Hello darkness my old friend: preferences for darkness vary by neuroticism and co-occur with negative affect

Feeling up or feeling down: Verticality preferences in personality, pathology, and well-being

Theories of mental functioning have suggested its metaphoric basis. Drawing from theories of this type as well as from recent extensions of such theories to the personality processing realm, participants in three studies (total N = 452) were asked to indicate their relative preferences for the spatial concepts of up versus down, given that verticality metaphors are frequently used to conceptualize states related to emotion and well-being. Up-preferring individuals were more extraverted and approach-motivated (Study 1), whereas down-preferring individuals were more depressed (Studies 1 and 2). Higher levels of vertical preference were also predictive of affective well-being in a daily diary protocol (Study 3) and these relationships operated in both between-person and within-person terms. Metaphors, which liken the intangible to the tangible, may play a significant role in shaping experience and verticality metaphors, in particular, appear to provide insights into the processes that that support happiness versus its absence.

Seeking Protection, Finding Despair: Closed Preferences as a Model of Neuroticism-Linked Distress

Introduction: Image schemas are perceptual-motor simulations of the world that are likely to have broad importance in understanding models of the self and its regulatory operations. Methods: Seven samples of participants (total N = 1,011) rated their preferences for unspecified entities being “open” or “closed” and scores along this dimension were linked to variations in personality, emotion, and psychopathology. Results: Individuals endorsing closed preferences to a greater extent were prone to neuroticism (Study 1), experiential avoidance (Study 2), negative affect in daily life (Study 3), and symptoms of anxiety and depression (Study 4). Discussion: Although closed preferences are likely to be endorsed for protective reasons (inasmuch as the contents of closed objects are better protected), such preferences are linked to higher, rather than lower, levels of neuroticism and distress. The findings offer new evidence for theories of neuroticism and psychopathology that emphasize operations related to defensive motivation and experiential avoidance.

Digging down or scratching the surface: how patients use metaphors to describe their experiences of psychotherapy

BACKGROUND

In the present study, we wanted to explore which metaphors patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) use to explain their experience of being in therapy and their improvement from depression.

METHODS

Patients with MDD (N = 22) received either psychodynamic therapy (PDT) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). They were interviewed with semi-structured qualitative interviews after ending therapy. The transcripts were analyzed using a method based on metaphor-led discourse analysis.

RESULTS

Metaphors were organized into three different categories concerning the process of therapy, the therapeutic relationship and of improvement from depression. Most frequent were the metaphorical concepts of surface and depth, being open and closed, chemistry, tools, improvement as a journey from darkness to light and depression as a disease or opponent.

CONCLUSIONS

Patient metaphors concerning the therapeutic experience may provide clinicians and researchers valuable information about the process of therapy. Metaphors offer an opportunity for patients to communicate nuances about their therapeutic experience that are difficult to express in literal language. However, if not sufficiently explored and understood, metaphors may be misinterpreted and become a barrier for therapeutic change.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinical Trial gov. Identifier: NCT03022071 . Date of registration: 16/01/2017.