Do one act of kindness today and expect nothing in return

Bush and green colour represents John Kerry. The approximate voting values for Kerry and Bush are 5. Interestingly, months before the 2016 American presidential election, Cohen, Solomon, and Kaplin (in press) proposed that Republican candidate Donald Trump was similarly charismatic, with his bold vision to Make America Great Again, whereas Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton did not fit the charismatic style; In support of this hypothesis, and replicating the Bush findings, in a series of pre-election studies, they found that reminders of mortality increased support for Trump but not for Clinton. It may not be a coincidence that, as in the case of Bush in 2004, the charismatic candidate who better assuaged mortality concerns won the 2016 presidential election. SECTION REVIEW Obedience to Authority In Milgram's studies, the level of obedience went far beyond what anyone predicted and made it clear that the proclivity to obey authority is a potential danger in any culture and in any era. Variables That Influence Obedience For those who just cannot decide on a single psychotherapy and would like to have a little bit of everything, schema therapy might be the right choice - it includes CBT, depth psychology, and even Gestalt therapy. The main target group: people with chronic depression or personality disorders. The founder is the American psychologist Jeffrey Young - a behavioral therapist and former colleague of Aaron Beck in the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In a 2008 interview with the German psychotherapist Eckhard Roediger, Young gave insights about the origin of his idea for schema therapy: a whole year of cognitive therapy wasn't able to help him to overcome his own personal problems, but Gestalt therapy eventually did. This key experience inspired him to develop a new psychotherapy, in which methods from different schools are combined. In 2003, the first edition of Young's therapy manual Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide was published [22]. But what is a schema? It is something similar to what has been called stamp in CBASP, or core belief in the classical cognitive therapies of Beck and Ellis - the result of influential negative childhood experiences, which in the present shows itself in a problematic relationship to oneself and others. A variety of personal problems are assigned to 18 specific schemas with labels like self-sacrifice, mistrust or even grandiosity. The last one may not sound too bad, but please consider the conflict potential with all the other people on this planet who refuse to acknowledge your grandiosity. You won't feel 100% better this very moment, but I promise you that you are definitely on your way. Just keep swimming.

Okay, enough with the encouragement and introductory stuff. You want to get started with the actual helping part. Let's do it. In the next article I'm going to talk about the nifty ways your douchebrain influences your actions and how that comes back around to bite you in the ass with anxiety. One of the most effective forms of therapy for anxiety out there in shrink-land is called cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. CBT has lots of theories and techniques, but the one that I want you to focus on is called the cognitive triangle. It's super simple. There it is. Psychological distance from the authority Psychological closeness to the victim Witnessing defiance Not personally causing the harm Obedience does not vary according to sex or nationality. Obedience is influenced by whether the participant has a submissive attitude. More recent research suggests that rates of obedience have not changed. We Obey Because We evolved a propensity to follow those in power. We are socialized to obey authority. A main part of the therapy consists in clarifying which past events led to the development of the schemas, and which basic human needs weren't satisfied at that time. In little role plays, the therapist takes on the role of an optimized father or mother, and gives his patient what previously was missing - eg, encouragement, or even a comforting hug.

This kind of intense emotional care is called reparenting. Some imagination is required if the reparenting therapist is 30 years younger than his patient. Schema therapy uses a special technique which has its origin in Gestalt therapy: chair work. A client takes a seat in front of one or more empty chairs, and visualizes that a specific part of his personality was sitting there. These facets of the self are called modes in schema therapy, and have names like angry child, inner critic or compliant surrenderer. Then a conversation with the imagined selves takes place, with the schema therapist leading the discussion. This exercise is supposed to help in better understanding the own feelings and behaviors, and to increase the inner distance to those troubling psychic entities. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) The triforce of mental douchebaggery. Let's break it down a bit. Basically what the cognitive triangle acknowledges is that your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors all influence each other. If I asked you to imagine someone you love getting in a terrible car crash, it would probably make you feel pretty crappy. On the contrary, if I asked you to imagine opening your kitchen cabinet and suddenly $1,000,000 falls out, you'd probably feel pretty awesome. That is an example of how thoughts influence your feelings. Told you it was simple. Let's take it a step further. Say you had the deluge of cash fall on your head. Awesome right? Small acts may escalate such that once an action is begun, we gradually become more and more committed to continuing. It is difficult to defy a legitimate authority.

The Role of Charisma When the prevailing worldview no longer provides members of society with compelling bases of meaning and self-worth, charismatic leaders are likely to gain followers. Reminders of mortality increase the appeal of charismatic leaders. CONNECT ONLINE: Don't stop now! Check out our videos and additional resources located at: www. Persuasion, Attitudes, and Behavior The text on the article reads, Topic Overview: Elaboration Likelihood Model: Central and Peripheral routes to Persuasion 290. This therapy is usually talked about only in its abbreviation as well. Like in the case of CBASP, you don't speak out the single letters, but say it as one word. Founder is the American psychologist Steven C. Hayes - it's the man who chose to divide the history of behavioral therapy into three waves. ACT can be thought of as a kind of mindfulness training, in which cognitions play a role as well. But there's an important difference to the cognitive therapies of Beck or Ellis: in ACT, it's not the specific content of a thought that is of interest (Nobody loves me - what would be an argument that this is true? Instead, it's about how to mentally deal with an annoying thought (Nobody loves me - what to do when this sentence pops up in the mind? The goal: achieving a non-judgmental attitude. ACT therapists often communicate in a very pictorial language. As an illustration of the ideal mindset, it is often suggested to watch the own thoughts like leaves floating by in a river. Well maybe. Where did this money come from?

With great cash comes great responsibility and now you have a fat stack of money from god knows where. If your thought is that maybe this is drug money hidden in your house by some ultra-violent drug cartel, you probably wouldn't be on cloud nine anymore, which will in turn cause you to behave a certain way. You're probably going to freak out and call the cops or something. If instead you remembered that you had entered a giveaway at the mall for $1,000,000, then you are likely going to attribute it to that and behave like a raving lunatic and hop around the room hootin' and hollerin'. See what we did there? Your thoughts led to feelings, which then influenced your behavior. It's not a difficult concept in general, but sometimes we don't even know the ways that our thinking influences our feelings and behaviors. Our thoughts might be loosely rooted in reality, but they sure as hell don't always stay there. Characteristics of the Source 295. Characteristics of the Message 299. Characteristics of the Audience 310. The relationship Between Attitudes and Behavior 321. Topic Overview Elaboration Likelihood Model: Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion Characteristics of the Source Characteristics of the Message Characteristics of the Audience Resistance to Persuasion There are variations: in the next ACT office one floor up, you might be instead instructed to watch them like clouds passing by in the sky, or cars driving by on a highway. The message always stays the same: thoughts come and go - you don't necessarily have to react to them.