Intraindividual differences dimensions of mood change during pregnancy identified in five P-technique factor analyses

Daily-self-ratings of mood and state were obtained for approximately 120 days of observation from five pregnant subjects. Measurements were based on a total pool of 75 adjectives culled from the literature to represent eight dimensions of affect established in primarily cross-sectional studies. The data were analyzed in a P-technique factor analysis context to determine both the extent to which interindividual differences and intraindividual variability concepts were interchangeable and how general such intraindividual variability concepts were among different subjects. Although evidence was found that subjects construe many adjectives differently, for dimensions such as Energy, Well Being, Fatigue, and Concentration, the data indicate that cross-sectionally and longitudinally based personality concepts exhibit a fair degree of convergence.     

The Rothko Chapel Paintings and the ‘urgency of the transcendent experience’

Since the Romantic period, painters have no longer made use of traditional Christian iconography to express religious transcendence. Taking their cue from Schleiermacher’s Reden Über die Religion, painters have sought for new, personal ways to express religious transcendence. One example is Caspar David Friedrich’s Monk by the Sea. Rosenblum argues, in his Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tradition, that there is a parallel between Friedrich and the abstract expressionist Rothko with respect to the expression to religious transcendence. In this article I investigate how the experience of transcendence that Rothko’s paintings want to evoke is to be described. Is it an experience of the sublime in the Romantic tradition? Is it the evocation of the ultimate in accordance with Tillich’s broad concept of religion? Does it display affinity between Rothko and the first generation of abstract painters such as Kandinsky and Malevich? Or is it a transcendent experience that cannot be situated so easily within the options supplied? After determining Rothko’s understanding of transcendence, some issues will be brought up that could be fruitful for Christian theology.     

The Effect of Pastoral Care Services on Anxiety,Depression, Hope,Religious Coping,and Religious Problem Solving Styles: A Randomized Controlled Study

This randomized controlled study measured the effect of chaplain interventions on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients over time. One hundred sixty-six CABG patients, received pre- and post-surgery testing at 1 month and 6 months with four instruments. Five chaplain visits were made to the intervention group, the control group received none. Comparison scores for anxiety, depression, hope, positive and negative religious coping, and religious coping styles were analyzed. Significant difference was found between groups in positive religious coping (PRC) (p = .023) and negative religious coping (NRC) (p = .046) scores over time. PRC increased in intervention group, decreased in the control group while NRC decreased in intervention group and increased in the control group. Demographics were comparable between groups. Moderate chaplain visits (average total visits time, 44 min) may be effective in helping CABG patients increase positive religious coping and decrease negative religious coping.

Cultural Influences in the Aetiological Beliefs of Saudi Arabian Primary Care Patients About Their Symptoms: The Association of Religious and Psychological Beliefs

Objective To develop a self-report questionnaire to measure the beliefs of Arabic primary care patients about the causes of their physical symptoms; to use this to quantify the beliefs of patients consulting their general practitioners (GPs) in Saudi Arabia; and to test whether patients with psychological problems differ from others in their beliefs, particularly religious and supernatural beliefs. Methods Consecutive patients (N = 224) completed a specially developed aetiological beliefs’ questionnaire. Patients were divided into two groups (cases and non-cases of emotional disorder) according to the GHQ-12. Results Religious and supernatural aspects of culture colour patients’ symptom beliefs: that their symptoms were a test or punishment from Allah’ was the most common belief. Even in non-cases, around half the patients also endorsed nerves and stress as a cause of their physical symptoms. Cases were more likely than non-cases to endorse items related to both religious and psychological factors. Conclusion There is no support for the view that Saudi Arabian patients explain symptoms supernaturally as a way of denying psychological factors. GPs and health professionals in Saudi primary care need to understand what patients believe to be the cause of their problems and to appreciate that religious and psychological beliefs are both very common. GPs should address psychological beliefs and concerns even with those patients who present physical symptoms.     

Assessing Belief in the 10 Commandments: The Multidimensional 10 Commandments Questionnaire

Instruments designed to assess various aspects of religion are widespread, but few have been constructed to assess specific religious values and beliefs. The purpose of the present research was to address this limitation by providing preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the Multidimensional 10 Commandments Questionnaire (M10CQ), a self-report instrument that measures belief in the 10 Commandments. Data from three separate samples provided evidence supporting the reliability (i.e., internal consistency) of the M10CQ subscales. Other results indicated that women endorsed many of the 10 Commandments more strongly than men, and that various Commandments predicted people’s mental health (less hostility), their parenting style (more authoritarian and authoritative parenting), and their interpersonal attachments (a more trusting bond with others). The findings reported in this research help to identify the ways in which religious values and beliefs are integrated with multiple aspects of people’s lives. The discussion highlights the usefulness of the Multidimensional 10 Commandments Questionnaire (M10CQ) for studying religious beliefs and values.

The Role of Culture in the Relationship Between Religiosity and Psychological Well-being

Several measures of religious practice and religious orientation (intrinsic/extrinsic/quest) and two measures of psychological well-being (positive affect and negative affect) have been employed in a cross-cultural survey of undergraduate university students from five different cultural/religious environments: Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, the United States of America, and Japan. Results suggest that measures of exstrinsic, intrinsic, and quest religiosity are not entirely applicable in most of the cultures observed. Nevertheless, it was possible to discern abbreviated cross-culturally valid scales for each dimension. The strength and direction of the correlation between psychological well-being and a particular type of religious orientation proved to depend substantially upon culture. More importantly, the cultural environment plays a crucial role in shaping the relationship between general measures of religiosity and psychological well-being. According to the data, higher general levels of religiosity at the societal level are linked to more positive correlations between religiosity and psychological well-being. The overall picture leads to the conclusion that there is no culturally universal pattern in the relationship between measures of religiosity and psychological well-being and that the particular cultural and religious context should always be considered in studies dealing with this issue.

Comparing Biographical Backgrounds of Religious Founders and Converts to Those Religions: An Exploratory Study

This paper is an exploratory, preliminary investigation of the possible links between the biographical backgrounds and developmental trajectories of major religious figures such as Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Buddha, and Baha’u’llah, and the backgrounds of those who convert to these religions (or certain groups within these religions) in the West. This article ends with the hypothesis that in terms of biographical backgrounds and motivations for conversion, followers’ narratives resemble those of their religious leaders in some areas.

A Commentary on Religious Conflicts and a Call for a Focus on the Best the Traditions have to Offer

The casual observer of the religious traditions cannot get a very good impression when attending to the daily news. One might easily conclude that much of the troubles in the world today are caused by religious conflicts and the inability of the religious communities to get along. Sometimes, it appears that the planet would be better off without religion at all. Tragically, most of the general population are perhaps religious illiterates who focus on religious differences and conflicts rather than similarities and what they offer at their best. While there are a number of efforts by scholars and others to improve interfaith respect and conversation, our world would be better off if we focused on the best the religious traditions have to offer rather than the worst as well as respecting and being open to traditions other than our own. This could be accomplished if religious education and training were greatly altered.