Psychological well-being: its relation to work personality, vocational identity, and career thoughts

The authors examined the impact of the 6 dimensions of psychological well-being on participants' career thoughts, vocational identity, and developmental work personality. Undergraduates (N = 91) completed 4 measures: (a) C. D. Ryff's (1989, 1995) Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), (b) J. P. Sampson, G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, R. C. Reardon, and D. E. Saunders's (1996) Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI), (c) the Vocational Identity (VI) subscale of J. L. Holland, D. C. Daiger, and G. Power's (1980) My Vocational Situation, and (d) D. R. Strauser and J. M. Keim's (2002) Developmental Work Personality Scale (DWPS). The authors then conducted multiple regression analyses to examine the relations between psychological well-being and the 3 career variables. Results indicated the following: (a) Psychological well-being accounted for a significant portion of the variance in all 3 career variables; (b) scores on the Purpose in Life subscale of the SPWB made a unique contribution to scores on the Commitment Anxiety subscale of the CTI (CTI-CA) and to VI; (c) scores on the Personal Growth subscale of the SPWB made a unique contribution to CTI-CA scores; and (d) scores on the Self-Acceptance and Environmental Mastery subscales of the SPWB each made a unique contribution to DWPS scores.     

Detecting olfactory rivalry

Olfactory rivalry can occur when a binary mixture is sniffed repeatedly, with one percept dominating then the other. Experiment 1 demonstrated olfactory rivalry using several new techniques. Experiments 2 and 3 examined whether participants can notice rivalry. Participants received trials composed of odor pairs: either a mixture followed by the same mixture; or a pure odor followed by the same pure odor. On some trials participants judged whether the two stimuli were the same or different, to see if they could detect rivalry. On other trials participants judged the quality of each odor, allowing us to determine whether rivalry occurred. We found evidence for rivalry when we compared reports of odor quality for one stimulus and then the other, but no evidence that participants could detect this change. These findings are consistent with the idea that people can experience olfactory illusions, but may not know they have occurred.     

Domestic violence and woman's reproductive health: a review of the literature

This paper outlines the current literature on the effect of violence on women's reproductive health. Domestic violence is considered worldwide to be a social health problem which particularly affects women. It is generally categorized in five groups as physical, sexual, verbal, economic, and emotional violence. Domestic violence against women also includes sterilization and abortion by force, forcing women to use contraceptives against their will, or withholding contraceptives from those who wish to use them, genital mutilation, killing female children, and choosing gender in the prenatal period. A woman infected with a sexually transmitted disease by her partner or husband, and having a partner or husband having sexual intercourse with another woman also falls within the sexual violence parameters. Domestic violence has significant effects on both the general and reproductive health of the women, and may cause serious complications and may end with death. The studies show that women exposed to violence have worse health conditions and benefit less from health services than others. Therefore, health care personnel have important responsibilities to define domestic violence and intervene when necessary. These personnel must also be educated in matters of domestic violence, effective policy and protocols must be put in place. And, very importantly, health personnel must be supported by their managers when they try to deal with matters relating to domestic violence.     

Book reviews

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. John L. Esposito (Ed.), 1995. New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press. 4 vols, £295.00, ISBN 0 19 506613 8.

Deciphering the Signs of God: a phenomenological approach to Islam. Annemarie Schimmel, 1994. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. 302 pp., hb. £39.50, ISBN 0 7486 0460 X.

The Rainbow of Faiths. John Hick, 1995. London, SCM Press. 160 pp., pb. £9.95, ISBN 0 334 02608 3.

Scholarly Approaches to Religion, Interreligious Perceptions, and Islam. Jacques Waahdenburg, (Ed.), 1995. Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt a. M., New York, Paris, Vienna, Peter Lang. 464 pp., hb. Sf76. (= £38), ISBN 3 906752 93 3.

Tariqat al‐Tahin al‐Balaghi wa al‐Tafsir. Roland Meynet, Louis Pouzet, Naila Farouki & Ahyaf Sinno, 1993. Beirut, Lebanon, Dar al‐Mashriq. 306 pp., pb. n.p., ISBN 2 7214 5003 4.

Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs, c. 1050–1200. T. Burman, 1994. Leiden, E. J. Brill. 407 pp., hb. np., ISBN 90 04 09910 7.

Justice, Courtesy and Love: theologians and missionaries encountering world religions, 1846–1914. Kenneth Cracknell, 1995. London, Epworth Press. 459 pp, pb. £20, ISBN 0 7162 0501 7.

Mission and Dialogue. Michael Nazir‐Ali, 1995. London, SPCK Press. 152 pp, pb., £8.99, ISBN 0 281 04810 X.

Early Mamluk Diplomacy (1260–1290): treaties of Baybars and Qalawun with Christian rulers. P. M. Holt, 1995. Leiden, E. J. Brill. 161 pp., hb. NLG 100, ISBN 90 04 10246 9.

The Search for Fundamentals: the process of modernization and the quest for meaning. Lieteke Van Vucht Tljssen, Jan Berting & Frank Lechner (Eds), 1995. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers. 293 pp., £80.00, 0 7923 3542 2.

Religion und prosoziales Verhalten Ein Symposion. Walter Kerber, (Ed.), 1995. Munchen, Kindt Verlag. 224 pp., hb. DM.36.00, ISBN 3 925412 18 2.

Nationalism, Ethnicity and Cultural Identity in Europe. (Comparative Studies in Migration and Ethnic Relations 1). Keebat von Benda‐Beckman & Maykel Verkuyten (Eds), 1995. Utrecht, European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER). 199 pp., £11.95, ISBN 90 75719 01 9.

‘Das Projekt Weltethos’ in der Erziehung: Referate und Ergebnisse des Nurnberger Forums 1994. Johannes Lahnemann (Ed.), 1995. Hamburg, E.B. Verlag. 410 pp., pb. n.p., ISBN 3 923002 86 6.

Fundamentalism and Intellectuals in Egypt, 1973–1993. David Sagiv, 1995. London, Frank Cass. 188 pp., hb. £35, ISBN 0 7146 4581 8.

Being Human in Africa: toward an African Christian anthropology. Augustine C. Musopole, 1994. New York, Peter Lang. 261 pp., pb. n.p., ISBN 0 8204 2304 1.

Russians in the Former Soviet Republics. Paul Kolstoe with a contribution by Andrei Edemsky, 1995. London, Hurst & Company. 340 pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 1 8065 206     

Dispositional resistance to change: measurement equivalence and the link to personal values across 17 nations

The concept of dispositional resistance to change has been introduced in a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses through which the validity of the Resistance to Change (RTC) Scale has been established (S. Oreg, 2003). However, the vast majority of participants with whom the scale was validated were from the United States. The purpose of the present work was to examine the meaningfulness of the construct and the validity of the scale across nations. Measurement equivalence analyses of data from 17 countries, representing 13 languages and 4 continents, confirmed the cross-national validity of the scale. Equivalent patterns of relationships between personal values and RTC across samples extend the nomological net of the construct and provide further evidence that dispositional resistance to change holds equivalent meanings across nations.     

The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the brief infant–toddler social emotional assessment (BITSEA)

In this study the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the brief infant–toddler social emotional assessment (BITSEA) were investigated in a community sample. The sample consisted of 462 children (mean age: 24.60 ± 7.93 [12–42] months) who had applied to Turkish health centers for immunization. Both parents completed the BITSEA; mothers completed the child behavior checklist 2/3 (CBCL). Internal consistencies of the BITSEA–problem (P) and competence (C) scales were good to excellent (Cronbach's α = 0.82 and 0.72, respectively). Interrater reliability between parents and test–retest reliability were good. BITSEA/P scores were significantly correlated with CBCL internalizing, externalizing and total problem scores (p < 0.001). Maternal BITSEA/P cutpoint scores revealed that 30.6% of male toddlers and 28.6% of females were in the subclinical range and 13.1% of males and 17.6% of females were in clinical range. Results reveal that the Turkish version of BITSEA is a reliable, valid and simply applicable instrument for screening social, emotional and behavioral problems among toddlers. Clinical validation of the BITSEA/C and BITSEA/P is warranted.     

Dichotomic Structure and the Possibility of the Third Mode in Muslim Theology

The method of dichotomization (division/classification process) has been used to formalize our maps of reality and to make predictions based on those maps. This method indicates the structure and nature of information processing within the human brain. Whether in forms of opposition or complementarity, dichotomies have performed an important function in Muslim theology as a method of producing concept, knowledge and thought. The method of dichotomization has contributed to the formation of a certain epistemology, ontology and methaphysic in Muslim theology. By using the dialectical method based on dichotomies, Muslim theologians have created a third term, or mode, or value, different from dialogical Aristotelian logic, thus overcoming the dichotomies and reaching a synthesis.     

Effects of bilingual and monolingual presentations and time on concept- and language-matching tasks

Balanced Turkish-English bilingual participants viewed word pairs, presented both monolingually (English-English or Turkish-Turkish) or bilingually (English-Turkish or Turkish-English) and both for short and long durations. They made decisions on whether the simultaneously presented words in a pair were in the same language or not, or whether they denoted the same concept or not. In the short presentation condition, we found no evidence for subliminal processing. In cases in which both words were consciously identified, participants were more accurate, although not faster in the long than in the short presentation condition for both language and concept decisions. In the long presentation condition, language decisions were more accurate than concept decisions, although not faster. In addition, language decisions were not affected by whether the words were synonyms (concept identity), and concept decisions were not affected by whether the presentation was monolingual or bilingual (language identity), although in the monolingual conditions, "same" decisions were faster but not more accurate, and in the bilingual conditions a speed-accuracy trade-off was observed in that "same" decisions were faster but "different" decisions were more accurate.     

Dimensions of Acculturation and Work Hope in International Students

Work hope is an emerging and important factor in the career development process of international students. In this study, the authors focused on the work hope of international students and examined its relation to dimensions of acculturation (i.e., dominant society immersion, ethnic identity, ethnic society immersion, individualism, and collectivism). A total of 340 international students completed an online survey. Results of a correlation analysis revealed associations in the expected directions. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that horizontal collectivism, horizontal individualism, and vertical collectivism had a significant and unique contribution in explaining work hope. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Differential context effects between sweet tastes and smells

"Sweet" smells and tastes are perceptually similar, and physiological data indicate some commonality of central processing. However, sweet tastes and sweet smells do not provide interchangeable contexts in psychophysical experiments. The same sweet tastes are perceived as less intense when stronger sweet tastes are present, and they are perceived as more intense when weaker sweet tastes are present, as with sweet smells. However, complementary sets of sweet tastes and smells (e.g., weak sweet tastes, strong sweet smells) do not eliminate these differential context effects (DCEs). The present experiments examined, first, whether DCEs between sweet tastes and smells arise because of differences between odors and tastes in the way that sweetness scales with intensity as concentration rises, and, second, whether DCEs may be smaller for sweet tastes and smells, when contrasted with sweet tastes and nonsweet smells. The findings were clear: DCEs were consistently present, suggesting they are independent of perceptual similarity. These results imply that DCEs are probably not psychological in origin or centrally based; rather, they may have a subcortical locus.