When Does Soldier Patriotism or Nationalism Matter? The Role of Transformational Small‐Unit Leaders

Patriotism and nationalism, 2 sets of attitudes often associated with the military, are examined in relation to perceived combat readiness and intention to remain in military service. Transformational leadership served as an intervening variable in these relationships. Survey data obtained from a sample of Army National Guard soldiers (N = 415) were used to examine relationships. Among junior‐ranking enlisted soldiers, both patriotism and nationalism showed significant, positive associations with perceived combat readiness and intention to remain in military service. The structural equation model fit soldiers' nationalistic attitudes best, having a considerable indirect effect through transformational leadership on perceived combat readiness. Implications of nationalistic and patriotic attitudes combined with charismatic leaders to benefit soldier readiness and retention are discussed.     

Perception of Easy–Difficult: Attitude or Self‐Efficacy?

This study investigates the semantic-differential item easy-difficult in order to evaluate whether it can be considered a measure of attitude or self-efficacy in relation to consistent condom use with sex partners. Using confirmatory factor analysis and comparing a set of logically nested models, our findings suggest that easy-difficult acts most like an attitude item in relation to this particular behavior, especially for males rating condom use with their main sex partners. However, for females and to a less extent males with nonmain sex partners, easy-difficult acts as a measure of both attitude and self-efficacy. Therefore, the use of easy-difficult items should be avoided or used with caution in this research context.     

National Identity in a United Germany: Nationalism or Patriotism? An Empirical Test With Representative Data

Nationalism and patriotism can be thought of as consequences of national identity that represent positive evaluations of one's own group but imply different social goals. This paper investigates the ways in which these concepts are related to attitudes toward minorities. The data analyzed were drawn from a representative sample of residents of the former East and West Germany who responded to items on the national identity of Germans in 1996 as part of a panel study. A model with multiple indicators was tested via a multiple-group analysis of a structural equations model followed by latent class analyses. Both East and West Germans displayed attitudinal patterns that link national identity with tolerance toward others; in both subsamples, nationalism and patriotism were respectively associated with greater intolerance and greater tolerance toward minorities.     

Theodicy: The Solution to the Problem of Evil,or Part of the Problem?

Theodicy, the enterprise of searching for greater goods that might plausibly justify God’s permission of evil, is often criticized on the grounds that the project has systematically failed to unearth any such goods. But theodicists also face a deeper challenge, one that places under question the very attempt to look for any morally sufficient reasons God might have for creating a world littered with evil. This ‘anti-theodical’ view argues that theists (and non-theists) ought to reject, primarily for moral reasons, the project of ‘justifying the ways of God to men’. Unfortunately, this view has not received the serious attention it deserves, particularly in analytic philosophy of religion. Taking my cues from such anti-theodicists as Kenneth Surin, D.Z. Phillips and Dostoyevsky’s Ivan Karamazov, I defend several reasons for holding that the way of thinking about God and evil enshrined in theodical discourse can only add to the world’s evils, not remove or illuminate them.

Special Topic: Filial Piety: The Root of Morality or the Source of Corruption?

In recent years, Liu Qingping 劉清平 has published a series of articles criticizing Confucian ethics in its modern context (see various articles by Liu), which has drawn the attention of many scholars. My friends and I have debated with him and his allies on this issue (See Guo 2002, Yang Haiwen 2002, Yang Zebo 2003, 2004a, 2004b, Ding 2003, 2005a, 2005b, Gong 2004, Guo and Gong 2004, and Wen 2005). Most of the important articles in the debate are now collected in a volume I edited, A Collection of Contentions about Confucian Ethics: Focusing on the Mutual Concealment among Family Members (Guo 2005 [ed.]). In the following, I attempt to respond to some of Liu’s criticisms of Confucian ethics.     

The Nazi doctors and the medical community; Honor or censure? The case of Hans Sewering

During the Nazi era, most German physicians abrogated their responsibilities to individual patients, and instead chose to advocate the interests of an evil regime. In so doing, several fundamental bioethical principles were violated. Despite gross violations of individual rights, many physicians went on to have successful careers, and in many cases were honored. This paper will review the case of Hans Sewering, a participant in the Nazi euthanasia program who became the President-elect of the World Medical Association. The appropriate stance for the medical and scientific community toward those who violate human rights and ignore fundamental ethical principles of the healing professions will be considered.     

Causes of boredom: The person,the situation,or both?

Some theories emphasize the role of the situation, some emphasize the role of the person, and some emphasize the interaction between situation and person in causing boredom. The present study examines these models by determining whether boredom propensity (person) and/or experimental condition (situation) independently or in interaction affected state boredom. The study also examined the relative contribution of behavioural activation and inhibition to state boredom. Boredom propensity and condition significantly and independently predicted state boredom, as did the interaction between behavioural inhibition and condition. Implications are discussed, including the possibility of two distinct causes of boredom.     

The initial stage of the international sojourn: excitement or culture shock?

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of the adjustment journey of international postgraduate students at a university in the South of England, which involved interviews and participant observation over a 12-month academic year. It was discovered that the initial stage of the sojourn1 was not characterised by feelings of excitement, as suggested by the U-curve model (and its successors): though such feelings were present, they were overwhelmed by negative symptoms more commonly associated with culture shock. The implications of these findings for support structures in higher education are discussed.     

The Desk or the Bed?

Assertions that studying is done best at a desk rather than on a bed are largely untested. In the present study the GPA of students working at their desks was compared with that of students studying on their beds. There was no difference in the GPA's of the two groups. The assumption that there is a single type of study environment optimal for all students appears unwarranted. Since a sizable number of college students use their beds and even the floor for studying, the use of softer and more comfortable furniture in libraries and study halls deserves consideration.     

The Combined Effect of the Severity and the Certainty of Threatened Penalties: Additive or Interactive?

Research carried out to date has yielded inconsistent results regarding the manner in which the severity and certainty of threatened penalties combine to affect deterrence. While some studies presented evidence showing an interactive combination, others yielded an additive pattern. The present study tested and supported the proposition that the process whereby the two variables combine depends on the type of penalty with which a person is threatened. In the case of penalties the severity of which can be psychologically weighed in interval values, the combined effect is multiplicative or interactive. On the other hand, when the severity of a penalty can be expressed only ordinally, the combined effect is largely additive.     

Same-sex imitation: The avoidance of cross-sex models or the acceptance of same-sex models?

This experiment examined whether acceptance of same-sex behavior and rejection of opposite-sex behavior contribute equally to the same-sex imitation effect in both boys and girls. Third- and fourth-grade children observed four male and four female peer models display preferences toward a variety of objects. For each object, only four models were asked for their preferences. In this way, it was possible for the objects to become sex-linked depending on the sex composition of the group of models endorsing a particular item. Subsequently, children were presented with pairwise combinations of the more masculine, feminine, or neutral objects and asked their preference. Results indicated that although there is no difference between boys' and girls' acceptance of same-sex behavior, boys tend to reject opposite-sex behavior more than girls.     

The muddle of medicalization: pathologizing or medicalizing?

Medicalization appears to be an issue that is both ubiquitous and unquestionably problematic as it seems to signal at once a social and existential threat. This perception of medicalization, however, is nothing new. Since the first main writings in the 1960s and 1970s, it has consistently been used to describe inappropriate or abusive instances of medical authority. Yet, while this standard approach claims that medicalization is a growing problem, it assumes that there is simply one “medical model” and that the expanding realm of “the medical” can be more or less clearly delineated. Moreover, while intended to establish the reality of this growing threat, this research often requires making arbitrary or unjustified distinctions between different practices. To better clarify the concept of medicalization, I will focus more on capturing the variety of medical practices than on the sociological aspects of medical discourse. In doing so, I will explore the distinction between medicalization and pathologization, a distinction that is often overlooked and that brings with it many conceptual and practical implications. After defining these terms, I will use some examples to show that while pathologizing is closely tied to medicalizing, both can occur independently. I will then further develop this distinction in terms of the different individual and social effects of these practices.     

The integration of psychotherapy: Goal or utopia?

Both researchers and therapists stress the importance of integrating different forms of psychotherapy. Integration may be achieved in three ways. Supporters of the “empirical strategy” believe that more research is the solution. Followers of the “conceptual strategy” try to theorize on psychotherapy using psychological and sociological concepts. Other researchers see a “linguistic strategy” as the way to achieving a better understanding of psychotherapy. Whether any of these strategies will enable us to increase our insight into psychotherapy is questionable. All focus on technical aspects, that is, on the means to achieve effects. Yet, therapeutic effects cannot be understood unless they are interconnected with diagnostics. This paper argues that an integrated theory should be developed which includes diagnostics and treatment and which is supported by a theory on psychological (dys)functioning.     

The Religion–Health Connection Among African Americans: What Is the Role of Social Capital?

Researchers have expressed growing interest in factors that may explain the relationship between religious involvement and health‐related outcomes. Faith‐based organizations are a significant institution in African American communities, both serving religious/spiritual needs and providing an important source of social capital. These communities often suffer a disproportionate burden of health conditions as well. The present study examined the role of social capital (social support, interconnectedness, and community participation) in the relationship between religious involvement (beliefs and behaviours) and physical and emotional functioning and depressive symptoms, among a national probability sample of African Americans (N = 803). Participants completed telephone interviews. We used structural equation modelling to test hypotheses based on the theoretical model. Results indicate that interconnectedness played a modest mediational role in the relationship between religious behaviours/participation and depressive symptoms. Interconnectedness was predictive of fewer depressive symptoms and marginally with better emotional functioning. Findings highlight the importance of trust in and commitment to one's community for health and have implications for community‐based health promotion initiatives. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.