Psychology 409B: The Unity Model of Marriage 1/17/06
Unity Model and the Mental Structure of Husbands and Wives
By Carly Kanemaru
Dr. James, Leon; Dr Nalh,
Diane; Unity Model of Marriage ver. 10b,
University of Hawaii, 2006, sections 1-2, http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/409b-g24-lecture-notes.htm#Introduction
I. Introduction
-The threefold self involves the sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective domains of the self.
-Men and women have different gender habits within the threefold self.
-These differences often become the “barriers and obstacles” which prevent the highest level of marital satisfaction.
II. The First Level of Unity
-This is referred to as sensorimotor consociation.
-Sensorimotor Consociation is “what the couples do together externally or socially.”
-I see this as the outer most layer of one’s self acting upon another’s outer most layer.
-This includes public interactions such as hobbies, activities, social groups, favorite restaurants and movies, etc.
III. The Second Level of Unity
-This is referred to as cognitive affiliation.
-Cognitive Affiliation is “involving how they each think and to what extent they agree in definitions and beliefs.”
-I see this as the bonding of the two minds of a couple and the effort to understand and appreciate more than just the outer being of your spouse.
-This includes attempting to see the other person’s perspective to further learn, understand and appreciate the other.
-This also includes the direct care and concern for the other person’s thoughts, views, and concerns.
IV. The Third Level of Unity
-This is referred to as affective conjunction.
-Affective Conjunction is “what they feel for each other and whether they are striving for the same goals. This includes what they are motivated to achieve.”
-I see this as the deepest level of unity between a couple. This is the innermost being that is intertwined with another.
-This includes the need to love, appreciate and feel what is being experienced through the soul of the spouse.
-With concern over the feelings and emotions of the other person, the spouse becomes aware of exactly how their spouse thinks and interprets things as well as considers what effect any sensorimotor or cognitive view will have on an affective level.
V. Natural Marriage
-“Marriages that are external and limited to the natural world and the physical body.”
-I see this as the majority of marriages which are focused more on the importance factors related to and of this world.
-A Natural Marriage lacks the spiritual bond and believes that the unification of marriage is only circumstantial to that of this world.
-This includes physical beauty, money, status, nice house, nice car, profitable qualities or characteristics one may posses.
-These marriages “level off” in growth of intimacy, development and bonds shared between the spouses.
VI. Spiritual Marriage
-“A marriage in which a bond of mental intimacy exists that seems to go beyond the physical body and the socio-legal-psychological bond of "natural" marriages. This bond survives the physical separation of the spouses by death.”
-A Natural Marriage can become a Spiritual Marriage when “the married couple's idea of their bond changes from "until death do us part" to "until endless eternity.”
-Spouses in this marriage both believe in an afterlife and believe that even after physical death, they will be reunited where they can “be intimate sexually, live in a house, have a social life, and continue an endless heavenly existence in their immortality.”
VII. Emanuel Swedenborg
-He was born in 1688 and lived to1772 where he was 84 years old.
-He was a Swedish scientist who received a vision from God at age 57.
a) God told him that he was “unconsciously living in both the physical and spiritual worlds.”
b) He then used his experiences of entering both the physical and spiritual world for 27 years to create “theistic science” which is science where God is referenced to and used in efforts to explain something real and objective.
c) While experiencing the spiritual world, he interviewed people who died and wrote of their experiences.
c) He believed in substantive dualism where “humans are born into two worlds simultaneously-physical and spiritual bodies, which are connected to one another, but we are unable to live in both worlds at the same time when conscious.”
d) He believed that the physical body “is limited to time and space.”
e) He believed that the spiritual body “is eternal and unlimited to time and space.”
f) Thus, when the physical body dies, the spiritual body is enacted.
Related Links
The Sexual-Spiritual
http://www.pureintimacy.org/cs/couples/a0000092.cfm
Swedenborg: A Bibliography- This website is written by a woman named Jane Williams-Hogan and it discusses Emanuel Swedenborg, his life, his experiences and his teachings.
http://www.glencairnmuseum.org/jkwh.html
Theistic Science- This website is written by a man named Ian Thompson and it discusses Theistic Science and its approaches and different reference books to look up.
http://www.theisticscience.org/
My Home page:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409bs2006/kanemaru/kanemaru-home.htm
Class Home Page
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm