1st Edition

Social Fabrics of the Mind

Edited By Michael Chance Copyright 1988
    358 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    362 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    Originally published in 1988, this book outlines a new evolutionary paradigm for understanding human society and mental structure, originating from the editor's work in primate ethology. It is supported and further elaborated by the contributors. Chance argues that two modes of social interaction, the agonic and hedonic, underlie social life and corresponding mentality.

    In the agonic mode we are concerned with self-security and our attention is much taken up with being accepted by a group. This mode is based on a recently discovered state of inhibited (braked) mental arousal. Social behaviour is either authoritarian or authority subservient, and has a tendency to control or be controlled. It curbs intelligence and restricts personality development.

    In the hedonic mode we are freer to form a network of personal relationships that are typically mutually supportive. The hedonic mode leads to the development of self-confidence and a relaxed empathic and collaborative personality with intelligence enhanced.

    The volume will still be of interest to all concerned with human affairs including those working in ethology, primatology, anthropology, social psychology, psychiatry and political sociology.

    Preface.  Michael R. A. Chance Introduction.  1. Michael R. A. Chance A Systems Synthesis of Mentality  2. Gary R. Emory Social Geometry and Cohesion in Three Primate Species  3. Thomas K. Pitcairn Social Attention and Social Awareness  4. Margaret D. Power The Cohesive Foragers: Human and Chimpanzee  5. Frans B.M. de Waal The Reconciled Hierarchy  6. Junichiro Itani The Origin of Human Equality  7. John Price Alternative Channels for Negotiating Asymmetry in Social Relationships  8. Russell Gardner, Jr. Psychiatric Syndromes as Infrastructure for Intra-specific Communication  9. Peter Scott Lewis The Therapeutic Use of an Ethogram in a Drug Addiction Unit  10. H. Montagner, A. Restoin, D. Rodriguez, V. Ullmann, M. Viala, D. Laurent and D. Godard Social Interactions of Young Children with Peers and their Modifications in Relation to Environmental Factors  11. Carol Barner-Barry The Structure of Politically Relevant Behaviours in Pre-school Peer Groups  12. Roger D. Masters Nice Guys DON’T Finish Last: Aggressive and Appeasement Gestures in Media Images of Politicians  13. Theodore D. Kemper The Two Dimensions of Sociality  14. Felix Wedgwood-Oppenheim Organisational Culture and the Agonic/Hedonic Bimodality.  Glossary.  Author Index.  Subject Index.

    Biography

    Michael Chance