Who's afraid of psychoanalytic research? analysts' attitudes towards reading clinical versus empirical research papers

摘要

The authors point out that psychoanalytic research papers are cited with less frequency than clinical papers, and presumably, are read with less frequency. Results from two sets of questionnaires from psychoanalysts indicate that a majority of analysts report high levels of conviction in the rationales and techniques in their clinical work. However, analysts with higher degrees of conviction read fewer research papers than analysts wit lower degrees of conviction. The authors speculate that analysts with higher degrees of conviction may have an underlying sense of uncertainty about their analytic work.