Cherishing as a Psychological Construct: Some Reflections from Indian context As living individuals with higher intellectual capacity we engage in complex cognitive transactions. We hold things in our memory foster it with emotion and make it special with our inner experience. A term which comes to the forefront while mentioning one such complete cognitive experience is ‘cherishing’. Cherishing according to dictionary meaning refers to holding and nurturing something dear to us. The content of cherishing ranges from tangible object like a favourite childhood toy to intangible construct like hope. The present paper is an attempt to understand what is cherishing and what does it convey in real life and can it be really regarded as a psychological construct. Previous empirical investigation shows a dearth in exploring cherishing as a psychological construct. This paper is a first ever attempt in validating cherishing as …show more content…
The present study attempts in bringing forth empirical evidence to the existence of cherishing as a psychological construct based on available literature and in-depth interview from individual. The study is divided into two parts; study 1 comprises of qualitative analysis based on literature available on cherishing, and study 2 is a qualitative enquiry conducted among people to explore the concept in everyday life. Study 2 also attempts to conduct a preliminary investigation to test the association among component on one hand, and types of cherishing on other hand. Besides this, attempt was also made to explore about the probable antecedents and consequences of cherishing in study 2. Study 1 The etymology of the word ‘cherish’ comes from Middle English ‘cheriss’ meaning dear (Oxford Dictionary, 2013). Humans have a long evolutionary trend of holding things dear to them. Things can be tangible like our favourite childhood play items or intangible things
Love, partnership and commitment have been the subjects of a multitude of novels, plays poems, movies and great works of art. Throughout these works, the image of love and commitment in love have taken many different forms. Today, we easily recognize symbols of commitment in love to be items such as hearts, wedding bands, roses, etc. However, in literature, especially, more abstract and creative symbols of commitment to a loved one are often present. Additionally, the symbols of devotion that exist in literature do not always involve romantic love as opposed to many movies, painting and sculptures. For example, in the short story, “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, symbols of loyalty to a loved one manifest between two sisters. In opposition to symbols of loyalty existing in a platonic manner as it does in “Saving Sourdi,” Peter Meinke’s “The Cranes,” provides symbols of commitment in an amorous relationship.
...ce of being happy. This novel taught me how developing your identity is a life long process that come with experience and errors however, the results are worth it.
Psychologist, Carol S. Dweck in her well researched essay, “Brainology” analyzes how praise impacts mindset and how a growth mindset leads to greater success. She supports this claim by comparing the two different mindsets and how praise can affect them. She then proceeds to show praise leads to a fixed mindset harming a person by changing their views on effort. Finally, she argues that praise changes how and what people value, which can
Throughout the lives of most people on the planet, there comes a time when there may be a loss of love, hope or remembrance in our lives. These troublesome times in our lives can be the hardest things we go through. Without love or hope, what is there to live for? Some see that the loss of hope and love means the end, these people being pessimistic, while others can see that even though they feel at a loss of love and hope that one day again they will feel love and have that sense of hope, these people are optimistic. These feelings that all of us had, have been around since the dawn of many. Throughout the centuries, the expression of these feelings has made their ways into literature, novels, plays, poems, and recently movies. The qualities of love, hope, and remembrance can be seen in Emily Bronte’s and Thomas Hardy’s poems of “Remembrance” “Darkling Thrush” and “Ah, Are you Digging on my Grave?”
Attachment is described as the close emotional bond between two people and Attachment Theory (AT) generally concentrates on the early bonds in a person’s development as well as the effects that these bonds have on later socio-emotional development. While emphasis on attachment as an antecedent for future behavior and personality has decreased somewhat in recent years, it is interesting to note that the DSM IV-TR includes a “reactive attachment disorder” which it states is caused when extreme circumstances prevent proper attachment development.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
... Through paralleling emotions and the sacred, Durkheim unveils the reasoning behind the churinga in society. Emotional experiences underlie society and provide the sustenance necessary to maintain social cohesion. The social feelings of reverence create the group bonds that tie the individual to society. Now that the relationship between emotions and society has been explained, it begs the question as to how this relationship applies to life today.
For example, Magai & Passman (1997) discovered a strong relationship between secure attachments and emotional well-being of middle aged adults, which extends to individuals later in life. Understanding the role of attachment and its psychosocial impact during later life is an important area that needs further research. In regards to TMT, close relationships offer security, protection, and give meaning to life (Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003).
Attachment is an emotional bond that is from one person to another. The attachment theory is a psychological, an evolutionary and an ethological theory that is concerned with relationships between humans, specifically between mother and infant. A young infant has to develop a relationship with at least one of their primary caregivers for them to develop socially and emotionally. Social competence is the condition that possesses the social, emotional and intellectual skills and behaviours, the infant needs these to success as a member of society. Many studies have been focused on the Western society, but there are many arguments to whether or not this can be applicable to other cultures, such as the poorer countries.
We live in a materialistic culture that thrives on having "things." Yes, we must have things in order to live (shelter, food, water, etc.), but the word is misused. Our culture has become so materialistic that we forget what is really important. The "have" mode has almost become the norm, especially with our generation. Even though we subconsciously practice the mode of “being,” many people do not realize it which makes it difficult to appreciate life and all the aspects of “being.” “Because the society we live in is devoted to acquiring property and making a profit, we rarely see any evidence of the being mode of existence and most people see the having mode as the most natural mode of existence, even the only acceptable way of life” (Fromm 25). Majority of people want to be as successful and rich as possible that this idea takes over their mind and eventually lives. Every young person is obsessed with “fitting in” and having the latest and greatest items. This attitude causes adolescents to lose sight of what is important and lose touch with their emotions. Our culture needs to begin to think less about material items and being rich and more about his/her emotions and what it means to be truly happy. It is important to focus on the “bigger picture” and how one must become the best person he/she can be to benefit
The most important social factor that people must have is the capacity to form and maintain relationships. These interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships are highly necessary for any of human to survive, learn, develop, grow, and love. These relationships take many forms, but the most critical relationship is formed at early developmental stage (mostly infant). This close interpersonal relationship that infants form with their primary caregiver, or parents, they learn most of social and emotional skills for later life.
The Ego or Desire to receive for self-alone: the desire to make sure that the self is al...
Great feelings like partnership, remembrance, and parenthood can accompany love, but feelings like heartbreak, torment, and grief can also accompany love. “A strong affection for another” is not an all-encompassing definition for love. Love is happiness and fairytales but is also pain and sadness. No dictionary could truly define human emotion, as words are to simple to convey the overlapping complexity of the feelings we experience. Love is what builds us up and what breaks us down, but most importantly, it is what makes us
One of the more common meanings of success, aside from the superficial materialistic meaning, is being successful in regards to family and other intimate relationships. Many have made the statement that the greatest feeling in somebody’s life is the birth of their children. This feeling that people receive gives a long-lasting feeling of self-satisfaction which provides residual dividends throughout their life. These experiences are all similar by the fact that they possess a deep emotional investment of the individual, unlike shallow experiences like succeeding in a business deal or making a large turn on an investment. It should be mentioned...
For example, when we the “normal” people as many of us call ourselves wear and do the things we like, our bodies fill up with excitement and we feel fantastic.The same thing happens in the Decora community. They want to experience those emotions we get when we do the things we love. But just like the rest of the world, they go through hard times. As a matter of fact, if you look up pictures or videos of people who practice Decora you can see that most of the time they’re happy and content. Sadly, due to our society’s stereotypes and certain definitions of beauty, they get judged and discriminated most of the time, which causes them to feel ashamed and insecure about themselves. Gladly friendship is not rare in the world of