Can Religious Beliefs be a Protective Factor for Suicidal Behavior? A Decision Tree Analysis in a Mid-Sized City in Iran, 2013

This study aimed to assess using tree-based models the impact of different dimensions of religion and other risk factors on suicide attempts in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Three hundred patients who attempted suicide and 300 age- and sex-matched patient attendants with other types of disease who referred to Kerman Afzalipour Hospital were recruited for this study following a convenience sampling. Religiosity was assessed by the Duke University Religion Index. A tree-based model was constructed using the Gini Index as the homogeneity criterion. A complementary discrimination analysis was also applied. Variables contributing to the construction of the tree were stressful life events, mental disorder, family support, and religious belief. Strong religious belief was a protective factor for those with a low number of stressful life events and those with a high mental disorder score; 72 % of those who formed these two groups had not attempted suicide. Moreover, 63 % of those with a high number of stressful life events, strong family support, strong problem-solving skills, and a low mental disorder score were less likely to attempt suicide. The significance of four other variables, GHQ, problem-coping skills, friend support, and neuroticism, was revealed in the discrimination analysis. Religious beliefs seem to be an independent factor that can predict risk for suicidal behavior. Based on the decision tree, religious beliefs among people with a high number of stressful life events might not be a dissuading factor. Such subjects need more family support and problem-solving skills.     

The Effect of a Majority Group’s Perspective-Taking on Minority Helping

The current study examines how perspective-taking impacts on a majority group’s support for the governmental actions to help minority groups. The contextual background of the current study is tense relations between Sunnis representing a Muslim majority and Ahmadis and Shiites representing Muslim minorities in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim population. The results (N = 200) demonstrated that strong perspective-taking than weak perspective-taking triggered a greater minority helping, but only among the majority who strongly identified with their nation, but not with Sunnis. Moreover, participants in the strong perspective-taking condition than those in the weak perspective-taking condition demonstrated a greater willingness to perceptually include minorities as a representative group of national citizens, but not as Muslims, and in turn this perceived inclusion mediated the effect of perspective-taking on minority helping. We also hypothesised and found that such a mediating role of perceived inclusion of minorities as national citizens was more pronounced when the national identification and not Sunni identification was high. Finally, the inclusion of Muslim minorities as national citizens and minority helping increased identity enhancement of national identity, but these effects were more pronounced when the majority strongly identified with their nation, but not with Sunnis. These findings suggest that the merits of perspective-taking in promoting help on behalf of minority groups is not generic, but limited to a specific domain of superordinate category to which these minority groups are included, and to the nature of group identification.     

The Philosopher and the Revolutionary State: How Karl Popper’s Ideas Shaped the Views of Iranian Intellectuals

The present paper is an attempt to explore the impact of Karl Popper’s ideas on the views of a number of intellectual groups in post‐revolutionary Iran. Throughout the text, we have tried to make use of original sources and our own personal experiences. The upshot of the arguments of the paper is that the Viennese philosopher has made a long‐lasting impression on the intellectual scene of present‐day Iran in that even those socio‐political groups which are not in favour of his ideas, especially his model of critical rationalism, have felt the urgent need to make themselves familiar with them. Moreover, many of Popper’s ideas have directly or indirectly influenced the thinking of the decision‐makers in Iran since 1978.     

Conception of Adulthood Among Iranian Emerging Adults

Using a questionnaire adapted from Arnett and Padilla‐Walker (2015), the authors examined the concept of adulthood among 366 Iranian emerging adults ages 17 to 29. Results suggested that the concept and criteria of adulthood are influenced by the cultural context. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

A Qualitative Assessment of the Sex Education Needs of Married Iranian Women

Despite a comprehensive reproductive health program there is little sex education available in Iran. In this article we present results of a study conducted to identify content area for a proposed sex education program for married Iranian women. Twenty-one married female clients (23–45 years) and 18 reproductive health providers, recruited from urban health clinics in Tehran using non-probability sampling, participated in four focus group discussions. Sexual health information needs related to reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections, “acceptability” of certain sexual practices such as oral and anal intercourse, and the sexual response cycles and physiology of men and women. Women’s sexual concerns related to communication, incompatibility of sexual interests and desire, and their ability to maintain a strong marriage. Two themes cut across women’s responses to all questions: modesty and maintaining a strong marriage. Results contributed to the design of a sex education program that addressed the specific information needs and concerns of Iranian women.     

The effect of childhood bilingualism on episodic and semantic memory tasks

Kormi-Nouri, Moniri and Nilsson (2003) demonstrated that Swedish-Persian bilingual children recalled at a higher level than Swedish monolingual children, when they were tested using Swedish materials. The present study was designed to examine the bilingual advantage of children who use different languages in their everyday life but have the same cultural background and live in their communities in the same way as monolingual children. In four experiments, 488 monolingual and bilingual children were compared with regard to episodic and semantic memory tasks. In experiments 1 and 2 there were 144 boys and 144 girls in three school groups (aged 9-10 years, 13-14 years and 16-17 years) and in three language groups (Persian monolingual, Turkish-Persian bilingual, and Kurdish-Persian bilingual). In experiments 3 and 4, there were 200 male students in two school groups (aged 9-10 years and 16-17 years) and in two language groups (Persian monolingual and Turkish-Persian bilingual). In the episodic memory task, children learned sentences (experiments 1-3) and words (Experiment 4). Letter and category fluency tests were used as measures of semantic memory. To change cognitive demands in memory tasks, in Experiment 1, the integration of nouns and verbs within sentences was manipulated by the level of association between verb and noun in each sentence. At retrieval, a recognition test was used. In experiments 2 and 3, the organization between sentences was manipulated at encoding in Experiment 2 and at both encoding and retrieval in Experiment 3 through the use of categories among the objects. At retrieval, free recall or cued recall tests were employed. In Experiment 4, the bilingual children were tested with regard to both their first and their second language. In all four experiments, a positive effect of bilingualism was found on episodic and semantic memory tasks; the effect was more pronounced for older than younger children. The bilingual advantage was not affected by changing cognitive demands or by using first/second language in memory tasks. The present findings support the cross-language interactivity hypothesis of bilingual advantage.     

Identity styles and academic achievement: mediating role of academic self-efficacy

The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between identity styles and academic achievement. Four-hundred high school students (200 male, 200 female) who were selected through cluster random sampling, completed the Revised Identity Styles Inventory (ISI, 6G) and Morgan-Jink Student Efficacy Scales (MJSES). Path analysis was used to analyze the data. In general, the results indicated that informational identity style had a positive direct impact on academic achievement, while diffuse/avoidance identity style had a negative effect on academic achievement. Data also suggested that informational and normative identity style had a positive influence on academic achievement through the mediation of academic self-efficacy.