Religiosity,coping, and suicidality within the religious Zionist community of Israela thematic qualitative analysis

The relationship between religion and mental health has been the subject of extensive research, particularly in recent years. The issues of coping and suicidality have also been widely studied. Significantly, however, how religious people cope with harsh life situations is an area which has been overlooked. The present study based on 18 semi-structured interviews, analyses have members of the Religious Zionist community in Israel cope with harsh life situations. Although the study confirms the conclusions of previous research – in general religion creates a buffer to suicide – the results showed a relatively low impact of religiosity on coping: in general these religious interviewees found it difficult to access their religiosity during harsh life situations. The paper suggests a range of explanations, for example the complexity of personal and collective identities which characterise this group, or – more significantly – the possibilty that religious coping is not actually absent but is only available in a second, later stage of coping.     

The role of religion in moderating the impact of life events on material life goals: some evidence in support of terror management theory

How would religion and a life event carrying an existential threat (LEET) jointly impact a person's life goals of becoming wealthy and successful in one's career? Goal reprioritisation, socioemotional selectivity, and gerotranscendence theories predict a shift away from material goals following a LEET, independent of the effect of religion. However, terror management theory (TMT) predicts that the effect of death thoughts depends on one's prevailing cultural values. As religion can be regarded as a culture, it is possible that Christians' and non-believers' material life goals would be differentially altered by LEET. Data from 1259 young Chinese adults reveal no main effect of LEET, but a strong effect of religion. Moreover, there was an interaction effect between LEET and religion on material life goals: LEET weakened material goals for Christians but not for non-believers. These findings suggest that TMT is more suitable than the other theories for predicting life goal changes.     

Predicting attitudes towards seeking medical care among Nigerian immigrants in the UK

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationships between acculturation, religion, and coping styles; as well as their predictive potentials in relation to socio-demographic factors, on access to medical help among Nigerians in the UK. This is a cross-sectional study using questionnaires for data collection (N?=?297). Results revealed negative correlations between assimilative behaviours and religious behaviours and between religious behaviours, denial and religious coping. High levels of religiosity and coping through behavioural disengagement and self-blame predicted poor attitudes to medical help; but those who used instrumental support, emotional support, and active coping showed more positive attitudes to medical help-seeking. No gender differences in medical help-seeking were found, but older people sought medical help more than those who were younger; while affiliation to the Christian religion predicted positive attitudes towards medical help seeking. These findings have implications for policy development towards tailored interventions that can enhance healthcare utilisation among immigrants.     

The Ways in Which Adolescents Cope and their Relationship to Age,Gender and Specific Religious Variables

This study investigated the roles of age, gender, the importance of religion/spirituality, attending church activities and frequency of prayer on the types of adolescents’ coping strategies. Participants were drawn from ten public high schools. Data on coping strategies, personal variables and religiosity and spirituality were collected using the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE) coping inventory. Scheffé posthoc tests were used to evaluate associations between the coping strategies used by adolescents and the identified personal and faith-oriented variables. Gender and age explained some differences in types of coping strategies preferred. Specifically, females used the developing social support coping strategy more than males; older adolescents used the avoiding problems coping strategy more than younger adolescents. Adolescents for whom religion/spirituality is of lesser importance, obtained a significantly higher mean score for the avoiding problems subscale. Both personal variables (age and gender) as well as one of the faith-oriented variables (importance of religion) were identified as important role players in using developing social support and avoiding problems as coping strategies by adolescents.     

Hardiness: The courage to grow from stresses

The recent emphasis on positive psychology is welcome, and has spurred much relevant research. But, there are still many unresolved conceptual and research issues, as more variables are being proposed as relevant. As part of this process, the present paper proposes hardiness as an addition to positive psychology. Hardiness is a combination of attitudes that provides the courage and motivation to do the hard, strategic work of turning stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. In this regard, the inherently stressful nature of living is discussed. Also clarified are the particular aspects of excellence in performance and health to which hardiness is relevant. The paper concludes with a call for issue-resolving research through which orientations and actions proposed as part of positive psychology can be compared in their contributions to performance and health. Two studies along these lines have found hardiness more powerful than optimism and religiousness in coping with stresses.     

Are there any Good Arguments Against Goal-Line Technology?

Despite frequent calls by players, managers and fans, FIFA's resistance to the implementation of goal-line technology (GLT) has been well documented in national print and online media as well as FIFA's own website. In 2010, FIFA president Sepp Blatter outlined eight reasons why GLT should not be used in football. The reasons given by FIFA can be broadly separated into three categories; those dealing with the nature and value of the game of football, those related to issues of justice, and those concerned with the practical implementation of GLT. This paper intends to evaluate these eight reasons in order to assess whether there are, indeed, any good arguments against GLT in football.     

Predictors of Coping with Work Stress: The Influences of Sex,Gender Role,Social Desirability,and Locus of Control

This investigation examined the influence of 4 personal attributes—sex, gender role, social desirability, and locus of control—as predictors of coping with work stress. Participants were 208 employed adult students (154 females and 54 males), primarily European Americans (90.4%) from working-class backgrounds. Theresults indicated that men were more likely to use alcohol and women more likely to use direct action. Femininity and/or masculinity scores predicted control-related coping butwere unrelated to escape-related coping. High social desirability scores predicted direct action coping, whereas low scores predicted alcohol use. In terms of locus of control, an internal orientation predicted help-seeking and positive thinking, a powerful others orientation predicted avoidance/resignation, and a chance orientation predicted alcohol use.     

Challenge versus threat effects on the goal–performance relationship

This study tested the situational effects of goals and stress on the performance of complex tasks and on adaptation to change in the task. Difficult goals often exceed the individual's resources and thus create stress. However, stress may be appraised as either challenge or threat. Challenge is experienced when there is an opportunity for self-growth with available coping strategies, whereas threat is experienced when the situation is perceived as leading to failure with no available strategies to cope with it. We hypothesized that participants who appraised the situation as a challenge would perform better and adapt better to changes under difficult goal conditions, as compared with general goals or strategy goals. By contrast, threat appraisals would be better addressed by strategy goals rather than difficult goals. One hundred and fifty five students performed a task, which required their making predictions concerning the value of 120 companies' stocks based on three manipulated cues. We used a three by three by two factorial design in which goals, stress, and change (as a repeated factor) were varied to test the hypotheses. Results supported the main hypotheses and demonstrated that the same level of goal difficulty may lead to high or low performance and adaptation to change depending on the appraisal of the situation as challenging or threatening. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are further discussed.     

Psychological Adjustment to Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains a highly prevalent and extraordinarily stressful experience for hundreds of thousands of women each year in the United States and around the world. Psychological research has provided a picture of the emotional and social impact of breast cancer on patients' lives, and of factors associated with better versus worse adjustment. Psychosocial interventions have been beneficial in decreasing patients' distress and enhancing their quality of life. Recent research also suggests that psychological factors may be related to potentially important biological disease-related processes. In addition to providing an understanding of the psychological factors in breast cancer, research in this area has provided a framework for research on adaptation to health-related stress in general.     

待岗人员的应付方式、控制感特点及其关系研究

对待岗人员的应付方式和控制感进行调查发现：（1）待岗人员对待压力的应付方式依次为退避、合理化、求助、自责、发泄。女性更多地采用这五种应付方式,年龄偏大组更倾向于选择合理化和退避,30岁是应付方式发展的转折时期;（2）待岗人员的控制感由高至低依次为环境变化、人际关系、情绪情感和生活方面的控制感。女性更能控制情绪情感;（3）在待岗人员应付待岗后各种压力的情境下,可将退避归为积极的应付方式,将自责、求助、发泄归为消极的应付方式。