Self-Defeating Behaviours: Experimental Research Clinical Impressions and Practical Implications(The Springer Series in Social Clinical Psychology)

In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, Who, squatting upon the ground, Held his heart in his hands. And ate of it. I said: "Is it good, friend?" "It is bitter-bitter," he answered; But I like it Because it is bitter, And because it is my heart. " Stephen Crane The Black Riders and Other Lines "It is the function of great art to purge and give meaning to human suffering," wrote Bernard Knox (1982, p. 149) in his introduction to Oedipus Rex. This is done by showing some causal connection between the hero's free will and his suffer- ing, by bringing to the fore the interplay of the forces of destiny and human freedom. Knox states that Freud was wrong when he suggested that it was "the particular nature of the material" in Oedipus that makes the play so deeply moving, and not the contrast between destiny and human will. Knox believes that this play has an overpowering effect upon us, not only because we share the tendency of Oedipus to direct" our first sexual impulse towards our mother" and "our first murderous wish against our father," as Freud tells us, but also because the theological modification of the legend introduced by Sophocles calls into question the sacred beliefs of our time (Knox, 1982, pp. 133-137).

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction.- The Omote and Ura of Western Psychology.- Overview of the Chapters in This Volume.- References.- I. How Self-Defeating Behaviors Develop and Persist.- 2 Belief Perseverance and Self-Defeating Behavior.- Tenacious Beliefs and Self-Defeating Behaviors.- The Origins of Incorrect Beliefs.- The Perseverance of Beliefs.- Underlying Processes.- Implications for Belief Change.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 3 Self-Fulfilling Prophecies and Self-Defeating Behavior.- Toward a Theoretical Perspective on Self-Fulfilling Prophecies.- Implications for Self-Defeating Behavior.- General Conclusions.- References.- 4 Trying and Giving Up: Persistence and Lack of Persistence in Failure Situations.- The Pathology of Low and High Expectations.- Persistence and Achievement Motivation.- Attributions and Persistence.- Dynamics of Action.- Action Control.- Attention and Self-Regulation.- Self-Handicapping Strategies.- Social-Cognitive Theory.- General Discussion.- References.- II. Self-Defeating Responses to the Threat of Unpleasant Outcomes.- 5 Excuses Gone Awry: An Analysis of Self-Defeating Excuses.- How Excuses Work.- When Excuses Become Self-Defeating.- Why Self-Defeating Excuses?.- References.- 6 Making Things Harder for Yourself: Pride and Joy.- The Paradox.- Making Things Harder for Yourself-Pride.- Making Things Harder for Yourself-Joy.- Pride and Joy.- Summing Up.- References.- 7 Fear of Success.- The Neurotic Fear of Success.- The Early Research.- The Antecedents of Fear of Success.- Fear of Success and Fear of Failure.- Therapeutic Situations: Setups of Defeat for Success Fearers.- When Success Fearers Can and Cannot Succeed without Sabotaging Success.- Fear of Success in Social Psychology.- Relationships among Fear of Success and Fear of Failure Measures.- State of the Theory and Implications for Future Research.- References.- 8 Choosing to Suffer or to...? Empirical Studies and Clinical Theories of Masochism.- Suffering "the Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune": Experimental Studies of Masochism and "Choosing" to Suffer.- "The Undiscover'd Country": Clinical and Philosophical Ideas Regarding Masochism.- State of the Theory on Choosing to Suffer and Implications for Future Research.- Increasing the Likelihood of Choosing Not to Suffer Masochistically.- Summary.- References.- 9 Toward an Understanding of Self-Defeating Responses Following Victimization.- Background Model of Reactions to Victimization.- Intrusive, Recurrent Thoughts.- Self-Blame.- Negative Prior Assumptions.- References.- 10 Learned Helplessness.- Two Decades of Learned Helplessness.- Criteria for Learned Helplessness.- Evaluating Applications of Learned Helplessness.- A Survey of Applications.- Conclusions.- References.- III. When Situational Responses Become Personality Dispositions.- 11 Self-Handicapping Behavior and the Self-Defeating Personality Disorder: Toward a Refined Clinical Perspective.- Perspectives on Masochism.- Self-Esteem Protection: The Self-Handicapping Formulation.- The Self-Defeating Personality Disorder.- Implications of the Proposed Trifurcation.- Summary.- Appendix: Diagnostic Criteria for Self-Handicapping Disorder.- References.- 12 Controversies Concerning the Self-Defeating Personality Disorder.- Historical Precedents.- The DSM-III-R Criteria Set for SDPD.- Critiques.- Discussion.- Conclusions.- References.- 13 The Paradox of the Self: A Psychodynamic and Social-Cognitive Integration.- Psychodynamic Approaches: Masochism and the Three Harsh Masters.- Evaluation of Psychodynamic Models of the Self.- Social-Cognitive Approaches: Some Like It Cold.- Evaluation of Social-Cognitive Models of the Self.- Unresolved Issues in the Paradox of the Self.- Toward an Integrated Theory of Self-Representations.- Conclusion.- References.- IV. Conclusions.- 14 Integration: Conditions under Which Self-Defeating and Self-Enhancing Behaviors Develop.- Review of the Themes That Emerge in These Chapters.- Conditions under Which Self-Defeating Behaviors Occur.- An Outline for an Integrated Model of Self-Defeating Behaviors.- Applications of the Integrated Model.- Implications for Change.- Conclusions.- References.- Author Index.