Traumatic Stress and Religion: Is there a Relationship? A Review of Empirical Findings

Based on a history of close conceptual link, empirical studies are beginning to accumulate that investigate the relationship between trauma and religion. A review of empirical studies that examined the relationship between religion/spirituality and PTSD showed mixed findings (n = 11). Though the direction of association varied among studies, all but one study reported significant associations between the two. Factors that might have contributed to the mixed findings are discussed (e.g., measurements, research design). Overall, these results appear to be encouraging toward confirming the conceptual link between religion and trauma. Further research investigating the direction of causation and possible moderators of the association may contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between trauma and religion.Yung Chen, Ph.D. was a research fellow at Duke University Medical Center, and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.Harold Koenig, M.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center.     

Omitted Variables in Multilevel Models

Statistical methodology for handling omitted variables is presented in a multilevel modeling framework. In many nonexperimental studies, the analyst may not have access to all requisite variables, and this omission may lead to biased estimates of model parameters. By exploiting the hierarchical nature of multilevel data, a battery of statistical tools are developed to test various forms of model misspecification as well as to obtain estimators that are robust to the presence of omitted variables. The methodology allows for tests of omitted effects at single and multiple levels. The paper also introduces intermediate-level tests; these are tests for omitted effects at a single level, regardless of the presence of omitted effects at a higher level. A simulation study shows, not surprisingly, that the omission of variables yields bias in both regression coefficients and variance components; it also suggests that omitted effects at lower levels may cause more severe bias than at higher levels. Important factors resulting in bias were found to be the level of an omitted variable, its effect size, and sample size. A real data study illustrates that an omitted variable at one level may yield biased estimators at any level and, in this study, one cannot obtain reliable estimates for school-level variables when omitted child effects exist. However, robust estimators may provide unbiased estimates for effects of interest even when the efficient estimators fail, and the one-degree-of-freedom test helps one to understand where the problem is located. It is argued that multilevel data typically contain rich information to deal with omitted variables, offering yet another appealing reason for the use of multilevel models in the social sciences. This research was supported by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and the National Science Foundation, Grant Number SES-0436274.     

The effect of salience on mental accounting: how integration versus segregation of payment influences purchase decisions

Although mental accounting principles are generally robust, the integration‐of‐losses principle often fails. This research argues that when information salience is high, people actively segregate. To demonstrate that effect, this research uses purchase decision making for which the total payment is a key decision factor and compares examples such as the following equivalent total payments: “$120.95 for a stroller plus $19.95 for shipping” (i.e., segregation) versus “$140.90 for a stroller including shipping” (i.e., integration). Two studies demonstrate that integration increases purchase intentions when the salience of the smaller payment is higher. Specifically, integration leads to higher purchase intentions than does segregation when (1) the surcharge is visually more salient, (2) the surcharge is easy to process, and (3) price perceptions are stimulus instead of recall driven. Therefore, this research extends mental accounting by identifying conditions in which the integration‐of‐losses principle is likely to prevail. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health Locus of Control After Lung Transplantation: Implications for Managing Health

Health locus of control (HLC) beliefs may influence the health behaviors that patients perform on their own behalf. Likewise, the HLC beliefs that clinicians consider desirable may influence how active they encourage patients to be in managing health. It remains unclear how involved lung recipients want to be and how involved transplant clinicians believe they should be. The aims of this study were to describe HLC beliefs and behaviors manifested by recipients and clinicians in the setting of lung transplantation. Mixed-methods were used, including quantitative techniques to measure demographics, clinical characteristics, and HLC using the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC), and qualitative techniques to explore how HLC beliefs were manifest in the clinical setting. Nearly all participants manifested behaviors consistent with high internality and externality, highlighting the importance of holding ‘dual health locus of control’ beliefs for optimal health management and lending support for recipients and clinicians to share responsibility for managing post-transplant health.Funded by the Nursing & Social Sciences Council of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation.     

Training vs. Education in Forming Won Buddhist Kyomus in the USA

Abstract. An historically familiar tension in East Asian Buddhism between meditation and cultivation in broad learning has appeared in discussions and planning for preparing ministerial students in Won Buddhism. This paper reviews the history of preparation in this order, which was founded in 1916. While the alternatives of training based on practice and education based on classroom intellectual experience have occurred in Won Buddhism, the tension has appeared within the recently founded Won Institute of Graduate Studies in the USA in a clear manner. While the pre‐ministerial students coming from Korea have preferred the experiential/practical emphasis, it is recognized that graduate education in the USA normally requires broader learning and critical thinking. The faculty of Won Institute respects both strategies and their respective, almost incompatible, goals, and has tried to create a curriculum embracing both. This effort is described and viewed in the context of Won participation in a culture of pluralism and interreligious relations.     

The Postcolonial Biblical Reader – R.S. Sugirtharajah

Book reviewed:
The Postcolonial Biblical Reader , R.S. Sugirtharajah (ed.), Blackwell Publishing 2006 (1-4051-3350-3), xii + 317 pp., pb $32.95     

Perceiving discrimination: Psychological and sociopolitical barriers

Recognizing discrimination is not always an easy thing to do. This is particularly true in North America where perpetrators’ fears of being labelled have resulted in a shift in the type of discrimination experienced. Incidents may be subtle and ambiguous. As a country of immigration, Canada provides a template for the world community. While conditions for minorities in Canada may rival other countries, improvement is needed. In this paper, narratives of East and Central African Asian Ismailis in Québec are analyzed to demonstrate that understanding the way people perceive discrimination requires not only knowledge of the psychological processes involved but also of the reasons for immigrating, the beliefs about the country of destination prior to migration, and the socio-political conditions in host and sending, societies. The results of this analysis provide policy-relevant information in order to address problems of racism and discrimination more effectively.     

How the interplay of imagined contact and first-person narratives improves attitudes toward stigmatized immigrants: A conditional process model

This article assesses the mechanisms whereby first-person narratives featuring stigmatized immigrants improve outgroup attitudes and encourage intergroup contact among prejudiced individuals. We rely on a 2 (imagined contact vs. control) × 2 (similar vs. dissimilar message protagonist) experiment on a systematic sample of native British adults. Results show that encouraging imagined contact prior to reading a short testimonial featuring an immigrant protagonist who is similar to the recipients in terms of social identity enhances identification with the protagonist, thereby improving outgroup attitudes and encouraging intergroup contact, and especially strongly among those who are prejudiced toward immigrants (i.e., high on modern racism). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for the work on imagined contact, narrative persuasion, and identification, as well as for public communication campaigns, are discussed.