Perception,use and abolition of corporal punishment among high school teachers in a district in southwestern Nigeria

Students in many regions of the world experience corporal punishment in multiple settings, although what is currently known about corporal punishment is derived from parental corporal punishment. Using a convenience sample of 271 teachers in 14 public and private secondary schools in a district in southwestern Nigeria, this article describes the associations between perception, use and support for abolition of corporal punishment. Results suggest that having children, more corporal punishment of own children and higher frequency of corporal punishment by colleagues were associated with frequent use of corporal punishment. Frequency of corporal punishment by colleagues accounted for the strongest variance in frequent use of corporal punishment. Lower corporal punishment of own children was associated with higher endorsement of abolition of corporal punishment from schools, whereas being male was associated with higher endorsement of abolition of corporal punishment from society. Teachers endorsed abolition of corporal punishment not only from schools but also from society. These findings highlight the “bandwagon” effect and teacher characteristics as potential risk factors for sustained perpetration and transmission of corporal punishment and draw attention to the need for intervention on alternative approaches to corporal punishment that could facilitate the abolition of corporal punishment from home and schools.     

An analysis of the value of token reinforcement using a multiple-schedule assessment

Token systems are widely used in clinical settings, necessitating the development of methods to evaluate the reinforcing value of these systems. In the current paper, we replicated the use of a multiple-schedule reinforcer assessment (MSA; Smaby, MacDonald, Ahearn, & Dube, 2007) to evaluate the components of a token economy system for 4 learners with autism. Token systems had reinforcing value similar to primary reinforcers for 2 of the 4 learners, but resulted in lower rates of responding than primary reinforcers for the other 2 learners. Differentiated responding across learners may warrant variation in clinical recommendations on the use of tokens. The results of this study support formal assessment of token system effectiveness, and the MSA procedure provides an efficient method by which to conduct such assessments.     

The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Domain-Specific and Domain-General Creativity

The Amusement Park Theory of Creativity, which represents both domain-specific and domain-general perspectives of creativity, calls for more research on how individual difference constructs are related to creativity at all ends of the domain-specificity and general spectrum. Toward this goal, this study examined emotional intelligence (using the Emotional Intelligence Scale) in relationship with both a domain-general measure (the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults) and a domain-specific measure (Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale) in a sample of 281 Chinese undergraduates. Although emotional intelligence demonstrated no relationship with divergent thinking, it did positively predict all five domains of creativity on the self-report measure (ranging from .52 to .77). These findings add to the nuanced relationship between emotional intelligence and creativity and serve as a call for more work of this nature.     

NIETZSCHE AND UNAMUNO ON CONATUS AND THE AGAPEIC WAY OF LIFE

Unamuno saw in his defense of religious faith a response to Nietzsche’s criticisms of the Christian, agapeic way of life. To Nietzsche’s claim that engaging in this way of life is something antinatural and life-denying, insofar as it goes against the (alleged) natural tendency to increase one’s own power, Unamuno responded that an agapeic way of life is precisely a direct expression of this natural tendency. Far from being something that goes against our natural inclinations, Unamuno says, an agapeic way of life is a life-affirming exercise, something we are led to given our own natural condition. Hence, the aim of this essay is to comment on Unamuno’s criticism of Nietzsche and to point out the philosophical relevance of Unamuno’s attempt to provide a natural foundation for religious faith when assessing Nietzsche’s criticisms of the possibility of carrying out a Christian, agapeic way of life.     

ON THE BENEFITS OF PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE IN A GENERAL INTRODUCTORY COURSE

Philosophy as a way of life (PWOL) places investigations of value, meaning, and the good life at the center of philosophical investigation, especially of one’s own life. This essay argues that PWOL is compatible with general introductory philosophy courses, further arguing that PWOL-based general introductions have several philosophical and pedagogical benefits. These include the ease with which high-impact practices, situated skill development, and students’ ability to “think like a disciplinarian” may be incorporated into such courses, relative to more traditional introductory courses, as well as the demonstration of philosophy’s value to students by explicitly tying philosophical investigation to students’ own lives.     

The knowledge norm of assertion in dialectical context

This paper aims to show that the Knowledge Norm of Assertion (KNA) can lead to trouble in certain dialectical contexts. Suppose a person knows that p but does not know that they know that p. They assert p in compliance with the KNA. Their interlocutor responds: ‘but do you know that p?’ It will be shown that the KNA blocks the original asserter from providing any good response to this perfectly natural follow-up question, effectively forcing them to retract p from the conversational scoreboard. This finding is not simply of theoretical interest: I will argue that the KNA would allow the retort ‘but do you know that p?’ to be weaponized in strategic communication, serving as a tool for silencing speakers without having to challenge their testimonial contributions on their own merits. Our analysis can thereby provide a new dimension to the study of epistemic injustice, as well as underscoring the importance of considering the norms governing speech acts also from the point of view of non-ideal social contexts.     

Developing and validating a new multi-dimensional scale for anti-social behavior in a higher education setting

The purpose of this research is to construct and validate a multi-dimensional scale of Anti-social Behavior (hereafter ASB) in a Western higher education context (i.e., USA). To achieve this, four studies, each with a different sample, were performed. Study 1 (n = 150) followed an exploratory design to generate a pool of potential items measuring ASB. Study 2 (n = 254) explored the dimensionality of the items produced in Study 1 using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability measures. Study 3 (n = 654) confirmed the factorial structure from Study 2 and assessed the measurement model invariance using structural equation modeling (SEM). Finally, Study 4 (n = 287) assessed the predictive validity of the ASB measure through testing a hypothetical path model linking ASB to narcissism and Machiavellianism via an SEM procedure. In total, our research findings conclude that the ASB measurement model is a two-factor multi-dimensional structure comprising: Interpersonal Antagonistic Behavior (six items) as well as Indirect Distractive Behavior (four items). The research and practical implications for universities are thereafter discussed.     

A comprehensive measure of attitudes and behaviour: Development of the Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale

In this article, we develop and validate the 16-item Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale across four studies. Drawing on exploratory (Study 1, n = 322) and confirmatory (Study 2, n = 358; Study 4, n = 192) factor analysis, we determine a two-factor structure: public and domestic support for gender equality. In Study 3 (n = 146) and Study 4, we validate the scale by establishing its relationship with, among others, several prominent measures of sexism, a behavioural measure, and social desirability. The scale fills a psychometric gap in the literature: To date, no validated measure of support for gender equality, measuring both attitudes and behavioural intentions and focusing specifically on men, exists. Considering the recent increase in interest in men as allies of the feminist movement the scale functions as a useful tool to explore the topic in depth in future research.     

Denial of gender discrimination is associated with better subjective well-being among women: A system justification account

Despite the fact that women face socially and politically sanctioned disadvantages every day, a large percentage of women and men report that gender discrimination is no longer a problem. Across three studies, which together include over 20,000 participants from 23 countries, we test the hypothesis that denial (vs. acknowledgement) of gender discrimination is associated with higher subjective well-being among women (Studies 1–3), and this is because denying gender discrimination promotes the view that the system is fair (Study 1). We further show that this happens above and beyond personal experiences with sexism (Study 1) and that the association is stronger in countries where sexism is relatively high (vs. low; Study 3). We argue that denial of discrimination is an individual-level coping mechanism and that, like other self-group distancing strategies, it may perpetuate gender inequality.     

How Far Have we Come? An Integrative Review of the Current Literature on Sense of Community and Well-being

Sense of community and well-being are considered core tenets in the field of community psychology, acting as focal points for theory, research, and action. This integrative review synthesizes the empirical literature on sense of community and well-being with respect to four research questions focused on the relationships between these variables, the methodologies used to study those relationships, and how future research might expand upon the current literature. A search of the available literature produced 30 articles that met the search criteria, based primarily on conceptualizations and measurement of both sense of community and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. This review suggests a general consensus across the literature of a positive relationship between sense of community and well-being among both youth and adults in a variety of settings, and discusses the strengths and limitations of this area of research, pointing to the need for more nuanced, ecologically valid research that incorporates more qualitative and critical methodologies. We hope that this review can promote a more thorough understanding of how sense of community and individual well-being relate to each other, and that ongoing research in this area can be a catalyst for action research and interventions that are applied to pressing contemporary issues as well as strengths-based approaches focused on how to foster and support the well-being of individuals within their community contexts.