A loss of status and a sense of defeat: an evolutionary perspective on professional burnout

This longitudinal study among Spanish teachers (N = 558) examined burnout from an evolutionary social rank perspective. The types of stress differed among various school levels, and a sense of defeat was highest among teachers in primary schools. A low status, a loss of status and a sense of defeat were independent cross‐sectional predictors of burnout. Longitudinally a sense of defeat predicted an increase in burnout over time, especially among males and teachers in high schools. The status related variables were in general more important predictors of burnout than stressors that are usually associated with burnout. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Culture, gender, and the self: variations and impact of social comparison processes

Psychological differences between women and men, far from being invariant as a biological explanation would suggest, fluctuate in magnitude across cultures. Moreover, contrary to the implications of some theoretical perspectives, gender differences in personality, values, and emotions are not smaller, but larger, in American and European cultures, in which greater progress has been made toward gender equality. This research on gender differences in self-construals involving 950 participants from 5 nations/cultures (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Malaysia) illustrates how variations in social comparison processes across cultures can explain why gender differences are stronger in Western cultures. Gender differences in the self are a product of self-stereotyping, which occurs when between-gender social comparisons are made. These social comparisons are more likely, and exert a greater impact, in Western nations. Both correlational and experimental evidence supports this explanation.     

The emotional quality of childcare centers in Israel: The Haifa study of early childcare

Data from an Israeli project shows higher proportion of insecurely attached infants in center care as compared with noncenter care (Sagi, Koren‐Karie, Gini, Ziv, & Joels, 2002). The present study was designed to assess structural and emotional aspects characterizing infants' experiences in center care, aiming to explain, in part, the high incidence of attachment insecurity among center‐care infants. In the present study, we focus on 151 center‐care infants who were observed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) with their mothers. Sixty‐one percent of them were coded as securely attached to their mothers while 39% were coded as insecurely attached. In addition, 56 directors and 120 caregivers in 56 centers were videotaped throughout a full‐day observation. The Assessment Profile of Early Childhood Program (Abbott‐Shim & Sibley, 1987) was also employed. Results indicated that the centers in Israel are of low standards: Large group size, high caregiver–infants ratio, inadequate professional training, and minimal attention to individual emotional needs. No associations were found between infants' attachment and various aspects of the settings. The low quality of the Israeli settings may explain the higher rate of attachment insecurity in center‐care infants. ©2005 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

THE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF ORGASM

Orgasm itself, along with its specific psycho dynamic, has stimulated few reflections and little research in the psychoanalyticalfield to date. In this regard, perspectives relating to orgasm are generally placed within a wider context covering desire, arousal and, of course, satisfaction. Freud himself seemed to show no particular or systematic interest in an orgasmic psychodynamic per se. This article, the aim of which is to consider the specific nature of orgasm, proposes a two-stage reflection. First, it considers the specific aspects of orgasm in order to arrive at a phenomenology of the orgasm itself-within a clearly defined framework. Second, it explains this phenomenology from a psychoanalytical point of view. These reflections lead us to suggest that while the erogenous zones in men and women respectively are at the root of the sexual arousal that leads to orgasm, it is most probably in fantasy that the female orgasm finds its major trigger. This is all the more relevant given that the existence of a real qualitative difference between clitoral and vaginal orgasm is now being challenged. This would tend to confirm the idea of a predominance of fantasy over bodily location, given that, quite clearly, it is not possible to attribute the former role to a precise area of the body. In this respect, only the analytical process is able to lead us to the primary sources of orgasmic problems—both male and female—and, above all, to reconstruct the origin of a satisfactory or unsatisfactory orgasm.     

Place and Displacement: Towards a Distopological Approach

Most recently, debates on decolonization, transformation, and Africanization raise, again, critical questions about the continuous dominance of the Western practice of philosophy in an African place. Such debates bear particular reference to colonization; however, they are relevant to any place where displacement is an issue and transformation demanded. Yet, the concept of displacement receives surprisingly little attention in these debates or in literature on place. I argue that place and displacement are inherently related, and explore some implications of this relation with regard to the practice of philosophy. My contention is that while displacement is an issue that raises specific challenges to the practice of Western philosophy in an African context, it is in fact a defining feature of philosophy as such in search of its place in the world. In conclusion, I propose what I call a distopological approach towards a philosophical practice that takes seriously its place and inherent relation to displacement.     

Brain drain: A communitarian response to Brock and Blake

The problem of brain drain, the movement of skilled citizens of developing countries to developed ones, arises largely because of seriously unequal life prospects in different countries. Hence, there is something profoundly wrong with the brain drain, something that calls for a moral response. Brock and Blake offer such a response by debating the ethical rights and responsibilities of skilled professionals, and of the societies in which they live, from the perspective of moral liberalism. The aim of my paper is to develop a response to some of their arguments from the perspective of moral communitarianism, with particular reference to the work of one of its classical proponents in African philosophy, Kwame Gyekye.     

Spirituality as a Resiliency Quality in Xhosa-speaking Families in South Africa

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spirituality as a characteristic of family resilience in Xhosa-speaking families in South Africa. A parent, and in some cases an adolescent, represented each of the 51 families that participated. Participants were expected to respond to three open-ended questions regarding their family and identify factors or strengths that had recently helped their family. The results indicate that spirituality is an important coping resource. The core theme of spirituality consists of six related categories that facilitated the successful adaptation of the participating families after a crisis. These categories are Gifts from God; Guidance; God's Works; God's Plan; Prayer; and Faith.     

The Prevention Delivery System: Organizational Context and Use of Comprehensive Programming Frameworks

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate organizational‐level mechanisms in the Prevention Delivery System (PDS) and their influence on implementing comprehensive programming frameworks (e.g., Communities that Care‐CtC) as the innovation. The PDS is part of the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) and describes key characteristics of innovation implementation and dissemination. The study addresses two research questions: (1) What types of organizational characteristics are related to successful use of each of the programming processes (i.e., planning, implementation, evaluation, and sustainability) that are part of comprehensive programming frameworks?; and (2) What are the similarities and differences in the organizational patterns correlated with use of each of the programming processes? Surveys, interview data, and other documents designed to assess organizational characteristics and extent of use of a comprehensive programming framework over time, were collected from 8 Community boards and 23 provider agencies. These organizations were responsible for planning and delivering substance abuse prevention services as part of a statewide initiative in Ohio. Data were analyzed using Spearman rho (and rank‐biserial) correlations, with an emphasis on effect sizes. Results indicated that leadership, shared vision, process advocates, and technical assistance were common correlates of use across programming processes. However, the role played by these organizational variables differed for each programming process, pointing to complex interactions of the organizational infrastructure with other variables (i.e., characteristics of the innovation itself and external macro‐level factors). This exploratory study provides preliminary data on the organizational‐level mechanisms of the PDS and the complexity of their relationships with the other Systems in the Interactive Systems Framework.     

More than "just a joke": the prejudice-releasing function of sexist humor

The results of two experiments supported the hypothesis that, for sexist men, exposure to sexist humor can promote the behavioral release of prejudice against women. Experiment 1 demonstrated that hostile sexism predicted the amount of money participants were willing to donate to a women's organization after reading sexist jokes but not after reading nonhumorous sexist statements or neutral jokes. Experiment 2 showed that hostile sexism predicted the amount of money participants cut from the budget of a women's organization relative to four other student organizations upon exposure to sexist comedy skits but not neutral comedy skits. A perceived local norm of approval of funding cuts for the women's organization mediated the relationship between hostile sexism and discrimination against the women's organization.