Explaining the Relationship Among Fundamentalism and Authoritarianism: An Epistemic Connection

Although numerous studies have documented a strong, positive association between Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Religious Fundamentalism (RF), little empirical work has actually investigated the reasons for this relationship. In the present study we propose that a fundamentalist meaning system predicts a system of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (e.g., personal epistemology), which is then partially responsible for sustaining authoritarian attitudes. A convenience sample of 227 undergraduate students was given the RWA scale, the Epistemic Belief Inventory, and the Revised Religious Fundamentalism scale in an online survey. A partial mediation model was tested using structural equation modeling analysis, in which 2,000 bootstraps were taken from the observed covariance matrix to construct confidence intervals around each indirect effect. Findings from the present study support the partial mediation hypothesis, in which the effect of RF to RWA travels through belief in certain knowledge, simple knowledge, and omniscient authority.     

Erratum

Abstract

Recent research has highlighted the central role of disgust in the etiology and maintenance of contamination aversion (CA). Data would also suggest that, although amendable to the treatment of choice for CA (exposure and response prevention [ERP]), disgust is resistant to habituation. However, with regard to CA, it is not yet known if disgust's resistance to habituation is an artifact of the emotion or the disorder. Specifically, research has not yet indicated if severity of CA moderates the effect of ERP on disgust. Utilizing an undergraduate convenience sample (n=33), the present study compared emotional responding (disgust and fear) with repeated exposure to a disgusting contamination-relevant stimulus between participants who are high in contamination aversion (HCA; n=17) and low in contamination aversion (LCA; n=16). Results indicated that, habituation of disgust was slower than fear within the HCA group but not the LCA group. Contrasts revealed that the decay of fear across trials was faster for HCA participants when compared with LCA participants, although decay of disgust was similar between groups. These results indicate that habituation of disgust is slower than fear when elevated CA is present.     

The Beck Depression Inventory: Item Order and the Impact of Response Sets

The lack of subtle content in the item groups of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the consistency in the ordering of the items from least to most pathological make this instrument unduly susceptible to either defensive or malingering response sets. Two experimental forms were developed for the BDI: a backwards version (a simple reversal of the order of items within each group) and a random-order version. These forms, together with the original item order, were given to college undergraduate women along with the Depression scale from the MMPI and the Burks-Martin Questionnaire covering recent life changes and current stressful situations. The random order BDI results in a significantly higher depression score than did either the original or backwards version. Correlations with the other instruments were comparable for all three forms. The random order of items within each set appears to break up a response set to endorse either the first or last item and is, therefore, recommended.     

Personality,Demographic, and Intellectual Variables Associated with Readiness for Discharge from Psychiatric Treatment

This study examined the relationship between staff rated discharge readiness and patient personality, demographic, and intellectual variables. Chi square and t test analyses were performed on data of 88 male and female adult patients of a short-term residential psychiatric treatment program. Patient diagnosis, trait anxiety level, marital status, age, and abstract intelligence scores assessed at admission were found to be significantly associated with staff ratings of patients’ readiness for discharge following six weeks of treatment. Findings were discussed in terms of prior process and outcome literature and implications for future research.     

Preface

This article introduces the topic for this issue of the journal: “Social Justice and the Health Professions: Ethical and Experiential Issues.”     

Propositional unity: what’s the problem, who has it and who solves it?

At least since Russell’s influential discussion in The Principles of Mathematics, many philosophers have held there is a problem that they call the problem of the unity of the proposition. In a recent paper, I argued that there is no single problem that alone deserves the epithet the problem of the unity of the proposition. I there distinguished three problems or questions, each of which had some right to be called a problem regarding the unity of the proposition; and I showed how the account of propositions formulated in my book The Nature and Structure of Content [2007 Oxford University Press] solves each of these problems. In the present paper, I take up two of these problems/questions yet again. For I want to consider other accounts of propositions and compare their solutions to these problems, or lack thereof, to mine. I argue that my account provides the best solutions to the unity problems.     

An Investigation of the Accuracy of Standardized Path Coefficients

The present study investigated potential sex differences in preferences for spicy, hot or unusual foods and in food aversions or neophobia. This study also reexamined the issue of a gender difference in preference for sweet foods. Questionnaires concerning past and current food use and preferences as well as food and condiment use in one actual meal were completed by 148 people between 17 and 32 years of age. Their responses clearly support the prediction that men tend to have a stronger preference than women for spicy, hot foods. The results also support the prediction that men are more likely than women to seek unusual and new foods. Both sexes showed the same degree of preference for condiment use.     

Preschoolers' Inhibition in Their Home: Relation to Temperament

Researchers assessed 58 preschoolers' reactions to an unfamiliar person and unfamiliar objects in their familiar home environment. Children participated in a 30-min procedure designed to elicit behavioral inhibition, including (a) a free-play period with a stranger present, (b) a structured interaction with the stranger, and (c) uncertainty-eliciting tasks. Behaviors representing the child's reactions toward the mother, stranger, and novel objects were coded. Mothers completed a temperament scale. Preschoolers exhibited behaviors indicative of inhibition toward unfamiliar social and nonsocial stimuli; behaviors remained stable across increasingly intrusive episodes. The approach/withdrawal component of temperament was related to behavioral inhibition. Individual differences in mood did not appear to be related to differences in inhibition. Parent reported temperament was related to researcher-observed behaviors.