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Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements

Dinesh Bhugra Published online: 19 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Dinesh Bhugra (2002): Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 5:3, 239-252 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670110112703

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Mental Health, Religion & Culture Volume 5, Number 3, 2002

Self-concept: psychosis and attraction of new religious movements

DINESH BHUGRA
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

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A B S T R A C T Self-concept is both a social product and a social force, and can be de ned as the sum total of an individuals thoughts and beliefs regarding themselves, as well as perceptions by others. Such a view is essential for the well being of individuals and allows a person to function well within parameters of the society. When this self-concept starts to change then the individual looks for other pointers to gain a degree of self control back. Such an approach can explain some of the reasons why some individuals with mental illness turn towards new religious movements that may well be extreme. With data from two studies showing that patients with rst onset psychosis are likely to change their religion, it is proposed that clinicians and researchers alike be aware of some of these factors.

Introduction In an attempt to understand human psyche among various theories, phenomenological approach came into its own in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Such an approach differed from behaviourism and psychoanalysis in that for phenomenology the subject matter of psychology is the psychological experience of the individual at a particular moment in time. It is the individuals direct perception of the external world, how it is experienced and responded to, that constitutes the subject matter of psychology.The individuals perceptions then lead to an internalized explanation in an internal frame. The relationship between the subjective world, the objective world and culture and society therefore leads to a new way of looking at the individual. Such an approach also meant that symbolic interactionism was then studied by using established methods of empirical research. Self-concept Self-concept is and remains an unequivocally subjective phenomenon a key component of the individuals phenomenal eld. Yet self-concept is also a social
Correspondence to: Dinesh Bhugra, Reader in Cultural Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK.
Mental Health, Religion & Culture ISSN 1367-4676 print/ISSN 1469-9737 online 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/13674670110112703

240 Dinesh Bhugra product arising out of social interaction and constantly influenced by social experience and in turn it affects an individuals thoughts, feelings and behaviour. What we see of ourselves is determined by how we see ourselves and also how we see others seeing us.Whatever decisions we make are predicated on some implicit assumption of what we are like. If we are unable to decide or if our sense of self shifts, a sense of immobilization of the self takes over. Self-concept is the totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings with reference to themselves and can be characterized in terms of diverse dimensions, different regions, different planes, etc. (Rosenberg & Kaplan, 1982). When an individual is asked to describe himself or herself, a number of factors appear on the scene. Of these views of self, identity, self-esteem and beliefs about the self are only a few factors. Rosenberg (1979) argues that self-concept is the totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings having references to himself (sic) as an object. He goes on to suggest that self-concept is not psychoanalytic ego or the real self or the self-actualization.The self-concept is the picture of the self. Rosenberg (1979) highlights the concepts of social identity as a key part of the self-concept. Social identity includes gender, race, nationality, religion, family status, legal status, name, etc. He divides social identity into social status, membership groups, labels, derived statuses, types and personal identity. All these components encourage the individual to cope with stresses and strains and with each component in place, the concept of self allow the individual to function at their best. In this paper I aim to look at the relationship between the self-concepts and extreme beliefs that in uence an individual to seek solace in extreme religious and new religious movements. Such an approach can be understood in the context of the need that an individual has for acceptance and belonging. Religion is one of the key aspects of an individuals cultural identity. Belonging to groups based on common beliefs is important, albeit these groups do not necessarily need to be entirely religious (see Table 1). One must remember that many of these are identi ed by social de nitions and are not necessarily logical
TABLE 1. Social identity Social statuses Sex Age Social class Cultural identity Common beliefs, e.g. religion, socio-political, interests Stealing Drinking Thief Alcoholic

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Membership groups Labels Derived statuses

Ex-convict Emeritus Professor Alumnus Vague, e.g. jocks, nerds Deepest thoughts, feelings and wishes

Types Personal identity

Self-concept & new religious movements 241 categories. The broader society may or may not respond to explicit categories stereotyping and stigma may well play a key role in responses. The individual may well choose to dis-identify with the group, status of social category (in that by rejecting the groups), but may still be recognized as a member especially if s/he is so identi ed by others.Within social identity, social expectation and personal worth also play a role in the individuals response. Concepts of traits implicit in roles play a major role in identi cation of self-concepts and social responses. Development of beliefs We shall look at development of faith and beliefs and extremism of beliefs, which may in uence the ways in which individuals respond. Grif th and Bility (1996) suggest that for any religious beliefs and thinking to emerge, social and cultural factors have to be taken into account. The beliefs can be seen as arising and developing in three similar stages perhaps parallel to the evolution of the groups: predisposing, empowering and operational phases. Stages of development of beliefs In the predisposing phase, the person starts to develop ideas and beliefs, some of which are internal depending upon the psyche and the personality of the individuals and others are external influences such as peer pressure, social pressure, etc. Disempowerment due to social and economic discrimination, racial hassles and institutional racism all play a part in this predisposition.The desire for acceptance with an increased self-esteem and improved self-concept play a key role in this stage. Such a sense of personal self-esteem will determine the route an individual follows to seek it.When feeling vulnerable and faced with a charismatic leader, the individuals follow such an individual hoping that self-determination and ultimate redemption may occur. Once a certain context is created for these beliefs to emerge and be accepted, the individual starts to feel empowered, thereby getting a sense of control. The individuals then go on to reframe their perceptions of the real conditions and fall into forming a world view that is acceptable to them.The individual may experience this empowerment with an epiphanous experience, psychological transformation, spiritual rebirth and special healing. The individual looks for others in similar positions so that organizational coherence can be developed. In the operational phase these beliefs become perhaps more extreme but also become a source in which the individual can control, become capable of fostering solidarity and develop skills that allow further development of forming and providing physical infrastructure. However, this is also the stage where the individual may feel the most under threat, which may lead to extreme acts to control others and ones own feelings. Littlewood (1996) argues that conditions in which personal psychopathology can be communicated are at an individual disease and

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242 Dinesh Bhugra illness level, and people and time define these. Social, political, economic and cultural factors also play a role, thereby making it possible for the individuals to either ght with these factors or come to a mutually bene cial arrangement. The beliefs of individuals, if extreme, may have an almost delusional avour and fervour to it. Religious delusions The intensity of beliefs, which are not clearly understandable by members of the same community or culture suggests that there is a social abnormality. New religious movements (NRMs) are seen by Barker (1996) as non-homogenous and non-generalizable groupings. Some partake in elaborate rituals and others do not; attitudes towards family, women and children vary greatly. Some of these beliefs may appear odd or even crazy to outsiders but believers can often hold very strange beliefs, which may not be entirely understood by the larger communities. Barker (1996) quite rightly cautions that clinicians and diagnosticians should not reach diagnoses on the basis of these strange beliefs alone.There are inherent dangers in pathologizing and then medicalizing these beliefs. Not only a signi cant proportion of the general population have experienced odd phenomena, which can not be explained by rational thought or science but the populaces inherent beliefs in these groups makes it very likely that the definitions and spectrum of normality/ abnormality need to be changed as well. Thus some new religions may provide a haven to someone wanting to lead a spiritual/religious life, but as there is no single interpretation of such experiences sanctioned by the society, the door is left open for a wide variety of interpretations. The unshakeable conviction and profound personal commitment that characterizes the lives of great religious leaders have almost without exception occurred after events that can be attributed to intense arousal, stress or tension. The resolution of such tension can lead to intense feelings of peace and contentment. The relationship between these internal feelings and beliefs, and external components and responses remains a complex one. Both religion and psychiatry are interested in change-of-heart, attitude or behaviour, yet it is likely that their responses will differ markedly. This allows the individuals to respond in different ways as well. Evans (1985) argues that arousal states within an individual due to behavioural changes may also be more suggestible, making it likely that individuals with extreme beliefs are looking for further increased arousal in newer religious movements or extremist religions. Thus an ongoing process of indoctrination coupled with maintaining fear is quite suf cient to reinforce and sustain the belief and the change that has occurred. Situations of personal crisis especially if related to high anxiety may lead to conversion to a religious faith due to a vulnerability to persuasion. Evans (1985) suggests that underlying temporal lobe epilepsy may contribute to heightened emotional arousal and so can certain kinds of therapies.

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Self-concept & new religious movements 243 Concepts of the self It is important to differentiate between self-concept and constituents of the self. The former, as de ned above, is the concept an individual holds of ones self and how others perceive that self, whereas the latter is more to do with a structure of the self and its interaction with external factors. Identifying ones values and selfconception is not to be confused with ideal self or ego ideal. The self-concept is most frequently described sociologically as naming the roles that are prominent in it (see Table 2). Such derived categories allow the researcher and clinician alike to place the individual in a speci c context, which allows the individual self-concept to change along with the specific context. The systematic sense of self includes a sense of moral worth, self-determination, unity and competence (see Table 3) and these four senses are correlated with system functioning, which allows the individual to achieve certain goals including integration within the self and with the society. Self-concept and self-esteem Kaplan (1975) argues that even though the acquisition of the self-esteem motive is normal, it is relative frequency of positive and negative self-descriptions and
TABLE 2. Derived categories (after Gordon, 1982) Ascribed characteristics Sex Age Racial heritage Name Religious categories Kinship roles Occupation Social status Territoriality Membership of a group Existential Abstract, e.g. human Ideological and belief: liberal Judgements Intellectual concerns Artistic activities Possessions Physical self e.g. personality, how to act Judgements inputed to others: popular, unpopular Situational references: late, early

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Roles and memberships

Abstract identi cation

Interests and activities

Material references Systemic senses of self Personal characteristics External meanings

244 Dinesh Bhugra

TABLE 3. Systematic senses of self (after Gordon, 1982) Senses Moral worth Self-determination Unity Competence Self-respecting, sinner, bad, good, honest (preponderantly attributive) Ambitious, wanting to get ahead, self-starter (almost always attributive) In harmony, mixed up, ambivalent (predominantly attributive) Intelligent, talented, creative, skilful (primarily attributive)

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characteristics of responses to self-devaluing situations and histories, which in uence maintenance of self-esteem. In addition, persistence of such self-attitudes over time, which also plays a role in maintenance of self-esteem, allows the individual to develop a sense of well being and an ability to cope. It can be argued that the relationship between the individuals, their self-concept and their self-esteem is further complicated by the fact that a perception of focus of control also tends to play a role along with prejudices as perceived by black and minority ethnic groups. Whether cultural deprivation is worse than social/economic deprivation in determining the individuals self-esteem and self-concept needs to be studied further. Rosenberg and Pearlin (1978) demonstrated from schools in Chicago and Balitmore that, for adults, the self-concept often included others from different socio-economic status; for children, by virtue of their school attendance such a differential did not exist. Some components of the self-concept are at the heart of the individuals concerns whereas others are at the periphery and again some of these are important whereas others are relatively trivial. It can also be argued that self-concept is not a static concept but a uid entity, which may well respond to several external factors. Rosenberg (1979) suggests that the following three key points are identi ed. (a) that the self-concept components are of unequal centrality to the individuals concerns and are hierarchically organized in a system of self-values (b) that the self-concept can be viewed at both the speci c and global levels and (c) that the self-concept may consist primarily of a social exterior or of a psychological interior. Psychological centrality of the self-concept can not be denied. It makes sense that any signi cance attributed to a particular component depends very much on its location in the self-concept structure. Whether it is central or peripheral, cardinal or secondary, a major or minor part of the self.The individual may place differential emphasis on different components of the identity. On the other hand, deviant social identity may have precedence in the life of an individualfor example, the fact of being mentally ill or being religious may well become the most important aspect of ones self compared with their occupation, sexual orientation or religion. This has been dubbed role-engulfment. Thus, for some people, being black becomes the most important aspect. In some cases, this part of the individuals identity becomes

Self-concept & new religious movements 245 more important than the whole. Rosenberg (1979) raises the question whether it is at all possible to have global self-attitude because there is an inconsistency in the diverse self-concept components and secondly, as noted above, the situational variability plays a key role. Such variability relates to a number of factors. There are dangers from generalizing from the assessment of the part to the whole. Conceptualization of the self in terms of social exterior or psychological interior leads to a sense if identity which is not always very simple to describe. In addition to the components and structure of the self-concept, the latter can also be characterized in terms of dimensions. Some of the key dimensions of self-concept as identified by Rosenberg (1979) are context, direction, intensity, salience, consistency, stability, clarity, accuracy and veri ability. Self-con dence can be de ned as an anticipation of successfully mastering challenges or overcoming obstacles, or more generally that one can make things happen according to ones inner wishes, whereas self-esteem is indicative of self acceptance, self-worth and self-respect. Another aspect of the self-concept that is of interest in the present discussion is the desired self-concept. Rosenberg (1979) goes on to describe this as our picture of what we wish to be like. The ability and propensity for the human mind to imagine ourselves as other than we are is a remarkable feature in that this can bring about signi cant emotional and behavioural consequences for the individual. The desired self consists of three components: the idealized image, the committed image and the moral image. Idealized image is driven, insatiable, frustrated and indiscriminate. Any preoccupation with this image will lead to intense strain and increased sensitivity to criticism and extreme vulnerability. Horney (1945) argues that all this ultimately leads to self-hatred and self-contempt. A committed image emerges from the self and allows the individuals to function in a way that does not interfere with their overall functioning.The self-ideal discrepancy is as crucial as social discriminations allowing the individual to cope with stress.The moral image on the other hand is the concept of what an individual sees as s/he should be and is guided by an implicit set of rules that must be followed and a set of standards they feel obliged to meet. When an individual says I ought to or I should, s/he is also in the process of self-objecti cation where the individual is standing outside oneself and is able to see oneself as an object passing judgement on what can be observed and taking appropriate actions accordingly. Such a moral image incorporating a list of should and should nots is a set of standards that individuals may or may not choose to follow. Such a complex may well be the highest product of human reason.Anyone who does not meet with moral image may well lead to self-condemnation, which then leads to a sense of shame or guilt.The gap between the extant self-concept and the desired self-concept is a source of perpetual concern to the human being.The desired self is a motivating force leading to action. However, one must remember that not all individuals will distinguish or compartmentalize these images. The individuals present themselves in a way that may allow them to achieve certain ends, goals or values and increase their self-consistency and self-esteem and lead to an internalization of social roles.

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246 Dinesh Bhugra Motives and self-concept Self-concept motives are related to either self-seeking and self-preservation (James, 1890) or the maintenance or enhancement of the self (Snugg & Combs, 1949).Two separate motives of self-esteem and self-consistency are incorporated in the self-concept. Self-esteem is discussed elsewhere in this paper and we shall now look at the concept of self-consistency, which incorporates protection of the self, self-preservation, maintenance of the self and self-concept stability. It refers to the motive to act accordingly with the self-concept. One of the interesting observations reported in the literature (Fitch, 1970) suggests that persons are motivated to perceive events in a way which enhances chronic self-esteem and secondly that persons are motivated to perceive events in a way which is consistent with chronic self-esteem. Those (with high self-esteem) who succeed in a task may attribute their success to personal merit whereas those who had failed may attribute their performance to external or accidental factors. Those who had low self-esteem attributed their success or failure to attribute their performance to internal factors. Interestingly, those with low self-esteem may adamantly refuse to accept information that will improve their self-esteem. Epstein (1973) argues that those with low self-esteem may retain this low level in order to protect their self-esteem.Thus, people with low self-esteem may set their aspirations to a level that allows them not to overeach and fail. Discrimination and self-esteem Religious discrimination and self-esteem is discussed later in this paper. However, it is equally important to highlight the role of race in social discrimination. Rosenberg (1979) reported that among blacks attending mixed race schools, selfesteem is lower in the dissonant context and this differential increases even more as the students go through their schooling. St John (1975) reviewed 25 studies of desegregation and self-esteem and reported that nine showed negative effects, four showed positive effects and 12 no effects or mixed effects. However, race or religion by itself may not be as signi cant as they are in a cumulative effect especially if linked with social class and socio-economic discrimination. From a self-esteem point of view, the effect of dissonant cultural context may well be even more insidious than that of direct prejudice. Rosenberg (1979) suggests that we may mobilize psychological defences to argue that another person is bigoted but by accepting and internalizing general standards and the values of the dissonant context we may end up despising ourselves. Cultural dissonance may also apply to the higher status individuals. The rejection of ones group may also contribute to the ambivalent feelings of rejection of ones self in racial, religious or ethnic group membership.

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Self-concept & new religious movements 247 Development of self-concept The individual growth from personality traits to self-concept depends upon a number of external and internal factors.The development of self-concept is related to age: often around the age of 12, children tend to develop self-concept and this is also the time when they are likely to experience disturbances in self-concept. It is possible that biological and social factors play an accumulative role in this age group. The onset of puberty with its startling surge of sexual desire and accompanying physical changes is a direct and serious challenge to the taken-for-granted self with implicit and as yet unre ective self-assumptions, making the individual vulnerable to stress. Furthermore, changes in school environment and pressure to achieve may well contribute to the additional vulnerability of the self-concept. With advancing age and consistency of circumstance, a new equilibrium may be reached. People may be looking for a sense of belonging and self-esteem, which may have been shattered by the insidious onset of mental illness.The search for stability and acceptance may lead these individuals to seek support in new settings where they are not known and neither is their bad behaviour, but an unconditional acceptance may encourage them to change their appearance externally or their ideas and beliefs (including religious beliefs) internally. A relationship of systems and the self is illustrated in Table 4. Religious beliefs and self-concept Rosenberg (1962) reported that a dissonant context of religion can lead to certain signs of psychic or emotional disturbance. By studying children in 10 high schools in New York State, Rosenberg hypothesized that dissonant context may well have a differential effect on different religious groups. He asked the sample to identify the religious af liation of most of the people in the neighbourhood where they had lived the longest.Thus, the respondents own religion and presence of co-religionists in their neighbourhood could be identi ed. He found that the experience of living in a dissonant religious context has certain psychic consequences for the individual exposed to it. In every case, students who had been raised in a dissonant social context were more likely than those who had been raised in a consonant or mixed
TABLE 4. Relationship of self and system functions System function Adaptation Goal attainment Integration Pattern-maintenance Corresponding sense of self Sense of competence Sense of self-determination Sense of unity Sense of moral worth

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248 Dinesh Bhugra religious environment to manifest symptoms of psychic or emotional disturbance. For example, Catholics raised in non-Catholic neighbourhoods were more likely than Catholics raised in a predominantly Catholic or half-Catholic neighbourhood to have low self-esteem, to feel depressed or to report many psychosomatic symptoms. Similarly Protestants or Jews raised in social contexts (which were primarily dissonant) were more likely than those reared in neighbourhoods inhabited chie y or equally by their co-religionists to manifest these signs of emotional disturbance. Many of these differences are small. However, if these ndings were to be replicated elsewhere, it may suggest that social dilution may well prove to be more signi cant in contributing to psychological stress and depression as well as other common mental disorders (see Table 5). It is important to note that there is no clear difference in emotional distress between those raised in neighbourhoods with exclusive or half co-religionists suggesting that whether everyone in the neighbourhood is of ones own group is less important than whether there are enough of them to give one social support, a sense of belonging and acceptance. Rosenberg (1962) then asked the respondents whether they had been teased, left out of things or called names because of their religion ( ndings are shown in Table 6). Not surprisingly those who were living with their co-religionists were less
TABLE 5. Contextual dissonance and self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1962) Roman Catholics Non-RC Roman Catholic Protestants NonProtestant Protestant Jews Non-Jew Jew

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Self-esteem Low Medium High Psychosomatic symptoms High Low Depressed Not

41 30 30

29 25 46

31 27 42

25 30 45

29 10 61

18 23 60

65 35 20 80

55 45 18 82

54 46 22 78

48 52 11 89

55 45 28 72

51 49 16 84

TABLE 6. Religious discrimination and residence (Rosenberg, 1962) Roman Catholics Non-RC Roman Catholic 5 95 Protestants NonProtestant 22 78 Protestant Jews Non-Jew Jew

Ever Never

22 78

6 94

48 52

26 74

Self-concept & new religious movements 249 likely to experience discrimination and were also less likely to show low self-esteem, depression or psychosomatic symptoms. Thus students raised in dissonant social contexts experienced greater psychic disturbance than others and were more likely to have experienced prejudice, and the latter may well lead to the former. Two additional factors must be remembered. Firstly, not all religions in Rosenbergs study were equally responsive to effects of prejudiceCatholics and Protestants appeared more affected than Jews. The reason for this is not entirely clear. It may well be that the extremism of the prejudice and extreme religious beliefs may well interact at some level. It may be that such prejudice being more pervasive may act as an immunizing agent. The second factor is that the individuals response to speci c acts of prejudice must be seen in a speci c contextual manner. It may well be that certain religious contexts are more dissonant than others. It may be that a broader measure of social identity such as cultural identity is more important than only one speci c factor such as religion. Cultural similarities are more important in protecting individuals. Furthermore, the de nitions of prejudice (and actions that may be seen as prejudicial) may be narrow, thereby targeting certain individuals. Such narrow prejudice may be seen as hostility. Cultural groups feel united on the basis of shared norms, values, interests, attitudes and perspective, and within each group there may be an ease of communication and a sense of solidarity that allows the individuals to be accepted, thereby making them feel safe, and they may behave in a certain way. However, if they are in a minority setting the same characteristics may be looked down upon and create more cultural and psychic dissonance and increase psychological and social distress. Similar findings on cultural dissonance have been reported by Bhugra et al. (1999) who found that Asian women who held less traditional and more modern attitudes were more likely to attempt deliberate selfharm because there was a clearer con ict with the community. Hypothetical model Self-concept and its relationship with external factorssuch as political, social, economic and culturalcan lead to a hypothetical model, as illustrated in Figure 1. If combined with these phases of predisposing factors, empowerment and operational development of beliefs, it starts to make sense. However, the de nition of abnormality must be borne in mind. Method Two studies were carried out in Trinidad and London on four ethnic groups of Trinidadian, London white, London Asian and London African-Caribbean groups. In Trinidad and west and south London we collected cases of first onset of schizophrenia over a one-year period. The relatives were interviewed to ascertain socio-demographic factors, which included studying religious activity and possible

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250 Dinesh Bhugra

Environmental External factors Internal factors

Self-concept

Self-esteem

Self-preservation

Anxiety

Survival

Depression

Discrimination Racial Religion

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Internalization

Psychosis Internalization Externalization

Operational Empowerment

Predisposing

Response

FIGU RE 1. Hypothetical model

explanations of the illness among other factors. The methods are detailed in previous papers elsewhere (Bhugra et al., 1996, 1997). The rates of schizophrenia among African-Caribbeans and Trinidadians were markedly different but were broadly similar when compared with Asians and whites in west London. Results In London, 100 cases of first onset were recruited of whom 38 were white, 38 African-Caribbean and 24 Asian. These are broad categories and ethnic identity was attributed by the patients themselves. In both Trinidadian and London African-Caribbean samples, 13% and 3% of informants of patients respectively saw spiritual/magical causes as possible conceptualization of patients problems. Furthermore, patients in one group from Trinidad (11%) explained their psychosis as due to supernatural causes much higher than heredity, social or biological factors. As Table 7 illustrates, the changes in religious activities by and large showed an increase.
TABLE 7. Changes in religious activity (% in brackets) White More religious No change 0 36 (100) Asian 5 (23) 17 (77) Trinidadian 4 (9) 42 (91) African Caribbean 5 (13) 31 (87)

Self-concept & new religious movements 251 Discussion Although this is a post-hoc analysis, the ndingsthat none of the whites were thinking of or had changed their religion compared with the minority ethnic groupsraise some interesting questions about ethnicity and cultural identity along with self-concept. Bearing in mind problems with data collection, how questions are phrased and small sample size, it is still striking that black and ethnic minority samples show an increase in religious activity. It does not show any increase in religious thought or rituals. This increase may reflect a sense of restlessness suggesting that people were looking for some kind of rootedness and acceptance leading to a sense of better self-concept, self-esteem and empowerment. Another possibility is that existing religions were not able to offer them any support or recognition and may have been generating a further sense of rejection and alienation that they wanted to leave behind and in an excitement may be looking forward to newer activities. Conclusions The relationship between extreme, odd or strange beliefs and the joining of new religious movements is not unknown but remains a nebulous one. Self-concept and its relationship with self-esteem and acceptance play a key role in how beliefs are structured and then accepted or rejected. The development of beliefs in the three stages of predisposition, empowerment and operationalization is a powerful new way of looking at these. Further qualitative and quantitative research is indicated to con rm these stages and their interactions with various other factors.
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