“Let the heavens be glad,and the earth rejoice”: religion and life satisfaction among emerging adults in the United States

Although previous research suggests that religion contributes to greater life satisfaction, there is still disagreement about what aspects of religion predict greater life satisfaction. Despite a growing body of theory and research on emerging adulthood as a life stage that is distinct from adolescence and young adulthood, there has also been limited research on the relationship between religion and life satisfaction among emerging adults. Based on the third wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion, our results suggest that two measures of private religiosity, private devotion and religious efficacy, are significantly related to greater life satisfaction among emerging adults. In contrast, other dimensions of private and public religiosity, such as participation in organised religion, religious salience, otherworldly beliefs, and number of religious friends, are not related to greater life satisfaction. Finally, among emerging adults, being spiritual but not religious is not significantly related to life satisfaction.     

Congregations and Crime: Is the Spatial Distribution of Congregations Associated with Neighborhood Crime Rates?

Few studies have focused on how religious congregations are associated with crime rates, especially at the neighborhood level. Using data for more than 400 block groups in Indianapolis, we focus on the relationship between different types of congregations (e.g., evangelical Protestant, civically engaged) and eight different types of crime controlling for a variety of neighborhood characteristics. The results suggest that neighborhoods with more evangelical Protestant congregations have higher rates of both violent and property crimes. Neighborhoods with more mainline and black Protestant congregations have higher rates of property crimes, but not violent crimes. Finally, although civically engaged congregations are associated with lower neighborhood crime rates, the association may be limited to some types of property crimes. Therefore, the positive association between evangelical Protestant congregations and crime may be more general, and the negative association between civically engaged congregations and crime more limited, than previous research has suggested .     

Using Creative Techniques With Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Verbal and emotional forms of expression can be difficult for young children who have experienced trauma. Creative methods and approaches such as puppets, sandtray, letter writing, and art are therapeutic mediums that provide an outlet for a young client’s story of trauma to be told. Children can use puppets to depersonalize and share feelings with a counselor that would provide insight into their coping strategies. Similarly, sandtray is another nonverbal approach that gives children the opportunity to externalize their feelings safely and can be easily used with extroverted and introverted clients. Letter writing and art can empower children and give them hope for the future. In summary, creative techniques can allow counselors to help explore stories of trauma with young clients.     

The effect of viewing fitness imagery on body dissatisfaction: sex and physical activity differences

Exposure to cultural bodily ideals featuring thinness and muscularity can have deleterious effects on body satisfaction. The current study explores the effect of exposure to such imagery on body dissatisfaction and the influence of internalisation of cultural and athletic ideals. 188 (97 male) adults (18–25yrs; M = 20.97) were grouped according to a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed between-within subjects design (male/female; high/low physical activity; intervention/control). Participants were exposed to images of idealised physiques or neutral images. Internalisation-general, sex, physical activity levels, and Body Mass Index were associated with baseline levels of body dissatisfaction. Internalisation of cultural ideals appears to be an important factor for the prediction of body dissatisfaction. Exposure to idealised images resulted in increases in body dissatisfaction across all groups compared to controls. Neither sex nor physical activity levels buffer young adults from the negative effects of viewing images featuring idealised bodies.     

"Not another meeting!" Are meeting time demands related to employee well-being?

Using an interruptions framework, this article proposes and tests a set of hypotheses concerning the relationship of meeting time demands with job attitudes and well-being (JAWB). Two Internet surveys were administered to employees who worked 35 hr or more per week. Study 1 examined prescheduled meetings attended in a typical week (N=676), whereas Study 2 investigated prescheduled meetings attended during the current day (N=304). As proposed, the relationship between meeting time demands and JAWB was moderated by task interdependence, meeting experience quality, and accomplishment striving. However, results were somewhat dependent on the time frame of a study and the operational definition used for meeting time demands. Furthermore, perceived meeting effectiveness was found to have a strong, direct relationship with JAWB.     

God,ethos, ways

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Visibility distances with halogen and conventional headlights

Abstract.— Using visibility distance as a criterion, halogen and conventional continental European high and low-beam headlights were compared in a series of field experiments. On high-beam without opposing light the halogen headlights offered about 25% longer visibility distances than the conventional headlights. With both opposing cars using low-beam there was a slight advantage (<5 m) in favour of halogen headlights. The optimal dipping distance was a function of high-beam system (intensity) rather than low-beam system. Small differences in aiming, atmosphere etc. caused larger differences in visibility distance than did the headlight system.     

FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF SEMANTIC MEMORY PROCESSES IN THE FRONTAL LOBES

Abstract— Frontal-lobe activation during semantic memory performance was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a noninvasive technique for localizing neural activity associated with cognitive function. Left inferior prefrontal cortex was more activated for semantic than for perceptual encoding of words, and for initial than for repeated semantic encoding of words. Decreased activation for semantic encoding of repeated words reflects repetition priming, that is, implicit retrieval of memory gained in the initial semantic encoding of a word. The left inferior prefrontal region may sub-serve semantic working memory processes that participate in semantic encoding and that have decreased demands when such encoding can be facilitated by recent semantic experience. These results demonstrate that fMRI can visualize changes in an individual's brain function associated with the encoding and retrieval of new memories.