In keeping with Hot Spots this issue's puzzler is: Which institutions have the most members in the Association for Research in Personality?
The Answer to Last Issue's Puzzler
"THEORY X" is REVERSAL THEORY.
Reversal theory argues that, at least if we are psychologically healthy, we reverse backwards and forwards during everyday life between contrasting ways of seeing the world. For example, sometimes we see things in a serious way, and at other times we see them playfully. The theory in fact identifies and studies four such pairs of opposites, each of which is based on a different value/motive. Thus the serious way of seeing the world is based on the value of achievement in the future while the playful way relates to the value of enjoyment in the present. The theory suggests that reversal from one such state to another is brought about not only by situational changes but also by certain fluid internal processes. States combine with each other in various shifting combinations to produce the dynamic complexities of human mental life, including the experience of emotions and of interpersonal relationships.
From this point of view, the whole story of personality cannot be told in terms of rather static traits, but needs new concepts to capture its essentially dynamic quality. For this reason, individual differences are seen as involving such characteristics as time spent in different states and state combinations, ease and frequency of reversals, ways of expressing different states, and so on. In other words, reversal theory opens up a whole new set of questions for personality research.
The theory originated in England, thirty years ago, in the collaborative work of Ken Smith and Michael Apter, a psychiatrist and psychologist respectively. It continues to develop through the work of a community of researchers and practitioners.
The handbook referred to in the puzzler, published by the APA is: Apter, M.J. (Ed.) (2001) Motivational Styles in Everyday Life: A Guide to Reversal Theory, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Recent books include:
Apter, M.J. (2007) Reversal Theory: The Dynamics of Motivation, Personality and Emotion. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Apter, M.J. (2007) Danger: Our Quest for Excitement. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Kerr, J.H. (2007) Rethinking Aggression and Violence in Sport. London and New York: Routledge.
Mallows, D. (2007) Switch to Better Behaviour Management: Reversal Theory in Practice. Norfolk (UK): Peter Francis Publishers.
A complete bibliography, together with other information, is provided on the Reversal Theory Society website at: www.reversaltheory.org
