Coping Mechanisms in Navigating Xenophobia-Afrophobia-Related Challenges Within the Transnational Space: Case of Somali Refugee Women in Gauteng,South Africa

This study explores the coping strategies that Somali women espouse in dealing with complexities in the transnational space, within the context of Gauteng, South Africa. The paper is drawn from a qualitative study where I conducted in-depth interviews of 40 female Somali participants. Under the Power Geometries (one of the components of Geographies of power theory), the study argues that Somali women are not helpless victims of Xenophobia-Afrophobia and other complexities in the transnational space. They are individuals that make use of economic partnerships, business niches, narrate stories, are resilient in their nature, navigate marriage unions whilst in the context of Xenophobia-Afrophobia among other complexities. The study applied the theories of Geographies of Power and Social Network. Xenophobia-Afrophobia is a recurrent phenomenon that challenges migrant’s lives in South Africa. Somalis are among the most affected communities. This is due to their involvement in businesses located in the poor zones of the South African townships where they compete with local businesses. The Somali women are affected by overt and covert Xenophobia-Afrophobia.     

Analysis of Migration,Regional Characteristics,and Socioeconomic Outcomes in Developing Economies: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Highly skilled migrants from Nigeria and other developing countries are becoming more attractive resources for industrial countries, as these countries experience demographic shifts characterized by skilled labor force shortages in certain sectors of their economies. Although there are a number of regional characteristics that may affect migration outcomes, in this paper, we also include individual-level factors in our analyses, such as education and age. Again, this paper also examines the issue of the North-South divide in poverty and other characteristics and how these affect migration. Furthermore, this paper also identifies which regional economic factors influence the individual’s migration decision, taking into account personal characteristics. For empirical analysis, we used data from the Nigerian Migration Survey by the World Bank. The micro data allow us to identify household factors that influence migration decisions. In doing this, we control for different individual propensities to migrate and also assess the genuine impact of regional economic factors on migration. The results show that individual, regional, and country-specific factors make significant impact on migration decisions and dynamics. The paper concludes that socioeconomic variables and personal characteristics are crucial for explaining the pattern of regional migration flows in Nigeria. Thus, migration policies have to be adopted that will emphasize the mutual links between migration and development across the different regions.     

A Better Tomorrow: Toward a Stronger Science of Youth Purpose

Having a sense of purpose in life has been discussed as a psychological asset for promoting positive youth development. Yet confidence in the benefits of purpose has accumulated faster than rigorous confirmation of their existence among youth, using instruments and methods calibrated to the developmental stage of those under study. Here, the authors illuminate four problems this asymmetry creates for drawing inferences from extant research on youth purpose, namely its reliance on (1) unclear scientific criteria for distinguishing “youth” and measures that include developmentally presumptuous items, (2) single-informant and self-report methods, (3) misapplication of cross-sectional designs to test prospective or causal theories, and (4) analytic techniques insensitive to purpose content. In delineating these problems, the authors consider the extent to which the three empirical contributions included in this issue are responsive to each and may provide templates to guide future studies of youth purpose.     

Interpersonal Transgressions and Interest in Spiritual Activities: The Role of Narcissism

As levels of narcissism rise among Americans, it is important to understand how being narcissistic affects individuals’ day-to-day lives. One domain in which narcissism may have particularly interesting effects is individuals’ spirituality. When interpersonal expectations have been violated, individuals experience a variety of emotions. Chief among these emotions is guilt, which is linked both thematically and empirically to many aspects of Western religion. Given narcissism’s complex relationship with guilt, it is important to investigate how narcissists may react to failings in the interpersonal domain, particularly in a spiritual context. The current study investigated the effects of a simulated interpersonal failing on narcissists’ interest in a variety of spiritual behaviors, including prayer, seeking spiritual guidance, and participating in spiritual activities aimed at self-enhancement. After reading a scenario designed to induce feelings associated with interpersonal failings, participants reported their interest in a variety of religious activities, including prayer. Results indicated that the manipulation tended to decrease interest in a variety of spiritual activities across the sample, but that these effects were only robust among participants high in narcissism.     

Dispositional Insight Scale: Development and Validation of a Tool That Measures Propensity Toward Insight In Problem Solving

This article reports the development of a brief self-report measure of dispositional insight problem solving, the Dispositional Insight Scale (DIS). From a representative Australian database, 1,069 adults (536 women and 533 men) completed an online questionnaire. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 5-item scale, with all items loading onto a single factor. Internal consistency was acceptable with a Cronbach’s alpha of .74. The DIS showed convergent validity with other constructs that are theoretically related to insight: High need for cognition, intuition and positive affect. Normative data for the scale are also reported. The DIS appears to be useful for measuring a disposition toward insight in problem-solving.     

Face adaptation in an isolated population of African hunter-gatherers: Exposure influences perception of other-ethnicity faces more than own-ethnicity faces

Previous experiments have demonstrated that exposure to faces can change the perception of normality in new faces, such that faces similar to those at exposure appear more normal. Here we examined how experience influences adaptation effects in African Hadza hunter-gatherers, who have limited experience with White faces. We exposed participants to sets of either Hadza or White European faces that were manipulated to possess either wide-spaced or narrow-spaced eyes. We collected normality judgments both pre-exposure and post-exposure by showing pairs of images, one with wide-spaced and one with narrow-spaced eyes. Examining the difference between the pre-exposure and post-exposure judgments revealed that participants selected an increased number of images that were congruent with the faces to which they had been exposed. The change in normality judgments was strongest for White faces, suggesting that representations of White ethnicity faces are more malleable and less robust to adaptation, potentially because of the decreased experience that individuals had with them. A second experiment using the same test stimuli with a sample of White participants revealed equivalent adaptation effects for both Hadza and White faces. These data highlight the role of experience on the high-level visual adaptation of faces.     

‘A higher degree of scholarship’: Pagans and the language of scholarly authority

Through an exploration of the intellectual history and contemporary writings of the Pagan movement, this study will examine the lineage of ‘knowledge-based’ authority in contemporary Paganism. In particular, it will illuminate how the intellectual lineage of Pagan writings helped contemporary writers respond to a moment of crisis in Paganism, and it will provide an explanation for the traditionalised use of the rhetorical modes of scholarly authority among Pagan writers.     

Identity continuity and loss after death,divorce, and job loss

This paper examined the relationship of constructs identified by identity continuity and attachment theories of grief to adjustment to loss from the framework of identity theory. Connections between loss salience, identity construal, and balance of identity construal on grief intensity via their association with post-loss identity disruption were examined across three types of self-relevant losses; death of a family member, job loss, or divorce. We hypothesized that lower salience, higher endorsement of identity attributes represented by relational and individualistic self-construals, and an overall balance across identity attributes would be related to decreased grief severity across all types of loss. Results supported hypotheses with the exception that the hypothesized ameliorative effect of increases in relational self-construal was only seen in the bereaved group.