Introduction

The place of philosophy in Iranian society is prominent. Philosophy is discussed in popular media as well as specialized journals, and in seminaries, research centers, and universities. Philosophy in Iran is often divided into Western and Islamic. Sometimes these are taken to be rivals. The methods of instruction differ to some extent, as well as the languages needed for advanced study. The question of the nature of Islamic philosophy is itself a controversial topic in Iran, and positions on this issue are often driven by ideological trends. The study of philosophy in the Islamic seminaries has its own history. Today Islamic philosophy may be considered a philosophical tradition that is being carried on with increasing interaction with the study of Western philosophy in Iran.

Work and nonwork experiences of employees on fixed and rotating shifts: An empirical assessment

The present study investigated the relationship between shift time and use of leisure time, nonwork satisfaction, and mental and physical health among rank-and-file workers (N = 383) in a manufacturing organization and between shift time and use of leisure time, mental and physical health, and three dimensions of work performance (job performance, job motivation, and patients' care) among nurses (N = 440) in two hospitals. Results are generally supportive of the hypothesis that employees on fixed shift time (high routine oriented) are better off than employees on rotating shift time (low routine oriented) in terms of criterion variables of the present study. Six demographic and background variables—age, marital status, place of socialization (rural vs urban), seniority, cultural background (French vs English speaking), and respondent's sex—are measured and their association with the above relationships analyzed. Results are discussed in light of the previous empirical evidence on shift work.     

Catching up with wonderful women: The women‐are‐wonderful effect is smaller in more gender egalitarian societies

Inequalities between men and women are common and well‐documented. Objective indexes show that men are better positioned than women in societal hierarchies—there is no single country in the world without a gender gap. In contrast, researchers have found that the women‐are‐wonderful effect—that women are evaluated more positively than men overall—is also common. Cross‐cultural studies on gender equality reveal that the more gender egalitarian the society is, the less prevalent explicit gender stereotypes are. Yet, because self‐reported gender stereotypes may differ from implicit attitudes towards each gender, we reanalysed data collected across 44 cultures, and (a) confirmed that societal gender egalitarianism reduces the women‐are‐wonderful effect when it is measured more implicitly (i.e. rating the personality of men and women presented in images) and (b) documented that the social perception of men benefits more from gender egalitarianism than that of women.     

Examination of long-term visual memorization capacity in the Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Clark’s nutcrackers exhibit remarkable cache recovery behavior, remembering thousands of seed locations over the winter. No direct laboratory test of their...     

Al‐Ghazāli's evaluation of abu yazid al‐bistāmi and his disapproval of the mystical concepts of union and fusion

Abū Yazid al‐Bistāmi (d. 874 AD) was a renowned early sūfi who exerted a tremendous influence upon the doctrinal formulation of the sufism of medieval times. A highly controversial figure, he is venerated by some as a top‐ranking saint and sūfi, condemned by others as a notorious heretic, and there are still others who suspend judgement on him. More than 200 years after him al‐Ghazāli (1058‐1111 AD) flourished as the greatest sūfi of all times; he examined and evaluated the teachings of his sūfi predecessors including Abū Yazid. To determine his evaluation of Abū Yazid and his opinion on the related, well‐known concept of man's union with God at the highest peak of spirituality is the main aim of this paper. To achieve this aim al‐Ghazāli's citations from Abū Yazid's teachings on many basic doctrines of sufism, together with his explicit comments on them, are analysed in the second section of the paper, and he is found to have evaluated these teachings as of a very high grade and to have extolled Abū Yazid as a sūfi of the highest rank. The third section studies al‐Ghazāli's opinion on the most important aspect of Abū Yazid's teachings, i.e. his shatahāt or ecstatic utterances apparently expressive of union, fusion and divine indwelling. This began with a consideration of al‐Ghazāli's definition of two kinds of shath and his condemnation of them on the grounds of their harmful consequences. In connection with a study of his condemnation of the shatahāt of Abū Yazid and al‐Hallāj an investigation is made into his opinion on union and fusion. It is found that throughout his sūfi life he condemned them as false concepts. However Abū Yazid's shatahāt, which apparently mean union, fusion, etc. are interpreted in an orthodox manner, and he is adjudged an elect of the elect, a gnostic who reached the level of reality of realities, a perfect sūfi who attained to God. All the above findings are based on al‐Ghazāli's explicit comments on Abū Yazid. The fourth section of the paper deals with his implicit, indirect comments which also prove his appreciation of, and indebtedness to, Abū Yazid in respect of several central concepts of sufism.     

Newborn behavioral observations system in rural Pakistan: A feasibility and acceptability study

The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-based tool that helps parents recognize their infant's competencies and learn their behavioral cues, with the goals of enhancing parental responsiveness and satisfaction in the infant-parent relationship. In our study, a pediatrician integrated the NBO into 44 pediatric health care visits of infants in rural Pakistan villages, under the remote guidance of two U.S.-based child psychiatrists. A clinician then gave the mothers a survey about their experience of the NBO and found that the mothers were highly satisfied, reporting greater appreciation of their infant's strengths, greater understanding of their infant's behavioral cues, stronger attachment to their infant, and greater self-confidence as a mother. In their consideration of these results, the authors explore cultural reasons for the mothers’ responses and generate hypotheses to inform an outcome study of a similar intervention. This was a feasibility and acceptability study and was not randomized, had no control group, and did not use objective measures of outcome.     

Positive Psychological States and Employee Creativity: The role of Ethical Leadership

This study explores a new theoretical model of employee creativity by investigating the impact of ethical leadership on creativity mediated by creative self-efficacy and psychological safety. Data collected from 200 supervisor–subordinate dyads in Pakistan reveal that ethical leadership is positively related to creativity. Further, psychological safety partially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creativity. However, creative self-efficacy is found insignificant in the relationship between ethical leadership and creativity. The study discusses research and practical implications of the proposed new theoretical framework with regard to employee creativity.