Effects of pedestrian prompts on motorist yielding at crosswalks

Pedestrian safety is a serious concern at busy intersections and pedestrian campuses across the nation. Although crosswalks and signs inform pedestrians where to cross, there is no standard protocol for pedestrians to signal drivers that they wish to use the crosswalks, except to stand in or at the crosswalk. We examined the effects of two pedestrian prompts, a raised hand and extended arm, on motorist yielding at uncontrolled crosswalks. The two prompts were effective at increasing yielding.     

Just Call Me by My Name: Worship Music in Asian Ecumenism

This article examines the historical development of worship music in Asian ecumenism by examining three ecumenical hymnals from the 1960s to the present. It identifies key personalities and institutions involved in the formation of Asian worship music. The essay argues that the maturation of Asian Christian spirituality via music making requires the church to hold in tension both its missional heritage and local cultural practices. It proposes the development of robust theo‐liturgical scholarship as being critical in helping the church mature.     

Relationship between positive mental health and appreciation in Korean individuals

Appreciation is a key component of subjective well‐being and may contribute to positive mental health. Few studies have examined relationships between specific aspects of appreciation and the 3 dimensions of positive mental health, and thus, the aim of this study was to identify associations between aspects of appreciation and positive mental health. Appreciation and positive mental health were measured in 266 Korean university students (50% females) using the Appreciation Inventory and the Mental Health Continuum‐Short Form. The results obtained showed that Have Focus significantly predicted Emotional Well‐being; Have Focus and Loss/Adversity significantly predicted Social Well‐being and Have Focus, Expression and Nature/Daily Life significantly predicted Psychological Well‐being. The implications of results that might enable positive mental health to be enhanced are discussed.     

Jesus versus Jihad: Economic Shocks and Religious Violence in the Indonesian Republic at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Indonesia was at the forefront of international attention due to its multi-dimensional conflicts from Aceh in the west to Irian Jaya in the east, which threatened to tear the nation, already stricken by economic crisis, apart. This paper seeks to critically examine the various economic, social, and political aspects of Indonesia that have led to the sectarian conflict in various parts of the archipelago, which has threatened the very integrity of the Indonesian republic.     

Correlates of Academic Procrastination and Students’ Grade Goals

This study examined correlates of academic procrastination and students’ grade goals in a sample of 226 undergraduates from Singapore. Findings indicated that self-efficacy for self-regulated learning was significantly and negatively related to procrastination. High self-efficacy for self-regulated learning also predicted students’ expectations of doing well and low self-efficacy for self-regulated learning predicted students’ expectations of not doing well academically. Additionally, help-seeking predicted students’ expectations of doing well academically while academic stress predicted students’ expectations of not doing well academically. Implications for education and educational practice were discussed. This project was partially supported by the Undergraduate Research Experience on Campus (URECA) program from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.     

Weight‐Based Discrimination in Occupational Hiring and Helping Behavior1

This study explored weight‐based discrimination using a range of weight categories, as represented by images of real women with known body mass index (BMI). In the first study, 30 men rated each image according to likelihood of occupational hiring for a managerial post. In the second study, 28 men rated the same images for likelihood of helping behavior following a minor accident. Study results showed that individuals with a slender body weight (BMI = 19–20) were most likely to be hired and helped, while obese (BMI > 30) participants were least likely to be hired and helped. However, results also showed that emaciated (BMI < 15) individuals were likely to be discriminated against. Implications for real‐life settings are discussed.     

Nicotine craving and cue exposure therapy by using virtual environments.

Smokers who are exposed to cues associated with smoking show cardiovascular reactivity and an increase in smoking urges as compared to when they are presented with neutral cues. Cue exposure therapy (CET), which refers to the repeated exposure to drug-related cues in order to extinguish this learned association, has increasingly been proposed as a potential treatment of addictive behaviors, including tobacco smoking. The result of our pilot study suggests that a cue elicited using a virtual environment (VE) is more effective than other cue exposure devices. The VE was composed of craving environments (virtual bar) and objects (an alcoholic drink, a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, an ashtray, a glass of beer, and advertising posters) that are likely to trigger craving, a smoking avatar, and an audio environment that included the noisy sound and music of a restaurant. Sixteen late-adolescent males who smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day were recruited to participate in the VE-CET study. The CET virtual bar program consisted of six sessions, and the participants were exposed repeatedly to each session using different questions and procedures. Although the effects of CET did not yield significant reductions in all of the dependent variables, the craving for cigarettes was gradually decreased during the course of the sessions. This tendency was closely related to the reduction in the smoking count between the morning before the experiment and the start of the experiment. Based on these preliminary results, it appears that VE-CET maybe a useful tool to use in treatment programs to help reduce craving in those who are nicotine dependent.