Game theory and belief in God

In the last few decades game theory has emerged as a powerful tool for examining a broad range of philosophical issues. It is unsurprising, then, that game theory has been taken up as a tool to examine issues in the philosophy of religion. Economist Steven Brams (1982), (1983) and (2007), for example, has given a game theoretic analysis of belief in God, his main argument first published in this journal and then again in both editions of his book, Superior Beings. I have two main aims in this paper, one specific and one general. My specific aim is to show that Brams’ application of game theory to examine belief in God is, in particular, deeply flawed in two respects. My general aim is to show that any game-theoretic model in which a human being and God are players can only succeed at the cost of abandoning the assumption that God is omnibenevolent.     

An Exploration of the Experience of Huntington’s Disease in Family Dyads: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a hereditary, late onset, neurodegenerative disorder. Children of affected parents have a 50 % chance of inheriting HD. Research into the psychological consequences of HD for the family has focussed on individual family members, but little is known about the ways in which its impact is jointly experienced by members of these families. This is particularly important due to the hereditary nature of HD. To address this, the current study examined the experiences of dyads within affected families. Seven parent/adult child dyads were interviewed jointly about their experiences and relationships with their family and each other and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the resultant data. Identified themes were: “A spectre hanging over us”: HD as a presence within the family, “Us against the world”: Protection, knowledge and control, and “That could be me in 50 years”: Cyclical changes in identity and role. These findings are examined in relation to previous research and indicate the need for an increased understanding of the needs of HD families. Clinical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Happy at Work in Africa? Measuring Hedonic Well-Being Among Water Carriers in Rural Kenya Using the Experience Sampling Method

Despite work’s importance in people’s overall sense of purpose in life, several studies measuring momentary well-being find that people are very unhappy while at work. These studies have focused on workers in industrialized countries doing paid labor in the formal sector. For a large fraction of humanity, however, “work” is smallholder farming, tending cattle and collecting water and fuelwood. We measure momentary well-being with the Experience Sampling Method in a sample of 195 subjects in rural Kenya. Subjects were the household’s main water carrier; 93% were women. Each subject was asked to complete four ESM surveys per day over eight weeks. Results from 9559 ESM records show that subjects are indeed less happy “at work”, whether that work is paid or unpaid casual labor, paid formal sector employment, or resource collection. They are also less energetic, less sociable and in more pain. We also find evidence that subjects perceive themselves as less safe while working or traveling away from home. We find a statistically significant, though small, relationship between the intercepts in the model (individual-level average momentary well-being) and the log of household wages earned over the past two weeks. The relationship is stronger with wages earned by the subject herself.

     

Making Men of Steel: Superhero Exposure and the Development of Hegemonic Masculinity in Children

Sex Roles - Superheroes are extremely popular among children, adolescents, and adults in the United States (and worldwide). However, there is little research on the impact of superhero exposure on...     

Does Thor ask Iron Man for Help? Examining Help-Seeking Behaviors in Marvel Superheroes

Men seek help for problems less often and more hesitantly than women across a wide range of contexts. While there are many potential sources for this gender discrepancy, one possibility is that masculine attitudes and behaviors discourage help-seeking behaviors and create help-seeking barriers. As the superhero genre often changes over time to reflect current social attitudes, the current study explores patterns, contexts, and rewards of help-seeking behaviors portrayed by men in a genre of media frequently consumed by men: superhero films. Twenty-three Marvel Cinematic Universe films were coded for superhero men’s help-seeking behaviors, as well as patterns in context and outcomes around help seeking. Overall, we found that superhero men displayed the help-seeking behaviors of approaching problems and collaboration with others most often, followed by the maladaptive coping strategy violence. In addition, help-seeking behaviors were most often displayed when the superhero was acting in his personal/self, capacity and superhero men were most often confronted with physical problems. Furthermore, we found that most of the help-seeking behaviors coded were rewarded only about half of the time. Finally, we found several differences in patterns of help-seeking displayed by various specific heroes. Other patterns and implications are discussed.

     

Handheld Devices: The Barrier for Parents with Mental Health Difficulties in Child Outcomes

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The parenting landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade with the increasing prevalence of screen time. There is a growing body of evidence that...     

Is There a Relationship between Suicidal Intent and Lethality in Deliberate Self‐Poisoning?

The relationship between suicidal intent and lethality of deliberate self‐poisoning (DSP) episodes and their associations with suicide have yielded contradictory findings. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between patients’ suicidal intent and independently rated lethality of DSP episodes, and whether the association changes over time. Eighty‐nine DSP patients were investigated longitudinally. Self‐reported suicidal intent, including perceived likelihood of dying, wish to die, and whether or not the DSP was considered a suicide attempt, was measured at the time of the index episode (t1), 3 months (t2), and 12 months (t3) later. Lethality was assessed independently by three clinical toxicologists. Lethality was significantly associated with patients’ reported wish to die (p = .01) and perceived likelihood of dying (p = .04) at t1, but not at t2 and t3. No association was found between whether the episode was considered a suicide attempt or not and lethality at t1, t2, or t3. Lethality and suicidal intent should be considered as largely separate dimensions of self‐harm. Clinicians should bear this in mind during clinical assessment, especially regarding historical information.     

Book reviews

Hearing Haggerd, M. P. & Evans, E. F. (Eds.). 1987. British Medical Bulletin, 43 (4), 775-1037. ISBN 0-443-02899-6. £22.50.

Perlmutter, M. (Ed.) (1986). Perspectives on intellectual development : The Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology. Vol. 19. Hillsdale,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. 261. ISBN 0-89859-784-6. £19.95.

Ellis, H. D., Jeeves, M. A., Newcombe, F., & Young, A. (Eds.) (1986). Aspects of face processing. Bordrecht : Martinus Nijhoff. Pp. 509. ISBN 90-247-3357-X. £80.25.

Gabrielsson, A. (Ed.) (1987). Action and perception in shythm and music. Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Pp. 237. ISBN 91-85428-51-5.

Dowling, John E. (1987). The Retina. Cambridge, MA, and London :Belknap Press. Pp. xiv + 282. ISBN 0-674-76680-6. $29.95.

Foorman, B. R. & Siegel, A. W. (1986). Acquisition of reading skills : Cultural constraints and cognitive universals. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. 168. ISBN 0-89859-642-4. £15.00.

Stillings, N., Feinstein, M., Garfield, J., Rissland, E., Rosenbaum, D., Weisler, S., & Baker-Ward, L. (1987). Cognitive science : An introduction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 533. ISBN 0-262-19257-8. £22.50.

Kapur, N. (1988). Memory disorders in clinical practice. London:Butterworths. Pp. 289. ISBN 0-407-00712-1. £39.50.

Bussis, A. M., Chittenden, E. A. Amarel, M. & Klausner, E. (1985). Inquiry into meaning: An invetigation of learning to read. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. 367. ISBN 0-89859-504-5. £32.95.