Enriching Mentoring Relationships

This article focuses on counselors' use of new research on mentoring relationships. The research indicated mentoring is a behavioral phenomenon not dependent on personal traits. Some other common assumptions were unsupported.     

Gender differences in power and self-disclosure in dating and married couples

The relationship between power and self-disclosure was studied for 20 dating and 20 married couples. Power and self-disclosure scales (of feelings and of accomplishments) were constructed and administered individually. We hypothesized that: (1) Women disclose more about feelings than men. (2) Men disclose more about accomplishments than women. (3) Power is positively correlated with disclosure of accomplishments. (4) Power is negatively correlated with disclosure of feelings and weaknesses. (5) Dating men are more powerful than dating women, but there are no gender differences in power in marriage. Hypotheses 1,3, and 5 were supported. Hypotheses 2 and 4 were rejected. Our findings revealed that there were no differences in power or disclosure of accomplishments between men and women for the total group. However, a significant interaction was found between gender and marital status for power. Dating men had more power than dating women, but married women had more power than married men. Last, women disclosed more feelings than men across both groups.     

Qur'anic Recitation and The Aesthetics of Piety

Qur'anic recitation and azan (the call to prayer) are heard everywhere on the Muslim–Arabian Peninsula. Even those outside the Islamic tradition find Qur'anic recitation (tilawa) very beautiful. This article is an attempt to work out some of the puzzles—aesthetic and moral—of appreciating tilawa from outside the tradition. I defend an appreciation of tilawa that is aware and admiring of its piety, but appreciates it as an object of beauty. I further attempt to show how this does not violate Islamic precepts on the “art” of tilawa.     

From bad to worse: Relationship commitment and vulnerability to partner imperfections

Having a satisfying romantic relationship is not always feasible, particularly as one discovers less‐than‐perfect partner characteristics. It is suggested that less committed couple members are more vulnerable to negative partner characteristics than are highly committed couple members. Forty‐one dating couples individually indicated their commitment level, were randomly assigned to receive positive‐ or negative‐false feedback about the partner’s personality, and indicated their postmanipulation satisfaction and uncertainty levels. Negative partner feedback affected the satisfaction of less committed but not highly committed individuals. Feeling uncertain about the relationship mediated less committed couple members’ increased vulnerability to negative partner information. The association between uncertainty and commitment was curvilinear and stronger under conditions of relationship threat. Self‐esteem did not predict responses to threat.     

LONELINESS,PARASOCIAL INTERACTION,AND LOCAL TELEVISION NEWS VIEWING

A conceptual model was developed predicting parasocial interaction from both a social interaction need due to loneliness and instrumental television news use. Questionnaires were completed by 329 persons. Pearson and partial correlations supported hypotheses linking loneliness with less interpersonal communication and both loneliness and parasocial interaction with more television reliance. Loneliness and parasocial interaction were not correlated. Canonical correlation analysis supported expectations that instrumental news viewing for information was related to more parasocial interaction and perceived news realism; viewing news for exciting entertainment, news affinity, and news viewing levels correlated positively with this pattern. Ritualized news viewing for time consumption was related to more television viewing, but to less news viewing, duration, and affinity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified news affinity, perceived news realism, and information news viewing motives as salient predictors of parasocial interaction with a favorite local television news personality. Implications of results were discussed in light of uses and gratifications research and communication interaction.     

Disability, Minority, and Difference

In this paper I develop a characterization of disability according to which disability is in no way a sub-optimal feature. I argue, however, that this conception of disability is compatible with the idea that having a disability is, at least in a restricted sense, a harm. I then go on to argue that construing disability in this way avoids many of the common objections levelled at accounts which claim that disability is not a negative feature.