The importance of feeling sexually attractive: Can it predict an individual's experience of their sexuality and sexual relationships across gender and sexual orientation?

Limited research exists on the implications of feeling sexually attractive for various aspects of sexuality and sexual relationships. This article examined associations between self‐perceived sexual attractiveness and sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction and amount of sexual experience, among both men and women who identified as heterosexual (n = 1017), gay or lesbian (n = 1225) or bisexual (n = 651). Results of the study demonstrated that positive self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness predicted greater sexual esteem, greater sexual satisfaction, a higher frequency of sexual activity with others and a larger number of sexual partners among both men and women who identified as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. The findings suggest that feeling sexually attractive may have implications for how an individual experiences their sexuality and sexual relationships regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The importance of considering an individual's self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness when they present with concerns related to their sexual experiences or relationships, and the potential benefits of educational and therapeutic interventions designed to enhance self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness are discussed.     

Overconfidence in Probability and Frequency Judgments: A Critical Examination

The overconfidence observed in calibration studies has recently been questioned on both psychological and methodological grounds. In the first part of the article we discuss these issues and argue that overconfidence cannot be explained as a selection bias, and that it is not eliminated by random sampling of questions. In the second part of the article, we compare probability judgments for single events with judgments of relative frequency. Subjects received a target individual's personality profile and then predicted the target's responses to a series of binary questions. One group predicted the responses of an individual target, while a second group estimated the relative frequency of responses among all target subjects who shared a given personality profile. Judgments of confidence and estimates of relative frequency were practically indistinguishable; both exhibited substantial overconfidence and were highly correlated with independent judgments of representativeness.     

God So Loved the World

The account of the near sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22, often referred to as the Aqedah, has been profoundly influential, both directly and indirectly, in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theological reflection. This article seeks to explore some Christian insights into the use of the motif of the sacrifice of Isaac, suggesting that its use is fundamental to understanding the theme of Christ’s love in the Gospel of John, in particular the link between love, sacrifice, and unity. With a brief exploration of two artworks by Marc Chagall, The Sacrifice of Isaac and the White Crucifixion, it will also raise questions as to what this might mean for the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.     

Institutional Approaches to Research Integrity in Ghana

Science and Engineering Ethics - Research misconduct (RM) remains an important problem in health research despite decades of local, national, regional, and international efforts to eliminate it....     

The Health Professional Ethics Rubric: Practical Assessment in Ethics Education for Health Professional Schools

A barrier to the development and refinement of ethics education in and across health professional schools is that there is not an agreed upon instrument or method for assessment in ethics education. The most widely used ethics education assessment instrument is the Defining Issues Test (DIT) I & II. This instrument is not specific to the health professions. But it has been modified for use in, and influenced the development of other instruments in, the health professions. The DIT contains certain philosophical assumptions (??Kohlbergian?? or ??neo-Kohlbergian??) that have been criticized in recent years. It is also expensive for large institutions to use. The purpose of this article is to offer a rubric??which the authors have named the Health Professional Ethics Rubric??for the assessment of several learning outcomes related to ethics education in health science centers. This rubric is not open to the same philosophical critiques as the DIT and other such instruments. This rubric is also practical to use. This article includes the rubric being advocated, which was developed by faculty and administrators at a large academic health science center as a part of a campus-wide ethics education initiative. The process of developing the rubric is described, as well as certain limitations and plans for revision.     

Marriage—and its alternatives: An Anglican perspective,yesterday and today

This article looks first at how the institution of marriage has been, and currently is, understood by Anglican Christians, with a particular focus on the Church of England. It contrasts the ‘older’ understanding of marriage, as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer, with more contemporary liturgies. It then seeks to explore whether this clear development during the last 100 years in the understanding of marriage means that there is scope for opening up discussion about alternatives to marriage such as intentional singleness, cohabitation and same-sex relationships. Particular attention is given to the discussion at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, meeting in 1998, and to a key Church of England report, Issues in Human Sexuality.     

Blood donor development: Effects of personality, motivational and situational variables

The present study examined the relative importance of the aversiveness of the donation procedure, donor motives and donor personality characteristics in the blood donors' decision to donate. One hundred and eighty-six blood donors and 106 nondonors took part in this retrospective study. Participants were asked to complete a number of personality measures, and two questionnaires assessing their motives for donating and the aversiveness of their most recent donation experience. Results indicated that both the aversiveness of the donation procedure and the donor's motivation exert considerable influence upon the donors' decision to return and donate again. Additionally, the donors' experience of physical discomfort and fearfulness about the donation procedure made the major contributions to the donation's aversiveness. The results also revealed that significant differences exist among nondonor, ex-donor, irregular and regular donor groups on several personality characteristics, on their motives for donating, and on the components comprising the aversiveness of the donation procedure. A blood donor decision model is presented incorporating the influence of motivational, situational and dispositional factors in the individual's development into a regular donor.