A ‘WalMartization’ of Religion? The Ecological Impact of Megachurches on the Local and Extra-Local Religious Economy

This study explores the impact megachurches have on local and extra-local congregations. Arguing that the two commonly held theories concerning the effect of megachurches on local congregations—that they are either harmful because they undercut local competition, or are beneficial because they increase local competition—are under-specified, we add the concept of religious niches to an organizational ecology model to predict how megachurches will differentially impact local congregations of various affiliation. Following new methodological directions charted by Blanchard et al. (Soc Forces 86(4):1591–1620, 2008), we test how the presence of megachurches differentially impacts congregational change rates among Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Conservative Protestants and three disaggregated Conservative Protestant sub-groups—Evangelical, Pentecostal and Fundamentalists, using county-level data from the 1990 and 2000 Churches and Church Membership datasets and megachurch data from the Database of Megachurches in the US. We find support for the variable impact of megachurches on local congregations in differing niches. For local congregations in dissimilar niches the presence of megachurches seems to be beneficial, whereas for local congregations inhabiting similar niches the presence of megachurches seems to be harmful. In addition to the local impact of megachurches, we find that they also have an impact upon the vitality of congregations in neighboring counties.     

Impact of Self-Orientations and Work-Context–Related Variables on the Well-Being of Public- and Private-Sector Turkish Employees

The authors (a) explored the impact of individual differences in self-orientations (i.e., relatedness and individuation) of 383 Turkish public- and private-sector employees on their basic need satisfaction at work and their well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and psychological well-being); (b) considered differences in perceived autonomy- and relatedness-supportiveness of the work contexts; and (c) tested a model in which the relationship between self-orientations and well-being is partially mediated by the perceived supportiveness of the work context and the need satisfaction of employees at work, using structural equation modeling. Results suggest that self-orientations of employees predict their well-being both directly and indirectly through the mediation of perceived supportiveness and need satisfaction provided by the work context, which seem to vary according to sector type.     

The Impact of Culture and Individualism–Collectivism on the Creative Potential and Achievement of American and Chinese Adults

ABSTRACT: This research explored the relation between culture and creative potential in highly educated adults. It was hypothesized that culture would influence creative potential and achievement, largely through how individualistic (citizens serving themselves) or collectivistic (citizens serving society) the society of origin was. To this end, 55 American and 56 Chinese doctoral students were surveyed concerning their creative potential, their sense of individualism or collectivism, and their Graduate Record Examination quantitative subtest scores. Americans displayed significantly higher scores on a measure of creative potential than the Chinese. As expected, Americans showed greater individualism. Chinese were more collectivistic. Chinese had significantly higher skill mastery in the domain of mathematics. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding cultural differences in creativity are considered.     

Much More Than PTSD: Mothers’ Narratives of the Impact of Trauma on Child Survivors and Their Families

This study examined the narratives of ten Caucasian mothers whose children had been impacted by ‘traumatic’ events and referred to a specialist trauma service in N. Ireland. The research question was whether the PTSD construct adequately represented the broad ‘lived’ experience of the impact of trauma on survivors’ wellbeing and their family relationships as articulated by mothers post trauma. Narrative Interviewing methodology was employed and the resulting data inductively organised into an evolving thematic framework. A quantitative analysis of the prevalence of particular themes is presented supplemented by qualitative quotations to illustrate the complexity of reported impact. The major components of the mothers’ narratives included family and relational distress (35.7%), non-pathological individual distress (24.4%), resilience (16.7%) and a prior history of adversity (16.6%). Prior history of adversity was resent in 8 out the 10 cases including a high level of suicide. PTSD symptomatology constituted a small proportion of the narratives (6.6%) and this suggests that the PTSD construct does not adequately represent the broad ‘lived’ experience of the impact of trauma. Although a small and heterogeneous study sample, the findings are sufficiently robust to suggest further investigation is required to understand the phenomenological experience of trauma of child victims/survivors and their families.     

Impact of coherent and incoherent twin boundaries on the microhardness of annealed nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys

The microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys with annealing temperature and more specifically grain boundary (GB) character is investigated through several techniques and correlated with the hardening behaviour. It is shown that two distinct regions can be identified in relation to the annealing temperature and the microstructural evolution. At temperatures below 550 °C (Regime I), a small increase in grain size is observed and is accompanied by a significant hardening and an increase in the fraction of Σ3 incoherent twin boundaries. At temperatures above 550 °C (Regime II), the thermal stability is overcome and important grain growth occurs with a decrease in both the volumic fraction of GBs and the microhardness. It is suggested that the microhardness evolution during heat treatment is influenced by two opposing processes: an increase in the fraction of incoherent twin boundaries (hardening effect) and grain growth (softening effect). Both aspects are directly associated with the mean free path of mobile dislocations.     

Too Close for Comfort? Faculty–Student Multiple Relationships and Their Impact on Student Classroom Conduct

Professors are increasingly encouraged to adopt multiple role relationships with their students. Regardless of professor intent, these relationships carry risks. Left unexamined is whether student–faculty social multiple relationships impact student in-class behaviors. Provocatively, our exploratory study provides empirical support suggesting that when undergraduate students perceive that their professors engage in the multiple faculty–student relationships of friendships, drinking (alcohol) relationships, and sexual partnerships, students report they are more likely to engage in uncivil behaviors in the professor’s classroom. Accordingly, our study provides a backdrop against which to think more substantively about the professorial role and the boundaries that accompany it.     

Political Inequality and the ‘Super-Rich’: Their Money or (some of) Their Political Rights

The ability of very wealthy individuals (or, as I will call them, the ‘super-rich’) to turn their economic power into political power has been—and remains—an important cause of political inequality. In response, this paper advocates an original solution. Rather than solving the problem through implementing a comprehensive conception of political equality, or through enforcing complex rules about financial disclosure etc., I argue that we should impose a choice on the super-rich. The super-rich must choose between (i) forfeiting the things that make them super-rich, i.e., pay a 100 % tax on their wealth above a certain level, or, (ii) they must forfeit some of their political rights. These rights include entitlements to fund political parties; to stand for office; and to work or volunteer for political parties. The right to vote, though, is not limited. I defend my proposal against non-consequentialist and consequentialist objections. I also argue that it avoids two problems that many attempts to reduce political inequality face; these are the political egalitarian’s dilemma and the problem of political equality’s relative moral importance.     

The Impact of an Economic Boom on the Level and Distribution of Subjective Well-Being: Ireland, 1994–2001

The impact of increased affluence on life satisfaction is a matter of some controversy. This paper examines the impact of the recent economic boom in Ireland upon the level and distribution of various domains of well-being. There is evidence of a substantial increase in life satisfaction in the domain of finance and of an improvement in mental well-being. There is a reduction in inequality and polarisation for virtually all domains of life satisfaction. A social welfare function which is increasing and concave in individual well-being would show an improvement in social welfare over the period.     

Fear and Avoidance: A Three-Day Investigation on the Impact of a Fear-Related Verbal-Rehearsal Task on a Behavior–Behavior Relation

The Psychological Record - Recent research suggests that fear and avoidance responding based on derived transformation of functions may be considered functionally independent. The current study...     

The struggle to be seen: Muslim–Christian relations and religious (in)visibility at the Hispano–Moroccan borderland

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the ways in which Muslim–Christian relations occur in the Hispano–Moroccan borderland, more precisely, in the North-African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. It argues that, in these two Spanish autonomous cities, the relations between Christians and Muslims are articulated through a symbolic system in which the former exercise the capacity of being apparent, whereas the latter tend to be ‘pushed away’ from the visible, although they exert resistance. This results in a decrease of Muslims’ degree of public exposure. The article critically assesses the relational dynamics between Muslims and Christians in Ceuta and Melilla against the trope of ‘invisibility’, by looking at how they use religion to exert these enunciations: a) I briefly contextualize historically the setting, b) I explore how religion is racialized, c) I look at the use of historical vocabulary and narratives on religion to manifest intergroup conflict, d) I expose how the regime of (in)visibility unfolds, e) I scrutinize the recent development by which Christians participate in making Islam more visible and the resulting consequences this has on the relations between the two groups. The article assesses why and how religion provides the language through which these particular forms of ‘othering’ are manifested.     

Learning under anesthesia: Checking the light in the fridge? Commentary on Deeprose and Andrade (2006)

Research on learning under anesthesia has focused on showing that learning is possible in the absence of awareness. However, a simple dissociation between learning and awareness is conclusive only under strong additional assumptions, and the actual state of consciousness of an anesthetized person is difficult to determine. Instead of trying to establish complete unconsciousness, one might employ gradual anesthesia to experimentally vary the level of consciousness in a controlled fashion, checking whether cognitive processes exist that can change in opposite direction to measures of awareness.     

Does Generalized (Dis)Trust Travel? Examining the Impact of Cultural Heritage and Destination‐Country Environment on Trust of Immigrants

At least two contrasting perspectives on the roots of generalized trust exist: The cultural perspective emphasizing how trust is a stable trait passed on from one generation to the next through parental socialization, and the experiential perspective, which stresses that trust is subject to change with what we experience in the environment in which we live. Analyzing trust of immigrants is an effective way to contrast the two perspectives, as the cultural perspective predicts that immigrants' level of trust will continue to reflect the level of trust of their home country, whereas the experiential perspective predicts that trust of immigrants will change according to the environment of the destination country. This article examines how first‐generation immigrants from three low‐trust countries of origin (Turkey, Poland, and Italy) are affected by migrating to high‐trust countries in Northern Europe, which hold qualities conducive to trust. In contrast to earlier studies examining trust of immigrants, I build on one data set containing data on both migrants and nonmigrants from the same country of origin as well as on a wide range of relevant covariates of trust. Using the method of matching, the results of the analysis lend most support to the experiential perspective on trust as the destination‐country context has a massive impact on trust of immigrants, who display significantly higher levels of trust than comparable respondents in their country of origin. The results are robust to limiting the destination‐country context to only one country (Germany) and comparing migrants and nonmigrants responding in the same language.     

The rule of reality and the reality of the rule (on Soviet ideology and its “shift”)

Studies in East European Thought - The present article is a critical engagement with Aleksei Yurchak’s Everything Was Forever until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation. It contends...     

Development and Validation of the Short Grit Scale (Grit–S)

Two experiments investigated the possibility that external statements in the Rotter I-E scale are more depressing in tone than internal statements, and thus depressed subjects may respond to external items due to item mood level rather than locus of control content. Results of Experiment 1 revealed that the external alternative was rated as more depressing than its internal counterpart for the majority Of the 23 I-E items (18 for females and 15 for males), while a small number of I-E items (3 for females and 6 for males) contained internal and external statements rated as balanced for depressing Content. For two I-E items the internal alternative was rated as more depressing. Results of Experiment 2 revealed that endorsement of external items was significantly related to self-reported depression for both total I-E score and for the item subset where external statements(as revealed in Experiment 1) were the more depressing of the item pair. External endorsement was not significantly related to depression for the I-E item subset where options are balanced for mood level, while endorsement of internal statements was related to depression only for the item subset where the internal option was rated as more depressing. These results were interpreted as supporting prior research which demonstrated mood response set using altered Rotter I-E scale items, Implications for use of the Rotter I-E scale in the study of depression were discussed.     

Clinical Practice With Cases of Extreme Traumatization 40 Years After the Military Coup in Chile (1973–1990): The Impact on the Therapists

This paper presents our clinical experience with patients who were severely traumatized by the systematic violation of human rights during the military dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990). The lack of recognition of trauma of sociopolitical origin encapsulates the traumatic experience and forces it to remain as part of the present. Clinical vignettes of two therapeutic processes—mother and son—are presented: The mother was detained; sexually tortured; and, as a result of this, gave birth to the torturer’s son. Her therapeutic process is an account of her ambivalence towards her son, of how his origins were kept a family secret, and of how this secret was unconsciously transmitted. The young man’s therapeutic process centers on the transgenerational transmission of trauma and how the torturer–tortured dynamic seeps into the relationship with the analyst. The impact on the analysts’ subjectivity in working with extreme trauma is described.     

Incarcerated Violent Offenders' Ability to Avoid Revealing Their Potential for Violence on the Rorschach and the MMPI–2

Recently, Hartmann and Hartmann (2014) Hartmann, E., &; Hartmann, T. (2014): The impact of exposure to Internet-based information about the Rorschach and the MMPI–2 on psychiatric outpatients' ability to simulate mentally healthy test performance, Journal of Personality Assessment, 96, 432–444. doi:10.1080/00223891.2014.882342.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] found that psychiatric outpatients, both with and without access to Internet-based information about the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM; Weiner, 2003 Weiner, I. B. (2003). Principles of Rorschach interpretations (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Google Scholar]) and the MMPI–2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, &; Kaemmer, 1989 Butcher, J. N., Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A., &; Kaemmer, B. (1989). Manual for the Restandardized Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: MMPI–2. An administration and interpretive guide. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]), were unable to imitate healthy test performance on these tests. We replicated the study by administering the RIM and the MMPI–2 to 63 incarcerated violent offenders using similar testing conditions. As in the previous study, comparisons were made not only among the 3 subgroups of incarcerated offenders, but also between these offender groups and the group of nonpatients examined in the previous study. On the RIM, Internet-coached and uncoached “faking good” offenders produced records with significantly higher F% and X–% and significantly lower M, m, SumC, X+%, P, AG, and COP than nonoffenders under standard instructions (effect sizes between d = 0.24 and d = 2.39). For AgC, AgPot, AgPast, and TCI% there were no significant differences between the faking offenders and the nonoffenders under standard instructions. On the MMPI–2 clinical scales, there were no significant differences between the faking good groups and the nonoffenders under standard instructions, except on Hs, Pd, and Sc. Both faking groups were identifiable by their high L scale scores. Although both faking groups managed to avoid giving responses with aggressive and generally psychopathological content on the RIM, they were unable to produce test profiles demonstrating healthy test performance on any of the tests; nevertheless, Internet-based test information might weaken test validity.     

Religion and the Catholic Church’s View on (Heart) Transplantation: A Recent Statement of Pope Benedict XVI and its Practical Impact

Heart transplantation is performed on approximately 4,000 patients per year worldwide and is considered the last resort for treatment of end-stage heart diseases. Due to persistent organ shortage, resources are limited, waiting periods are extensive, and patients still die while being on a waiting list for transplantation. The role of all churches and the support of the representatives of the churches are critical for the spiritual wellbeing of patients awaiting heart transplantation as well as for prospective individual organ donors and their families. The supportive role of the Roman Catholic Church and the recent statement of Pope Benedict XVI on organ donation are discussed.