Text and context in Fijian Hinduism: Uses of religion

The recent rise of militant religious nationalism in such places as Sri Lanka, Punjab, Iran, Egypt, Israel and elsewhere has created the impression that there is something wrong with religion in these parts of the world. The author of this article, reporting on his extensive interviews with a radical bhikkhu in Sri Lanka, concludes that the problem is with the Western ideal of secular nationalism. It does not easily fit with traditional political identities and it is sometimes seen as a vestige of cultural colonialism. The author presents four options in the relation of secular nationalism and religion, and raises the question of whether we, as secular Westerners, can adjust to a world increasingly filled with religious nationalists.     

Social Dominance Orientation and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism: Additive and Interactive Effects on Political Conservatism

It is commonly accepted that social dominance orientation (SDO) and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) are potent unique predictors of a variety of prejudice and prejudice‐related constructs. However, contrary to some predictions, there has been little evidence that these constructs interact to produce this outcome—they appear to be additive but not interactive in their prediction of prejudice. We extend the interaction hypothesis to consideration of another broadly relevant construct—political ideology. Drawing from 14 independent New Zealand–based samples, we show, through meta‐analysis and multilevel random coefficient modelling, that SDO and RWA additively and interactively predict levels of political conservatism operationalised in a variety of ways. Specifically, both constructs are associated with increasing political conservatism, and the lowest levels of conservatism (or highest levels of political liberalism) are found in those lowest in both SDO and RWA.     

A Sentence Completion Test Assessing Safety and Esteem Motives

This study was concerned with establishing the construct validity of a sentence completion test to assess safety and esteem motives, as characterized by Maslow (1970). A large number of students were given the test and 36 safety-oriented and 36 esteem-oriented Ss were selected and given the manifest anxiety (At), dominance (Do) and dependency (Dy) subscales from the MMPI. As predicted, the results indicated that safety-oriented Ss were significantly higher on manifest anxiety and dependency and lower on dominance than esteem-oriented Ss. Considerations of construct validity in the use of the test were discussed.     

Couples and Diabetes: A 30-Year Narrative Review of Dyadic Relational Research

Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects both members of a couple. However, relatively few studies have focused on the entire couple system as the unit of observation when examining the psychosocial impact of this disease. This narrative review examines the literature between 1980 and 2010 that uses the couple as the unit of observation. A total of 49 articles were identified for review. Articles were grouped by their central themes or outcomes: (1) sexual functioning, (2) relationship adjustment and support, (3) culture and spirituality, (4) treatment/education programs, and (5) diabetes as a risk factor. Research and clinical implications such as increasing the utilization of dyadic analytical strategies and the importance of assessing illness burden from each partners’ perspective are discussed. Identified benefits of incorporating the couple dyad for future research and clinical practice included: (1) understanding the influence of variables such as a non-diabetic partner and gender have on diabetes adjustment and management, (2) the role disease severity and management of diabetes by the partner living with diabetes has on spousal support and non-diabetic partner emotional wellbeing, (3) the interdependent nature of couple outcomes in the areas of adjustment to sexual dysfunction, perceived illness burden, and couple satisfaction, as well as, (4) disease as both an individual and a shared experience among couples.     

A developmental deficit in short-term phonological memory: Implications for language and reading

Abstract

QU, an eight-year-old boy, was identified from a large scale normative study on the basis of his greatly reduced digit span, combined with normal long-term memory and non-verbal intelligence. Further investigation indicated that his visual STM was normal, but that he was clearly impaired on two verbal STM tests, nonword repetition, and memory span for words. His span showed clear effects of phonological similarity and word-length, suggesting qualitatively normal functioning of the phonological loop component of working memory, despite a quantitative impairment in level of performance. This pattern resembles that found in an earlier study of children with a specific language disorder. We tested QU on measures of vocabulary, syntax, and reading, and found him to be substantially below the age norms on all three. The implications of these findings are discussed for the role of the phonological loop in language development.     

Training attention: Interactions between central cues and reflexive attention

Three experiments are reported in which we investigate whether the recently reported interactions between central cues (e.g., arrows) and reflexive attention are attributable to the overlearned spatial properties of certain central cues. In all three experiments, a nonpredictive cue with arbitrary spatial properties (a colour patch) is presented prior to a detection target in the left or right visual field. Reaction times to detect targets are compared before and after a training session in which participants are trained to associate each colour patch with left and right space, either via a target detection task in which colour predicts target location 100% of the time (Experiments 1 and 3), or via a left/right motor movement as a function of colour (Experiments 2 and 3). In the first two experiments, a small but highly significant training effect is observed. Participants are approximately 10 ms faster to detect targets at congruent locations relative to incongruent locations after training relative to before training, despite the fact that cue colour was nonpredictive during the test sessions. In Experiment 3, the length of the training session is increased and the magnitude of the training effect also increases as a result. Implications for the interaction between central cues and reflexive attention, as well as premotor theory of attention, are discussed.     

Exploring the atheist personality: well-being,awe, and magical thinking in atheists,Buddhists, and Christians

Atheists are America’s least trusted group, and stereotypes about them abound: Atheists are non-conformist, sceptical, cynical, and joyless, rarely experiencing awe. Atheists (N?=?42) were recruited from the American atheist website and compared to Christians (N?=?22) and Buddhists (N?=?18). Groups were highly similar in their reported well-being, empathy, and other personality scales, but differed strongly on scales assessing Spirituality and Magical Ideation, where atheists rejected the concepts of spirituality and magical beliefs. Responding to the question, “Have you ever felt wonderment or felt as if you were part of something greater than yourself?,” 71% said “yes,” citing Nature (54%), Science, (30%), Music/Art (12%), and Human cooperation (8%). Respondents explained their lack of belief as deriving from a preference for logic and rationality, suggesting an intellectual component to atheism. Findings thus support the stereotype of atheists as logical, sceptical, and non-conformist, but not as cynical and joyless.