Mind Attribution to Gods and Christians in the Chinese Cultural Context

Drawing on the distinction in mind perception between agency and experience, this research examined whether and how culture-based religion affects mind attribution to gods and Christians in a religious priming paradigm. When attributing mind to gods in Study 1, participants in the religious priming condition attributed more agency to gods than those in the neutral condition. When attributing mind to human religious targets in Study 2, religious participants in the religious priming condition attributed more experience to a Christian target than those in the neutral condition, while atheist participants in the religious priming condition attributed less experience to a Christian target than those in the neutral condition. In addition, religious participants in the religious priming condition attributed more experience to an atheist target than those in the neutral condition. Taken together, mind attribution to religious targets varied on agency and experience, and showed its own cultural features in China.     

Spouses' responses to the dietary nonadherence of their partners managing diabetes

The association between patients' dietary nonadherence and spouses' involvement in patients' diabetes diet was examined, with spouses' anxiety about nonadherence considered as a mediator of this association. Daily diary data from 128 older adult patients with type 2 diabetes and their spouses were analyzed using multilevel models. Results revealed that on days when patients reported less adherence to their diabetes diet than usual, spouses reported greater anxiety about patients' diabetes management, which, in turn, was related to greater spousal persuasion and pressure the same day. The association between patients' nonadherence and diet‐related support on the same day was not mediated, however, through spouses' anxiety. The findings contribute to an understanding of spouses' responses to patients' nonadherence to their diabetes regimen.     

指向三级预防的婚姻教育

以实证研究为基础的婚姻教育是一种预防取向的心理教育模式, 近40年来被广泛研究和全面推动。婚姻教育在形成和发展时期主要面向婚前阶段中产阶级高功能伴侣, 是一种广泛性预防。针对贫穷等处境不利伴侣的选择性预防和处于抑郁早期伴侣的指导性预防是当前研究的重点。基于三级预防模型的婚姻教育在理论基础、研究方法等方面还存在诸多不足, 未来婚姻教育的进一步发展应从理论与研究、项目设计与实施等方面展开深入研究。     

Culture Wars and COVID-19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism,Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans’ behavioral responses were quickly politicized. Those on the left stressed precautionary behaviors, while those on the (religious) right were more likely to disregard recommended precautions. We propose the far right response was driven less by partisanship or religiosity per se, but rather by an ideology that connects disregard for scientific expertise; a conception of Americans as God's chosen and protected people; distrust for news media; and allegiance to Trump―Christian nationalism. Analyzing panel data collected in the thick of the COVID-19 crisis, we find Christian nationalism was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in incautious behavior like eating in restaurants, visiting family/friends, or gathering with 10+ persons (though not attending church), and was the second strongest predictor that Americans took fewer precautions like wearing a mask or sanitizing/washing one's hands. Religiosity, in contrast, was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in more frequent precautionary behaviors. Findings document that Christian nationalism, not religious commitment per se, undergirded the far-right response to COVID-19 that disregarded precautionary recommendations, thus potentially worsening the pandemic.     

Christ's Love as the Basis of the Church's Faith Witness to Muslims

According to the Christian view, the essence of the triune God is revealed in the relational event between God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible says of this God, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). By way of example, the article explores “God's love” to show that the Qur'an's conception of God is incompatible with key tenets of the New Testament. Thus, when keeping both conceptions of God in view, we cannot speak of one and the same God. Now what does this mean for the pursuit of conciliatory relations between Christians and Muslims? Which relational paradigms need to be kept in mind? After reflecting on the concepts of neighbourliness, companionship, and hospitality, the article goes on to trace the conceptual outlines of Christian mission as a mission of God's love (missio amoris Dei). Its hypothesis is that a characteristically Christian conception of God can supply useful motifs for appreciative and conciliatory actions by Christians toward Muslims. Finally, the author proposes a theology of interreligious relations (which he has elaborated upon elsewhere) as an alternative approach to conventional theologies of religion.     

Marital satisfaction in covenant versus standard marriages: Is there a difference?

After the rapid increase of the American divorce rate in the late 20th century, one of the most conspicuous efforts of the marriage movement in the 1990s that was used to increase marital stability was the legislation of the covenant marriage license, a more restricted marriage license issued in three different states of the U.S. To investigate the marital life of newlywed covenant versus standard couples, a large-scale 5-year couple study was conducted between 1998 and 2003 in Louisiana. The present study uses this large-sample, multiple-wave, multiple-group dyadic dataset to examine differences in co-development and divorce rates in 297 covenant and 380 standard mixed-sex couples using a multiple group growth curve modeling and survival analysis. We examined differences in marital trajectories between covenant and standard couples as well as between husbands and wives in each marital group. The results show (1) that the couples in both groups experienced, on average, declines in marital satisfaction, and such a decline was slower in covenant husbands than their wives as well as those in standard marriages, and (2) that co-development in marital satisfaction was more prominent in standard marriages than in covenant marriages, meaning standard couple's marital satisfaction declined at a more similar rate than that of covenant couples. We provide possible explanations and discuss practical implications.     

Reconstructing Hymens or Constructing Sexual Inequality? Service Provision to Islamic Young Women Coping with the Demand to be a Virgin

In Islamic culture, there is an imperative demand that women should be virgins on their wedding night. Service providers in The Netherlands are increasingly confronted by Islamic young women who find themselves in serious difficulties because they are no longer virgins, and are about to enter a forced or arranged marriage. These young women report a diversity of problems such as loneliness, social isolation, depression, despair, suicidal feelings, identity problems and serious conflicts with parents. In this article we focus attention on the circumstances that can result in these types of difficulties, and also critically consider the kinds of help that young Islamic women are given. Attention is paid to the question of whether existing forms of service provision, especially surgical reconstruction of the hymen, take sexual and other inequalities into account.     

The analysis of the homoerotic and the pursuit of meaning

This paper explores the dynamic tension between an evolving collective phenomenon and the nature of analytic process. Specifically, the focus will be erotic experiences which acquire a meaning through the culture at large, a meaning that may not be supportable when that material is subjected to psychological analysis. This stimulates a conflict between the symbolic attitude and the cultural perspective of the time. While the struggle between the individual and collective consciousness always emerges in analysis, the subject of same-gender sexual relations has become such a controversial and divisive issue in the current political environment that views toward homosexuality demand powerful allegiances and identification with either historic or contemporary ideas. People now identify as 'gay' and tend to see themselves as something akin to a race or perhaps alternative gender. Sexuality and relationship between same gendered people tends to be viewed through the lens of civil rights and the undeniable need for social equality. In this far-reaching and expanding collective phenomenon, psychology, in its support of human rights and accommodation to emerging trends, may be diminished in its capacity to pursue the meaning inherent in these human experiences. The position developed in this paper is that psychological experience, whether in the imaginal realm, dreams or personal consciousness, must be available for full analysis. Clinical experience and dreams are used to amplify this challenge to dynamic analytic practice.     

Incarnational Christian psychology and psychotherapy: What do we believe and what do we do?

The following paper proposes a viewpoint regarding the working assumptions, theology and practice for an “incarnational” psychology or “Christian psychology,” particularly with regard to psychotherapy. This essay is primarily meant to be an affirmation and guide for those Christian psychologists and others working in the allied professions. However, both veteran theorists and newcomers to such inquiry will benefit from this essay. Discussion begins with the dynamic of surrendering and receiving a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The understanding of the unique person as soul: in mind, body, life and spirit is discussed. In addition, the working of the incarnate Holy Spirit is elaborated for both therapist and patient in the regenerative and therapeutic process. Psychopathology is reframed in reference to the Judeo-Christian revelation of sin and evil. In addition, truth, falsity and psychopathology are considered in light of the essentially regenerated man/woman or “new creation” in Christ. Some practical examples for psychotherapeutic intervention are offered, including the unique role of the Christian psychologist and his or her relationship with both patient and Christ. Seven major assumptions of “incarnational” or Christian psychology, which diverge from purely secular (psychological) theory and practice, are presented. Lastly, Christian psychology is distinguished from both “integrated” psychology and theology; and Biblical counseling.