Ecclesiology and Ethics

The author elaborates on the relation between tradition and the concept of 'invention' within doctrinal theory. Based on examinations of how this is reflected upon in selected doctrinal theories (Alister E. McGrath, Wolfhart Pannenberg and Oswald Bayer), the author discusses 'invention' in relation to adjacent theological issues. Diverging issues seem to be whether invention should be reserved for the object of theology (Bayer), or whether invention should be the task of systematic theology, especially in relation to the constant generation of new experiences (McGrath and Pannenberg). The author also asserts that the doctrinal theory of Bayer is inventive, even though not intended to be so. Thus, the question is how to work inventively within systematic theology, not whether to do so.     

Animal Cruelty,Domestic Violence,and Social Disorganization in a Suburban Setting

ABSTRACT

Breaking away from a focus on the influence of individual characteristics on animal cruelty and guided by social disorganization theory, we investigated animal cruelty violations in block groups in a city in coastal Virginia. We discovered that block groups with higher levels of social disorganization, measured by economic disadvantage, ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility, and family disruption, had higher levels of animal cruelty violations and reports of aggravated and simple domestic violence. The rates of animal cruelty violations were significantly correlated with aggravated domestic violence but not reports of simple domestic violence.     

Dispositional mindfulness,insomnia, sleep quality and dysfunctional sleep beliefs in post-treatment cancer patients

Dispositional mindfulness, or the tendency to be more mindful in daily life, has been associated with better psychological functioning and reduced overall distress. This study investigated the degree to which dispositional mindfulness was associated with sleep disturbances in cancer patients with insomnia. Further, we examined whether levels of mindfulness moderated the relationship between stress levels, mood disturbance, insomnia severity, sleep quality and dysfunctional sleep beliefs. Participants (N = 111) were adults who had been previously treated for cancer and currently met diagnostic criteria for insomnia. Higher levels of acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reacting were associated with better sleep and psychological outcomes. Despite these significant associations, mindfulness facets did not significantly moderate the relationship between stress, mood and sleep outcomes. This negative finding raises the possibility that increased mindfulness may not act directly to improve psychological outcomes, but rather through a series of other cognitive and affective changes. Our results emphasize the importance of addressing mood symptoms and stress appraisals as predictors of sleep disturbance in cancer patients.     

Personality and individual differences in responses to aggression triggering events among prisoners and non-prisoners

This paper examines the relationships between individual differences in situational triggers of aggressive behaviors (STAR) and the FFM personality traits. The investigation, conducted among Polish male and female offenders and students, revealed different relationships across samples. Among students, higher sensitivity to frustration and provocation was related to higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness and sensitivity to provoking situations to lower Openness to Experience. Among prisoners, however, lower Agreeableness was negatively linked to being more sensitive to provocation. Furthermore, the study found sex differences in STAR scales in the student sample but not the prisoners’ sample.     

Perfectionism,discrepancies, and depression: Testing the perfectionism social disconnection model in a short-term,four-wave longitudinal study

Perfectionistic concerns (i.e., negative reactions to failures, exaggerated concerns over others’ criticism and expectations, and nagging self-doubts) are linked to social disconnection and depressive symptoms. According to the perfectionism social disconnection model, perfectionistic concerns contribute to social disconnection (i.e., feeling rejected, excluded, and unwanted by others) which, subsequently, contributes to depressive symptoms. The social world is replete with chances for interpretations. In interpreting their social worlds, people high in perfectionistic concerns tend to perceive interpersonal discrepancies, a distressing form of social disconnection that involves perceptions of others as dissatisfied with them and as disapproving of them. These interpretations are also conceptualized as having depressing consequences for people high in perfectionistic concerns. This study tested whether perceived interpersonal discrepancies mediate the relation between perfectionistic concerns and depressive symptoms; 240 participants were recruited and this mediational model was tested with a four-wave, 4-week longitudinal design. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapped tests of mediation indicated the perfectionistic concerns-depressive symptoms relationship was mediated by interpersonal discrepancies (even after controlling for perfectionistic strivings). People high in perfectionistic concerns perceive others as dissatisfied with them and as disapproving of them. Feeling rejected, excluded, and unwanted by others, people high in perfectionistic concerns are vulnerable to depression.     

Peer attachment and self-esteem: A meta-analytic review

Peer attachment might provide individuals with opportunities to build their sense of self-worth. The purpose of this paper was to meta-analytically review literature on peer attachment and self-esteem. A total of 22 articles reporting 24 studies documenting correlations between peer attachment and self-esteem in adolescents and emerging adults were included in this meta-analysis. Of these studies, most examined links between global peer attachment and self-esteem, while few studies reported any associations between specific dimensions of peer attachment (i.e., trust, communication, and alienation) and self-esteem. Results showed significant correlations between peer attachment and self-esteem, consistently found both in studies focused on global attachment as well as in studies including specific attachment dimensions. Furthermore, since a significant heterogeneity was found across the studies, the effects of various categorical and continuous moderators related to characteristics of the study samples and designs were tested. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.     

Conversation analysis at work: detection of conflict in competitive discussions through semi-automatic turn-organization analysis

This study proposes a semi-automatic approach aimed at detecting conflict in conversations. The approach is based on statistical techniques capable of identifying turn-organization regularities associated with conflict. The only manual step of the process is the segmentation of the conversations into turns (time intervals during which only one person talks) and overlapping speech segments (time intervals during which several persons talk at the same time). The rest of the process takes place automatically and the results show that conflictual exchanges can be detected with Precision and Recall around 70% (the experiments have been performed over 6 h of political debates). The approach brings two main benefits: the first is the possibility of analyzing potentially large amounts of conversational data with a limited effort, the second is that the model parameters provide indications on what turn-regularities are most likely to account for the presence of conflict.     

Exploring the Role of Alternative Perceived Performance Measures and Needs-Congruency in the Consumer Satisfaction Process

Prior research suggests that perceived performance of a product or a service is directly linked to postpurchase satisfaction. We argue that this causal relationship might be a measurement artifact and/or insufficient modeling of the satisfaction process rather than an accurate assessment of how consumers form satisfaction judgments. To test our hypotheses, a 2 x 2 x 2 (Performance x Expectations x Needs) factorial design was used with 2 types of perceived performance measures (value-laden and objective). The findings demonstrate that the observed direct link from perceived performance to overall satisfaction diminishes when more objective perceived performance indicators replace the commonly used value-laden measures. Furthermore, desire-congruency was found to contribute independently to satisfaction over and above a disconfirmation-of-expectations standard. In fact, desire-congruency was found to be a better predictor of satisfaction than disconfirmation-of-expectations. Finally, our results suggest that the direct performance–satisfaction link becomes insignificant when the modeling of the satisfaction process is improved. Taken together, these findings support the view that the frequently observed high correlations between perceived performance and satisfaction might be a reflection of the type of measures used and/or insufficient capturing of the evaluative process leading to satisfaction, rather than support for a direct causal link.