Religiosity moderates the relationship between negative affect and life satisfaction: A study in 29 European countries

Many religions contend that the key to well-being is living one’s life based on religious standards, rather having certain emotional experiences. On this basis, it is predicted that the relationship between positive and negative affect and life satisfaction would be stronger in less religious individuals. Using multi-level modeling in a sample of 50,130 participants from 29 European countries, this study reveals that religiosity moderates the relationship between negative affect and life satisfaction, such that life satisfaction is less strongly influenced by the frequency of negative emotions in more religious (vs less religious) individuals.     

Are conservatives happier than liberals? Not always and not everywhere

Prior research has shown that conservatives report higher levels of subjective well-being than liberals (happiness gap). We investigate to what extent this phenomenon exists in different time periods within the United States (Study 1, N = 40,000) and in different countries (Study 2, N = 230,000). Consistent with our hypotheses grounded in the “shared reality” and person-culture fit literature, conservatives were happier and more satisfied with their lives than liberals to the extent that the conservative political ideology prevailed in their socio-cultural context, be it a specific time period in the U.S. or a specific country. These results show that the happiness gap between conservatives and liberals is less universal than previously assumed.     

Hamlet: plea for a measure of normality

The author first considers issues in psychoanalytic interpretations of literary characters, especially the question of treating the character as fiction (the aesthetic illusion) or as a real person. The position he adopts is to interpret Hamlet as a potential person, created by Shakespeare and an expression of Shakespeare’s actual – and intuitive – view of man.

With a synopsis of the tragedy and the context of its creation as background, the author then reflects on questions concerning the play. How does Shakespeare present the characters? Is Hamlet’s madness pretended or real? Which conflicts does he handle in the course of the play? Has Oedipal dynamics a role as motivational factor in his mind?

Hamlet is irrational, impulsive, emotional, inhibited, brooding, suspicious, revengeful, condemning and much more. But, in the view of the author, he is all this in a human, ‘normal’ way. There is nothing convincingly pathological or constricted in his character. ‘Un-normal’ is his intelligence and his wit. Hamlet – an intelligent, reflected, resourceful prince in late Renaissance – who has wrestle with a madhouse of political intrigues, family murders and deceitful friends.

Hamlet in Shakespeare’s text – a fairly normal person in quite a mad world.     

Life Design Counseling outcome and process: A case study with an adolescent

This article aims to explore the relationship between clients' narrative transformation and the promotion of vocational decidedness and career maturity in a mid-adolescent case of Life Design Counseling (LDC). To assess LDC outcomes the Vocational Certainty Scale and the Career Maturity Inventory — Form C were used before and after the intervention. To intensively analyze the process of LDC change two measures of narrative change were used: the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS), as a measure of innovation emergence, and the Return to the Problem Coding System (RPCS), as a measure of ambivalence towards change. The results show that the three LDC sessions produced a significant change in vocational certainty but not in career maturity. Findings confirm that the process of change, according to the IMCS, is similar to the one observed in previous studies with adults. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Psychometric evaluation of the satisfaction with life scale in Togo: A three-step approach

IntroductionThe Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985) is considered the most widely used psychometric scale for assessing life satisfaction. Despite plethora of cross-cultural research that provided evidences of its robustness, none was conducted in French-speaking sub-Saharan countries such as Togo.ObjectiveAccordingly, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the validity of the SWLS extensively among Togolese college students (n = 460) in a three-step approach from 2012 to 2014.Method and resultsFirstly, social representations of well-being were explored qualitatively. Then, the original version of the SWLS was administered. Based on the results we gathered, a scale item was altered. Psychometric properties of the revised version of the SWLS were examined, revealing adequate construct validity, reliability, temporal stability, measurement invariance across gender, convergent validity with a single measure of life satisfaction, and discriminant validity with various life domain satisfactions.ConclusionLimitations and implications in life satisfaction measurement are also discussed with regards to the Togolese cultural context.     

The Community Child Health Network Life Stress Interview: a brief chronic stress measure for community health research

Background and Objectives: Chronic stress is implicated in many theories as a contributor to a wide range of physical and mental health problems. The current study describes the development of a chronic stress measure that was based on the UCLA Life Stress Interview (LSI) and adapted in collaboration with community partners for use in a large community health study of low-income, ethnically diverse parents of infants in the USA (Community Child Health Network [CCHN]). We describe the instrument, its purpose and adaptations, implementation, and results of a reliability study in a subsample of the larger study cohort. Design and Methods: Interviews with 272 mothers were included in the present study. Chronic stress was assessed using the CCHN LSI, an instrument designed for administration by trained community interviewers to assess four domains of chronic stress, each rated by interviewers. Results: Significant correlations ranging from small to moderate in size between chronic stress scores on this measure, other measures of stress, biomarkers of allostatic load, and mental health provide initial evidence of construct and concurrent validity. Reliability data for interviewer ratings are also provided. Conclusions: This relatively brief interview (15 minutes) is available for use and may be a valuable tool for researchers seeking to measure chronic stress reliably and validly in future studies with time constraints.     

The spatial metaphor of Utopia in Russian culture and in analysis

The spatial metaphor of Utopia is considered from a Jungian perspective along with its role in Russian culture and in analysis. Such post‐Jungian concepts as the cultural complex and the archetypal story pattern of a victim are used in considering the desperate longing for a rescuer in patients' narratives and in Russian society. A clinical vignette is provided to illustrate these ideas.