The Relationship between Workplace Status and Workplace Religious Expression

A growing body of literature explores religious expression in workplaces, but comparatively little research examines how religious expression might be shaped by inequality in workplace status. We hypothesize that perceived work autonomy and socioeconomic status (SES) both function as mediating links between organizational status and religious expression. Drawing on a sample of employed adults from a nationally-representative survey in the United States (n = 8611), we examine three modes of religious expression at work: displaying faith, feeling comfortable talking about faith, and expressing views when observing unfair work practices that conflict with faith. Results revealed that workers at the bottom of their organizations express their religiosity less than those at the top. Religious expression in the workplace is thus not simply a reflection of individual religiosity or religious identity, but also workplace power. Although perceived work autonomy mediated the relationship, SES buffered the relationship. Findings have important implications for workplace policy.     

Against Strong Pluralism

Strong pluralists hold that not even permanent material coincidence is enough for identity. Strong pluralism entails the possibility of purely material objects -- even if not coincident -- alike in all general respects, categorial and dispositional, relational and non-relational, past, present and future, at the microphysical level, but differing in some general modal, counterfactual or dispositional repscts at the macrophysical level. It is objectionable because it thus deprives us of the explanatory resources to explain why evident absurdities are absurd. A second objection is to the suggestion that cases involving artefacts can illustrate strong pluralism. This offends against the principle that gien a complex intrinsic microphysical property instantiated in some regiion, the number of material things possessing it in that region cannot depend on the existence and nature of intentional activity taking place outside it.     

Two Boxing is not the Rational Option

In the standard Newcomb scenario two‐boxing is not the rational act and, in general, in Newcomb‐style cases the ‘two‐boxing’ choice is not the rational act. Hence any decision theory which recommends two‐boxing is unacceptable.     

Motivation in a MOOC: a probabilistic analysis of online learners’ basic psychological needs

Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most well-known approaches to achievement motivation. However, the three basic psychological needs of SDT have not received equivalent attention in the literature: priority has been given to autonomy, followed by the need for competence, with research into relatedness lacking (Bachman and Stewart in Teach Psychol 38: 180–187, 2011. doi: 10.1177/0098628311411798). One new educational setting where relatedness may be particularly important is massive open online courses (MOOCs), which provide unprecedented opportunities for either relatedness or isolation. The purpose of the research was to use Bayesian networks (BN) to establish probabilistic relationships between learners’ basic psychological needs in the context of one MOOC. The majority (59 %) of participants (N = 1037; 50 % female and 50 % male) were under 45 (age range was 18–74 years). This sample represented approximately 88 regions and countries. Participants completed a revised Basic Student Needs Scale (Betoret and Artiga in Electron J Res Educ Psychol 9(2): 463–496, 2011). In order to reveal the best structural understanding of SDT within a MOOC learning environment, analysis of the data involved the development of a BN probabilistic model. The best fitting BN model included autonomy, competence, and relatedness—resulting in a probabilistic accuracy of 77.41 %. Analyses revealed participants with high autonomy had an 80.01 % probability of having a moderate level of competence. Relatedness was distinct from the autonomy and competence relationship. The strong inter-connections between autonomy and competence support existing research. The notion that relatedness may be a distinct need, at least in this context, was supported and warrants future research.     

Ekstasis as (Beyond?) Jouissance: Sex,Queerness, and Apophaticism in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition

Ekstasis (ecstasy) is central to Eastern Orthodox theology, an encounter that sets the self on the way towards knowledge of and union with God. Ekstasis is fundamentally apophatic — achieved through the eschewal of cognitive knowledge, and experiential — precipitated by practices that foster self-renunciation and transcendence. This article examines how this notion of ecstasy, as narrated in the Orthodox theology of Staniloae and Lossky, can aid, and be aided by, queer theoretical claims regarding sex. Through examining Lacan's notion of jouissance and Bersani's utilization of it, as well as Williams's analysis of sex as “the body's grace,” this article explores how sex, particularly orgasm, can function as a spiritual resource, as a site of and practice towards ecstasy. This article concludes with a brief examination of the ethical implications of this frame.     

Adoptees' Contact with Birth Parents in Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Adoption Communication and Attachment to Adoptive Parents

As adoptees transition to adulthood, their roles in the family may shift, providing them with opportunities to have increasing autonomy in their decisions about contact and initiating conversations about adoption. Research has often focused more on adoptees as children, yet in emerging adulthood, there are important shifts in the life roles and relationships of adoptees during which adoptive parents continue to be meaningful. This study examined associations among attachment and communication within the adoptive family during adulthood with emerging adult adoptees' experience of birth family contact (frequency of and satisfaction with birth family contact), in a sample of 167 emerging adults with varied contact with birth family (from no contact to frequent contact). Results suggest that perceptions of secure parent–child attachment relationships, as well as sensitive and open communication with adoptive parents about adoption, continue to be important for emerging adult adoptees and lead to greater satisfaction for adoptees with birth parent contact—regardless of whether adoptees actually have birth family contact. In particular, positive family communication about adoption during adulthood was predictive of satisfaction with birth parent contact. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Fit Happens Globally: A Meta‐Analytic Comparison of the Relationships of Person–Environment Fit Dimensions with Work Attitudes and Performance Across East Asia,Europe, and North America

In this cross‐cultural meta‐analysis, we examine the relationships between person–environment [P–E] fit and work attitudes (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to quit) as well as job performance based on 96 studies (110 independent samples) conducted in East Asia, Europe, and North America. We compare the results across cultures while focusing on 4 dimensions of P–E fit (person‐job fit, person–organization fit, person–group fit, and person–supervisor fit) separately and jointly. Findings suggest that the effects of rational fit (person–organization and person–job fit) are (relatively) stronger in North America and, to a lesser extent, Europe than in East Asia. However, the effects of relational fit (person–group and person–supervisor fit) are (relatively) stronger in East Asia than in North America. This highlights that in collectivistic and high power distance (vs. individualistic and low power distance) cultures, relational (vs. rational) fit is more salient in influencing employees’ perceptions about their work environments. Results are less clear concerning job performance. What is common across cultures is that, regardless of which dimension of P–E fit is being considered, fit happens and high levels of fit lead to positive outcomes, confirming the universal relevance of fit phenomenon.