Meaning in life and its relationships with intrinsic religiosity,deliberate rumination,and emotional regulation

Meaning in life is one of the core elements of well‐being. Although meaning in life has received considerable research interest over the years, much of this research did not differentiate between the two categories of meaning, that is, search for meaning and meaning in life. The present study first investigated collective explanatory powers that intrinsic religiosity, deliberate rumination, and emotional regulation – three predictors selected based on past literature – have on these two types of meaning. In addition, mediational effects of deliberate rumination and emotional regulation in the links between intrinsic religiosity and search for meaning and presence of meaning were investigated. The participants were 326 undergraduate students in Seoul, South Korea. The hierarchical regression analyses found that while intrinsic religiosity contributed significantly in explaining only presence of meaning, deliberate rumination and emotional regulation had significant contributions in explaining both search for meaning and presence of meaning. Also, double mediational analysis using structural equation modelling revealed that deliberate rumination, but not emotional regulation, mediated the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and meaning in life. The implications and directions for future studies are also discussed.     

Socio-economic and driving experience factors affecting drivers’ perceptions of traffic crash risk

Drivers are estimated to contribute an overwhelming proportion to the burden of traffic crashes, as factors that increase crash risk are frequently due to unsafe driving behaviours. The relationship between risk perceptions and people’s risky driving behaviours is still not well understood. This paper aims to further analyse the potential effect of risky driving behaviours on drivers’ perceptions of crash risk and differences in perceptions among drivers.Crash risk perceptions in an inter-city, two-way road context of 492 drivers were measured by using a Stated Preference (SP) ranking survey. Rank-ordered logit models were used to evaluate the impact on risk perception of five unsafe driving behaviours and to identify differences in drivers’ risk perceptions. The five unsafe driving behaviours considered in the analysis were respectively related to whether or not the driver follows the speed limits, the rules of passing another car and the safe distance, whether or not the driver is distracted, and whether or not she/he is driving under optimal personal conditions.All risky driving behaviours showed a significant potential effect (p < 0.001) on crash risk perceptions, and model’s results allowed to differentiate more important from less important unsafe driving behaviours based on their weight on perceived crash risk. Additionally, this paper further analyses the potential differences in risk perception of these traffic violations between drivers of different characteristics, such as driving experience, household size, income and gender.The SP technique could be applied to further analyse differences in perceptions of risky driving behaviours among drivers. Future research should consider the potential effect of driving skill on perceptions of risky driving behaviours.     

Escapism motive for sport consumption as a predictor of meaning in life

The objective of this study was to examine whether spectator escapism motive for sport consumption could predict meaning in life, and to explore the role of psychological ownership in this relationship. A sample of 806 football spectators (African = 85%, male = 67.4%, Sesotho = 26.2%) completed the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC), the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (SAPOS) and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ). Structural equation modelling was utilised to investigate the postulated paths of the structural model. Escapism motive for sport consumption predicted meaning in life among spectators through psychological ownership. The sports escapism motive can yield positive psychological outcomes for sports fans.     

Adolescents’ perceptions of health and well-being: Influences of urban contemporary music

The study aimed to explore adolescents’ perceptions of how urban contemporary music influences health and well-being among them. Data on health and well-being effects of music consumption were gathered from a convenience sample of 16 participants (male = 50%, females = 50%) between the ages of 15 and 17 in a series of two focus group interviews. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest the adolescents to perceive both positive and negative influences of contemporary music on their health and well-being. Positive influences included emotional well-being and sense of social belongingness. Negative influences included promotion of risky behaviours, including substance use, misogyny, sexual behaviour and violence. The findings suggest that urban contemporary music serves as a tool of normalisation as well as a catalyst for encouraging risky behaviour in adolescence.     

Christian protesters for democracy in Taiwan: a study of two American missionaries under Taiwanese martial law

Christians played a significant role in the course of Taiwan’s self-determination movements and the pro-democratic Tangwai movement during the 1960s and 1970s. While most researchers laid their focus on the Presbyterian Church ministers, the stories of Methodist pastor Milo Thornberry and Catholic priest Ronald Boccieri have rarely been mentioned. Thornberry helped Peng Ming-min to escape the country and Boccieri sheltered Chen Chu in his parish church. Consequently, the two American missionaries were listed as personae non gratae and expelled from the island by the Kuomintang (nationalist) regime. Although they were involved in the respective political incidents to different degrees, they had some things in common: compassion for native Taiwanese, concern for social justice and human rights, and conviction in witnessing to the gospel by non-violent action and fighting against injustice. This article uses interviews, autobiographies, memoirs, Foreign Ministry archives and newspapers to recount their stories that have not appeared in the historiography of their churches. It discusses how the Catholic and Methodist Churches maintained harmonious relations with the government for the benefit of their evangelistic work during the period of martial law. Finally it looks into the reasons why the two missionaries dared to disobey their churches’ official positions and the Washington government’s instruction that expatriates in Taiwan should not interfere in local politics.     

Charles Gützlaff: his secret and sacred services

Karl (Charles) Friedrich August Gützlaff (1803–1851) was probably the most controversial and colourful missionary who ever stepped onto the shores of China during the second quarter of the nineteenth century. No one doubted his passion and sincerity in bringing Christianity to China, but many were critical of the way he did it. Thus Gützlaff’s life and work have been vilified and maligned by many scholars. Many critics dismissed him as the archetypal skeleton in the missionary cupboard. Gützlaff was described as a cross between parson and pirate. At the same time, others, such as Alfred Broomhall, regarded him as a heroic and innovative missionary. In this article, I shall attempt to portray a more balanced understanding of Gützlaff.     

Christianity in the world of Japan’s religions: reception,incorporation, separation

This article traces three key themes in the encounter of Christianity with Japanese culture: namely, reception, incorporation and separation. It argues that these three can also be traced in the much longer engagement of Buddhism with Japan, and that their complex interaction is a helpful way of understanding the tension of inner and outer in Japanese Christian experience.     

God’s Faithfulness and Dementia: Christian Theology in Context

Christian theology concerns the practical, contextual realities of life in the church and the world. What does this mean for a person with dementia? While much dementia care focuses on deficits, this article promotes a different starting point: God’s faithfulness rather than our forgetfulness. Using case studies from residential aged care, opportunities for meaningful pastoral care are explored, inviting us to see in the person with dementia a deep connection with ourselves. Drawn from a theological understanding of God as three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—“person-centered care” invites us into relationships of mutuality and reciprocity not dependent on words. Pastoral care of families is manifest through personal relationships where all aspects of dementia, including death and dying, can be discussed openly. Grounded in God’s faithfulness, the first and final word is love. Hope lies in the belief that we have already been found. We are blessed by the grace of God, called into community where the insightful and the forgetful flourish together.