Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Affect and Beliefs

Forgiveness and gratitude are positive psychological characteristics that are connected to well-being. This study examined these connections in an understudied population of psychotherapy outpatients and examined the extent to which affect and beliefs mediated these relationships. Participants were 72 outpatients who completed a battery of assessments as part of a standard intake protocol. Results showed that forgiveness and gratitude were both positively and strongly associated with well-being and largely, though not completely, mediated by affect and belief. Forgiveness and gratitude may have an important place in the positive psychologist’s repertoire of well-being enhancing techniques and exercises in general, and may be particularly powerful with a clinical psychotherapy population.     

以兔抗鼠淋巴细胞血清为非条件刺激的条件性免疫抑制

采用一种生物类免疫抑制剂-兔抗鼠淋巴血清（rabbit anti-rat lymphocyte serum,ALS）为非条件刺激（UCS）,糖精水为条件刺激（CS）,以双瓶给水法置于鼠笼前端饮用偏好侧。在一次性CS-UCS结合训练后,单独再次给予CS,使卵清蛋白（OVA）免疫过的大鼠表现出脾淋巴细胞对有丝分裂原PWM的增殖反应降低,血抗OVA抗体的总量及脾内抗OVA抗体生成细胞的减少,但动物未表现出条件性味觉厌恶的行为反应。这些结果表明条件性免疫抑制与味觉厌恶行为条件反射没有必然联系,并非是厌恶行为反应或情绪应激的伴随产物。UCS也并非必需具有感觉的毒副作用,条件性免疫抑制是脑高级神经活动调节免疫功能的结果。     

Man: The lethal factor

Pastoral Psychology -     

A Review of Expectancy Theory Research in Selling

Abstract

Motivation of sales personnel is a major consideration of sales managers. Expectancy theory research holds promise of providing practical answers to certain motivation questions. The theory and empirical evidence is reviewed and synthesized, and strategic implications are discussed.     

Prospective associations between unforgiveness and physical health and positive mediating mechanisms in a nationally representative sample of older adults

Objective: This study examined the prospective association between unforgiveness and self-reported physical health and potential positive psychological mediators of this association.

Design: Participants were a national sample of 1024 USA’s adults of ages 66 years and older. Data were collected at two time points separated by three years.

Main Outcome Measures: Measures of trait unforgiveness, self-rated physical health, socio-demographics, health behaviours and positive psychological traits (e.g. life satisfaction, self-esteem) were included in a comprehensive survey known as the ‘Religion, Aging, and Health Survey.’

Results: The results indicated that unforgiveness was prospectively associated with declines in self-reported physical health three years later, and poor initial self-reported health status did not predict increases in unforgiveness across time. Furthermore, the prospective association of unforgiveness with self-reported health was mediated by a latent positive psychological traits variable.

Conclusion: These results confirm cross-sectional findings suggesting that unforgiveness is related to health. The present study also suggests that unforgiveness has a prospective, but not reciprocal, association with self-reported physical health. Unforgiveness may have its association with self-reported physical health through its interruption of other positive traits that typically confer health benefits.     

The effects of brief prayer on the experience of forgiveness: An American and Indian comparison

The present study offers a cross‐cultural examination of the effect of prayer on forgiveness. American (n = 51) and Indian (n = 100) participants either prayed for their romantic partner (prayer condition) or described their romantic partner's physical attributes (control condition). Prayers were self‐guided and lasted 3 minutes. Pre‐test and post‐test measures of retaliation were completed. Results showed that participants in the prayer group showed statistically significant decreases in retaliation motives from pre‐test to post‐test and the magnitude of this change was not different across cultures. Control groups in both cultures showed no change. Because of the religious diversity present in the Indian sample, the robustness of the effect of prayer on forgiveness was tested across Christian, Hindu and Muslim Indians. Religious affiliation did not moderate the effect of prayer on forgiveness in this sample. Results suggest that a brief prayer is capable of producing real change in forgiveness and this change is consistent across American and Indian cultures and across three different religious groups in India. Brief prayer for others that enhances forgiveness may be useful for individuals in close relationships, in certain counselling settings and for people in many different walks of life.     

A Longitudinal Examination of the Effects of LMX,Ability, and Differentiation on Team Performance

Purpose  

Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) theory posits that effective leaders form dyadic relationships with followers that differ in quality, and that differentiation positively affects team performance. The purpose of this study was to test the notion that leader differentiation positively impacts team performance, and to investigate whether such effects differ at different points in the team’s lifecycle.     

Meta-Analysis of Single-Case Design Research on Self-Regulatory Interventions for Academic Performance

The current study examined the effects of self-regulatory interventions on reading, writing, and math by conducting a meta-analysis of single-case design research. Self-regulatory interventions have promise as an effective approach that is both minimally invasive and involves minimal resources. Effects of the interventions were analyzed by academic subject, grade, educational placement, and the number of sessions. Results indicated that self-regulatory strategies showed promise in addressing academic issues in the areas of reading, writing, and math regardless of age, grade, educational placement, and intervention length.     

Adrenal mediation of intermale aggression maintained by aromatized and reduced metabolites of testosterone

Individually housed CD-1 mice were either sham castrated or castrated and treated with testosterone (T), estradiol benzoate (EB), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a combination of EB and DHT (EB+DHT), or the injection vehicle. Following 16 days of isolation and subcutaneous injections, animals were tested repeatedly for fighting behavior in paired encounters with nonaggressive stimulus males. Results indicated that the T and EB+DHT groups fought to the same extent as the gonadally intact group. Both the EB and DHT groups fought more than the vehicle-treated group but less than the T, EB+DHT and sham castrated groups. A similar study was subsequently performed with adrenalectomized animsls. Adrenalectomy eliminated agonistic responses in animals receiving metabolites of testosterone (EB, DHT, EB+DHT) but had only slight effects in gonadally intact and T-treated, castrated mice. The results suggested that a) EB and DHT, either singly or in combination, maintain aggression through a synergism with adrenal steroids; b) the combined effects of EB and DHT reflect an additive action rather than synergistic interaction, notwithstanding the synergism with adrenal steroids; c) metabolism of testosterone to estrogen and dihydrotestosterone does not sufficiently account for the action of testosterone.