Narrative Practices and Positive Aging: A Reflection about Life Celebration in a Group of Old Women

The main objective of this article is to address the impact of narrative practices in life celebration after the age of 80 and in the co-construction of a community-positive future. We share here an exploratory reflection about the narratives of a group of older women integrated in a community project. The Wednesday Tea Project (Chá das Quartas) has been ongoing for 4 years, and involves a group of old women experiencing high levels of loneliness and isolation in their small village in Portugal. The Wednesday Tea Project is based on positive psychology methodologies and consists of ritualized sessions that encourage participatory group dynamics. To describe how this project has highlighted the benefits of narrative practices, we utilized a series of scaffolding questions. Some of the most relevant outcomes of this project are: (a) the deconstruction of the dominant social discourse; (b) the publication of a book; (c) the reduction of loneliness feelings by re-membering significant figures; and (d) new levels of action both to women and the community as a consequence of a re-authoring process. Narrative practices seem to have contributed to the consolidation of all time dimensions, giving these women the opportunity to celebrate life after the age of 80, while also allowing the community to be part of and to benefit from the process. A reflection about the contributions of this article to a paradigm change toward positive aging is presented.     

Exposure to Parental Alienation and Subsequent Anxiety and Depression in Italian Adults

This study examined associations between exposure to parental alienation behaviors (PA) and anxiety and depression in a community sample of Italian adults. Data were examined by the gender of the alienating parent and the gender of the respondent/adult child. Five hundred nine adults were administered the Baker Strategy Questionnaire (BSQ), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y); and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Results revealed that exposure to PA was associated with higher ratings of anxiety and depression. The data add to the growing body of knowledge regarding the long-term negative impact of exposure to parental alienation.     

Academic promises and family (dis)enchantments: clues for guidance and counselling in higher education

Family has an undeniable influence upon the career construction of higher education (HE) students, since it is a primary source of their socialisation. This article presents a qualitative analysis of 30 interviews conducted with first-year students, aimed at understanding the relationship between family sociocultural status and career choice and the perceived meaning in the family of the enrolment of one of their elements in HE. Results show that HE students came mainly from economic, cultural and social upper classes. It was a ‘logic path’, for who would inherit in the adult age, not only the economic capital, but also the relational capital. The educational and economic resources of the students' families are key factors in the choice to pursue HE studies, rather than the professional world.     

SCIENCE,RELIGION, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE: “AMALGAM” NARRATIVES OF POLISH NATURAL SCIENTISTS

This article deals with phenomena occurring at the interface of the existential, the religious, and scientific inquiry. On the basis of in‐depth interviews with Polish physicists and biologists, I examine the role that science and religion play in their narrative of the meaning of the Universe and human life. I show that the narratives about meaning have a system‐related (“amalgam") character that is associated with responses to adjacent metaphysical questions, including those based on scientific knowledge. I reconstruct the typical amalgam questions of Polish scientists and come to a conclusion about the stability of religious and nonreligious amalgams in this group. Critically referring to the thesis concerning the secularizing impact of science, I conclude that science by itself does not have a destructive effect on Polish scientists’ confidence that life and the Universe are meaningful, but is rather an exacerbating factor of the existing worldview system.     

Tactless scientists: Ignoring touch in the study of joint attention

Since the 1970s, researchers have focused on visual joint attention as a way to observe and operationalize joint attention (JA). I will argue that this methodological choice has neglected other modalities and as a consequence might be missing important elements in the account of the development of JA and the evolutionary history of JA. I argue that by including other modes of interaction, such as touch, we open the possibility of finding that non-human primates and younger human infants engage in basic forms of JA. Moreover, I argue that touch, as a proximal mode of perception, is the ontogenetic precursor of social communication.     

Moral Thought and Action in Sport and Student Life: A Study of Bracketed Morality

The present study examined differences in moral behavior and judgment in sport and student life. Participants (N = 372) were students at a British university who responded to moral dilemmas pertaining to sport and student life. They indicated the likelihood that they would act antisocially or prosocially and provided judgment ratings of the behaviors described in the dilemmas. Likelihood to act antisocially was higher toward opponents in sport than other students at university, whereas likelihood to behave prosocially was lower toward opponents in sport than other students at university. Finally, antisocial behavior was less likely toward teammates than other students. The sport–university difference in antisocial opponent/student behavior was fully mediated by moral judgment, whereas the difference in prosocial behavior was partially mediated by moral judgment. These findings reveal a more nuanced aspect to bracketed morality that considers in-group loyalty when understanding moral judgment and behavior in and outside of the sport context.     

Perceived Pros and Cons of Condom Use as Predictors of its Consistent Use with a Heterosexual Romantic Partner Among Young Adults

The present research examines the pros and cons of condom use as predictors of consistent condom use with a heterosexual romantic partner. Data from 619 undergraduate students (35.1 % males; mean of age?=?20.31) were collected using a voluntary and anonymous self-report survey. The pros and cons predicted consistent condom use during the last month among females, whereas only the pros were predictive of consistent condom use in men. Similarly, only the feelings of safety predicted consistent condom use among men. However, the reduction of pleasure for women, the side-effects of other contraceptive methods, the difficulty in asking for condom use when they were also using the pill and the fact that condom use interrupts and cools off foreplay were also predictors among women. Besides the superiority of the pros over the cons, in general, the present research identifies a number of important pros and cons that should be used to encourage condom use.     

The Effects of the Activation of Money and Credit Card vs. that of Activation of Spirituality – Which One Prompts Pro-Social Behaviours?

Pro-social behaviours may be prompted or inhibited depending on the situation. Numerous experiments show that, when exposed to the idea of money, people are less willing to help, devote their time or share their resources with others (Vohs et al. Science, 314, 1154–1156, 2006, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3), 208–212, 2008). Conversely, when exposed to the idea of spirituality, they often cheat less and are more willing to help others (Mazar and Ariely Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 633–644, 2008; Randolph-Seng and Nielsen The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17(4), 303–315, 2007). The aim of this article is to present the results of two experiments in which we activated thoughts about money, i.e. both cash and credit cards, and thoughts about spirituality in order to find out in what way these two kinds of activation may influence pro-social behaviours. In experiment 1, participants, when reminded of money, offered lower donations to others whereas those reminded of spirituality offered higher donations. In experiment 2, those participants reminded of money offered to devote less time to help others whereas those reminded of spirituality offered to devote more time to help others.