PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR HANDLING JOB STRESS: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND OPINION

The medical and psychological literature pertaining to personal and organizational strategies for handling Job stress is reviewed. The paucity of research in this domain is emphasized as is the lack of involvement by industrial/organizational psychologists. Many strategies for managing job stress exist but their effectiveness has not been evaluated. It is important that such strategies receive the immediate, scientific attention of I/O psychologists. Issues that must be faced before significant progress can be achieved are discussed.     

Experimental Evidence that Theistic-Religious Body Affirmations Improve Women's Body Image

We examined in a random-assignment, pretest-posttest design whether college women's body image would improve after reading religious and spiritual affirmations about their bodies. The sample was predominantly white and Christian. In a pretest, women completed measures of religiosity and body esteem (how they felt about their weight and appearance) and were then assigned via matched random assignment to three different groups for a treatment and posttest one week later. In the Religious group, women read affirmations with a theistic and Christian-based tone that emphasized God's love and acceptance of their bodies; in the Spiritual group, women read body affirmations with a more positive secular tone and no mention of God; Control group women read random statements about campus issues. After reading the affirmations, women then viewed photos of "thin ideal" fashion models to activate body image concerns. Women next completed the posttest body esteem measures. Women in the Religious group increased significantly compared to Control women (who declined) in how they felt about their appearance and looks. Women in the Spiritual condition improved marginally compared to the Control condition.     

LOCKE ON SENSITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND THE VEIL OF PERCEPTION – FOUR MISCONCEPTIONS1

Abstract: Interpreters of Locke's Essay are divided over whether to attribute to him a Representational Theory of Perception (RTP). Those who object to an RTP interpretation cite (among other things) Locke's Book IV account of sensitive knowledge, contending that the account is incompatible with RTP. The aim of this paper is to rebut this kind of objection – to defend an RTP reading of the relevant Book IV passages. Specifically, I address four influential assumptions (about sensitive knowledge) cited by opponents of an RTP interpretation and argue that in each case the assumption is false.