the relationship between the ego, id, and internal objects. While ego psychology views the ego as autonomous of the drives, a less well-known alternative position views the ego as constituted by the drives. Based on Freud’s ego-instinct account, this position has developed into a school of thought which postulates that the driv...

Young’s Schema Theory provides a theoretical framework that relates temperament, coping styles and Early Maladaptive Schemas to social anxiety and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The current study explored the relationship between these variables in a sample of 360 non-clinical adults. Results indicated that individuals higher in social anxiety disp...

Critics have described psychology as a science impaired by disunity. The most recent special issue of Review of General Psychology sought to specifically address this concern, seeking perspectives from a wide range of theorists, each of whom offered their tradition’s approach to how psychology as a whole may be integrated into a more unified whole....

The present study examined the perceived influence of parental and social pressure on individuals’ perceptions regarding cross-cultural and interfaith dating and marriage. The questions of interest were: (1) What is the influence of parental attitudes towards interfaith and cross-cultural relationships? (2) How do the participants feel it impacts u...

Evolutionary psychology has seen the majority of its success exploring adaptive features of the mind believed to be ubiquitous across our species. This has given rise to the belief that the adaptationist approach has little to offer the field of differential psychology, which concerns itself exclusively with the ways in which individuals systematic...

The present study examines parental attitudes toward bilingual and peace-promoting education at a school in Israel, and how these affect the behaviors and perceptions of their children studying there. The questions of interest were: (a) what are the parents’ perceptions of and attitudes toward the bilingual and peace-promoting education? (b) Are th...

Reviews the book, The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank: Inside Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank, edited by E. James Lieberman and Robert Kramer, and translated by Gregory C. Richter (see record 2012-00567-000 ). This recently published book, containing approximately 250 newly available and unpublished letters, should be met with...

Reviews the book, Phenomenology and the Physical Reality of Consciousness by Arthur Melnick (see record 2011-23838-000 ). Arthur Melnick’s book Phenomenology and the Physical Reality of Consciousness is a bold attempt to solve the mind/body problem and locate the mind physically. In his words, this book represents an “attempt to work out a unified...

Reviews the book, Body, mind, and healing after Jung: A space of questions by Raya A. Jones (see record 2010-12638-000 ). This edited collection promises a critical reexamination of Jungian and post-Jungian developments in the context of appreciating the embodied mind and culture within the therapeutic context. Jones provides a frank assessment of...

The proliferation of personality and individual differences constructs is testament to the vibrancy of research in this field. Furthermore, all such constructs would make some claim to receiving empirical support. However, while additional empirical research will help further determine the merit of these conceptions, this paper proposes that concep...

The Excitation Transfer paradigm proposes that externally-caused residual arousal may later intensify unrelated feelings of attraction, and thus emphasising the role of situational variables. On the other hand, Emotional Intelligence (EI) involves an individual's internal capacity to interpret and engage with emotionally-relevant information. This...

Personality and individual differences research is relevant to practically every facet of human existence. For instance, since theories of persons either explicitly or implicitly guide clinical work, the field contributes to discussions of understanding abnormal psychology and provides a guide for conceptualising best treatment. Additionally, the f...

Strongly partitive accounts deviate radically from the common view of a single, unified knower or self within each 'person', proposing instead an account of multiple knowers. This view is justified by consideration of mental conflict, and objections, including the view that conflict does not require strong partitioning, that there exists a tension...

Research regarding the affective experiences of stepparents is sparse. This study investigated the relationship between parental type (step or biological) and parental socioemotional investment, resentment, and jealousy. The study explored whether evolutionary or socialization accounts of parenting were able to explain the differential treatment of...

Both “repression” and “suppression” are said to involve removing mental content from awareness. However, repression is generally said to be unconscious, whereas suppression is said to be conscious. The meanings of the terms “unconscious” and “conscious,” though, are open to a variety of interpretations and so the validity of this distinction is unc...

Evolutionary theory and adaptation-based explanations in psychology have become increasingly common within the last 20 to 30 years, and researchers are beginning to utilise the evolutionary paradigm in the study of personality and individual differences. This chapter examines several evolutionarily oriented personality trait studies to highlight ap...

Recent research suggests that negative schemas (i.e., core beliefs) that are not directly related to eating, shape and weight may play an important role in bulimia's manifestation (Jones, Harris & Leung, 2005). Since these schemas may be prevented from awareness due to defensive processes, subliminal stimulation may be an effective means for treatm...

Reviews the book, Mind to mind: Infant research, neuroscience, and psychoanalysis, edited by Elliot L. Jurist, Arietta Slade, and Sharone Bergner (see record 2007-19477-000). Psychoanalytic practitioners and researchers have increasingly turned to converging developmental, neuroscientific, and clinical evidence relevant to studying psychodynamic...

Andersonian realism is a determinist, empiricist position that acknowledges the important distinction between qualities and relations. However, Anderson's 'mind as feeling' thesis, proposing that the mind's qualities are emotional, is problematic since it fails to account for 'feelings' themselves. O'Neil's (1934) alternative relational account of...

Reviews the book, Brain, mind, and medicine: Essays in eighteenth-century neuroscience , edited by Harry Whitaker, C.U.M. Smith, and Stanley Finger (see record 2007-18714-000 ). This collection of articles is an attempt at understanding questions of body and mind as they were formulated in the 18th century. Many of the chapters focus on the contrib...

Reviews the book, Passions and tempers: A history of the humours by Noga Arikha (see record 2007-09236-000). Understanding the relationship between body and mind has proven to be no easy feat. Descartes' philosophy extricated the mind from the body and created what appears to be an unbridgeable gap between mind and matter (Leahey, 1997). Only rel...

Considerable confusion surrounds the notion of 'subliminal perception'. While empirical findings from subliminal perception experiments appear to demonstrate that subliminal perception can both occur and lead to a variety of (often dramatic) effects, the present conceptualisations of subliminal perception are problematic since they fail to clarify...

While there are various accounts describing the development of Australian psychology generally there exists at present no account of the development of personality and individual differences research within Australia specifically. This paper provides an overview of the development of personality and individual differences research within Australia...

Hans Eysenck (1993) proposes that creativity correlates with the personality construct of Psychoticism (P) in populations with high intelligence. However, this theory has only, at best, received mixed support, and recently Reuter et al. (2005) found that a biologically-based construct (SEEK), related to curiosity and problem solving, was instead re...

The belief that language is a necessary condition for consciousness is common within psychoanalytic literature. This, in turn, has led to accounts of 'passive primal repression', where pre-verbal mental content cannot become conscious at a later time. This paper discusses consciousness and unconsciousness as certain relations rather than as qualiti...

Reviews the book, Transference and countertransference in non-analytic therapy: Double-edged swords by Judith A. Schaeffer (see record 2007-02321-000 ). According to Boag, the concepts of transference and countertransference are arguably some of the most important concepts that psychodynamic thinking has contributed to clinical practice. In the con...

Responds to McNally's comments (see record 2007-18727-004) on the current author's original article. Richard McNally's thoughtful commentary points to a noncontroversial source of the fixation with Freud's early theory of repression. At the same time, however, McNally's account does not directly address the critical issue at the heart of my origin...

Reviews the book, Demystifying love: Plain talk for the mental health professional by Stephen B. Levine (see record 2007-00128-000 ). The psychoanalyst John Maze (1993) once wrote that attitudes concerning love tend toward being either skeptical or credulous, the former suggesting that the altruistic veneer of love conceals self-interest, whereas t...

The recent interest in neuroscientific psychodynamic research (‘Neuro-psychoanalysis’) has meant that empirical findings are emerging which allow greater public scrutiny of psychodynamic concepts. However, Macmillan (1991) claims that the psychoanalytic cornerstone, ‘repression’, is a circular explanatory term and incapable of referring to a ‘real...

Historically, repression has been considered a cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory. However, explaining how the ego maintains repression without knowing the repressed appears to create a logical paradox of knowing in order not to know. Maze and Henry’s realist analysis of the problem provides an important new direction for framing possible solutio...

A major weakness in Erdelyi's account concerns the claim that repression can become conscious. A relational account of cognition demonstrates that if repression is successful, then the repressive act cannot become known. Additionally, “resistance” further distinguishes “repression” from “suppression.” Rather than blurring the distinction between th...

A sustained misconceptualisation of a theory leading to invalid applications and inferences indicates a failure in the scientific process. This has repeatedly occurred with Freud's theory of repression, a cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory. This paper traces the development of Freud's theory of repression and compares this with the "common view"...

One particular area of contention in discussions of Freudian dream theory and its relation to the neuroscientific evidence is the notion of ‘disguise-censorship’ and its relation to dream bizarreness. The discussion to date, however, has neglected the conceptual basis of repression and disguise-censorship and this paper aims to clarify the role of...

Strongly partitive accounts deviate radically from the common view of a single, unified knower or self within each ‘person’, proposing instead an account of multiple knowers. This view is justified by consideration of mental conflict, and objections, including the view that conflict does not require strong partitioning, that there exists a tension...