Things to Do Today . . . : A Daily Diary Study on Task Completion at Work

Relatively little is known about how goals in complex jobs are translated into action and how they are completed in real life settings. This study addressed the question to what extent planned work may actually be completed on a daily basis. The completion of daily work goals was studied in a sample of 878 tasks identified by 29 R&D engineers with the help of a daily diary. Multilevel analysis was used to analyse the joint effect of task attributes, perceived job characteristics, and personality attributes on the completion of planned work goals. At the level of task attributes, we found that priority, urgency, and lower importance were related to task completion, and at the individual level, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and time management training. Task completion was not related to task attractiveness, workload, job autonomy, planning, or perceived control of time. On connaît relativement peu de choses sur la manière dont les objectifs dans des tâches complexes sont traduites en action et sur la manière dont elles sont accomplies dans le cadre de la vie quotidienne. Cette étude a abordé la question de savoir dans quelle mesure les travaux prévus peuvent être effectivement achevés dans la vie quotidienne. Pour ce faire, un échantillon de 878 tâches a été identifié par 29 ingénieurs R&D à l’aide d’un journal quotidien. Une analyse multi niveau a été réalisée pour étudier l’effet conjoint des caractéristiques de la tâche et des caractéristiques de la personnalité sur l’accomplissement des objectifs d’un travail planifié. Au niveau des caractéristiques de la tâche, nous trouvons que l’accomplissement de la tâche est liéà la priorité, l’urgence et une importance basse et au niveau individuel à la conscience, la stabilitéémotionnelle et à la gestion du temps. L’accomplissement de la tâche n’est pas liéà son attrait, à la charge de travail, à l’autonomie au travail ou au contrôle du temps perçu.     

“I'm Not Prejudiced,but . . .”: Compensatory Egalitarianism in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

The historic 2008 Democratic presidential primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton posed a difficult choice for egalitarian White voters, and many commentators speculated that the election outcome would reflect pitting the effects of racism against sexism ( Steinem, 2008 ). Because self‐reported prejudices may be untrustworthy, we used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess White adults’ (1) condemnation of prejudices, and (2) attitudes toward the candidates in relation to voting decisions, as part of an online survey. Results supported the proposed compensatory egalitarianism process, such that Whites’ voting choice was consistent with their implicit candidate preference, but in an effort to remain egalitarian, participants compensated for this preference by automatically condemning prejudice toward the other candidate's group. Additional findings showed that this process was moderated by participants’ ethnicity and level of prejudice, as expected. Specifically, compensatory egalitarianism occurred primarily among Whites and individuals low in explicit prejudice. Implications for candidate support, aversive racism theory, and implicit compensation processes are discussed.     

“I WANTED ONE THING AND GOD WANTED ANOTHER . . . ”: The Dilemma of the Prophetic Example and the Qur'anic Injunction on Wife‐Beating

Chapter 4, verse 34 of the Qur'an permits husbands to physically discipline recalcitrant wives. Modern Muslims who find this husbandly privilege discomfiting often rely on Muhammad's prophetic practice to mitigate the meaning of this verse. In light of Muhammad's example of never hitting his own wives, as found in one prophetic report, they reinterpret the verse as restricting and/or voiding a husband's right to physically discipline his wife. This essay provides a critical and expository survey of prophetic reports related to the husbandly privilege to physically discipline wives. The essay argues that the modernists are correct in positing that Muhammad's prophetic practice was to morally censure husbands who hit their wives. However, taken as a whole, it is impossible to ignore that Muhammad's example also unilaterally upheld physical discipline as a husband's marital right.     

“BEYOND GLASS DOORS . . . THE SUN NO LONGER SHINING”: ENGLISH PLATONISM AND THE PROBLEM OF SELF‐LOVE IN THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORK OF IRIS MURDOCH1

Certain oddities of Iris Murdoch's Platonism have a significance beyond that of being the personal and idiosyncratic opinion of one author, of interest only to Murdoch enthusiasts. First of all, they provide richly suggestive indications of what can happen to Platonism when it is brought into interaction with a mechanical and deterministic model of the physical universe. Secondly, Murdoch's work acts as a particularly perspicuous theological flash‐point, showing the intrinsic difficulties with combining demanding features of Platonism with a strong sense of human selfishness (self‐love) and imperfectibility. This is illuminated through a comparison with a strand of neo‐Lutheran theology.     

ONCE MORE . . .

Books reviewed:
Biblical Interpretation: The Meanings of Scripture – Past and Present , John M. Court (ed.), T & T Clark 2004, A Continuum Imprint (ISBN 0-8264-6658-3), pp. xii + 334, Pb £35 Reviewed by Isabel Wollaston University of Birmingham
The Psalms in Israel's Worship , Sigmund Mowinckel, The Biblical Resource Series, translated by D.R. Ap-Thomas, with a new Foreword by James L. Crenshaw, Eerdmans 2004 (0-8028-2816-7), pp. xliv + 303, Hb £19.99/$40 Reviewed by Philip Seddon University of Birmingham
Paul on Marriage and Celibacy: The Hellenistic Background of 1 Corinthians 7 , Will Deeming, Second Edition, Eerdmans 2004 (0-8028-3989-4), pp. xxii + 271, Pb £19.99 Reviewed by Anthony Bash University of Durham     

ONCE MORE . . .

Books reviewed:
A History of the Sikhs, Volume 1: 1469–1839 , Khushwant Singh, Oxford University Press 2005 (0-1956-7308-5), xiv + 434 pp., pb $24.95
A History of the Sikhs, Volume 2: 1839–2004 , Khushwant Singh, Oxford University Press 2005 (0-1956-7309-3), xiv + 575 pp., pb $24.95 Reviewed by Nirmal Singh Hindu University of America
Keepers of the Story: Oral Traditions in Religion , Megan McKenna, Seabury Books 2004 (1-59627-006-3), xi + 211 pp., pb $16 Reviewed by David Tonghou Ngong Baylor University
A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion , Anthony C. Thiselton, Baker Academic 2005 (0-8010-3120-6), viii + 344 pp., pb $24.99 Reviewed by Owen Anderson Arizona State University West
The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918 , David F. Ford, Rachel Muers (eds), Blackwells 2005 (1-4051-0277-2), xxi + 819 pp., pb £19.99 Reviewed by Philip McCosker Peterhouse, Cambridge     

Once More . . .

Mark S. Smith, Second Edition with a foreword by Patrick D. Miller, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
Martin Buber, ed. Maurice S. Friedman, Third Edition, Meetings: Autobiographical Fragments
Martin Buber, The Legend of the Baal-Shem
Martin Buber, Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings
Martin Buber, Between Man and Man
Martin Buber, The Way of Man According to the Teachings of Hasidism
Maurice S. Friedman, Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue
Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies
Gerhard Endress, Islam: An Historical Introduction
Henry D. Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism
Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper (eds), Christian Thought: A Brief History
Paul Avis, T & T Clark, Anglicanism and the Christian Church: Theological Resources in Historical Perspective     

Once More . . .

Books reviewed in this article:
Nicholas de Lange, Judaism
Nicholas Lash, Believing Three Ways in One God
Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror: Literary Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives
W.H.C. Frend, The Early Church: From the Beginnings to 461
Marc H. Ellis, Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation
Daphne Hampson, After Christianity
Gerd Theissen, A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion
John Macquarrie, Jesus Christ in Modern Thought
Karl Barth, God Here and Now     

ONCE MORE . . .

Books reviewed:
The Major World Religions : An Introduction with Texts , T. Patrick Burke, Second Edition, Blackwell 2004 (1-4051-1049-X), pp. xix + 380, Pb £17.99/$34.95 Reviewed by Isabel Wollaston University of Birmingham
The Biblical World , two volumes, John Barton (ed.), Routledge 2004 (0-415-34954-0), Hb £45 Reviewed by Deryn Guest University of Birmingham
Matthew : A Commentary, Volume 1 : The Christbook (Matthew 1–12) , Frederick Dale Bruner, Revised and Expanded Edition, Eerdmans 2004 (0-8028-1118-3), pp. xlviii + 604, Hb £34.95/$45 Matthew : A Commentary, Volume 2 : The Churchbook (Matthew 13–18) , Frederick Dale Bruner, Revised and Expanded Edition, Eerdmans 2004 (0-8028-2670-9), pp. xxxii + 854, Hb £34.95/$45 Reviewed by Philip Seddon University of Birmingham
Religion in the Medieval World , Bernard Hamilton, Second Edition, Arnold Publishers 2003 (0-340-80839-X), pp. ix + 196, Pb £14.99 Reviewed by Stephen Morris New York
A History of the Popes 1830–1914 , Owen Chadwick, Oxford History of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press 2003 (0-19-926286-1), pp. x + 614, Pb £25 Reviewed by Isabel Wollaston University of Birmingham
Religion and American Culture : A Reader , David G. Hackett (ed.), Second Edition, Routledge 2003 (0-415-94273-X), pp. xvi + 550, Pb £22.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Marlett The College of Saint Rose, New York
Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue : Black Theology in the Slave Narrative , Dwight N. Hopkins and George C.L. Cummings (eds), Second Edition, Westminster John Knox Press 2003 (0-664-22521-7), pp. xvi + 205, Pb $24.95 Reviewed by Isabel Wollaston University of Birmingham     

ONCE MORE . . .

Books reviewed:
Till the Heart Sings: A Biblical Theology of Manhood and Womanhood , Samuel Terrien, Eerdmans & Dove 2004 (0-8028-2237-1), pp. xxiv + 260, Pb £16.99 Reviewed by Walter Moberly University of Durham
Sex and Love in the Home: A Theology of the Household , David Matzko McCarthy, Second Edition, SCM Press 2004 (0-334-02946-5), pp. xiv + 297, Pb £18.99 Reviewed by Gavin D'Costa University of Bristol
The Divine Milieu , Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, translated by Siôn Cowell, Sussex Academic Press 2004 (1-902210-29-8), pp. xxxi + 12, Hb £29.95 Reviewed by Rev Dr Adrian Burdon Chester-le-Street, Co Durham     

Once More . . .

Books reviewed:
Allegory and Event: A Study of the Sources and Significance of Origen's Interpretation of Scripture , R.P.C. Hanson, with an introduction by Joseph W. Trigg, Westminster John Knox Press 2003 (0-664-22444-X), pp. xxv + 400, Pb £30
The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity , M.J. Akbar, Routledge 2003 (0-415-32814-4), pp. xxv + 338, Pb £9.99
Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society , Arthur A. Berger, Rowman and Littlefield 2004, Second Edition (0-7425-2724-7), pp. xviii + 174, Pb $21.95     

ONCE MORE . . .

Books reviewed:
Samuel Eliot Bassett, The Poetry of Homer
Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity
Maxwell E. Johnson (ed.), Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy
Roger S. Gottlieb (ed.), This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment