Moral Injury,Spiritual Care and the Role of Chaplains: An Exploratory Scoping Review of Literature and Resources

This scoping review considered the role of chaplains with regard to ‘moral injury’. Moral injury is gaining increasing notoriety. This is due to greater recognition that trauma (in its various forms) can cause much deeper inflictions and afflictions than just physiological or psychological harm, for there may also be wounds affecting the ‘soul’ that are far more difficult to heal—if at all. As part of a larger research program exploring moral injury, a scoping review of literature and other resources was implemented utilising Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping method (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19–32, 2005) to focus upon moral injury, spirituality (including religion) and chaplaincy. Of the total number of articles and/or resources noting the term ‘moral injury’ in relation to spiritual/religious issues (n = 482), the results revealed 60 resources that specifically noted moral injury and chaplains (or other similar bestowed title). The majority of these resources were clearly positive about the role (or the potential role) of chaplains with regard to mental health issues and/or moral injury. The World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases: Australian Modification of Health Interventions to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and related Health problems (10th revision, vol 3—WHO ICD-10-AM, Geneva, 2002), was utilised as a coding framework to classify and identify distinct chaplaincy roles and interventions with regard to assisting people with moral injury. Several recommendations are made concerning moral injury and chaplaincy, most particularly the need for greater research to be conducted.     

Role of personality and affect on the social support and work family conflict relationship

The relationship between support and work family conflict has been studied extensively, but previous studies have not examined if personality moderates this relationship. In this research, we examine the moderating influence of personality on the relationship between contextual support and work-family conflict across two studies. In Study 1, we examine if core self-evaluations (CSE) moderate the relationship between four different types of workplace support, 1. family friendly work policies (FFOP), 2. family supportive organizational climate (FSOC), 3. perceived organizational support (POS), and 4. perceived supervisor support (PSS), and work interfering with family conflict (WIF) using a sample of working adults (N=435). In Study 2, we examine if Big Five personality traits and negative affect moderate the relationship between co-worker support and (WIF) using a large national sample (N=1130) of working respondents from the “midlife in the US” (MIDUS) study of health and well-being. Taken together, the current research examines the moderating effect of several key personality variables on the relationship between important forms of social support and work family conflict. Results based on these two samples indicate CSE moderates the relationship between POS and WIF, and PSS and WIF, but does not moderate the relationship between FFOP and WIF, or FSOC and WIF. Further, conscientiousness and agreeableness moderate the relationship between co-worker support and WIF. Co-worker support and WIF is stronger for individuals with higher levels of negative affect. We discuss the implications for research and practice relating to work family conflict.     

Disrupted attentional learning in high schizotypy: Evidence of aberrant salience

The relationship between learned variations in attention and schizotypy was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants low on a negative subscale of schizotypy exhibited an explicit bias in overt attention towards stimuli that were established as predictive of a trial outcome, relative to stimuli that were irrelevant. The same participants also showed a bias in learning about these stimuli when they presented in a novel context. Neither of these effects was observed in participants high in schizotypy. In Experiment 2, participants low on the negative subscale of schizotypy exhibited faster reaction times towards a target that was cued by a stimulus that had a history of predictive validity relative to a stimulus that had a history of irrelevance. Again, this effect was not present in participants high in schizotypy. These results imply a disruption in the normal allocation of attention to cues that have predictive significance in schizotypy.     

Human Genome Editing and Ethical Considerations

Editing human germline genes may act as boon in some genetic and other disorders. Recent editing of the genome of the human embryo with the CRISPR/Cas9 editing tool generated a debate amongst top scientists of the world for the ethical considerations regarding its effect on the future generations. It needs to be seen as to what transformation human gene editing brings to humankind in the times to come.     

Yoking Gnosis and Logos: On the Knowledge Function of Some Exceptional Mental States for Well-Being

Earlier religious formations everywhere dynamically engaged in pursuit of knowledge. Of particular interest is direct experience of knowledge rather by learning through practice; former approximates gnosis and latter refers to logos. Study of transcendental experiences was an ambitious project of William James, the founder of modern psychology. The present paper makes it more explicit by looking into correlative thinking and paranormal experiences. Second, the advances in cognitive science of religion (CSR) indicate integration of gnosis and logos, and they perhaps access discrete cognitive processes analogous to Kahneman’s (American Psychologist 58:697–720, 2003) System I (intuition) and System 2 (reasoning). Third, gnosis, trance and intuition are correlated. Lastly, exceptional mental states have significance for psychological well-being.     

Are Quantitative Skills Critical for Business Education Program or an Entry-Barrier for Diversity?

Two prominent criticisms of business education programs are that they disproportionately focus on cultivating quantitative skills (i.e., the ability to use and analyze numerical/mathematical concepts) and that the programs lack diversity in terms of gender, social class, and undergraduate backgrounds of students. We tested whether the emphasis on quantitative skills is linked to this lack of diversity in business education programs. We drew data from a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program from a leading business school in India (N?=?275). We analyzed three key outcomes (entrance test scores, program grades, and salary offers) for three attributes (gender, social class, and quantitative undergraduate degree) before and after partitioning of the quantitative and non-quantitative components of the academic outcomes. Before the partitioning of components, our regression models explained 63% of variance in entrance test scores, 42% in program grades, and 21% in salary offers, which was suggestive of the suitability of our predictor variables. Post-partitioning of the outcomes into quantitative and non-quantitative components, the key results were: (a) social class disadvantage was in both the quantitative and non-quantitative components of the entrance test, and in course grades; (b) female-disadvantage was in the quantitative coursework of the MBA program, but not in the entrance test, or in salary offers (p?<?.05); (c) individuals with a quantitative undergraduate education had no advantage in the quantitative section of the entrance test, or of the coursework; (d) social class, gender, and quantitative undergraduate had no effect on salary offers. However, salary offers were higher for those with work experience (p?<?.01), and most notably, for those who performed well in the non-quantitative courses (p?<?.01). On addressing lack of diversity, the results suggest that unlike individuals from a more marginalized social class, females’ deficit is selective and identifiable in the form of lower scores on the quantitative component of MBA coursework. Apart from identifying entry-barriers for diversity, our results are also helpful in discarding certain unfounded beliefs surrounding business education. For example, contrary to popular belief, quantitative undergraduate training has no advantage in business education. Moreover, quantitative course grades are not disproportionately valued in the job market for MBAs.     

Promoting Sikhi among Malaysian youth: A case study of the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM)

ABSTRACT

The Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM) has been an important vehicle in keeping the tenets of the Sikh faith alive for the Malaysian Sikh community. It is primarily a Sikh youth organization, initiated with the blessings of the Malaysian Sikh community elders in the 1960s, who decided that starting the activity of prayer and contemplation on Sikhi was crucial from a young age. Over the decades, the SNSM has been adept in evolving its activities and organization to cater to the altering needs and self-conceptions of the various generations of Sikh youth. This paper documents the trajectory of SNSM activities and reinvention to cater to the generations of Sikhs post-Independence.     

Mean Girls: Provocative Clothing Leads to Intra-Sexual Competition between Females

This study aimed to investigate indirect aggression between females from an evolutionary perspective, considering indirect aggression as a mechanism of intra-sexual competition. Previous research suggests that females who are dressed provocatively, or appear ‘sexually available’, are more likely to be victims of indirect aggression from other females. Investigating this notion via an empirical measure and a word-selection task, this study involved a female confederate posing as a participant, who was dressed provocatively in one condition and conservatively in the other. Sixty-five females completed an intra-sexual competition scale and a word selection task in which they were able to select complimentary or derogatory phrases to describe the confederate. Making derogative comments is a common form of indirect aggression; therefore, those who selected derogatory phrases could be considered to be exhibiting indirect aggression. Consistent with our hypotheses, females in the provocative condition obtained significantly higher intra-sexual competition scores, selected more derogatory words, and less complimentary words than those in the conservative condition, indicating that females dressed provocatively are indirectly aggressed against to a greater extent than those that are not. This paper adds further support to the notion that indirect aggression is used by females as a method of intra-sexual competition, particularly towards provocatively dressed females.     

Influence of Profession as Risk of STIs in Intimate Partner Relationship in South Asian Countries

Mixing of sexual partners as part of the profession of female sex workers (FSWs) can be a risk in intimate partner relationship, which is primarily based on love and affection. Sexual relation with one partner provides emotional and psychological support. However, when it is a web of partners, it often results in unprotected sex, consequently creating a pathway for disease and increasing the vulnerability of FSWs to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This paper analyses the subtleties of sexual behavior of FSWs and their vulnerability toward STIs in intimate partner relationship in South Asian countries. The basic data used in this paper have been taken from 3 countries, 1271 FSWs from Bangladesh, 1404 FSWs from Nepal, and 7399 FSWs from India. The data were collected through modified time location cluster sampling as a part of mapping and size estimation of most-at-risk populations (MARPs) in Nepal and key affected populations (KAPs) in Bangladesh during the period of 2010–2016. The data for India are taken from the integrated behavioral and biological assessment (IBBA), which assesses the prevalence of high risk population in India. The findings reveal that the majority of the FSWs were married, which reveals dynamics of sexual activity placing them at higher risk of STIs. About half of the FSWs had more than 15 coituses in the last 30 days in Nepal, which is a high risk factor. Unprotected sex is reported high across all three countries irrespective of all background characteristics. Condom use during intercourse in Bangladesh is less likely in older FSWs and more likely among educated FSWs who had coital frequency of 7 or more in the last 30 days. Interestingly, unmarried FSWs in Nepal are less likely to use condom in their last sex as against India where FSWs are more likely to use condom in their last sex. The prevalence of STI among uneducated FSWs is found higher in Bangladesh as compared to Nepal and India. The socio-demographic background characteristics showed a significant association with unprotected sex, coital frequency and prevalence of STI across all three countries.