Instant psychology

Answers by Blake Crider, Ph. D. Psychologist

Could Jack Sprat and his wife really make a good marriage? Jack Sprat is pictured as a string bean. His wife was a rolypoly. And temperament and body builds go together, according to a prominent theory. She would be a gay chatterbox, he quiet and inhibited. She would be the life of the party, he just a mouse. To make a go of a marriage with two incompatible temperaments will require a lot of working at it. Chatterboxes should marry chatterboxes and mousey people should marry mousey people.

Does mental energy, sometimes called psychic energy, exist? Let's take a motor. There is no energy in the motor until it starts moving. And its movement is a manifestation of energy that can be measured, such as horsepower. Mental activity requires psychic energy. The immediate process is mostly the emotions and drives (sex, hunger, anger). The manifestation of the psychic energy is measurable by the strength of the biological drives. Another name for psychic energy is motivational strength.

Are criminals born or made?

H. J. Eysenck of London believes an explosive element in the personality is responsible for criminal behavior. He believes that inherited violent emotions lead some people to prison. He feels the same explosive characteristics occur in accident-prone people, as well as in antisocial people.

Why does one have trouble finding typing errors in his own manuscript?

Because a person is set to read for information and not to find errors. A professional proofreader is set to look for errors. He does not read for information and enjoyment. But if he gets carried away with the story he too will miss the typing errors. The word "set" is the cue to this phenomenon.

I am confused over the terms repression and suppression. So are a lot of other people. In a recent popular article the term "repressed anxieties" and "suppressed anger" were used. You can't do either. You repress from conscious awareness thoughts which are emotionally disturbing. You suppress the expression of anger such as fighting. But anger and anxiety are experienced internally, and are not under voluntary control. They can't be suppressed or repressed.

Have there been any studies on graffiti?

Graffiti has been known since early times. It is defined as words and phrases written on walls, particularly walls of toilets. The phrases are often illustrated with drawings. Several studies have been made on the subject and one book is published on the subject. Kinsey found that 86% of the graffiti in public male toilets were sexual and that 75% of these were of homosexual nature. The remainder were statements of hostility.

NOTE: This column was written before the recent death of Dr. Crider.