Professional burnout

Abstract

Stress has been a ubiquitous concept in health research. We compare stress theories with the operationalization of stress in health research. Although scientific investigation is ideally based on theoretical principles, stress research is seen as often atheoretical or misapplying theories. Major conceptualizations of stress are considered and prominent research avenues in health psychology are analyzed as to the extent they mirror, diverge from, or inform stress conceptualizations. A central conclusion of the paper is that perceived and objective stressors are not only both valid construels of stress, but that they operate differently on psychological and physiological systems.     

The Theory of Reasoned Action and the Role of External Factors on Heterosexual Men's Monogamy and Condom Use1

Although the majority of prevention efforts have focused on women, reduction of heterosexual transmission of STDs also requires interventions for men, necessitating understanding of men's safer sex decision making. In a random sample of 486 heterosexually active men, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was used to predict intentions to use condoms with casual partners, as well as 2 steady‐partner safer sex behaviors: mutual monogamy and condom use. The basic TRA model fit the data well. Expanded models identified the mediated (via attitudes, social norms, and self‐efficacy) and, for some, direct effects on intentions and behavior of selected intrapersonal, interpersonal, and sociocultural variables. Results suggest that the role of external variables might vary depending on the behaviors in question.     

Tensions in a Certain Conception of Just War as Law Enforcement

Many just war theorists (call them traditionalists) claim that just as people have a right to personal self-defense, so nations have a right to national-defense against an aggressive military invasion. David Rodin claims that the traditionalist is unable to justify most defensive wars against aggression. For most aggressive states only commit conditional aggression in that they threaten to kill or maim the citizens of the nation they are invading only if those citizens resist the occupation. Most wars, then, claimed to be justified by the traditionalist fail to meet the proportionality criterion. Thus, a just war, for Rodin, is best conceived of as a punitive war of law enforcement, not as a war of national-defense. I argue that Rodin does not have a case against the traditionalist. If national-defense is a disproportionate response to conditional aggression, then punitive war is a disproportionate response as well. Furthermore, the belief that punitive war is a proportionate response to conditional aggression underscores the traditionalist’s view that self-determination, cultural identity and the like are of sufficient value to defend by means of lethal force. I end the paper by very briefly sketching an account, different from that of Rodin’s, of how individual nations can be justified in waging wars of law enforcement.

The British Sign Language (BSL) norms for age of acquisition,familiarity, and iconicity

Research on signed languages offers the opportunity to address many important questions about language that it may not be possible to address via studies of spoken languages alone. Many such studies, however, are inherently limited, because there exist hardly any norms for lexical variables that have appeared to play important roles in spoken language processing. Here, we present a set of norms for age of acquisition, familiarity, and iconicity for 300 British Sign Language (BSL) signs, as rated by deaf signers, in the hope that they may prove useful to other researchers studying BSL and other signed languages. These norms may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Fine cuts of empathy and the amygdala: dissociable deficits in psychopathy and autism

In the current paper, the "fine cuts" approach advocated by Uta Frith is applied to our understanding of empathy and amygdala dysfunction in two disorders, psychopathy and autism. A fine cut is made between cognitive (i.e., Theory of Mind) and emotional empathy. The literature with respect to psychopathy and autism and these two functions is then considered. A fine cut is also made between the amygdala's role in stimulus-reinforcement association and specific aspects of social cognition. Again the literature with respect to psychopathy and autism and these two functions of the amygdala is considered. It is concluded that while both conditions can be considered disorders of social cognition, fine cuts can be made dissociating the impairments associated with each.