Eating Ethically: 'Spiritual' and 'Quasi-religious' Aspects of Vegetarianism

Much contemporary belief and behaviour that is not ostensibly religious has yet been perceived to have religious overtones. A variety of terms such as 'invisible religion', 'implicit religion' and 'quasi-religion' have been used to characterise them. This article examines vegetarianism and especially vegetarianism based upon ethical concerns in order to ascertain the extent to which it can be said to exhibit religious or spiritual themes in its ideology and underlying motives. A number of 'quasi-religious' themes, including taboo and avoidance behaviour, reverence for life, the denial of death, reincarnation, observance of disciplines and the rejection of domination and oppression are found to characterise ethical vegetarianism. Support for these conclusions is found in the data from a survey of vegetarians carried out in the Reading area of South Eastern England, of which some results are presented and discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of the appropriateness of using concepts such as 'quasi-religion'. It is argued that although such terms are currently useful, they must in the longer term be replaced by concepts which do not imply that such behaviour is a form of religion or which characterise it always in relation to religion, but which recognise its own distinctive and essentially non-religious character.     

Testing the bi‐dimensional effects of attitudes on behavioural intentions and subsequent behaviour

Attitudes are typically treated as unidimensional predictors of both behavioural intentions and subsequent behaviour. On the basis of previous research showing that attitudes comprise two independent, positive and negative dimensions, we hypothesized that attitudes would be bi‐dimensional predictors of both behavioural intentions and subsequent behaviour. We focused on health‐risk behaviours. We therefore also hypothesized that the positive dimension of attitude (evaluations of positive behavioural outcomes) would better predict both behavioural intentions and subsequent behaviour than would the negative dimension, consistent with the positivity bias/offset principle. In Study 1 (cross sectional design), N = 109 university students completed questionnaire measures of their intentions to binge‐drink and the positive and negative dimensions of attitude. Consistent with the hypotheses, both attitude dimensions independently predicted behavioural intentions and the positive dimension was a significantly better predictor than was the negative dimension. The same pattern of findings emerged in Study 2 (cross sectional design; N = 186 university students) when we predicted intentions to binge‐drink, smoke and consume a high‐fat diet. Similarly, in Study 3 (prospective design; N = 1,232 speed limit offenders), both the positive and negative dimensions of attitude predicted subsequent (6‐month post‐baseline) speeding behaviour on two different road types and the positive dimension was the better predictor. The implications for understanding the motivation of behaviour and the development of behaviour‐change interventions are discussed.     

Embracing the Challenges and Opportunities of Mixed‐Media Relationships

Social relationships unfold face‐to‐face and across an increasingly diverse set of mobile, Internet‐based media. Research on these mixed‐media relationships (MMRs) offers a unifying focus for understanding of how media use reflects and drives social relationships. Impediments to research on mixed‐media interaction include an over‐reliance on research focused on a single medium, incomplete and conceptually problematic classifications of media, and limited theoretic approaches. An alternative approach to understand MMRs, grounded in the challenges of managing complex, recurring interpersonal demands, is proposed. These demands include social coordination, impression management, regulating closeness and distance, and managing arousal and anxiety. Implications of MMRs for mediatization and mass communication are briefly examined.     

Science and religion perspectives at St. John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT)

In an effort to shed much needed light on to religion and science perspectives in Africa, a preliminary survey was conducted to examine the views of undergraduate science students (N=143) at St. John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT). This research note presents initial survey findings, which explore perceptions of religion-and-science interactions and evolutionary theory as well as an attempt to ascertain what sources influence undergraduate sentiments about science and religion. Results point to prevalent negative beliefs about evolution and religion–science relationships. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis suggests that students with the most positive science-religion viewpoints identify the influence of university education in shaping such beliefs, rather than the teachings of religious leaders. Factor scores also disclose correlations between participants’ considerations of science-religion relationships and reported statements members of students’ religious communities made about evolutionary theory.