Job security and job satisfaction among Greek fitness instructors

In analyzing the relation between job satisfaction and job security, a sample of 97 Greek fitness instructors, 18 to 42 years of age, showed statistically significant positive correlations between job security and job satisfaction (p<.002). Particularly, job security was correlated with pay .54, promotion .43, job itself .41, and the organization as a whole .43.     

The Timing of Research Consent

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice - This essay is about the timing of research consent, a process that involves (potential) participants being given information about, among other things, upcoming...     

Social connectedness as a source and consequence of meaning in life

Multiple studies have shown that the sense of belonging and connectedness contribute to meaning in life, but does meaning also influence social connectedness? The present research examines the reciprocal relationships between meaning and different types of connectedness: intimate, relational, and collective. Analyzing data from a nationally representative longitudinal study (Study 1) with cross-lagged panel models, we found that only collective connectedness was prospectively associated with meaning, whereas meaning was prospectively associated with all three types of connectedness, controlling for life satisfaction. The beneficial effect of meaning extended to behavioral indicators of collective and intimate connectedness (Study 2). Higher levels of meaning in life were prospectively associated with an increased likelihood of joining voluntary associations and getting married, and, for people high in marital satisfaction, with a decreased likelihood of marital separation. Together, these findings suggest that the relationship between social connectedness and meaning in life is bidirectional.     

Human Rights and Religion: A Sociological Perspective

This essay aims to review mainstream literature and research perspectives on the sociology of human rights with the further focus on relationship between human rights and religion. We consider the challenges of late engagement of sociology with human rights and current narratives of the relationship of human rights and religion that encompass normativity as the central category of historically oriented sociology. We discuss the contribution of two empirical research mainstreams on human rights and religion and focus on a new field of study—sociology of religious freedom. A detailed new agenda for sociological research on human rights and religion is explored in the final part of our assessment.     

Pigeons' recognition of partially occluded objects depends on specific training experience

DiPietro et al (2002 Perception 31 1299-1312) reported a dramatic improvement in pigeons' recognition of partially occluded objects after the birds had been trained to recognize objects that were placed on top of another surface. Here, we investigated whether training with partially erased stimuli or with notched stimuli that had a thin gap between the object and another surface would similarly enhance pigeons' recognition of partially occluded objects. We found that erased training had no effect on the birds' recognition of partially occluded objects. Training pigeons to recognize notched objects improved their performance with the same objects when they were partially occluded; but this improvement did not transfer to novel objects, a result that DiPietro et al reported after on-top training. Together, the present results and those of DiPietro et al implicate prior experience as a key factor in pigeons' recognition of partially occluded objects. Training experiences which improve recognition of partially occluded objects may do so because they improve decomposition of complex two-dimensional scenes by pigeons into separate entities.     

“Ridiculous” dream versus social contract: Dostoevskij, Rousseau, and the problem of ideal society

Drawing on the Second Discourse and the Social Contract and Notes from Underground and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,” this essay examines the striking similarities and fundamental differences between Dostoevskij’s and Rousseau’s treatment of the problem of individual vs. society and their notions of ideal social relations. The essay investigates Rousseau’s attempt to absorb morality into politics and “to concretize” Diderot’s universal moral man into citizen. It also suggests that Dostoevskij takes Rousseau’s attempt at concretization a step further by exposing humanist conceptions of man and society in general as fiction and creating a model of ideal society that absorbs morality, not into politics (as does Rousseau’s model), but into the sanctity of the Word.     

"I Can Tell You If I'll Really Lose All That Weight": Dispositional and Situated Optimism as Predictors of Weight Loss Following a Group Intervention

Weight loss is difficult to achieve and predict. We used Carver & Scheier's (1998 ) self-regulation theory to investigate the role of dispositional and situated optimism in weight loss following a group intervention. The theory proposes that dispositional optimism is related to persistence in goal pursuit as a result of greater confidence in goal attainment. Findings showed that situated optimism (higher goals, greater confidence in their attainment) predicted greater weight loss; whereas dispositional optimism, perceptions of controllability, timeline, and consequences of the weight problem were unrelated to weight loss. Changes in situated optimism following the intervention were related to weight-loss success/failure. The findings suggest that people possess quite accurate knowledge of their chances of success, which could be used to tailor interventions to participants.