The association of Big Five personality traits and religiosity on Internet addiction among Israeli-Palestinian Muslim college students in Israel

ABSTRACT

Prior studies have demonstrated that personality traits and religiosity may be protective/risk factors for the development of Internet addiction; however, these associations have not been examined among the unique population of Israeli-Palestinian young adults. This study was the first to investigate the relationships between Internet addiction (Internet Addiction Test; IAT) with the Big Five personality traits (Big Five Personality Trait Short Questionnaire; BFPTSQ) and religiosity (Positions Regarding Religion Questionnaire) among a sample of Israeli-Palestinian Muslim college students (n?=?350). IAT scores were positively associated with BFPTSQ openness (r?=?.33, p?<?.01), BFPTSQ extraversion (r?=?.30, p?<?.01), and BFPTSQ agreeableness (r?=?.36, p?<?.01), whereas IAT scores were negatively related to religiosity (r?=??.46, p?<?.01), BFPTSQ conscientiousness (r?=??.33, p?<?.01), and BFPTSQ emotional stability (r?=??.36, p?<?.01). The present work may provide insight into risk factors for developing Internet addiction in a manner that may increase early identification and intervention efforts.     

Exposure to Television Portrayals of Latinos: The Implications of Aversive Racism and Social Identity Theory

Although research suggests that manifestations of blatant racism are on the decline, findings additionally demonstrate that subtle racism remains prevalent when contexts provide sufficient ambiguity for the expressions to go unnoticed. Notably, studies examining these outcomes have typically been confined to intergroup contexts, despite the fact that mediated contact may yield parallel responses. The present investigation examines this relationship by applying aversive racism and social identity theory assumptions to assess the influence of exposure to television depictions of Latinos, on White viewers’ judgments. Results cautiously reveal that racial identification and media ambiguity affect both viewers’ evaluations of target racial/ethnic out‐group members as well as in‐group esteem.     

UNDERSTANDING GRADUATE WOMEN'S REENTRY EXPERIENCES

This multiple case study describes the experiences of reentry women in psychology doctoral programs at a major Midwestern research university and illustrates the usefulness of the qualitative case-study method in exploring women's experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with four women who were purposefully selected as information-rich participants. Observations and informal interviews were also conducted over a period of up to 2½ years. Eight themes emerged from the data and have been labeled: the decision to return, expectations versus reality, measuring up, frustrations and difficulties, changing family relationships, the necessity of organization, "do it and get on with life," and rewards. This article illustrates that case-study research can be a powerful tool for feminist researchers to document women's experiences.     

So Close,Yet So Far: Why Solutions to the Closeness Problem for the Doctrine of Double Effect Fall Short

According to the classical Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE), there is a morally significant difference between intending harm and merely foreseeing harm. Versions of DDE have been defended in a variety of creative ways, but there is one difficulty, the so‐called “closeness problem”, that continues to bedevil all of them. The problem is that an agent's intention can always be identified in such a fine‐grained way as to eliminate an intention to harm from almost any situation, including those that have been taken to be paradigmatic instances in which DDE applies to intended harm. In this paper, we consider and reject a number of recent attempts to solve the closeness problem. We argue that the failure of these proposals strongly suggests that the closeness problem is intractable, and that the distinction between intending harm and merely foreseeing harm is not morally significant. Further, we argue that there may be a deeper reason why such attempts must fail: the rationale that makes the best fit with DDE, namely, an imperative not to aim at evil, is itself irredeemably flawed. While we believe that these observations should lead us to abandon further attempts to solve the closeness problem for DDE, we also conclude by showing how a related principle that is supported by a distinct rationale and avoids facing the closeness problem altogether nevertheless shares with DDE its most important features, including an intuitive explanation of a number of cases and a commitment to the relevance of intentions.