Deciding to give to charity: a focus group study in the context of the household economy

Research on charitable giving has tended to examine either the individual characteristics of donors, or those of households. However, both approaches overlook the interactive processes that take place within households which may influence charitable donation in a variety of ways. For example, the system of financial organisation adopted by a couple can set limits on the degree of individual financial autonomy, and this in turn can influence the financial decision‐making of each partner. This paper presents the results of a study that examined charitable decision‐making within the context of household financial behaviour. It investigated whether such decisions tend to be individual or joint, and the extent to which they are regarded as an integral part of household financial management. Six focus groups were carried out with people who were currently married or living with a partner. The results suggest that charitable giving is dealt with in accordance with the style of money management of the household, although it occupies a more marginal position than other items of expenditure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What makes Christian bioethics Christian? Bible, story, and communal discernment.

Scripture is somehow normative for any bioethic that would be Christian. There are problems, however, both with Scripture and with those who read Scripture. Methodological reflection is necessary. Scripture must be read humbly and in Christian community. It must be read not as a timeless code but as the story of God and of our lives. That story moves from creation to a new creation. At the center of the Christian story are the stories of Jesus of Nazareth as healer, preacher of good news to the poor, and sufferer. The story shapes character and conduct and enables communal discernment.     

The Unsettled German Discussions of Justification: Abiding Differences and Ecumenical Blessings

Abstract :  This essay provides an analysis of The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification . It argues that the future of ecumenism demands greater attention to doctrinal differences than was evident after 1980 in much of the Roman‐Lutheran dialogue on justification, especially as it unfolded in Germany.     

以《易》明"道"的易学史观--郭雍易学史观研究

郭雍是兼山学派的代表人物,学术思想属于程门支流.郭雍秉承义理解易之风,推崇二程、张载而又自成一家.郭雍反对象数派的<河图><洛书>衍生大易的观点.他认为<易>为圣人明道之书.到了春秋时期,大道不行,卜筮成为主流.<易>为包羲、文王、周公、孔子四圣人所作.对"道、象、数"的关系,郭雍提出了自己的看法.郭雍还认为汉代以来,象数之学附会于<易>,圣人之道熄灭无传.直到程颢、程颐、张载三先生发挥易理精奥,圣人之道才得以重现.郭雍的父亲郭忠孝是程颐的学生,郭雍作<郭氏传家易说>的目的就是继承程颐和其父的解<易>传统,阐明圣人之道也.     

Time pressure and group performance: Exploring underlying processes in the Attentional Focus Model

The Attentional Focus Model (Karau & Kelly, 1992) predicts that time pressure should lead group members to focus on a restricted range of task-relevant cues and to adopt task completion as their major interaction objective. Although this prediction has been supported in several studies (e.g., Karau & Kelly, 1992; Kelly, Jackson, & Hutson-Comeaux, 1997; Kelly & Karau, 1999; Parks & Cowlin, 1995), the exact processes that underlie information restriction have not been specified. We propose that two processes are involved. Specifically, the restriction of information may occur because time pressure affects the way in which information is initially encoded or attended to before a group enters its decision-making phase, or because group members filter out what they judge to be less important information during group discussion and decision making. We assessed both of these processes within a decision-making experiment where time pressure was manipulated prior to learning information that would be used to perform a task. Recall of information learned prior to group discussion did not differ by time pressure condition, arguing against an encoding process. In contrast, interaction data demonstrated information restriction by group members, arguing for a filtering process. Thought listings collected 1 min into the group discussion in some groups also supported a filtering process, as did questionnaire data. Implications of these findings for the Attentional Focus Model and for effective group decision making are discussed.     

The Context of Social Identity: Domination, Resistance, and Change

The task of social psychology is to explain the flexibility of human beings in creating and relating to their social worlds. Social identity and self-categorization theories provide a thoroughgoing interactionist framework for achieving such a task. However, in order to do so, it is necessary to avoid reductionist misreadings of the theories that would explain human social action simply by reference to psychological processes, without examining how the play of process depends on the cultural and structural settings in which they occur. More specifically, to the extent that self-categories shape social action, flexibility is achieved through the categories to which we belong, the others with whom we compare ourselves, and the dimensions along which such comparisons occur. These are not a fixed aspect of the human condition but are a focus for argument precisely because of their world-making consequences.     

Incarcerated Mothers: Mutual Support Groups Aimed at Reducing Substance Abuse Relapse and Recidivism

Interventions to reduce relapse and recidivism for the increasing number of mothers incarcerated for illicit drug use are needed to prevent maternal/child separation and high public expenditures. This paper describes mutual support groups for women inmates aimed at strengthening family coping skills, especially communication, anger management, and parenting skills. Qualitative data collected during the group sessions indicated that the healing support of shared experiences, stories, poetry, and staying in the present were identified as spiritually uplifting. Problem solving and improved family interactions constituted additional themes extracted from the qualitative data. Future plans include including quantitative outcome measures of success.     

董仲舒易学哲学思想探析

董仲舒的易学哲学思想是他的整个哲学体系的核心内容.其内涵丰富而深刻,主要表现在董仲舒赋予<易传>中的"元"以逻辑在先和价值根源之意义,表明"元"是一个价值本体范畴;他把<易传>的"继善成性"论改造为"天止人继"说,反映了人类在宇宙万物中之地位与意义的一种自觉精神;又把<易传>"人文化成"的思想观念发展为一种"人文宇宙观",从宇宙观高度审视人类文化,又从人类文化角度看待宇宙,观与文化观合二为一,表明了宇宙是人类文化创造的本源和基础,而人类文化是宇宙的发展和完善.这就从宇宙观的高度肯定、突出了人文价值的崇高意义.     

THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEISM?

Abstract. Although the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR), a current approach to the scientific study of religion, has exerted an influence in the study of religion for almost twenty years, the question of its compatibility or incompatibility with theism has not been the subject of serious discussion until recently. Some critics of religion have taken a lively interest in the CSR because they see it as useful in explaining why religious believers consistently make costly commitments to false beliefs. Conversely, some theists have argued for the compatibility of religious belief with basic CSR results. In this article, we contribute to the incipient discussion about the worldview relevance of the CSR by arguing that while a theistic reading of the field only represents one interpretative option at most, antitheistic claims about the incompatibility of the CSR with theism look like they may be harder to maintain than first appearances might suggest.