The validation of a Spanish version of the multidimensional inventory of religious/spiritual well-being in mexican college students

After the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being (MI-RSWB) was validated as a reliable instrument for the Western European context it is primarily intended in this study to translate the measure into Spanish and adapt it for the Mexican culture. Furthermore we investigate whether spirituality/religiosity has a similar impact on indicators of personality and subjective well-being in Mexico as it does in samples drawn from Western European cultures. 190 students (99 females) from public and private universities in Guadalajara, all Mexican citizens, were involved in this study. We found strong evidential support for the six factor solution of the Original MI-RSWB in this Mexican population. By mirroring previous research the measure showed a highly satisfying internal consistency (α =.91 for the total score and.75 or higher for all six sub dimensions). Furthermore the total RSWB score was observed to be related with Eysenck's personality dimensions Extraversion (r =.24, p <.01), and Psychoticism (r = -.28, p <.001), although not with Neuroticism. There was also a positive correlation with Sense of Coherence (r =.31, p <.001). In conclusion, the dimensionality of RSWB and its associations with personality and subjective well-being was well supported in this first application within a Mexican cultural context.

Une théologie de l’intime chez le baby-boomer québécois francophone issu de la tradition catholique : démarche qualitative descriptive

S’il est établi que le baby-boomer québécois francophone issu de la tradition catholique s’est distancié de cette dernière, nous observons aussi qu’il continue à s’y identifier à chaque recensement. Ce mémoire propose une démarche et des outils permettant de décrire l’expérience de foi de celui-ci. Il s’agit de la théologie de l’intime, dont la genèse et son expérimentation sont présentés dans le cadre d’une recherche conduite auprès de sujets appartenant à cette population. Cette approche s’articule à travers trois dialogues complémentaires et interdépendants : la quête de l’essence, la démarche d’incarnation et le défi identitaire. L’expérimentation démontre que le caractère pluridisciplinaire de la théologie de l’intime réussit à décrire de façon congruente l’expérience de foi de baby-boomers dont elle confirme aussi la cohérence, malgré le constat d’un décalage doctrinal avec le catholicisme. Le mémoire conclut en proposant d’autres perspectives d’application de la théologie de l’intime.

Exploring Calling Work Orientation: Construct Clarity and Organizational Implications

Employees maintain a personal view toward their work, which can be referred to as their work orientation. Some employees view their work as their life’s purpose (i.e., calling work orientation) and they tend to be 1) prosocially motivated, 2) derive meaning from work, and 3) feel that their purpose is from beyond the self. The purpose of the current dissertation was to differentiate calling work orientation from other similar workplace constructs, to investigate the most common covariates of calling work orientation, and to empirically test two possible moderators of the relationship between calling work orientation and work-related outcomes of job satisfaction, job performance, and work engagement. Two independent samples were collected for the purpose of testing hypotheses: data were collected from 520 working students and from 520 non-student employees. Participants from the student sample were recruited at Florida International University, and participants from the employee sample were recruited via the Amazon Mechanical Turk website. Participants from the student sample answered demographic questions and responded to self-report measures of job satisfaction, job performance, work engagement, spirituality, meaningful work, prosocial motivation, and work orientation. The procedure was similar for the employee sample, but their survey also included measures of counterproductive work behaviors, organizational citizenship behaviors, conscientiousness, and numerical ability. Additionally, employees were asked whether they would be willing to have a direct supervisor, peer, co-worker, client, or subordinate rate their job performance. Hierarchical regression findings suggest calling work orientation was predictive of overall job performance above and beyond two common predictors of performance, conscientiousness and numerical ability. The results for the covariate analyses provided evidence that prosocial motivation, meaningful work, and spirituality do play a significant role in the development of an employees’ work orientation. Perceived career opportunities moderated the relationship between calling work orientation and job performance for the employee sample. Core self-evaluations moderated the relationship between calling work orientation and job performance, and core self-evaluations moderated the relationship between calling work orientation and work engagement. Collectively, findings from the current study highlight the benefits of examining work orientation in the prediction of workplace outcomes.

Une théologie de l’intime chez le baby-boomer québécois francophone issu de la tradition catholique : démarche qualitative descriptive

S’il est établi que le baby-boomer québécois francophone issu de la tradition catholique s’est distancié de cette dernière, nous observons aussi qu’il continue à s’y identifier à chaque recensement. Ce mémoire propose une démarche et des outils permettant de décrire l’expérience de foi de celui-ci. Il s’agit de la théologie de l’intime, dont la genèse et son expérimentation sont présentés dans le cadre d’une recherche conduite auprès de sujets appartenant à cette population. Cette approche s’articule à travers trois dialogues complémentaires et interdépendants : la quête de l’essence, la démarche d’incarnation et le défi identitaire. L’expérimentation démontre que le caractère pluridisciplinaire de la théologie de l’intime réussit à décrire de façon congruente l’expérience de foi de baby-boomers dont elle confirme aussi la cohérence, malgré le constat d’un décalage doctrinal avec le catholicisme. Le mémoire conclut en proposant d’autres perspectives d’application de la théologie de l’intime.

Inteligência espiritual: Propriedades psicométricas da escala de inteligência espiritual integrada (EIEI)

Amram e Dryer (2008) propõem o construto de Inteligência Espiritual [IE] e defendem a inclusão da mesma na Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas de Gardner. Os autores apontam 5 dimensões para a IEs: “Consciência”, “Transcendência”, “Graça”, “Verdade” e “Significado” que compõem a Integrated Spiritual Inteligence Scale [ISIS]. A presente investigação visa apresentar os dados preliminares de validação de um novo instrumento para avaliação do conceito de inteligência espiritual, na população portuguesa. Participaram no estudo 714 sujeitos, 257 do sexo masculino e 461 do sexo feminino, com idades compreendidas entre os 14 e os 81 anos. A aplicação dos instrumentos realizou-se online e além da utilização da Escala de Inteligência Espiritual Integrada usámos um questionário sociodemográfico com o intuito de caracterizar a amostra. A escala apresenta uma estrutura penta fatorial (“Coping religioso e espiritual”, “Consciência”, “Graça”, “Significado” e “Missão”). No estudo da consistência interna obtêm-se valores de alpha de Cronbach situados entre os 0.67 e 0.88, e de 0.92 para a escala total. Nesta versão preliminar as dimensões obtidas não foram congruentes com a escala original. Apesar de serem necessários estudos posteriores que se debrucem sobre a validade convergente e discriminante, e uma confirmação da estabilidade da estrutura fatorial obtida em nova amostra, este trabalho constitui um contributo relevante para a análise crítica deste novo constructo, assim como se assume como ponto de partida para outras pesquisas na área da Inteligência Espiritual.

The old and the oldest-old: Do they have different perspectives on adjustment to aging?

Background: Older adults experience varying challenges in old age. This study aims to explore the indicators of adjustment to aging (AtA) and to examine the potential explanatory mechanisms of a correlational model for AtA for the old and oldest-old adults. Methods: This qualitative study comprised demographics and semistructured interviews. Complete information on 152 older adults aged between 75 years and 102 years (mean ¼ 83.76 years; standard deviation ¼ 6.458). Data was subjected to content analysis. The correlational model of indicators of AtA was analyzed using a multiple correspondence analysis. Results: “Occupation and achievement” was the most mentioned indicator of AtA by the old participants (17.7%), whereas “existential meaning and spirituality” was the most verbalized indicator of AtA for the oldest-old participants (16.9%). AtA was explained by a three-factor model for each age group. For the old participants, the largest factor “occupational and social focus” accounted for 33.6% of total variance, whereas for the oldest-old participants, “spirituality and health focus” represented 33.5% of total variance. Conclusion: The outcomes presented in this paper stressed the varied perspectives concerning AtA, contoured in two different models, and the need of considering these when designing and implementing programs in health care for the old and the oldest-old.

The Role of Existential Beliefs Within the Relation of Centenarians’ Health and Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of existential beliefs in mediating the influence of health on centenarians' well-being. A total of 80 centenarians (mean age 101.1; SD = 1.3; 81.3 % women) with no/minor cognitive impairment were included. The OARS questionnaire for diseases and functional capacity (ADL, IADL), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the existential beliefs subscale were used for data collection. The findings suggest that existential resources are a crucial element for mitigating the impact of health constraints in subjective well-being in this population. Appropriate models of intervention for very old age that recognize the importance of religion, spirituality, and meaning of life are to be considered.

Successful Aging with Illness

In twenty years almost one in four Canadians will be over the age of 65. How successfully these people age will influence their quality of life and contribute to their physical health. Illness and disease are frequent components of aging; however, ‘successful aging’ research normally excludes people with illness. Older people living with illness, even life threatening illness, often self-report a good quality of life and continue to experience psychological well-being and a significant engagement in social life. This dissertation uses a three manuscript approach to examine successful aging among people with illness. The first manuscript employed a scoping review to examine the models used in recent successful aging research, compiling the most frequently used constructs which included: engagement, optimism and/or positive attitude, resilience, spirituality and/or religiosity, self-efficacy and/or self-esteem, and gerotranscendence. The second manuscript utilized data gathered via interviews (online or in person) with people over the age of 65 years living with illness. The majority of these participants reported success in aging; only resilience was predictive in the binomial regression analysis. The third manuscript examined the role of social determinants of health on successful aging. The analysis revealed that disengagement from community-activities showed a significant association with higher self-reported successful aging. The best fitting model for predicting rate of successful aging with illness was a linear combination of participants’ ageism score and community activity score, while controlling for gender and age. When considered together, the results from these three manuscripts suggest that successful aging can be experienced by older adults aging with illness. And that, among these older adults, resilience, community interaction and ageism may all play a part in determining the extent to which aging is experienced as successful. Recommendations include the suggestion that we embrace the idea that people with illness can self-define as successful agers. Further, since some of the associated constructs (e.g. resilience) can be fostered, successful aging could be bolstered by education or programs to build skills along with the usual treatment modalities for the illnesses that co-exist.

Global Modernities and the (Re-)Emergence of Ghosts

Are ghosts modern? It seems that modernization and spirituality do not contradict each other in most parts of the world. Animist beliefs and ghost rituals often form part of people’s everyday lives vis-à-vis a globalized economy. For them, the unpredictable forces of ‘the market’ correspond with the elusive world of spectral entities. Facing economic risk, flexibility, and precarity, people address the ghosts for protection and luck. This issue of “Voices” will explore the interplay of economic and ritual practice, of everyday uncertainties and ghostly agency, of emerging modernities and (re-)emerging spiritualities.

Religion and contemporary society

What is religion and what is spirituality? Can you be religious and spiritual at the same time? Is religion's influence on society declining? What role does religion play in social change? Do religions foster cultures of violence or social harmony?Sociologists of religion have long grappled with these questions. While there is no agreed definition of either religion or spirituality, scholars have provided useful explanations to help us understand these terms and the changing place of religion in contemporary societies. We will examine some of these questions and frameworks in this chapter. We will also investigate how religions can contribute towards or undermine the creation of peaceful societies. These aspects of religion are of most interest to governments, non-governmental organisations and the media, particularly after the tragic events of 11 September 2001. More recently, religions have become the subject of significant public scrutiny and debate: This has occurred in parallel with a dramatic growth in the number of people declaring themselves as having 'no religion' in Western societies.

Religion in the early Nazi milieu: towards a greater understanding of ‘racist culture’

In recent years there has been a renaissance of studies into the diverse relationships between National Socialism and esoteric or occult religious trends, which appears to form a remarkable return to the work of George L Mosse. Yet within these debates there has been surprisingly little space devoted to the question of what specifically ‘counted’ as religion in the early Nazi milieu. This article seeks to address this problem through a detailed study of the views on religion in one of the major antisemitic groups in the 1920s, the German Socialist Party, which had a number of significant connections to the NSDAP. The German Socialist debates on religion have remained largely unexamined, and this article analyses the group’s response to the Nazis’ 25 Point Programme, the German Socialists’ own debates about religion, and their views on the most important völkisch authors who were seeking a ‘religious revival’. It demonstrates that views on religion in the early Nazi milieu were extremely diverse, but commonly adhered to notions of race and a racial spirituality that amounted to a kind of ‘ethnotheism’. It argues that concepts of religion in völkisch groups at the time, including the NSDAP, have to be principally understood as part of a particular and extreme ‘racist culture’.

El concepto y la práctica de la actividad física y su relación con calidad de vida en los modelos teóricos de la salud

Los estudios acerca del concepto actividad física (AF) son diversos, presentando diferentes concepciones; su relación con calidad de vida suele estar generada dentro del discurso médico, que propende por la ejecución de la Actividad Física desde una mirada netamente biológica. Si bien esta disertación es importante, se debe tener en cuenta que los estudios relacionados con calidad de vida y la AF se basan en la condición de bienestar y percepción frente al estado de salud; dichos estudios no se han realizado desde las condiciones de vida y del contexto social. Si bien es cierto que la mirada médica y lo estudios objetivos son relevantes, ya que arrojan estadísticas que permiten abordar recomendaciones en cuanto a la actividad física, en este documento se elaboró una investigación de tipo cualitativo por medio de la revisión documental del concepto de actividad física, sus prácticas y su relación con calidad de vida, que abordan diferentes autores. Para ello se elige la base de datos PubMed por su énfasis en las publicaciones de salud; se seleccionan artículos publicados del 2004 y 2014, que estudien el concepto de actividad física, sus prácticas y relaciones con calidad de vida, para finalmente hacer un análisis desde los modelos de determinación y determinantes sociales. De esta forma se analiza la posición de los autores con respecto al concepto, sus prácticas y las relaciones que puede llegar a surgir con la calidad de vida. En esta investigación se obtuvo como resultados tendencias biológicas, psicológicas, sociales y culturales, en los cuales los autores dejan clara la posición médica ya que en la mayoría de investigaciones centran sus relaciones en la funcionalidad, y es a través de la visión terapéutica donde buscan el bienestar, la satisfacción de los pacientes que padecen cualquier enfermedad. Además, aparecen categorías emergentes como: cuerpo como medio de publicidad, cibernética que avanza vertiginosamente y el papel del poder en la actividad física que pueden ser contempladas para otros estudios.

Adesão ao tratamento em pacientes com depressão major: A influência da percepção de doença, suporte social, espiritualidade e do estado emocional

Este estudo teve como finalidade investigar a relação entre alguns factores psicossociais e a adesão terapêutica, utilizando como variáveis preditoras, as representações de doença, a ansiedade e depressão as previsões de suporte social, e a espiritualidade e como variáveis de resultado, a adesão ao regime terapêutico, através da avaliação da adesão à medicação. Pretendeu-se testar quatro hipóteses: (1) Prevê-se que as representações de depressão nas suas dimensões da consequências, duração e controlo pessoal e de tratamento, identidade, preocupação, emoções e compreensão da doença sejam preditores significativos da adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso; (2) Prevê-se que os níveis de ansiedade e depressão dos doentes depressivos estarão significativa e negativamente correlacionados com os níveis de adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso; (3) Prevê-se que os níveis de suporte social percebido estarão significativa e positivamente correlacionados com os níveis de adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso e (4) Prevê-se que os níveis de espiritualidade se encontrem significativa e positivamente correlacionados com os níveis de adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso. Tratou-se de um estudo transversal, com desenho correlacionai e foi desenvolvido num Hospital da Região do Alentejo, mais especificamente, num Departamento de Psiquiatria a saúde Mental, com uma amostra não aleatória de 15 pacientes com o diagnóstico de Depressão. Os resultados confirmaram parcialmente a primeira hipótese, sendo as representações de doença, nas suas dimensões controlo pessoal, controlo do tratamento e emoções preditores significativos da adesão (mais especificamente das alterações das doses da medicação). A segunda hipótese também foi confirmada parcialmente, sendo a depressão preditora da adesão (tanto na dimensão do esquecimento, quanto na alteração das doses da medicação). A terceira hipótese foi, também, parcialmente confirmada sendo a aliança fiável preditora significativa da adesão (na dimensão do esquecimento da toma da medicação). Por último, a quarta hipótese foi igualmente confirmada parcialmente sendo a esperança/optimismo preditora significativa da adesão (tanto na dimensão do esquecimento, quanto na alteração das doses da medicação). Nas análises exploratórias verificou-se a influência da variável sócio­ demográfico “sexo” nas representações cognitivas e também na depressão. A "idade" também demonstrou algum efeito nas alterações à medicação e nas provisões sociais. O "estado civil" mostrou efeito no aconselhamento e na oportunidade de prestação de valores. As variáveis clínicas também mostraram ter influência. O "tempo de doença" mostrou efeito significativo nas representações emocionais, nas crenças, esperança/optimismo e no esquecimento da medicação. A "duração do tratamento com medicação" mostrou efeito na compreensão da doença e no esquecimento da medicação. Por fim, são apresentadas algumas implicações da depressão, bem como algumas sugestões para estudos futuros. /ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some psychosocial factors and the adherence, using as predictor variables, the representations of illness, the anxiety and depression, the social support predictions, and spirituality, and as outcome variables, adherence to treatment regimen, through the assessment of medication adherence. lt was intended to test four hypotheses: (1) lt is expected that the depression representations in its dimensions of consequences, duration and personal control and treatment, identity, concern, emotions and disease understanding are significant predictors of adherence to therapy; (2) lt is expected that anxiety and depression levels in depressed patients are significantly and negatively correlated with the levels of adherence to therapy; (3) lt is expected that the levels of perceived social support are significantly and positively correlated with the levels of adherence to drug treatment and (4) lt is expected that the levels of spirituality are significantly and positively correlated with levels of adherence to therapy. This was a cross-sectional study with correlational design and was developed in one Hospital of the Alentejo Region, more specifically, in a Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, with a non¬random sample of 15 patients diagnosed with depression. The results partially confirmed the first hypothesis, being the representations of disease, in its dimensions of personal control, treatment control and emotions, significant predictors of adherence (more specifically, of the changes in the doses of medication). The second hypothesis was also partially confirmed, with depression being a predictor of adherence {both in the extent of oblivion and in the changes of medication doses). The third hypothesis was also partially confirmed, being the trustable alliance a quite significantly reliable predictor of adherence {in the dimension of the medication oblivion). Finally, the fourth hypothesis was equally partially confirmed, being the hope/optimism significant predictor of adherence (both in the extent of oblivion and in changing doses of medication). ln exploratory analyzes, it was verified the influence of socio-demographic variable "sex" in the cognitive representations and also in depression. The "age" also had some effect on changes to medication and social provisions. The "marital status" had effect in the counseling and in the opportunity to provide values. The clinical variables also proved to have influence. "Time sickness" had a significant effect on emotional representations, beliefs, hope/optimism and medication oblivion. The "treatment duration with medication" had effect in the disease understanding and the medication oblivion. Finally, are presented some implications of depression as well as some suggestions for future studies.