Assessment of fear of fear among Agoraphobic patients: The Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale

A self-report scale for the measurement of fear of fear, the Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale (ACS), was psychometrically evaluated. Two samples of inpatients satisfying DSM-III-R criteria for unipolar depressive and/or anxiety disorder were studied. Intercorrelational and factor analyses indicated that the ACS measured three dimensions of fear of fear: fear of bodily incapacitation, fear of losing control, and fear of acting embarrassingly. Three subscales were constructed to measure these dimensions. The subscales proved to have satisfactory internal consistency and criterion-related validity. However, fear of losing control was related not only to other anxiety symptoms, but also to depressive symptomatology. Agoraphobic patients reported more fear of bodily incapacitation and fear of losing control than social phobic, generally anxious, and nonanxious depressed patients. Fear of embarrassing action was higher among agoraphobic and social phobic patients than among generally anxious and nonanxious depressed patients. These results were obtained after controlling for general anxiety and depression level and, thus, support the validity of the fear of fear construct.     

Comparisons of Different Measures for Cognitions in Agoraphobic Patients

According to the cognitive models of panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, patients engage in catastrophic cognitions when anxious. An important question to address is the relationship between measures used in previous research. The present study compares different measures of cognitive material from the same sample of 70 patients with panic disorder with agrophobia. Cognitions were assessed through questionnaires, interview and self-monitoring during a behavioural avoidance test. No congruence between the different measures of cognitive material was found. Furthermore, cognitions collected through interview were more in line with the assumptions derived from the cognitive model, than were cognitions reported through self-monitoring. To answer the question whether this is due to methodological inadequacy or whether it reflects the state of affairs requires future research.     

The Judicialization of Religious Freedom: An Institutionalist Approach

Recent years have seen growing interest in the judicialization of religious freedom (JRF). In this article, I identify two distinct meanings of JRF, which are often conflated but which need to be kept separate. I then argue for a stronger institutionalist approach to JRF. An institutionalist approach focuses our attention on both the rules internal to courts, and the relationship of courts to administrative agencies, legislatures, and other governing bodies. I argue that there is room to strengthen our analyses of JRF by paying greater attention to these institutional dynamics. I demonstrate this by highlighting two overlooked features of courts—interpretive rules and access rules—that are particularly important for governing JRF; and by developing a framework that relates the courts to other institutional venues and political actors. In so doing, I identify a number of promising directions for future research into the causes and consequences of JRF.     

The Stages of Igbo Conversion to Islam: An Empirical Study

Review of Religious Research - In recent years a very rare phenomenon was observed in Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria—the conversion of the Igbo to Islam. There exists a significant scholarly...     

精神分裂症患者的疾病表达与身份困境——一项基于知乎的实证研究

基于知乎的25起自述文本,研究精神分裂症患者的疾病表达,探究患者病程对叙事类型产生的影响,剖析患者面临的身份困境。研究发现,接受治疗的患者偏向于康复叙事,未治疗的患者偏向于混乱叙事和探寻叙事;同时,精神分裂症患者面临本我、自我与超我相互冲突的身份困境。未来可以在传播层面针对性加强精神疾病类的科普教育以促进患者就医;在叙事层面挖掘以病患作为主体传播模式的潜力、深化叙事疗法中的共情体验以辅助患者建构身份。

     

词汇飞跃的本质:命名洞察力的实证研究

通过个案跟踪和控制实验探讨了词汇飞跃的本质。研究结果表明命名洞察力具有现实性,且词汇飞跃与命名洞察力的出现紧密相关,这在一定程度上解释了儿童词汇量快速增长的原因。命名洞察力的获得促进了词汇的快速增长,标志着儿童建立起词汇与指称之间的匹配关系。词汇飞跃之后,儿童很快建立起词语间的符号关系,并最终促进了儿童语法的发展。基于此实证结果,本研究还建构了诠释词汇飞跃本质的理论模型。     

两种取向的工作满意度模型构建及实证研究

工作满意度一般被作为衡量员工工作中的幸福感的指标。幸福感的研究存在两种基本取向：享乐取向和完善取向。为验证两种取向的工作满意度结构,对485名MBA学生和864名企业员工进行了调查,探索性因素分析和进一步二阶探索性因素分析表明,工作满意度量表包含8个因素,这8个因素归于两个维度：享乐取向的满意度（包括享乐的工作结果、享乐的工作本身、享乐的人际关系、享乐的组织氛围）和完善取向的满意度（包括完善的工作结果、完善的工作本身、完善的人际关系、完善的组织氛围）。验证性因素分析支持两种取向工作满意度的结构模型。     

Solution-focused Couples Therapy Groups: An Empirical Study

The professional literature contains numerous theoretical and case study articles regarding the development and use of solution-focused therapy. However, as with many models of systems-oriented therapy in use with couples, very little has been subjected to empirical investigation. This project was designed to make a contribution to the empirical literature regarding the effectiveness of solution-focused therapy in use with couples' groups. This study utilized pre-test comparisons of treatment and comparison groups, and examined pre- to post-test changes in the scores of the treatment group couples. Twenty-three treatment group couples participated in a six-week solution-focused couples therapy (SFCT) group. A separate group of thirteen couples served as a comparison group. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) was used to assess changes in the couples' relationships. Scores on the Marital Status Inventory (MSI), as a pre-test measure indicating the couples' likelihood of divorce, indicated no significant differences between groups. The remaining analyses revealed significant improvement in DAS scores. Self-reports from the couples involved indicate improvement in a variety of areas after completing the six-week solution-focused couples group therapy process.     

Professionalism Among Chinese Engineers: An Empirical Study

Science and Engineering Ethics - In 2016, Davis and Zhang surveyed 71 Chinese engineers to investigate the claim that the concept of “profession” may have a far wider range than the...     

Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study

This study examines the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures of creativity were used: a divergent thinking task, a story‐writing task and self‐evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed two self‐report measures of tolerance of ambiguity: the short version of the “Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance” (Norton, 1975; Zenasni & Lubart, 2001) and the “Behaviour Scale of Tolerance/Intolerance for Ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 1998, 2003). Tolerance of ambiguity was significantly and positively related to creativity. Creativity of parents was related to their adolescents' creativity. However, parents' tolerance of ambiguity was not related to adolescents' tolerance of ambiguity or creativity.     

The Life Reflection and Consequences of Older Adults' Relationships: An Empirical Study

Fifty‐eight Austrian adults, ages 65 to 99 years, participated in semistructured life reflections regarding their relationships with life partners, children, relatives, and friends. This study identified the consequences of the reflections, the implementation of the consequences, and the degree to which participants were satisfied with the life changes they made.     

Effective Leadership and Culture in Iran: An Empirical Study

On analyse dans cet article les caractéristiques du leadership efficace en Iran, puis on envisage les liens possibles entre ce profil de leadership et les dimensions culturelles du pays. A partir des données fournies par 300 managers provenant de plus de 60 organisations relevant de trois secteurs industriels, on commence par utiliser les dimensions du projet GLOBE pour évaluer la culture iranienne dont les scores sont comparés à ceux d'autres pays. S'appuyant à la fois sur l' emic et l' etic du leadership, les auteurs développent sept dimensions du leadership: encourageant, dictatorial, visionnaire, familial, modeste, loyal et réceptif. Ils soutiennent que certaines de ces dimensions traduisent les aspects universels (ou etic ) du leadership (éncourageant, dictatorial), alors que d'autres procèdent de l' emic , c'est‐à‐dire de la spécificité culturelle du leadership (modeste, familial, loyal). Les résultats sont discutés en terme de positionnement de la culture iranienne entre des entrelacements fondamentaux et des traditions culturelles complexes. On aborde enfin la question des retombées sur les recherches à venir.     

Codependency: An Empirical Study from a Systemic Perspective

To empirically investigate the construct validity of codependency, differences between young adults on a measure of codependency on theoretically relevant variables were examined. Compared with individuals who scored low on codependency, those who obtained high scores reported significantly more family of origin difficulties and parental mental health problems, problematic intimate relationships including relationships with chemically dependent partners, and personal psychological problems including compulsivity. Contrary to prevailing theoretical predictions the high codependency group did not contain more individuals whose parents had alcohol or drug abuse problems, or a higher level of childhood physical or sexual abuse. These results suggest that co-dependency is one aspect of wider multigenerational family systems problems which are not unique to families where drug and alcohol abuse or physical and sexual abuse are major concerns.     

Media Violence and Freedom of Speech: How to Use Empirical Data

Susan Hurley has argued against a well known argument for freedom of speech, the argument from autonomy, on the basis of two hypotheses about violence in the media and aggressive behaviour. The first hypothesis says that exposure to media violence causes aggressive behaviour; the second, that humans have an innate tendency to copy behaviour in ways that bypass conscious deliberation. I argue, first, that Hurley is not successful in setting aside the argument from autonomy. Second, I show that the empirical data are irrelevant to statutory regulation of media violence. They do not yield a sufficiently strong correlation between exposure to media violence and non-autonomously copied criminal violence, and they do not yield a way ex ante to individuate the viewers who will be affected by media violence.