Religious/Spiritual Well-Being,Personality and Mental Health: A Review of Results and Conceptual Issues

The current paper provides background to the development of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-being and then summarises findings derived from its use with other measures of health and personality. There is substantial evidence for religiosity/spirituality being positively related to a variety of indicators of mental health, including subjective well-being and personality dimensions. Furthermore, religiosity/spirituality can play an important role in the process of recovering from mental illness as well as providing a protective function against addictive or suicidal behaviours. However, further research is needed to examine the mechanisms through which religiosity/spirituality have an impact on health-related conditions.     

The role of human body movements in mate selection

It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words' meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individual's quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individual's mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework.     

Adoption of near-coincident-site lattice orientations by contacting monolayer rafts of metallic nanoparticles with different superlattice periodicities

A hexagonal raft of monodisperse alkane-thiol-stabilized Au nanoparticles has been self-assembled from solution on to an amorphous C substrate and then subsequently a second layer of monodisperse but differently sized gold nanoparticles deposited on top of the first. Detailed analysis of electron micrographs obtained from various regions of this bilayer revealed the presence of several distinct epitaxial interface structures. A simple near-coincident-site lattice model is used to rationalize the existence of the observed characteristic nanoparticle interface structures.     

L-Dopa repairs deficits in locomotor and investigatory exploration produced by denervation of catecholamine terminal fields in the forebrain of rats.

In a previous study rats were shown to have decreased locomotor and investigatory exploration after bilateral microinjections of 6-hydroxydopamine into the anterolateral hypothalamus. These deficits correlate with the loss of catecholamine terminals in neocortical, limbic, and anteromedioventral striatal brain sites. To test whether this correlation was causal, central catecholamines were increased by the intraperitoneal administration of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa), 10--40 mg/kg) after inhibition of extracerebral L-amino acid decarboxylase. Such treatment repaired the deficits in locomotor exploration and investigation in 6-hydroxydopamine rats. Pretreatment with the catecholamine antagonist chlorpromazine (1--2 mg/kg) blocked the increase in locomotor exploration and investigation produced by L-dopa in 6-hydroxydopamine rats. The results suggest, but do not prove, that L-dopa produced these behavioral effects by increasing central catecholamines at the denervated catecholamine receptor sites in the forebrain. These data and the data from the previous study are complementary evidence for the hypothesis that forebrain catecholamine synaptic action is necessary for normal exploratory behavior.     

Choosing an Endorser for a Women’s Sporting Event: The Interaction of Attractiveness and Expertise

An experimental study was conducted to determine the impact of expertise and attractiveness on perceived appropriateness of the endorser with a women’s tennis event and, subsequently, attitudes towards the event and intentions to purchase tickets. The sample was comprised of 184 undergraduate students at three U.S. universities. Hypotheses were tested through observed path analysis and results indicated both attractiveness and expertise were significantly related to the endorser’s appropriateness and explained 24% of the variance. However, there was a significant interaction; in the lower expertise condition, the more attractive athlete was rated as a more appropriate endorser. Further, endorser appropriateness led to more positive attitudes and intentions to purchase tickets, and the model explained 13 and 48% of the variance in these variables respectively.     

Self-reported changes in subjective health and anthrax vaccination as reported by over 900 Persian Gulf War era veterans

A 1999 study of United Kingdom servicemembers by Unwin, et al. recently found significant relationships between anthrax and other vaccinations, reactions to those vaccines, and later health problems for male current or former active military Gulf War veterans. Likewise, in 2000 Steele and in 1998 Gilroy found possible adverse effects of vaccinations on Gulf War veterans. However, the role of such vaccinations remains controversial; more recent government reports continue to dispute the existence of any data that might reflect adversely on the role of vaccinations on the health of Gulf War veterans. To address this controversy, the current study assessed similar relationships for over 900 Reserve Component Gulf War Era veterans from Ohio and nearby states. Gulf War veterans were more likely to report poorer health than non-Gulf veterans. Female veterans were more likely to report mild or severe reactions to vaccines than male veterans. Those veterans who received anthrax vaccine reported more reactions to vaccines than those who did not receive anthrax vaccine. Declines in long-term subjective health were associated with receipt of anthrax vaccine by Gulf War veterans but not for those who did not deploy to the Gulf, although few of the latter received anthrax vaccine. Regardless of deployment status, veterans who reported more severe reactions to vaccines were more likely to report declines in subjective health. Female veterans reported poorer health during the Gulf War than did male veterans, but sex was not related to veterans' reports of subjective health at subsequent times. It is recommended that servicemembers who experience severe reactions to anthrax vaccine be medically reevaluated before receiving further anthrax vaccine and that careful follow-ups be conducted of those receiving the vaccine currently, in accordance with Nass's 1999 recommendations. We also recommend that safer alternatives to thimerosal (a mercury sodium salt, 50% mercury) be used to preserve all vaccines.     

Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS): Further evidence for an adjustment in relation to own height

In contemporary Western populations, some physical characteristics are sexually dimorphic, and it is known that these traits also affect human mate preferences. Height is one such characteristic, and evidence suggests that females prefer taller over shorter males, indeed, taller males have been found to have greater reproductive success. However, relative height is also important with ‘Sexual Dimorphism in Stature’ (SDS) calculated as male height/female height. Pawlowski (2003) showed that people adjust their preferences for SDS in relation to their own height in order to increase their potential pool of partners. The aim of the present study was to replicate Pawlowski’s study on a larger sample of participants, and to investigate the universality of the reported preference adjustment within European societies. We present data of 1102 men and women from three countries (Germany, Austria, and the UK) that confirm Pawlowski’s original data on a Polish sample. Moreover, the mechanism of an adjustment of SDS preferences in relation to own height was found in all three countries, suggesting that height dependent partner preference is a genuine feature in Western societies.     

Transient overexpression of the 5-HT1A receptor impairs water-maze but not hole-board performance

Previously, we showed that mice that overexpress the 5-HT(1A) receptor transiently from embryonic to perinatal stages show reduced anxiety and changes in brain serotonin turnover as adults. Here, we investigated the long-term effects of the temporary overexpression of the 5-HT(1A) receptor during early embryonic and perinatal development on the performance in two memory tasks. In the hole-board test mice that were homozygous for the transgene showed similar behavioral habituation but increased locomotion compared to heterozygous mice. In contrast water-maze performance of homozygous mice was impaired compared to heterozygous mice. These results suggest that a transient overexpression of 5-HT(1A) receptor during embryonic and perinatal development has detrimental effects on water-maze performance at adult stages.