The story of Joseph in the Qur'an and the old testament

The story of Joseph in the Qur'an has been approached by many non‐Muslim writers1 who were content to list which details of the biblical story have been missed out from the biblical story and which points have been added, maintaining that these had their origins in biblical or other Jewish sources. Our treatment here concentrates on the texts of the story in the Qur'an and the Old Testament, attempting to identify the differing functions and preoccupations of the two accounts in their respective contexts, to show how this difference affects the choice of material and the treatment given to it. This article concludes that the two versions should be approached by readers, Muslims and non‐Muslims, with this difference in mind in order to appreciate the message and the qualities of each.     

The impact of politeness and relationship on perceived quality of advice about a problem

Advice is a common but potentially problematic way to respond to someone who is distressed. Politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987) suggests advice threatens a hearer's face and predicts that the speaker‐hearer relationship and the use of politeness strategies can mitigate face threat and enhance the effectiveness of advice messages. Students (N=384) read 1 of 16 hypothetical situations that varied in speaker power and closeness of the speaker‐hearer relationship. Students then read 1 of 48 advice messages representing different politeness strategies and rated the message for regard shown for face and for effectiveness. However, neither speaker‐hearer relationship nor politeness strategies was consistently associated with perceived threat to face or perceived advice effectiveness. We suggest revisions to politeness theory and additional factors that may affect judgments of face sensitivity and advice effectiveness.     

The influence of negative advertising frames on political cynicism and politician accountability

This research examined the influence of negative political advertising frames on the thoughts and feelings people generate in response to campaign advertising. Preparing and conducting this investigation involved the use of a multiple‐method strategy. Content analysis identified two advertising frames (i.e., candidate theme and ad hoc issue advertisements) and two experiments separately induced political cynicism and politician accountability. Three hundred and sixty people participated in the experimental studies, in which they read and responded, using a thought‐listing technique, to candidate theme or ad hoc issue negative advertisements. Results demonstrated that participants were more likely to generate cynical comments and hold politicians accountable for the country's ills when reading candidate theme advertisements than ad hoc issue advertisements. The results indicate that this contributes to a political climate of cynicism and may function to erode the electorate's overall trust in government.     

Attenuation of 8-OH-DPAT-induced decreases in 5-Ht synthesis in brain regions of rats adapted to a repeated stress schedule

Previously it has been shown that single episode of 2 h restraint produced behavioral deficits in rats which were not observed following daily restraint period of 2h/day for 5 days. It was suggested that adaptation to a stress schedule develops when the similar stress is administered repeatedly. In view of a role of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in adaptation to stress the present study concerns effects of a 5-HT-1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) on the synthesis of 5-HT in brain regions of rats adapted to a repeated restraint stress schedule of 2h/day for 5 days. The drug injected systemically at a dose of 1 mg/kg decreased 5-HT synthesis in the hypothalamus, cortex, hippocampus, striatum and raphe regions of previously unrestrained rats. These decreases were either smaller (raphe) or not observed (hypothalamus, cortex and hippocampus) in most brain regions of rats adapted to the repeated restraint stress schedule of 2h/day for 5 days. These results suggest that a subsensitive negative feedback effect on the synthesis of 5-HT leading to an increase in synaptic 5-HT concentration might help coping with stress demand to produce adaptation to stress.