Habermas,Religion, and Public Life

Abstract

Although many scholars view Jürgen Habermas as the most important philosopher and social theorist since Weber, his account of religion has been relatively neglected. This may be a reflection of the fact that he appears to offer quite distinct views of religion, but it may also reflect the strong secularist assumptions of his early work. In this paper, Habermas’s early and later views of religion are outlined and the change in his understanding of religion is mapped—from being one of the sources of modernity’s inner problems to being a principal source of the passions and motivations underpinning cultural life today. I argue that the relative neglect of Habermas’s work on religion is unfortunate, as it offers a creative and important attempt to move beyond the secular assumptions that have characterised much modern study of religion, providing it with a central role in the mediation of the costs and benefits of modernity.     

Negative thoughts in depression: A study in Iran

The cognitive theory of depression proposes significant relations between negative thoughts and depression. Evidence for the model has been widely observed in Western countries. However, despite the high prevalence of depression in the Middle East (ME), there has been limited research that has evaluated the cognitive profiles of people living in this region, and especially in non-Arab countries like Iran. The current research examined these relationships in Iran. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 80 depressed and 80 non-depressed individuals via advertising in clinics and public areas, respectively. Depression status was checked with a structured interview, the Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. All participants completed the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Negative to examine the frequency of negative automatic thoughts. Unlike other results from Arab countries, depressed participants indicated significantly more negative thoughts towards self and future compared with the non-depressed group. The results of the present study are consistent with the negativity hypothesis of the cognitive theory of depression. Further research is needed in the in ME, to investigate other hypotheses of this theory in this region. Strengths and limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Are Religious Coping and Pain Perception Related Together? Assessment in Iranian Cancer Patients

Pain of cancer had various significant side effects that based on the literature it can reduced by religious coping methods. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between religious coping and pain perception in Iranian cancer patients. In this cross-sectional study (October–December, 2015), 380 hospitalized cancer patients were entered to the study using accessible sampling. Data were collected by socio-demographic, Religious Coping and McGill pain questionnaires. Males (48.39 ± 13 ± 39; CI95: 46.41–50.38) are older than females (45.33 ± 18.44; CI95: 42.79–47.87). According to results, there was a significant relationship between pain perception and positive religious coping in cancer patients. Also there was a significant relationship between pain perception and family history of cancer (P < 0.05). It seems that improving the level and quality of positive religious affiliation can be effective on the amount of stimulation and pain of cancer patients. Of course, more comprehensive studies are needed to be achieved more reliable results about the effects of religious coping on pain perception in these patients.     

Comparative study of trait emotional intelligence and executive functioning among youth

This study investigated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and executive skills (ESs), and the differences between TEI and ESs among Malaysian and Iranian youths. In this study, 226 Malaysians and 248 Iranians completed the TEIQue-SF and Executive Skills Questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested with Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings indicated that TEI had significant predictions on ESs, depending on cultural contexts. Significant differences were found in the effects of TEI on ESs, including emotional control, metacognition, goal-directed persistence, response inhibition, planning/prioritization, sustained attention, stress tolerance, task initiation, and working memory among Malaysian and Iranian youth. No significant difference was found in the effects of TEI on ESs, including flexibility, organization, and time management across both groups. This study makes a unique contribution to emotional intelligence and executive functioning research literature by considering several ESs at the same time for personal development and promoting healthier lives. Comparison of the effect of TEI on ESs in the Malaysian and Iranian contexts using advanced analysis methods is one of the most important methodological contributions of the study.     

Evaluating the Persian Translation of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale in a Sample of Iranian Earthquake Survivors

In DSM-5, the APA recommended the use of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale, a new self-report scale for PTSD that is brief, consistent with the revised DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, and free of copyright restrictions. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Persian translation of the scale in a sample of Iranian adults who survived an earthquake. A sample of 600 people was selected through multistage sampling and subsequently completed the scale. Results indicated that the good reliability, one-factor structure, and convergent validity of the scale observed for the original English language scale were replicated. The Persian version of the NSESSS appears to be a valid and reliable measure to assess the symptoms of DSM-5 PTSD and may contribute to increasing efforts to identify and treat PTSD in Iran.     

Family Functioning and Attachment Among Young Adults in Western and Non-Western Societies

Abstract

Family functioning (FF) is associated with patterns of adults’ close relationship attachment, which works differently in western and non-western societies. In this study, the relationship between FF and attachment (A), as well as the difference in relationship between FF and A across western and non-western societies were examined. A total of 600 young adults (294 males, 306 females) were recruited from western and non-western societies through the SurveyCircle and social media and communication applications. The data was analyzed using PLS-SEM and multigroup analysis, and the results showed that in western and non-western societies, family adaptability and cohesion were significantly associated with anxiety, close, and depend attachments. Unexpectedly, higher family adaptability was associated with higher anxiety attachment. The associations among family adaptability and cohesion with anxiety, close, and depend attachments showed that the strengths of the relationships are significantly different in western and non-western societies, except for the association between family cohesion and anxiety. Based on these results, the cultural differences in terms of FF and young adults’ close relationship attachment were presented for future research, family therapy, and the society.