Conversation: The challenges of teaching in a “nano department”

A panel at the 2016 American Academy of Religion conference staged, taped, transcribed, and edited this conversation about the challenges and opportunities of teaching in a “nano department” – an undergraduate religion or religious studies department (or combined religion and philosophy department) with only one, two, or three faculty members. Two things quickly become evident: one is the impossibility of coverage of the full religious studies curriculum, and the other is the necessity for collaboration with other departments. Neither of these is unique to nano departments, but there exists an intimacy between students and faculty in small departments, a necessary freedom to rethink the place of the study of religion in the liberal arts curriculum, and a disruptive value in what can be critiqued and contributed from a marginalized position. Arguably, nano departments are the canaries in the academic coal mine, charting the future of the humanities that cannot be discerned from the vantage point of Research‐1 contexts.     

The effects of aging on the working memory processes of multimodal information

Normal aging is associated with deficits in working memory processes. However, the majority of research has focused on storage or inhibitory processes using unimodal paradigms, without addressing their relationships using different sensory modalities. Hence, we pursued two objectives. First, was to examine the effects of aging on storage and inhibitory processes. Second, was to evaluate aging effects on multisensory integration of visual and auditory stimuli. To this end, young and older participants performed a multimodal task for visual and auditory pairs of stimuli with increasing memory load at encoding and interference during retention. Our results showed an age-related increased vulnerability to interrupting and distracting interference reflecting inhibitory deficits related to the off-line reactivation and on-line suppression of relevant and irrelevant information, respectively. Storage capacity was impaired with increasing task demands in both age groups. Additionally, older adults showed a deficit in multisensory integration, with poorer performance for new visual compared to new auditory information.     

Purpose in life and cognitive functioning in adulthood

With an increasingly aging population, more work is needed to identify factors which may promote the maintenance of normal cognitive functioning. The current study tested the concurrent association between sense of purpose in life and the cognitive variables of episodic memory, executive functioning, and composite cognitive functioning in adults (N = 3489, M_age = 56.3 years, SD = 12.27, Range = 32–84 years) from the Midlife in the United States study (MIDUS). Correlational analyses suggested that purpose in life was associated with higher scores for memory, executive functioning, and overall cognition. Bootstrapping tests of moderation found no evidence for a moderating effect of age on purpose and the cognitive variables. Future studies should attempt to explain the mechanisms behind this relationship and explore the potential for interventions to promote healthy cognitive and purposeful aging.     

Self-compassion mediates the link between dependency and depressive symptomatology in college students

Depression is highly prevalent among college students and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Dependency is among the known personality traits that predict an elevated risk for depression. Prior research has focused on the depressogenic role of self-critical thoughts among destructive overdependent (DO) individuals but has not considered other internal processes (such as self-compassion) that might influence mental health. The current report examined whether self-compassion had either moderating or mediating effects on the links between dependency and depression in college students. In a cross-sectional study, 85 college students completed measures of dependency, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms. Analyses suggested that self-compassion mediated both the effect of DO on depressive symptoms and the effect of healthy dependency (HD) on lower depressive symptoms; self-compassion did not moderate links between dependency and depressive symptoms. Our exploratory findings suggest that positive self-schema (in the form of self-compassion) may contribute to the downstream mental health effects of both adaptive HD and maladaptive DO.     

Distances on hills look farther than distances on flat ground: Evidence from converging measures

Distances on hills are judged as farther than when the same distance is presented on the flat ground. The hypothesized reason for this difference is because perception is influenced by the increased effort required to walk up a hill than to walk the same distance on flat ground. Alternatively, distances presented up a hill might be judged as farther for other, nonperceptual reasons such as bias from demand characteristics. To test whether distances on hills are perceived as farther or are merely judged as farther, we used a variety of measures, including visual matching and blindwalking tasks, and found similar effects across all measures. This convergence is consistent with a perceptual explanation. Second, we mined our data with the goal of making recommendations for future research on this paradigm. Although all of the perceptual measures used showed similar effects, visual matching was the only measure that had good intrasubject reliability. We recommend that future research on this action-specific effect could use any measure unless the research is geared towards individual differences, in which case, only the visual matching measure of perceived distance should be used.     

Gender Bias in the Measurement of Workaholism

Past research suggests gender differences in workaholism might be due to differences in how men and women respond to the item content in workaholism measures. Using item response theory differential item functioning, we show women are less likely to report some workaholism items, leading to contamination. Specifically, women are less likely to report spending more time at work than other activities, and staying at work longer than others. We speculate that societal norms and practical restrictions on women's time results in lower endorsement rates for these items compared to men, and thus underestimates their workaholism. Results contradict past findings that men and women are similar in regard to workaholism and suggest women are in fact higher in workaholism than men. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

A Psychoanalytic Reading of <Emphasis Type="Italic">A Monster Calls</Emphasis>: Biblical Congruencies and Theological Implications

This essay offers a psychoanalytic reading of Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, an award-winning novel (which recently has been made into a film) about a 13-year-old boy whose mother is dying of cancer. I use Sigmund Freud’s “On Dreams” to interpret several scenes from the novel, interspersed with lessons from the life of Jesus. I argue that such a reading can help persons of all ages take the emotional lives of teenagers more seriously, specifically by witnessing the depth and complexity of ambivalence as represented in the novel. Also, an important feature in the novel (and a vital congruence between psychoanalysis and the teachings of Jesus) is the transformation of emotional ambivalence into paradoxical truth.     

When sex doesn’t sell to men: mortality salience,disgust and the appeal of products and advertisements featuring sexualized women

Although men typically hold favorable views of advertisements featuring female sexuality, from a Terror Management Theory perspective, this should be less the case when thoughts of human mortality are salient. Two experiments conducted in South Korea supported this hypothesis across a variety of products (e.g., perfume and vodka). Men became more negative towards advertisements featuring female sexuality, and had reduced purchase intentions for those products, after thinking about their own mortality. Study 2 found that these effects were mediated by heightened disgust. Mortality thoughts did not impact women in either study. These findings uniquely demonstrate that thoughts of death interact with female sex-appeal to influence men’s consumer choices, and that disgust mediates these processes. Implications for the role of emotion, and cultural differences, in terror management, for attitudes toward female sexuality, and for marketing strategies are discussed.     

Interfaith Groups as Mediating Structures for Political Action: A Multilevel Analysis

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.