Spiritual resilience: Understanding the protection and promotion of well-being in the later life

Spirituality is important to a large percentage of the older adult population and serves as a key factor of resilience. Using qualitative research, we conducted and analyzed interviews with 64 participants willing to discuss their experiences with adversity. Participants ranged in age from 52 to 93 with a mean age of 74. For the purposes of this study, we analyzed 46 of the 64 interviews, selecting participants who indicated that spirituality was an important resource for managing hardship. The researchers examined the connections between spirituality and resilience. Using in-depth interviews, we explored the interplay between spirituality and resilience and the importance spirituality plays in dealing with adversity and hardship. A grounded theory analysis of the 46 interviews was performed. Major findings include participants’ use of spirituality as a tool to promote and maintain resilience in late life in five key domains: reliance on relationships, spiritual transformation, spiritual coping, power of belief, and commitment to spiritual values and practices. Results are presented as an interpretation of the participants’ perceptions of their spirituality, and indicate their reliance on spirituality to overcome hardship. In addition, we discuss the connections between spirituality and resilience and how these connections play out in the lives of older adults when considering their generational and cohort status. The roles these two constructs play in the lives of older adults are considered.     

Symmetry as a Criterion for Comprehension Motivating Quine’s ‘New Foundations’

A common objection to Quine’s set theory “New Foundations” is that it is inadequately motivated because the restriction on comprehension which appears to avert paradox is a syntactical trick. We present a semantic criterion for determining whether a class is a set (a kind of symmetry) which motivates NF. Presented by Melvin Fitting     

The state of mentoring research: A qualitative review of current research methods and future research implications

Research regarding mentoring relationships has flourished during the past 20 years. This article reviews the methodology and content of 200 published mentoring articles. Some of the major concerns raised in this review include over reliance on cross-sectional designs and self-report data, a failure to differentiate between different forms of mentoring (e.g., formal versus informal), and a lack of experimental research. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Variables in Psychology: A Critique of Quantitative Psychology

Mind is hidden from direct observation; it can be studied only by observing behavior. Variables encode information about behaviors. There is no one-to-one correspondence between behaviors and mental events underlying the behaviors, however. In order to understand mind it would be necessary to understand exactly what information is represented in variables. This aim cannot be reached after variables are already encoded. Therefore, statistical data analysis can be very misleading in studies aimed at understanding mind that underlies behavior. In this article different kinds of information that can be represented in variables are described. It is shown how informational ambiguity of variables leads to problems of theoretically meaningful interpretation of the results of statistical data analysis procedures in terms of hidden mental processes. Reasons are provided why presence of dependence between variables does not imply causal relationship between events represented by variables and absence of dependence between variables cannot rule out the causal dependence of events represented by variables. It is concluded that variable-psychology has a very limited range of application for the development of a theory of mind—psychology.

组织行为与领导力研究的进展与前沿

本文首先简要介绍了组织行为和领导力的研究特色和该领域国内外的研究现状。从中可以看出, 在过去的10多年中, 中国学者在该领域中进步快速, 并蕴含巨大的潜力。随后, 比较了国际和国内学术界的研究话题和采用的方法, 指出国内目前研究存在的问题。文章的第三部分介绍了当今组织行为和领导力领域在理论、方法和研究范式上的创新。针对当前中国经济和社会发展的现状, 文章指出了学者可以重点关注的领域。学者可以借鉴学术界已有的理论和方法, 选择恰当的角度对这些问题进行深入而系统的探索。为此, 本文第三部分还介绍了几项近年来具有重大影响的研究, 旨在启发学者关注中国社会的重要现象, 敏锐地发现适合本学科研究的问题, 并以严谨且有创造力的方式去开展研究, 进而对国际学术界做出贡献。     

Ecological Momentary Assessment Research in Behavioral medicine

Behavioral medicine research often seeks to examine relatively complex theoretical models and clinical processes. Traditional designs, based on retrospective self-report in the natural environment or laboratory-based studies, cannot assess complex and temporally dynamic psychological, behavioral, and physiological processes in the natural environment. An alternate research approach, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), provides a method to collect such data. This research approach and these data allow investigation of a number of research questions not amenable to other data collection methods. Examples of research questions uniquely suited for EMA data include, but are not limited to: (1) the comparison of retrospective data to momentary data; (2) evaluation of physiological and psychosocial processes in the natural environment; (3) the relation of symptoms and other disease processes to characteristics of the natural environment; and (4) examination of dynamic changes in psychosocial variables that may mediate improvement following treatment. Despite the strengths of EMA data, a number of challenges exist – including logistic, analytic, and interpretation problems – to the easy implementation of EMA approaches in behavioral medicine.     

传统习惯的手段性质疑

社会舆论、传统习惯、内心信念一直是伦理学界公认的道德评价手段或方式。但是,通过深入分析可以发现,传统习惯并不具有作为道德评价手段或方式应有的可操作性、主体性、功能性等特点,也不能动态地实现道德评价及其作用。因此,传统习惯即不可能也无必要作为一种道德评价的手段或方式。     

略论应用伦理学的对象、任务和方法

应用伦理学以道德与实践的关系为对象。其任务主要有：1．为提高人的道德素质服务;2．为促进社会明发展服务;3．为协调人与自然的关系服务;4．为培育人的理想信念服务。其研究方法有：依托实践,归演理念;一无为主,综合创新;以人为本,德福并举。     

A Survey of Clinical Supervision in Genetic Counseling

Three hundred and thirty-five full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors completed a survey concerning the nature of clinical supervision for genetic counseling students. Slightly over half (54.3%, n = 182) had provided clinical supervision within the past 5 years. Of those who supervised, 66.7% had 5 years or less supervision experience, and 55% had supervised 10 or fewer students. The majority became supervisors because they enjoy teaching and contributing to the profession. Common reasons for not supervising include no local graduate program, and had never been asked to supervise. Live supervision is the most prevalent student evaluation method: every supervisor reported providing one-on-one oral feedback, and 47.3% indicated that they always provide feedback immediately following a counseling session. The most frequent challenges involve students who lack technical knowledge and who fail to incorporate feedback. Training, policy, and research implications are discussed.