Mary Gergen
Biographic Data
| ID | 169447 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mary Gergen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mary |
| FAMILY NAME | Gergen |
| SIGNATURE | GERGEN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7301-7741 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 132 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1972 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Introduction to special section: Migration across boundaries
Doing things with words: Toward evocative ethnography
The concept of evocative ethnography is described and contrasted with realist representation. Two examples of evocative ethnography are provided: the plight of women as they age and the impact of digital immersion on cultural life. Discussion focuses on the benefits of expanding the repertoire of writing in the social sciences
Living the Post-University Life: Academics Talk About Retirement
This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examines the experiences of five scholars who have retired from university life and the responses to the panel by two scholars anticipating that transition. Panelists discuss how and when they decided to retire; the role of the university, department, and profession in their post-university lives; and the kinds of activities and connections that sustain the…
Positive Aging: What Feminist Therapists Need to Know
Social construction and research as action
Mischief, Mystery, and Moments That Matter: Vistas of Performative Inquiry
Here we challenge the traditional separation of science and art and demonstrate significant ways in which the social sciences can be enriched through performative inquiry. We begin with a brief commentary on philosophic work that detaches representation from observation. In effect, there is no privileged (in principal, accurate, neutral, or objective) representation of a given observation. We then explore the potentials of expanding the repertoir…
Social Psychology
Ken Gergen as History: Some Personal Reflections
Narrative tensions: Perilous and productive
We focus on four major tensions pervading much narrative inquiry to date, tensions that threaten to divide the field into alienated enclaves. Of specific concern are psychological vs. social explanations of narrative, structural vs. process orientations to research, approaches that celebrate experience vs. those that textually deconstruct experience, and accounts that center on singularity of self-narratives vs. incoherent multiplicity. Finally, …
Commentary
Commentaries| January 08 2010 Commentary Subject Area: Psychiatry and Psychology , Women's and Children's Health Mary Gergen Mary Gergen Pennsylvania State University, Media, Pa., USA, and The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, Wassenaar, The Netherlands Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Human Development (1989) 32 (5): 316–324. https://doi.org/10.1159/000276482 Article history Published Online: Ja…
Performative Sozialwissenschaft
Der Begriff "performativ" stammt aus J.L. Austins Werk "How to do Things with Words" (1962) [dt. "Zur Theorie der Sprechakte"], in welchem er auf die Art und Weise Bezug nimmt, wie Äußerungen über die Vermittlung von Inhalt hinaus mannigfaltige soziale Funktionen erfüllen. Performative Sozialforschung umfasst die Verwendung verschiedener Formen künstlerischer Darstellung in der Durchführung von wissenschaftlichen Projekten (M. Gergen 2001), die M…
Framing Lives: Therapy with Women of a “Certain Age”
Women face powerful and negative stereotypes of who they will become as they age. They can either fight against them or they can succumb. From a social constructionist position, one may question any given formulation of reality, including the nature of aging. Because no image of aging is compulsory, there are ways of resisting the tide of negativity associated with it. Combating these negative stereotypes are the increasing numbers of older peopl…
Narratives in action
In various professional fields today, a profusion of practices are inspired by or draw sustenance from narrative inquiry; similarly, narrative inquiry must attend to these practices as they are vital to its future. Ultimately a full fledged dialogue between scholars and practitioners is to be sought. We review three major domains in which narratives are in action: psychotherapy, organizational change, and conflict reduction. We conclude by taking…
Reflections: Between Narcissus and Dorian Grey
X. Marriage as a Relational Engagement
Sex and Sexuality: Peeking Under the Covers
Reflexivity and the Politics of Qualitative Research
September 11, 2001: Changing the Ways of the World
Short Reviews
Innovative Methods: Resources for Research, Publishing, and Teaching
A selection of innovative methods congenial to research in feminist psychology is reviewed. The methods described include collaborations, discourse analysis, ethnography, existential-phenomenological inquiry, focus groups, interviews, narrative investigations, performative methods, and the Q-sort. A brief description of undergraduate and graduate courses that emphasize these methods in their curricula follows. A bibliography of over 300 entries o…
Proliferating Discourses: Resources for Relationships
Discourse Analyses in Feminist Psychology: Intrigues and Action Potentials
Postmodern, Post-Cartesian Positionings on the Subject of Psychology
Descartes's philosophical position, founded upon a mind/body dualism, has had a strong influence on psychology. His dualistic system has supported the creation of a discipline in which individuals are viewed both as systems affected by mechanistic bodily emanations and as self-regulating agents replete with self-awareness and the capacity for moral responsibility. The purpose of Harwood Fisher's (1995) paper is to demonstrate that this Cartesian …
What Is This Thing Called Love? Emotional Scenarios in Historical Perspective
From a social-constructionist standpoint, emotional expressions are constitu-ents of lived narratives, and gain their meaning from their position within these narratives. These special forms of narrative, termed emotional scenarios , are themselves lodged within a broader cultural and historical landscape. This article compares major features of romantic love scenarios as they have changed from 19th century romanticist culture, through 20th centu…
Sleeping with the Enemy-Silencing the Lamb. Languages of Symptomatology in Women's Depression: An Analysis of Theory
Broken hearts or broken bonds: Love and death in historical perspective
Psychological theories and practices frequently neglect the extent to which their subject matter is historically and culturally defined. This issue is explored in the context of theories and therapies related to bereavement. Contemporary orientations emphasize the importance of breaking bonds with the deceased and the return of survivors to autonomous lifestyles. Placing the orientation in cultural and historical context reveals that it is largel…
Narratives in action
In various professional fields today, a profusion of practices are inspired by or draw sustenance from narrative inquiry; similarly, narrative inquiry must attend to these practices as they are vital to its future. Ultimately a full fledged dialogue between scholars and practitioners is to be sought. We review three major domains in which narratives are in action: psychotherapy, organizational change, and conflict reduction. We conclude by taking…
Finished At 40: Women's Development within the Patriarchy
Psychological theories of women's lives in middle age and beyond are restricted, negative, and scarce. An overview of women's adult development in textbooks and the professional literature indicates that (a) the prevailing focus of concern is the woman as a biological creature, especially as a mother; (b) the proposed lifecycle trajectory is one in which the woman's life goes into decline after approximately age 40; and (c) little attention is pa…
Doing things with words: Toward evocative ethnography
The concept of evocative ethnography is described and contrasted with realist representation. Two examples of evocative ethnography are provided: the plight of women as they age and the impact of digital immersion on cultural life. Discussion focuses on the benefits of expanding the repertoire of writing in the social sciences
Beyond the evil empire: Horseplay and aggression
The dominant mode of studying the antecedents of human aggression in psychology has been to look for these precursors in negative life events, for example, being physically punished, observing models using aggressive means, or experiencing forms of privation or frustration. In contrast, within the ethological literature, certain playful activities, in particular “play fighting,” have been interpreted as crucial precursors of later social activiti…
Individual Orientations to Prosocial Behavior 1
Findings relating personality and demographic variables to prosocial behavior are reviewed. Original research results are then presented. These results show that different personal dispositions are related to various forms of prosocial behavior in different ways. The traditional search for general correlates of prosocial behavior is viewed as shortsighted. Attention is drawn to the relation of situational payoffs to personal dispositions, interac…
Living the Post-University Life: Academics Talk About Retirement
This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examines the experiences of five scholars who have retired from university life and the responses to the panel by two scholars anticipating that transition. Panelists discuss how and when they decided to retire; the role of the university, department, and profession in their post-university lives; and the kinds of activities and connections that sustain the…
Mischief, Mystery, and Moments That Matter: Vistas of Performative Inquiry
Here we challenge the traditional separation of science and art and demonstrate significant ways in which the social sciences can be enriched through performative inquiry. We begin with a brief commentary on philosophic work that detaches representation from observation. In effect, there is no privileged (in principal, accurate, neutral, or objective) representation of a given observation. We then explore the potentials of expanding the repertoir…
Framing Lives: Therapy with Women of a “Certain Age”
Women face powerful and negative stereotypes of who they will become as they age. They can either fight against them or they can succumb. From a social constructionist position, one may question any given formulation of reality, including the nature of aging. Because no image of aging is compulsory, there are ways of resisting the tide of negativity associated with it. Combating these negative stereotypes are the increasing numbers of older peopl…
X. Marriage as a Relational Engagement
Innovative Methods: Resources for Research, Publishing, and Teaching
A selection of innovative methods congenial to research in feminist psychology is reviewed. The methods described include collaborations, discourse analysis, ethnography, existential-phenomenological inquiry, focus groups, interviews, narrative investigations, performative methods, and the Q-sort. A brief description of undergraduate and graduate courses that emphasize these methods in their curricula follows. A bibliography of over 300 entries o…
Narrative tensions: Perilous and productive
We focus on four major tensions pervading much narrative inquiry to date, tensions that threaten to divide the field into alienated enclaves. Of specific concern are psychological vs. social explanations of narrative, structural vs. process orientations to research, approaches that celebrate experience vs. those that textually deconstruct experience, and accounts that center on singularity of self-narratives vs. incoherent multiplicity. Finally, …
Induction and construction: Teetering between worlds
Individual Orientations to Prosocial Behavior 1
Findings relating personality and demographic variables to prosocial behavior are reviewed. Original research results are then presented. These results show that different personal dispositions are related to various forms of prosocial behavior in different ways. The traditional search for general correlates of prosocial behavior is viewed as shortsighted. Attention is drawn to the relation of situational payoffs to personal dispositions, interac…
The women's liberation movement: Attitudes and action1
The Broken Heart: Reality or Myth
The hypothesis that the death of a spouse results in high mortality risk for the remaining mate is gaining credence. Further, it is held, this risk recedes with the age of the couple, and is elevated in the male population. The validity of these views is assessed. Direct evidence for this “loss effect” has been derived from cross-sectional and longitudinal research. In the former case, plausible alternative explanations exist for virtually all fi…
The Construction of the Social World
Narrative and the Self as Relationship
Fair questions and honest answers: The futile search
Fair questions and honest answers: The futile search
Induction and construction: Teetering between worlds
From mod masculinity to post-mod macho: A feminist replay
Finished At 40: Women's Development within the Patriarchy
Psychological theories of women's lives in middle age and beyond are restricted, negative, and scarce. An overview of women's adult development in textbooks and the professional literature indicates that (a) the prevailing focus of concern is the woman as a biological creature, especially as a mother; (b) the proposed lifecycle trajectory is one in which the woman's life goes into decline after approximately age 40; and (c) little attention is pa…
Beyond the evil empire: Horseplay and aggression
The dominant mode of studying the antecedents of human aggression in psychology has been to look for these precursors in negative life events, for example, being physically punished, observing models using aggressive means, or experiencing forms of privation or frustration. In contrast, within the ethological literature, certain playful activities, in particular “play fighting,” have been interpreted as crucial precursors of later social activiti…
Unbundling Our Binaries-Genders, Sexualities, Desires
Broken hearts or broken bonds: Love and death in historical perspective
Psychological theories and practices frequently neglect the extent to which their subject matter is historically and culturally defined. This issue is explored in the context of theories and therapies related to bereavement. Contemporary orientations emphasize the importance of breaking bonds with the deceased and the return of survivors to autonomous lifestyles. Placing the orientation in cultural and historical context reveals that it is largel…
The (H)orne of a dilemma
Sleeping with the Enemy-Silencing the Lamb. Languages of Symptomatology in Women's Depression: An Analysis of Theory
Hearts and bonds: Resisting classification and closure
Responds to criticisms made by H. Peskin (see record 1993-45259-001) of the article by Stroebe et al (see record 1993-05637-001). Stroebe et al assert that their representation of J. Bowlby's (1980) conception of grief as lending itself to a modernist zeitgeist is an accurate one and that Peskin's views are idiosyncratic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Hearts and bonds: Resisting classification and closure
Postmodern, Post-Cartesian Positionings on the Subject of Psychology
Descartes's philosophical position, founded upon a mind/body dualism, has had a strong influence on psychology. His dualistic system has supported the creation of a discipline in which individuals are viewed both as systems affected by mechanistic bodily emanations and as self-regulating agents replete with self-awareness and the capacity for moral responsibility. The purpose of Harwood Fisher's (1995) paper is to demonstrate that this Cartesian …
What Is This Thing Called Love? Emotional Scenarios in Historical Perspective
From a social-constructionist standpoint, emotional expressions are constitu-ents of lived narratives, and gain their meaning from their position within these narratives. These special forms of narrative, termed emotional scenarios , are themselves lodged within a broader cultural and historical landscape. This article compares major features of romantic love scenarios as they have changed from 19th century romanticist culture, through 20th centu…
Proliferating Discourses: Resources for Relationships
Discourse Analyses in Feminist Psychology: Intrigues and Action Potentials
Innovative Methods: Resources for Research, Publishing, and Teaching
A selection of innovative methods congenial to research in feminist psychology is reviewed. The methods described include collaborations, discourse analysis, ethnography, existential-phenomenological inquiry, focus groups, interviews, narrative investigations, performative methods, and the Q-sort. A brief description of undergraduate and graduate courses that emphasize these methods in their curricula follows. A bibliography of over 300 entries o…
Short Reviews
Reflexivity and the Politics of Qualitative Research
September 11, 2001: Changing the Ways of the World
Psychology (31 works) · Sociology (26 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Epistemology (16 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Psychoanalysis (11 works) · Art (10 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Aesthetics (9 works)