‘Alawi Muslims in Argentina: religious and political identity in the diaspora

This article examines contemporary aspects of the identity construction of the ‘Alawi diaspora in Argentina. In the local context, the preservation of ‘Alawi singularity has so far been a key element in the group’s identity. The strategies for integration as legitimate Muslims in the wider Islam and the closeness to Shi’ism are relatively independent of how these processes took place in the homeland. I first describe the geography of the diaspora in Argentina, comprising the spaces and institutions where descendants settled all over the country. I analyze the factors that helped keep the nodes connected and I will demonstrate that these constitute a center/periphery logic for communities concerning the alleged degrees of preservation of the culture of origin they symbolize. I will try to show that ‘Alawis integrated into the diversity of Islam in Argentina while preserving their sectarian borders and, at the same time, stressing an “Arab” identity. I argue that these strategies should be understood in the local arena of an intra-Islamic pluralism that constitutes Muslim presence in Argentina, where the dynamics of sectarianisms assume idiosyncratic characteristics. Finally, I will show institutional closeness to Shi’ism as a recent development, promoted by the common political stance of both groups on the conflict in Syria. We will see that this closeness does not imply the dissolution of doctrinal boundaries between Shi’is and ‘Alawis and that it involves a redefinition of the diaspora in terms of increasingly claiming a Syrian national origin.     

Psychoanalysis and homosexuality: do we need a new theory?

No need exists, it is argued, for a new psychoanalytic theory of homosexuality. Certainly psychoanalysis should not be expected to generate such a theory using its own methodology alone. The preoccupation with producing such a theory avoids more important questions about psychoanalytic theory building raised by an examination of the long relationship between psychoanalysis and homosexuality. These questions concern the problems related to using psychoanalytic methodology (1) to construct categories (including the categories normal and abnormal), (2) to construct causal theory (the problems include the limitations of psychoanalytic developmental theory and a long-standing confusion between psychoanalytic developmental theory, psychoanalytic genetic reconstruction, and psychodynamics), and (3) to identify "bedrock." Finally, the question is addressed of what might be needed that is new in the psychoanalytic approach to homosexuality.     

Changing career and changing identity: how do teacher career changers exercise agency in identity construction?

The quest to understand what it means to ‘become’ a teacher and the conditions in which such aspirations can be translated into lived experience, continues to exercise teacher educators and researchers alike. Whilst the literature points towards the importance of developing teacher identity, little attention has been given to understanding the transitional processes of individuals coming into teaching at a later point in their working lives. The research reported here was part of a wider project investigating the experiences of early career science teachers. In this study we follow one mature, highly qualified science graduate as she moved through initial teacher education and beyond into her first teaching post. Drawing on theories of identity and self-verification, the analysis reveals how disparity between strongly-held archetypal teacher images and socially constructed teacher identity played out and led this teacher to step away from her new career. Fostering a strong sense of self-efficacy is suggested as critical in supporting mid-career changers in making durable adjustments to new working roles and contexts of teaching.     

Inter‐cultural learning and inter‐religious dialogue: Problems in the way of understanding between Muslims and Christians

There are fundamental difficulties which make dialogue and social communication between Muslims and Christians difficult, and at times impossible. There are already substantial Muslim minorities in most Western countries, and it is thus of enormous importance to find ways of coping with these difficulties. A well‐functioning dialogue between Muslims and the indigenous inhabitants of these societies is essential for the success of a ‘Multi‐cultural Society’. Kandil puts forward his views in ten short propositions, which imply that the difficulties in communication between these two groups are not primarily religious in character; instead, they have cultural and political roots. These he tries to identify.     

Joining and leaving a new religious movement: A study of ex-members’ mental health

The impact of membership in new, often socially contested, religious movements (NRMs) on mental health of members and ex-members is still a controversial question in the psychological literature. In the present study, we interviewed 20 ex-members of various NRMs who also completed questionnaires measuring several cognitive (need for closure, world assumptions) and affective-emotional (parental and adult attachment, social relationships, depression) constructs. Ex-members were then compared with current NRM members and with individuals not involved in NRMs. It appeared that NRM membership compensated for some previously existing vulnerabilities reported by members (insecure attachment in childhood, few social relationships, negative life events). However, this supportive effect did not persist after the destabilizing experience of disaffiliation. Yet, ex-members remained strong believers and were very inclined to spirituality.     

Indigenous reconciliation in Australia: do values,identity and collective guilt matter?

This paper reports an investigation of the impact of shared values and identities on Australian attitudes towards Indigenous reconciliation across two studies. In Study 1, University students were assigned to one of two conditions in which they completed a questionnaire that measured their value priorities and reconciliation attitudes; either as an individual or as an Australian. As expected, the value of egalitarianism was the strongest predictor of reconciliation attitudes, especially under the Australian condition. In Study 2, participants from the general community were assigned into conditions that manipulated identity (personal vs. Australian) and views of how Indigenous Australians have been treated by Europeans in the past (favourable vs. unfavourable). Under these conditions, participants were asked to report their level of collective guilt and reconciliation views. The results showed that collective guilt was stronger under the unfavourable than the favourable history condition but only when personal identity was salient. The findings also showed some support for the proposition that reconciliation views would be most positive under the unfavourable history condition when Australian identity was salient. The implications of the findings for advancing the progress of indigenous reconciliation in Australia are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Young immigrants in Norway: The role of national and ethnic identity in immigrants’ integration

The present work investigates the endorsement, antecedents, relationships, and consequences of young immigrants’ social identities in Norway. Despite increasing numbers of refugees and immigrants entering Norway in recent years, little is known about the relationship between immigrants’ different social identities and their feeling of integration into Norwegian society. The main goal of the present research is to fill this gap by investigating whether relationships found in other European countries replicate in the Norwegian context. In line with theoretical considerations and earlier international findings, results from two studies with different immigrant groups (Study 1: high school students; N = 97; Study 2: university students; N = 93) show that the more young immigrants in Norway endorse their national (i.e., Norwegian) identity, the less they endorse their ethnic identity (e.g., Kurdish). We further show that perceived conflict between the two cultures cannot explain the negative relationship between national and ethnic identity. In addition, immigrants’ national identity endorsement is positively related to their dual identity endorsement (e.g., Kurdish-Norwegian). Positive contact with members of the receiving society predicts young immigrants’ feeling of being integrated in Norwegian society and this relationship is mediated by national identity. Results are discussed in terms of the crucial role social identities play in immigrants’ feeling of integration into European societies.     

Is reading a feminine domain? The role of gender identity and stereotypes in reading motivation in Chile

Social Psychology of Education - In Chile, as in other countries, there are large gender gaps in reading achievement. One factor that may explain some of these results is male and female...     

Self‐construction and identity: The Confucian self in relation to some western perceptions

In contrast to the metaphysical, epistemological and psychological understandings of the self traditionally held and today still extensively considered in the West, the self in Confucianism is essentially an ethical concept, representing a holistic view of humanhood and a continuingly constructive process driven by self‐cultivation and moral orientations. This paper first examines what is literally and philosophically meant by the self in these two traditions, then examines the contrasts or comparisons between the Confucian conception of the self and the self as perceived in some strands of Western philosophy; and finally, interprets and analyses the constructively organic theory of the Confucian self, which is clearly differentiated from the self perceived in mainstream philosophy in traditional Europe and yet is being echoed in the more recent developments of Western philosophy and in the strong current of postmodernism. [1]     

The relationship between the inner and outer dimensions in Islam as a foundation for inter‐religious dialogue

This article shows how the relationship between the sharīa and the arīqa in Islam constitutes a specific paradigm for the bond between the interior and exterior dimension in religion, which enriches and challenges the Christian–Muslim dialogue for peace because it reminds both religions of their potential for critical social–political assessments. This is especially important since the public dialogue generally focuses on post‐Enlightenment criteria for evaluating the possibilities for communion in peace by strictly separating the interior from the exterior dimension in religion.     

Teaching psychologists and the new APA ethics code: do we fit in?

The new American Psychological Association (APA) ethics code (APA, 1992) creates dilemmas of both image and substance for teaching psychologists. Items specific to teaching psychologists reflect housekeeping matters of lesser importance and situations over which teaching psychologists have little control. Teachers of psychology are sometimes inappropriately grouped with other types of psychologists. Freedom of inquiry and communication are curtailed in ambiguous ways, and the standards expected of teachers in the academy are set a mediocre level. Although the new code contains some improvements over the previous code (APA, 1990)--especially in the areas of multiple relationships, prohibitions against sex with students, respect for differences among students, and authorship rights retained by students--numerous recommendations for future revision are strongly recommended.     

Social skills and sex‐role functioning in borderline personality disorder: relationship to self‐mutilating behavior

This study compared the social skills functioning and sex role affiliation of female inpatients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior (n?=?30) with female patients with borderline personality disorder who did not engage in such behavior (n?=?18). Patients with borderline personality disorder who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior were found to have relatively poorer skills in communicating non‐verbal emotional information to others and in receiving and interpreting such information from others. In terms of sex role orientation, patients who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior were significantly more likely than non‐mutilators to be typed as undifferentiated using the Bem Sex Role Inventory. These participants were less likely to identify with either masculine or feminine sex roles. Patients who did not self‐mutilate were found to be significantly more likely than those who did self‐mutilate to identify with the masculine sex role.     

Personality and culture: a comparison of Francophones and Anglophones in Québec

The authors compared the personality characteristics of Québec Francophones (25 women, 25 men) and Anglophones (25 women, 25 men) aged 16-64 years. Each participant completed a French or English version of 3 personality inventories that measured (a) extraversion (2 scales), (b) neuroticism (2 scales), (c) psychoticism, (d) lying, (e) openness to experience, (f) conscientiousness, (g) agreeableness, (h) conservatism, and (i) altruism. Francophones scored higher than did Anglophones on psychoticism and on 1 measure of extraversion, and Anglophones scored higher than did Francophones on conservatism, but the 2 groups did not differ on the other personality traits. Men scored higher than did women on psychoticism, and women scored higher than did men on conscientiousness and agreeableness. Conservatism and altruism increased with age. The authors discuss the results in the context of cross-cultural theory and research on personality.     

Faith and unfaith in pre‐occultation Shīism: a study in theology and social history

The study uses books of Shīite adīth (including the Kāfī of Kulaynī) collected before the Occultation of the Twelfth Imam in 941 to demonstrate a significant change in social attitudes in the Shīite community. The change, which appears to have taken place some time in the ninth century, involved a shift from electionism and isolationism to a more open stance toward the non‐Shīte majority. The revised view is expressed in adīths that offer a view of faith (īmān) and unfaith (kufr) that grants non‐Shīites some measure of faith and salvation and promotes social integration by allowing marriage with and inheritance from other Muslims. Other adīth narratives, however, suggest that some Shīites strongly resisted this view. The account of Shīte views on faith offered by the contemporaneous (d. 935) heresiographer al‐Asharī confirms the picture of a community divided between attitudes of segregation and rapprochement—between rejection of and participation in the great religious consensus taking place under Abbāsid rule.     

Understanding the association between socioeconomic status and physical health: do negative emotions play a role?

In this article, the authors evaluate the possible roles of negative emotions and cognitions in the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and physical health, focusing on the outcomes of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality. After reviewing the limited direct evidence, the authors examine indirect evidence showing that (a) SES relates to the targeted health outcomes, (b) SES relates to negative emotions and cognitions, and (c) negative emotions and cognitions relate to the targeted health outcomes. The authors present a general framework for understanding the roles of cognitive-emotional factors, suggesting that low-SES environments are stressful and reduce individuals' reserve capacity to manage stress, thereby increasing vulnerability to negative emotions and cognitions. The article concludes with suggestions for future research to better evaluate the proposed model.