Beyond the “Critical” Curtain: Community‐based Service Learning in an African Context

Abstract. A case of community‐based service learning in the School of Theology at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa is analyzed for what it means to teach biblical studies in an African context where biblical scholarship is partially constituted by ordinary African readers of the Bible and where context is a central pedagogical concept. Reflecting on a series of experiments over the past ten years in two second‐year University level modules, the article analyzes the contours of a partnership between the academy and local communities of the poor, working‐class, and marginalized through community‐based service learning. This partnership provides a form of contextualization that enables students to integrate the forms of engagement with the Bible they bring to their formal theological studies and the forms of critical distance that characterize the discipline of biblical studies.     

From Standard Scientific Realism and Structural Realism to Best Current Theory Realism

I defend a realist commitment to the truth of our most empirically successful current scientific theories—on the ground that it provides the best explanation of their success and the success of their falsified predecessors. I argue that this Best Current Theory Realism (BCTR) is superior to preservative realism (PR) and the structural realism (SR). I show that PR and SR rest on the implausible assumption that the success of outdated theories requires the realist to hold that these theories possessed truthful components. PR is undone by the fact that past theories succeeded even though their ontological claims about unobservables are false. SR backpeddles to argue that the realist is only committed to the truth about the structure of relations implied by the outdated theory, in order to explain its success. I argue that the structural component of theories is too bare-bones thin to explain the predictive/explanatory success of outdated theories. I conclude that BCTR can meet these objections to PR and SR, and also overcome the pessimistic meta-induction.     

Accountability for others,perceived resources,and well being: Convergent restricted non‐linear results in two samples

This two‐sample investigation examined the influence of perceived resources on the form and magnitude of the relationships between accountability for others (AFO) and job tension and job satisfaction. Employing resource theory, we hypothesized that the non‐linear relationship between AFO and job tension would surface only for individuals high in perceived resources, whereas the association between these constructs would be positive and linear for individuals low in perceived resources. A similar relationship was hypothesized for AFO and job satisfaction in which the non‐linear effect would arise for individuals high in perceived resources, and negative linear effects would emerge for those low in perceived resources. Data from two samples (N= 201; N= 182) provided support and replication for the hypotheses. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Politics perceptions as moderator of the political skill – job performance relationship: A two-study, cross-national, constructive replication

We developed a two-study, cross-national, constructive replication to examine the role of organizational politics perceptions as a contextual moderator of the political skill – job performance relationship. Specifically, we hypothesized that high levels of political skill would demonstrate its strongest positive effects on job performance when politics perceptions were perceived as low. Conversely, we hypothesized that political skill would demonstrate no relationship with job performance under conditions of high politics perceptions. Across studies conducted both in the United States and Greece, the hypothesis received strong support. In settings characterized by lower perceived politics, high levels of political skill predicted significant increases in job performance, whereas these effects were attenuated in environments characterized by high perceived politics. Contributions and implications of this research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future study are discussed.     

Personal, Medical, and Healthcare Utilization Among Homeless Veterans Served by Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Veteran Facilities

This study assessed differences in personal, medical, and health care utilization characteristics of homeless veterans living in metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan environments. Data were obtained from a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) network sample of homeless veterans. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences in demographics, military history, living situation, medical history, employment status, and health care utilization. Moderator analyses determined whether predictors of health care utilization varied by metropolitan status. Of 3,595 respondents, 60% were residing in metropolitan areas. Age, sex, and marital status were similar between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan homeless. Metropolitan homeless were less likely to receive public financial support or to be employed, to have at least one medical problem, one psychiatric problem, or current alcohol dependency, but more likely to be homeless longer. Of the 52% of the sample who used VHA care in the last 6 months, 53% were metropolitan versus 49% nonmetropolitan (p = .01). Metropolitan status predicted at least one VHA visit within the prior 6 months (OR:1.3, CI:1.1, 1.6). Significant differences occur in the personal, medical, and health care utilization characteristics of homeless veterans in metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan areas.     

How communication goals determine when audience tuning biases memory

After tuning their message to suit their audience's attitude, communicators' own memories for the original information (e.g., a target person's behaviors) often reflect the biased view expressed in their message--producing an audience-congruent memory bias. Exploring the motivational circumstances of message production, the authors investigated whether this bias depends on the goals driving audience tuning. In 4 experiments, the memory bias was found to a greater extent when audience tuning served the creation of a shared reality than when it served alternative, nonshared reality goals (being polite toward a stigmatized-group audience; obtaining incentives; being entertaining; complying with a blatant demand). In addition, the authors found that these effects were mediated by the epistemic trust in the audience-congruent view but not by the rehearsal or accurate retrieval of the original input information, the ability to discriminate between the original and the message information, or a contrast away from extremely tuned messages. The central role of epistemic trust, a measure of the communicators' experience of shared reality, was supported in meta-analyses across the experiments.     

Disgust as embodied moral judgment

How, and for whom, does disgust influence moral judgment? In four experiments participants made moral judgments while experiencing extraneous feelings of disgust. Disgust was induced in Experiment 1 by exposure to a bad smell, in Experiment 2 by working in a disgusting room, in Experiment 3 by recalling a physically disgusting experience, and in Experiment 4 through a video induction. In each case, the results showed that disgust can increase the severity of moral judgments relative to controls. Experiment 4 found that disgust had a different effect on moral judgment than did sadness. In addition, Experiments 2-4 showed that the role of disgust in severity of moral judgments depends on participants' sensitivity to their own bodily sensations. Taken together, these data indicate the importance-and specificity-of gut feelings in moral judgments.     

Skating down a steeper slope: fear influences the perception of geographical slant

Previous studies have shown that conscious awareness of hill slant is overestimated, but visually guided actions directed at hills are relatively accurate. Also, steep hills are consciously estimated to be steeper from the top than the bottom, possibly because they are dangerous to descend. In the present study, participants stood at the top of a hill either on a skateboard or a wooden box of the same height. They gave three estimates of the slant: a verbal report, a visually matched estimate, and a visually guided action. Fear of descending the hill was also assessed. Those participants who were scared (by the skateboard) consciously judged the hill to be steeper than unafraid participants. However, the visually guided action measure was accurate across conditions. These results suggest that explicit awareness of slant is influenced by the fear associated with a potentially dangerous action that could be performed on the hill.     

The Relationship Between Emotional Resources and Emotional Labor: An Exploratory Study

The study examines the effects of a subtype of personal resources (i.e., emotional resources) on emotional labor strategies. We examined 2 variables, emotional intelligence and negative affectivity, as proxies for emotional resources. Largely consistent with predictions, results indicated that individuals with a high level of emotional resources (indicated by high emotional intelligence) are more likely than others to deep act, and individuals with comparatively low emotional resources (indicated by high negative affectivity) are more likely than others to surface act. The differential effects of surface acting and deep acting on strain and job satisfaction were examined. Depressed mood was found to mediate the relationship between surface acting and job satisfaction.