The influence of information redundancy upon the use of traits and persons as organizing categories

The following question is addressed: How do multiple, simultaneously present cognitive structures influence the representation and recall of social information? In an empirical study examining both free and cued recall, we found the variable information redundancy to influence both the organization and accuracy of subjects' recollections of trait-related behaviors. Redundancy was defined in terms of the degree of person/trait overlap in a social information ensemble. Some evidence indicated that this effect is attributable to an increase in the discriminability of the organizational structures during encoding. The implications of these findings for understanding the formation of integrated cognitive representations of individuals and the spontaneous use of traits in social information processing are discussed.     

Influence of Response Mode on Order Effects in the Interview

Two experiments involving students (N = 142 and N = 174, respectively) were conducted to investigate the effects of response mode and order on the evaluation of a hypothetical interviewee. Response mode (step-by-step or end-of-sequence) and order of positive and negative interview responses were manipulated in both studies. Competing hypotheses based on the belief adjustment model and predecisional distortion were tested. In both studies, the evaluation of the hypothetical candidate was more consistent with predictions of the belief adjustment model than with predecisional distortion. The results suggest that structured interviews are not immune to order effects. Furthermore, the belief adjustment model may be used to predict whether primacy or recency effects in interviews are likely to occur.     

What's Behind the “Nones‐sense”? Change Over Time in Factors Predicting Likelihood of Religious Nonaffiliation in the United States

The proportion of people in the United States who identify as unaffiliated with any religious tradition (Nones) has risen steadily since the 1990s. Empirical investigations have examined this phenomenon, and point to a range of sociodemographic and associational variables as significant predictors of religious nonaffiliation. To build on these, the research reported here uses nearly five decades of General Social Survey data and binary logistic regression to examine change over time in the direction and size of effect on the likelihood that various factors predict religious nonaffiliation. While some factors (like age and political orientation) behave as expected over time, other factors decrease in their effect on likelihood (e.g., residence in the Far West), lose effect on likelihood (e.g., being college‐educated), or never showed likelihood of effect in the first place (e.g., residence in New England).     

Beyond the Isolated Self: Extended Mind and Spirituality

Extended Cognition is a theory from philosophy of mind that has its roots in the more general notion of Embodied Cognition. Embodied cognition understands all human thought as involving the body (not just the brain), and as always situated in particular contexts. Cognitive extension goes further to suggest that intelligent mental processes often include things outside the brain and body, involving interactions with other persons or external artifacts that significantly enhance cognitive capacities. Thus, while intelligence was once thought to be an attribute of a single individual’s brain, it is now understood to extend into processes outside the person within immediate interactive space. For example, smart phones or problem-solving groups expand cognitive capacities beyond what is possible on one’s own. This article explores the possibility of supersizing-through-extension spirituality and Christian life within the interactive space of congregations and religious communities.     

Hermeneutic analysis of virtuous exemplar narratives of Cambodian-American Buddhists and Christians

Virtuous exemplars embody the virtues of a cultural community, a dynamic, contextual understanding that is best explored by critical hermeneutic analysis. In order to describe their lives and refine the mental-health treatment of Cambodian immigrants, 12 virtuous exemplars from a Cambodian-American Buddhist and 12 from a Cambodian-American Christian population were interviewed. Grounded theory and a mixed-methods analysis were used. Rigor-enhancing strategies include triangulation, collaboration, member checking, and researcher reflexivity, as well as interviewing a comparison group of 12 Euro-American Christians. Cambodian-American Buddhists and Christians take their religion seriously, and it influences their daily lives. These Buddhists focus on perseverence in the present life and gaining merit for the next. The Christians focus on serving God and nurturing relationships in this life. They report that they are more different from the Cambodian-American Buddhists than Latent Semantic Analysis indicates, providing evidence of both religious and cultural distinctives among the subgroups.     

Correlation of Self-Perception and Image of Christ Using the Five-Factor Model of Personality

In this study, the relationship between one’s self-perception of personality and his or her image of Jesus Christ was studied within a sample of 153 undergraduate students, of whom 130 were Christian and 23 were non-Christian; 23 Protestant pastors; and 55 Protestant laypersons. Using two forms of the NEO Personality Inventory (Self and Observer), ratings of the Big Five personality factors were obtained for both self and Jesus Christ. Results indicated significant positive correlations between ratings of self and Christ in each of the subgroups of Christian individuals. No correlations were found between ratings of self and Christ for the non-Christians. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant differing correlations between groups. Christian persons may project perceptions onto Christ or attempt to mold themselves in a way more consistent with their own images of Christ. Further implications of the results as well as direction of the relationship between self-perception and image of Christ are discussed.