Coping through prayer: an empirical study in implicit religion concerning prayers for children in hospital

This study links two fields of empirical research. The first field (grounded in empirical theology) is concerned with ordinary prayer and that aspect of implicit religion discernable within explicit religious expressions. The second field (grounded in the psychology of religion) is concerned with private prayer as a significant method of coping in health-related contexts. Few previous studies, however, have focussed on the specific components comprising the content of such prayers and their concern for health issues relating to others, such as family and friends. The present study addresses this gap by employing the analytical framework for health and well-being devised previously in a content analysis of 583 prayers left in the chapel of a children's hospital in England. The conceptual and practical applications of the new research findings are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Athletic Identity and Career Decisions in Athletes

The present study examined the association between athletic identity, career decision-making self-efficacy, future time attitude, gender, and age to explore the process of future career selection in athletes. The sample was composed of 153 athletes, and variables were measured using the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale–plus, the Career-Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form, and the Time Attitude Scale. Results show that athletes with higher athletic identity have higher levels of career-decision-making self-efficacy and higher levels of optimism regarding the future. Furthermore, athletes with higher athletic identity are more likely intend to choose a sport-related profession in the future.     

The Utility of the State Space Grid Method for Studying Peer Interactions in Youth Sport

Although previous studies indicate that peer interactions represent an important component of the youth sport experience, studies examining peer interactions in the sport context are limited. Furthermore, the methodological tools commonly used to investigate peer interactions have restricted researchers’ understandings of the complex, reciprocal nature of these experiences. This paper outlines the potential contribution of a novel dynamic systems-based methodology, the state space grid method (SSG; Lewis, Lamey, & Douglas, 1999 Lewis, M. D., Lamey, A. V. and Douglas, L. 1999. A new dynamic system method for the analysis of early socioemotional development. Developmental Science, 2: 457–475. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), to the study of peer interactions in sport. Concrete recommendations to guide the practical application of the SSG method to future peer research in youth sport are presented.     

The Cross-Cultural Generalizability of Zuckerman's Alternative Five-Factor Model of Personality

Although theories of stress have emphasized the critical role of the appraisal process, the use of dispositional measures of appraisal have not been readily investigated. Using a large multiethnic sample, we examined the factorial validity and dimensionality of a dispositional version of the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM; Peacock &; Wong, 1990). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a 4-factor representation of dispositional appraisal fitting better than its originally proposed 6-factor representation. This 4-factor model was invariant across gender groups. Although the 6-factor model purported to measure 3 dimensions of primary appraisal and 3 dimensions of secondary appraisal, these factors were found to be highly unstable and had questionable internal consistency. In contrast, the more parsimonious 4-factor solution identified 4 relative distinct and reliable scales of appraisal: 3 primary (Challenge, Threat, and Centrality) and 1 secondary (Resources). These findings suggest that meaningful dispositional dimensions of appraisal can be derived and incorporated into trait–state models of the stress process.     

Where Can I Find Consolation? A Theoretical Analysis of the Meaning of Consolation as Experienced by Job in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible

The aim of the study was to explore the meaning of consolation as experienced by Job in the Book of Job and as presented in literature and how consolation relates to suffering and care. The study’s theoretical design applied Ricoeur’s view on phenomenology and hermeneutics. The resulting themes were as follows: consolation that is present, that originates in confrontation, that keeps suffering at a distance, that does not alleviate suffering, that originates in experience from giving comfort, and that facilitates a change of perspective. The authentic and caring consolation accepts the sufferer’s incomprehensible “otherness” but however provides no answers about how to console.     

Multidimensionality of Well-Being and Spillover Effects Across Life Domains: How Do Parenthood and Personality Affect Changes in Domain-Specific Satisfaction?

Whether having children improves our well-being is a long-standing topic of debate. Demographic and sociological research has investigated changes in individuals’ overall well-being and partnership satisfaction when they become parents. However, little is known about how becoming parent may produce vulnerability—observable as an enduring decrease in well-being—in life domains that are strongly interdependent with the family domain, such as work and leisure. Linking life-course and personality psychology perspectives, the authors examine the trajectories of subjective well-being—measured as satisfaction with life, work, and leisure—3 years before and 3 years after the transition to parenthood. The authors particularly focus on the moderating effects of gender and personality. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984–2013) and multilevel growth curve modeling, the authors show strong gender-based vulnerability in how people react to parenthood. Although men display a nonlinear pathway of decreasing life satisfaction and a stable trajectory of job satisfaction, women experience more changes in their satisfaction with work and more dramatic decreases in leisure satisfaction. Contrary to most of our expectations, the moderating effects of personality were modest. Extraversion influenced the trajectories of work satisfaction, whereas neuroticism and conscientiousness affected the pathway of leisure satisfaction for women only. This article shows that the transition to parenthood influences well-being trajectories in specific domains, and this influence differs between women and men.     

Social power facilitates the effect of prosocial orientation on empathic accuracy

Power increases the tendency to behave in a goal-congruent fashion. Guided by this theoretical notion, we hypothesized that elevated power would strengthen the positive association between prosocial orientation and empathic accuracy. In 3 studies with university and adult samples, prosocial orientation was more strongly associated with empathic accuracy when distinct forms of power were high than when power was low. In Study 1, a physiological indicator of prosocial orientation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, exhibited a stronger positive association with empathic accuracy in a face-to-face interaction among dispositionally high-power individuals. In Study 2, experimentally induced prosocial orientation increased the ability to accurately judge the emotions of a stranger but only for individuals induced to feel powerful. In Study 3, a trait measure of prosocial orientation was more strongly related to scores on a standard test of empathic accuracy among employees who occupied high-power positions within an organization. Study 3 further showed a mediated relationship between prosocial orientation and career satisfaction through empathic accuracy among employees in high-power positions but not among employees in lower power positions. Discussion concentrates upon the implications of these findings for studies of prosociality, power, and social behavior.     

Ontological requirements for annotation and navigation of philosophical resources

In this article, we describe an ontology aimed at the representation of the relevant entities and relations in the philosophical world. We will guide the reader through our modeling choices, so to highlight the ontology’s practical purpose: to enable an annotation of philosophical resources which is capable of supporting pedagogical navigation mechanisms. The ontology covers all the aspects of philosophy, thus including characterizations of entities such as people, events, documents, and ideas. In particular, here we will present a detailed exposition of the entities belonging to the idea branch of the ontology, for they have a crucial role in the world of philosophy. Moreover, as an example of the type of applications made possible by the ontology we will introduce PhiloSurfical, a prototype tool we created to navigate contextually a classic work in twentieth century philosophy, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. We discuss the potential usage of such navigation mechanisms in educational and scholarly contexts, which aim to enhance the learning process through the serendipitous discovery of relevant resources.     

Web of Science production quality indicators of ten professors' at the area of personality, assessment and psychological treatment: additional contributions to Olivas-Ávila y Musi-Lechuga study

Rankings of scientific productivity are increasingly relevant both from an individual and a collective perspective. Therefore, making sure they are based on reliable and exhaustive information is really important. This study clearly shows that available rankings change dramatically when internationally acknowledged bibliometric indices are considered. Data from the 10 Professors belonging to the 'Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment' Department considered in the recent analysis by Olivas-ávila y Musi-Lechuga ( Psicothema 2010. Vol. 22, no 4, pp. 909-916) are revisited here for illustrative purposes.