Abstract

COMMENTARIES Herbert M. Lefcourt University of Waterloo Both the locus-of-control and achievement-motivation liter- On reading the spirited arguments that Peterson has of- atures concern exactly that, the persistence of the pursuit of fered in defense of explanatory style as a psychological con- positive ends. Here is one instance where wider scholarship, struct I have found myself of two minds. On the one hand, I or conceptual ecumenism, might serve to clarify the agree with Peterson's contentions regarding the value of ex- nomological network within which explanatory style op- planatory style, that it cannot be simply dismissed as an erates. artifact or some low-level correlate of depression. On the This brings me to the disquieting feelings mentioned ear- other hand, I also have some of the disquieting feelings that lier. Peterson notes that he knows of no research concerned may have inspired others to wonder about the meaning of with the way in which good feelings can buffer the depressive explanatory style. effects of certain losses and disappointments. Yet, in the Peterson reviews the criticisms that concern conceptual literature concerned with stress and the personality charac- and methodological questions. In the former, Peterson ar- teristics that can moderate the affective