Religious involvement, beliefs about God, and the sense of mattering among older adults

Using data from a 2001–2002 sample of adults aged 65 and older living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, we examine the associations among religious involvement (as measured by the frequency of attendance at religious services and praying), the belief in divine control, and the sense of mattering—a key component of the self-concept. We also assess the extent to which these patterns vary by gender, race, and education. Findings indicate indirect effects of religious attendance on mattering through divine control beliefs and the frequency of social contact. Praying increases mattering indirectly only through divine control beliefs. Moreover, divine control beliefs are more strongly associated with mattering among women, African Americans, and individuals with less education. We discuss the contribution of these findings for theory about the links between religious involvement, beliefs about God, and psychosocial resources, and the influence of core dimensions of social status and stratification.     

Diverse Supernatural Portfolios: Certitude,Exclusivity, and the Curvilinear Relationship Between Religiosity and Paranormal Beliefs

Studies have attempted to understand the association between more conventional supernatural (religious) beliefs and practices and less conventional “paranormal” supernatural beliefs. Some have posited that the two comprise incompatible cultural spheres and belief systems, while others have argued that supernatural religious beliefs are “small steps” toward less conventional paranormal views (such as belief in astrology and telekinesis). We build upon recent scholarship outlining a more nuanced, nonlinear relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs by identifying a specific niche of believers who are particularly likely to dabble in unconventional supernatural beliefs. Strong believers in the paranormal tend to be characterized by a nonexclusive spiritualist worldview, as opposed to materialist or exclusive religious outlooks. Paranormal believers tend to be characterized by moderate levels of religious belief and practice, and low levels of ideological exclusivity. In general, the relationship between more conventional religiosity and paranormal beliefs is best conceptualized as curvilinear.     

Attentional inhibition mediates inattentional blindness

Salient stimuli presented at unattended locations are not always perceived, a phenomenon termed inattentional blindness. We hypothesized that inattentional blindness may be mediated by attentional inhibition. It has been shown that attentional inhibition effects are maximal near an attended location. If our hypothesis is correct, inattentional blindness effects should similarly be maximal near an attended location. During central fixation, participants viewed rapidly presented colored digits at a peripheral location. An unexpected black circle (the critical stimulus) was concurrently presented. Participants were instructed to maintain central fixation and name each color/digit, requiring focused attention to that location. For each participant, the critical stimulus was presented either near to or far from the attended location (at the same eccentricity). In support of our hypothesis, inattentional blindness effects were maximal near the attended location, but only at intermediate task accuracy.     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Responsive Problem Solving with Early Adolescents: Do Gender,Shyness, and Social Acceptance Make a Difference?

We assessed the extent to which youths’ (n = 231) shyness and social acceptance in preadolescence were associated with parents’ responsive problem solving 1 year later after controlling for initial levels of parents’ problem solving. Teachers (n = 176) completed assessments of youths’ shyness and social acceptance, and parents (n = 231 married pairs) completed assessments of their responsive problem solving with the child. For shy daughters, higher levels of social acceptance from peers predicted more responsive problem solving from fathers. Greater social acceptance predicted marginally less maternal problem solving for sons, but greater social acceptance predicted marginally more maternal problem solving with daughters. Results suggest the salience of child gender, shyness, and social acceptance when considering typical levels of parental involvement with youth. Implications for parents include the importance of successful problem solving discussions with emerging adolescents, especially youth who are shy or excluded by peers.     

Admission and Employment Criteria Discrepancies: Experiences of Skilled Immigrants in Toronto

This research contributes to our understandings of the employment experiences of skilled immigrants in Canada by complementing and expanding upon statistical findings from previously published studies. Through in-depth interviews with 35 skilled immigrants from Bangalore, India living in Toronto, Canada, findings indicate that migrants experience employment frustrations stemming directly from the discrepancy between admission criteria (foreign education and work experience) and employment criteria (Canadian education and work experience). After summarizing the statistical data on the non-recognition of foreign credentials, we conclude that among our sample of immigrants, frustrations stem not from credential discounting in and of itself, but from Canada’s point system for entry, which misleads these migrants about its existence and prevalence.     

Deliberating death

Utilizing a particular case study of a woman attempting to come to terms with her death, this article explores the difficult metaphors of death present within the Christian tradition. Tracing a Christian understanding of death back to the work of Augustine, the case study is utilized to highlight the difficulties presented by past and present theology embracing ideas of punishment within death. Following the trajectory of the case study, alternative understandings of death present in recent Christian theology and within Native American spirituality are presented in an attempt to find room for a fuller meaning of death post-reconciliation, but premortem.     

Increased hedonic differences despite increases in hedonic range

Viewing hedonically negative paintings increased the hedonic ratings of subsequently viewed test paintings (positive hedonic contrast; Experiment 1) and also increased the degree of preference between the test paintings (Experiments 2 and 3). This result differs from the reduction in hedonic preference (hedonic condensation) that accompanies negative hedonic contrast. It also differs from the reduction in perceived differences that usually accompanies expansion of stimulus range and that is predicted by numerous theories.     

Parallel response selection in dual-task situations via automatic category-to-response translation

In contrast to the response selection bottleneck theory of dual-task performance, recent studies have demonstrated compatibility effects between secondary and primary responses on Task 1, suggesting that response information for two tasks may be generated in parallel. In two experiments, we examined the nature of Task 2 response activation in parallel with Task 1, using a psychological refractory period paradigm. Evidence of Task 2 to Task 1 response priming when each Task 2 stimulus was unique indicated that automatic parallel generation of response information occurred for Task 2 via abstract semantic category-to-response translation processes, independent of any direct stimulus-response influences. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the traditional response selection bottleneck theory of dual-task performance.     

The relative contribution of formal and informal organizational work-family support

Recent work-family research has proposed that informal means of organizational work-family support (e.g., managerial support) are more useful than formal means of organizational work-family support (e.g., work-family benefit availability) in explaining variance in employee affective, intentional, and behavioral outcomes. However, the relative contributions of formal and informal means of support have not yet been empirically tested against each other. The proposition is tested using data from the Families and Work Institute's 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg, 1998). Two relative importance procedures are used to analyze the data. The results offer compelling evidence that informal means of work-family support explain a greater share of variance in employee outcomes than formal mechanisms do. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.