The characteristics common in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are intense and rapidly changing emotions, identity disturbances (ID), and problems in interpersonal relationships (IR). It...Show moreThe characteristics common in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are intense and rapidly changing emotions, identity disturbances (ID), and problems in interpersonal relationships (IR). It remains to be determined whether BPD diagnosis is related to lower social connectedness and if this is at least partly mediated by lower explicit self-worth. Although BPD is a widely studied disorder, inferences based only on studies exploring BPD from different perspectives exist regarding the relationship between ID and IR. This gap in the literature was targeted by the current study, which investigated the relationship between BPD diagnosis, self-worth, and social connectedness in a sample of 109 female participants aged 18–25 years. Utilising Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale and the Social Connectedness Scale Revised, this study examined whether individuals with BPD differ from healthy controls in terms of self-worth and social connectedness and whether self-worth mediates the relationship between BPD and social connectedness. The results indicated significant differences, with individuals diagnosed with BPD scoring lower on both the measures. Additionally, a partial mediation effect was identified, suggesting that self-worth plays a role in the relationship between BPD and social connectedness. This study contributes to our understanding of BPD by highlighting the connection between self-worth and social connectedness. Future research should explore these potential implications for therapeutic interventions that focus on improving the self-worth of individuals with BPD. The limitations of the study, including a female-only sample and cross-sectional observational design, further highlight the need for further research exploring the interplay between identity disturbances and interpersonal relationships.Show less
This thesis compiles views on music and dance scattered throughout the Pāli Canon and its commentaries. It starts with negative views, widely considered the most characteristic, and lists the...Show moreThis thesis compiles views on music and dance scattered throughout the Pāli Canon and its commentaries. It starts with negative views, widely considered the most characteristic, and lists the spiritual, emotional and even social reasons given in the early texts for the avoidance of musical art forms. The rest of the work addresses less known, wholesome uses of music: ‘devotional’ compositions, apparently as old as the oldest strata of the Pāli Canon (according to the texts themselves, many eons older), and a handful of episodes where advanced practitioners are led to Nirvana by the lyrics of peasant songs. The last chapter is dedicated to two meditational states that seem to involve perceptions of beauty, the ‘beautiful-liberation’ (subha-vimokkha) and the samādhi of divine sounds of the Mahāli Sutta. The conclusion argues that a more balanced image of the early Buddhist approach to art is needed to make sense of modern Buddhism and its embrace of a perhaps not so foreign ‘Romantic’ aestheticism.Show less
