On positive psychological outcomes: what helps groups with a history of conflict to forgive and reconcile with each other?

Three studies examined the roles of traditional and novel social psychological variables involved in intergroup forgiveness. Study 1 (N = 480) revealed that among the pro-Pinochet and the anti-Pinochet groups in Chile, forgiveness was predicted by ingroup identity (negatively), common ingroup identity (positively), empathy and trust (positively), and competitive victimhood (the subjective sense of having suffered more than the outgroup, negatively). Political ideology (Right vs. Left) moderated the relationship between empathy and forgiveness, trust and forgiveness, and between the latter and competitive victimhood. Study 2 (N = 309), set in the Northern Irish conflict between Protestants and Catholics, provided a replication and extension of Study 1. Finally, Study 3 (N = 155/108) examined the longitudinal relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, revealing that forgiveness predicted reconciliation intentions. The reverse direction of this relationship was also marginally significant. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

Job-role quality and women's psychological well-being: Locus of control and social support as moderators

Despite the recognition that the stress-buffering effect of social support may in part be due to its relation to locus of control, no study on women's roles to date has considered both locus of control and social support in the prediction of psychological functioning. The present study was intended to test the three-way interaction between job-role quality, locus of control and support in relation to two measures of women's psychological well-being (happiness and symptoms of distress). This study was based on cross-sectional data. In the English sample of 109 employed women, the results provided evidence of the threee-way interaction between job challenge, locus of control and work support in predicting happiness. Neither locus of control nor work support independently moderated the effects of job challenge. However, locus of control and work support combined interactively to moderate the impact of job challenge on happiness. As predicted, support interacted with job challenge only for internals; no such interaction effect was observed for externals. For distress, no significant interaction was found.     

Maqasid al-Shariah as a Complementary Framework for Conventional Bioethics: Application in Malaysian Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Fatwa

Rapid development in the area of assisted reproductive technology (ART), has benefited mankind by addressing reproductive problems. However, the emergence of new technologies and techniques raises various issues and discussions among physicians and the masses, especially on issues related to bioethics. Apart from solutions provided using conventional bioethics framework, solutions can also be derived via a complementary framework of bioethics based on the Higher Objectives of the Divine Law (Maqasid al-Shariah) in tackling these problems. This approach in the Islamic World has been applied and localised in the Malaysian context. Thus, this paper highlights a conceptual theoretical framework for solving current bioethical issues, with a special focus on ART in the Malaysian context, and compares this theory with conventional theories of bioethics.     

Saudi therapists' lived experience of self-awareness

Self-awareness and self-reflection in psychotherapeutic processes have been critical components for effective counselling and psychotherapy. However, little qualitative research in Saudi Arabia has been conducted that aims to explore the therapist's subjective experiences of the self in their professional work. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the therapist's self-awareness within psychotherapy, by focusing on the therapist's lived experience of self-awareness and exploring how therapists recognise themselves as an integral component of the therapeutic relationship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six experienced and accredited psychologists with at least three years of clinical experience, and the qualitative data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Five superordinate themes emerged from the data; that is, development of the professional self, use of self, self-oriented, supervision and experience. This study provides an understanding of the therapist's self in psychotherapy, as it shows that self-awareness is important for therapists to manage their feelings, thoughts and behaviours in meeting with clients and that it is a valuable resource for a therapist to become aware of and reflect upon the process within oneself. This understanding is integrated into the training programmes in counselling psychology, especially in the areas of self-awareness and personal development.     

The relationship between wives' estimates of time spent doing housework,support and wives' well-being

This study examines the relationship between the distribution of labour at home and employed women's psychological distress. The distribution of labour at home is measured by wives' estimates of their own and their husbands' time spent doing housework. It is hypothesized that what is more important to women's well-being is their estimates of their husbands' time spent doing housework rather than their own time. It is further hypothesized that one pathway in which wives' estimates of husbands' time spent doing housework influences their well-being is through perceptions of support. In a sample of 153 employed married women, using regression analyses, results are consistent with the predictions made. First, wives' estimates of their husbands' time spent doing housework is a better predictor of their well-being than their estimates of their own time spent. Second, support acts as a partial mediator in this relationship. These findings are discussed with respect to recent work in the area. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Malaysian women's state of well-being: empirical validation of a conceptual model

The author carried out the present study to examine the determinants of Malaysian women's well-being. Specifically, the author proposed a theoretical model of women's roles and well-being--made up of roles, negative affectivity, conflict, and health--and statistically validated it in a group of women occupying both work and family roles (N = 389). Using a life-course approach (P. Moen, 1998) to roles and well-being, the author further examined the model in women of 3 different age groups (age of Group 1 = 20-29 years, age of Group 2 = 30-39 years, and age of Group 3 = 40 years and older). The results supported the proposed model, which showed reasonable fit when applied to the 3 groups of women. The results also indicated that the predictors of women's well-being differ according to their respective age groups. The author discussed these findings in relation to the life-course approach to women's roles.     

Work-family conflict,locus of control,and women's well-being: tests of alternative pathways

The author tested for the 3 possible pathways (i.e., direct, moderator, and mediator effects) in which locus of control can influence the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being. The author predicted that work-family conflict would be negatively correlated with well-being. In a sample of 310 Malaysian employed women with families, work-family conflict was a significant predictor of both job satisfaction and distress--negatively related to job satisfaction and positively related to symptoms of distress. More important, the results provided support for the effects of all 3 pathways of control on the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being, depending on the outcome measure: For job satisfaction, locus of control had direct effects, acted as a partial mediator, and played a significant moderating role. In contrast, only the direct effect of locus of control predicted distress. The author discusses those findings with reference to the literature on work-family conflict, locus of control, and the issue of stress-distress specificity.     

Sexually Explicit Media and Sexual Risk Behavior in a Sample of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Norway

The aim of this study was to explore the association between the consumption of sexually explicit media (SEM) depicting condom and non-condom use and HIV/STI-related sexual risk behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Norway. We also explored whether the association between SEM consumption and STI-related sexual risk behavior is mediated by men’s sexual self-esteem and/or condom use self-efficacy. A cross-sectional online survey study was carried out in Norway in 2012. The final sample comprised 529 MSM in Norway. There was a bivariate association between the use of SEM picturing condom use and less STI-related sexual risk behavior. Further, the association between SEM consumption and sexual risk behavior was mediated by condom use self-efficacy. However, SEM did not influence sexual risk behavior via sexual self-esteem. The results offer important cross-cultural validation of recent comparative data from the US and may be used to promote HIV/STI prevention, in the sense that the actors in SEM may serve as role models in managing condom use in sexual contexts.     

To connect is to be influenced: What determines a third‐party's forgiveness attitudes to conflicting groups' violent partisan members?

The present research seeks to answer the question of what determines an uninvolved third party's forgiveness attitudes toward conflicting groups' violent partisan members. Specifically, Bangladeshi participants read a fictitious interview with a radicalized Palestinian who declared his intention to avenge himself against Israelis for his personal and collective plight by carrying out a suicide bombing attack. Findings reveal that an empathy manipulation (high empathy = other focused or low empathy = objective focused) influenced participants' forgiveness attitudes towards the radicalized Palestinian such that in the high empathy condition participants were more forgiving of the target than participants in the low empathy condition. Moreover, while the strength of their religious identification (Islam) played no significant role, participants' tendency to attribute the target's decision to situational factors fully mediated the effects of empathy on forgiveness.