Toward a New Geography of Hasidism

The geography of Hasidism has long been one of the most contentious issues in the history of the movement. This article represents an attempt to free hasidic geography from outmoded preconceptions by proposing a new conceptualization of the hasidic leadership and its following in Eastern Europe. Based on an original, extensive database of hasidic centers, the authors drew five maps in sequence showing the development of Hasidism from its inception to the Holocaust. The five periods into which the database is divided are demarcated by four historically significant landmarks: the years 1772, 1815, 1867, and 1914. The article offers some possible interpretations of the maps, and draws a number of conclusions arising from them. The authors examine the dynamics and tendencies of the expansion of the movement within geographical frameworks, including the shift of hasidic centers from Podolia and Volhynia in the eighteenth century to Galicia and the southeastern provinces of Congress Poland in the nineteenth century, and subsequently to Hungary and Romania in the twentieth century; hasidic penetration into Jewish Eastern Europe, reaching its peak in the period between 1815 and 1867; and the metropolization of the hasidic leadership after 1914. The article also analyzes the patterns of concentration and diffusion of the hasidic leadership, and the impact of political factors upon these parameters.     

Women are not less field independent than men—the role of stereotype threat

Prior research has shown that females are less field independent (FI) than males. However, when gender identity is salient, performance on tests assessing constructs similar to FI may be hindered, because of stereotype threat. This study examined the impact of stereotype threat on gender differences in FI. We expected that (a) reporting one's own gender prior to FI testing and (b) having an opposite‐gender experimenter would activate stereotype threat, and in turn result in lower performance on a test of FI among females. Overall, 170 participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a between‐participants design varying the participant's gender, experimenter's gender and timing of the gender question (before vs. after test). Results showed that reporting one's gender before the FI test led to lower FI performance among females. Furthermore, females achieved higher FI when experimenters were females and gender questions were administered after the FI test.     

Preschool Fantasy-Reality Discrimination: Influences of Trait and Primed Fearfulness

Distinguishing between fantasy and reality is an important developmental milestone, achieved in the preschool years, that has been linked to children's cognitive capabilities and emotional knowledge. The authors examined the influence of both trait and prime fearfulness on preschoolers' ability to differentiate between fantastic and real situations. Forty 3–5-year-old preschoolers were administered a fearfulness assessment, a standard theory-of-mind task, and a fantasy-reality discrimination task (with or without a fear prime). When primed to experience fear, participants who were high in trait fearfulness made more mistakes distinguishing between fantastic and real events than did participants who were low in trait fearfulness. In the absence of a fear prime there was no difference in performance between these two groups. These findings were independent of participants' age, gender, and theory of mind abilities and suggest that preschoolers who are high in trait fearfulness are more prone to difficulty in discriminating between fantasy and reality when actively experiencing fear. This study illuminates important factors that contribute to the errors in fantasy-reality judgments frequently seen in preschoolers.     

The Boundaries of Woman’s Spirituality in the Beliefs–Spirituality–Religiousness (B–S–R) Model: A Third Perspective—Beliefs as a Cognitive Basis

The real nature of the phenomenon of woman’s Spirituality is the main contemporary challenge for empirical research. The literature needs many more examples of the cognitive genesis of worldviews, Spirituality and Religiousness. The first aim of this article is to present the central tenet of the Threefold Nature of Spirituality model which theoretically explains the nature of Spirituality and the theoretical relationship between beliefs (worldviews), Spirituality and Religiousness (B–S–R model). The second aim is the empirical verification of this relationship through the application of an analysis of mediation. The 308 participants were women aged 18–50 years (M = 25.25, SD = 9.42). The results obtained indicate that is a good mediator between an individual’s worldview and Religiousness. Presented analysis of mediation allows us to describe the basic functioning mechanism of the spiritual sphere and the relationship between the three elements: worldview, Spirituality and Religiousness.     

On Self‐Love and Outgroup Hate: Opposite Effects of Narcissism on Prejudice via Social Dominance Orientation and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism

Previous research has obtained mixed findings as to whether feelings of self‐worth are positively or negatively related to right‐wing ideological beliefs and prejudice. We propose to clarify the link between self‐worth and ideology by distinguishing between narcissistic and non‐narcissistic self‐evaluations as well as between different dimensions of ideological attitudes. Four studies, conducted in three different socio‐political contexts: the UK (Study 1, N = 422), the US (Studies 2 and 3, Ns = 471 and 289, respectively), and Poland (Study 4, N = 775), investigated the associations between narcissistic and non‐narcissistic self‐evaluations, social dominance orientation (SDO), right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), and ethnic prejudice. Confirming our hypotheses, the results consistently showed that after controlling for self‐esteem, narcissistic self‐evaluation was positively associated with SDO (accounting for RWA), yet negatively associated with RWA (accounting for SDO). These associations were similar after controlling for psychopathy and Machiavellianism (Study 3) as well as collective narcissism and Big Five personality characteristics (Study 4). Studies 2–4 additionally demonstrated that narcissistic self‐evaluation was indirectly positively associated with prejudice through higher SDO (free of RWA) but indirectly negatively associated with prejudice through lower RWA (free of SDO). Implications for understanding the role of self‐evaluation in right‐wing ideological attitudes and prejudice are discussed. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

Contributions of Cognitive-Motivational Factors to the Sense of Identity

This study addressed the relationship between sense of personal identity and thinking dispositions such as need for cognition, reflection, and integrative self-knowledge as well as modes of coping with self-related discrepancies through either excessive assimilation or accommodation. Participants were 544 young adults. The correlation and path analyses revealed, as expected, that need for cognition and integrative self-knowledge positively influenced one’s sense of identity, while over-responsiveness to discrepant information about the self influenced it negatively. The effects of reflection and imperviousness to discrepancies appeared more complicated and varied. Together, the findings confirm the importance of cognitive-motivational variables in the development and maintenance of a sense of identity, and suggest that gender differences in their relative significance may deserve additional research attention.     

Values Realized in Personal Strivings and Motivation,and Meaning in Life in Polish University Students

The present study was based on two theoretical conceptions—Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and its characteristic approach to values, and the conception of meaning in life derived from the Logotherapy of Frankl. The aim of the study was to verify the thesis that values realized in personal strivings play a significant role in experiencing meaning in life. The study was also designed to explore the relationships between types of motivation and meaning in life. A semi-open method was used to study values and striving motivations, one based on the Personal Striving Assessment by Emmons and the Purpose in Life Test by Maholick and Crumbaugh. The sample comprised 353 students of Wroc?aw-based universities (159 women and 194 men). The findings of this study demonstrated that meaning in life is related to motivation as well as to certain values that participants reported as realized in their personal strivings. Predictors of meaning in life were the value of financial success for men, and the value of intimacy/friendship for women. Another predictor of meaning for both groups was external motivation. Further interesting results discussed in this paper were obtained by comparing individuals with low and those with high levels of meaning in life. The latter group was found to attribute greater importance to autonomous motivation and to attach greater meaning to their everyday strivings by associating them more closely with both intrinsic and extrinsic values.     

The Mediating Role of Resiliency in the Relationship Between Temperament and Posttraumatic Growth

The purpose of the research is to investigate the mediating role of resiliency in the relation between temperamental traits and posttraumatic growth. Data of 74 persons who have experienced the death of someone close were analyzed. The range of age of the participants was 21–74 years (M = 38.4; SD = 15.5). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Formal Characteristics of Behavior–Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI), and the Resiliency Assessment Scale were used in the study. Resiliency plays a mediating role among four traits of temperament (Briskness, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance, and Activity) and posttraumatic growth. Resiliency seems to modify the direct impact of temperamental traits on positive posttraumatic changes.