Understanding academics' popular science publishing : institution culture and management style effects

Most universities and higher education systems have formally taken up a third mission, which involves various public outreach and engagement activities. Little is known regarding how higher education institutions' organisations interact with academic's level of public outreach. This article examines to which extent the perceptions academics have of their institutions' culture and management style, as well as some of their own individual and statutory characteristics interact with their level of public outreach. Using the Academic Profession in Europe comparative and quantitative research database, this article focuses on two countries on the extremities of the spectrum - Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Attachment and coping in psychosis in relation to spiritual figures

Background: Studies have found higher levels of insecure attachment in individuals with schizophrenia. Attachment theory provides a framework necessary for conceptualizing the development of interpersonal functioning. Some aspects of the attachment of the believer to his/her spiritual figure are similar to those between the child and his/her parents. The correspondence hypothesis suggests that early child-parent interactions correspond to a person's relation to a spiritual figure. The compensation hypothesis suggests that an insecure attachment history would lead to a strong religiousness/spirituality as a compensation for the lack of felt security. The aim of this study is to explore attachment models in psychosis vs. healthy controls, the relationships between attachment and psychopathology and the attachment processes related to spiritual figures. Methods: Attachment models were measured in 30 patients with psychosis and 18 controls with the AAI (Adult Attachment interview) in relationship with psychopathology. Beliefs and practices related to a spiritual figure were investigated by qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results: Patients with psychosis showed a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment. Spiritual entities functioned like attachment figures in two thirds of cases. Interviews revealed the transformation of internal working models within relation to a spiritual figure: a compensation process was found in 7 of the 32 subjects who showed a significant attachment to a spiritual figure. Conclusions: Attachment theory allows us to highlight one of the underlying dimensions of spiritual coping in patients with psychosis.

Self-deception as affective coping. An empirical perspective on philosophical issues.

In the philosophical literature, self-deception is mainly approached through the analysis of paradoxes. Yet, it is agreed that self-deception is motivated by protection from distress. In this paper, we argue, with the help of findings from cognitive neuroscience and psychology, that self-deception is a type of affective coping. First, we criticize the main solutions to the paradoxes of self-deception. We then present a new approach to self-deception. Self-deception, we argue, involves three appraisals of the distressing evidence: (a) appraisal of the strength of evidence as uncertain, (b) low coping potential and (c) negative anticipation along the lines of Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis. At the same time, desire impacts the treatment of flattering evidence via dopamine. Our main proposal is that self-deception involves emotional mechanisms provoking a preference for immediate reward despite possible long-term negative repercussions. In the last part, we use this emotional model to revisit the philosophical paradoxes.

Latent Class Analysis of Gambling Activities in a Sample of Young Swiss Men : Association with Gambling Problems, Substance Use Outcomes, Personality Traits and Coping Strategies.

The study aimed to identify different patterns of gambling activities (PGAs) and to investigate how PGAs differed in gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. A representative sample of 4989 young Swiss males completed a questionnaire assessing seven distinct gambling activities, gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. PGAs were identified using latent class analysis (LCA). Differences between PGAs in gambling and substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies were tested. LCA identified six different PGAs. With regard to gambling and substance use outcomes, the three most problematic PGAs were extensive gamblers, followed by private gamblers, and electronic lottery and casino gamblers, respectively. By contrast, the three least detrimental PGAs were rare or non-gamblers, lottery only gamblers and casino gamblers. With regard to personality traits, compared with rare or non-gamblers, private and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sensation seeking. Electronic lottery and casino gamblers, private gamblers and extensive gamblers had higher levels of aggression-hostility. Extensive and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sociability, whereas casino gamblers reported lower levels of anxiety-neuroticism. Extensive gamblers used more maladaptive and less adaptive coping strategies than other groups. Results suggest that gambling is not a homogeneous activity since different types of gamblers exist according to the PGA they are engaged in. Extensive gamblers, electronic and casino gamblers and private gamblers may have the most problematic PGAs. Personality traits and coping skills may predispose individuals to PGAs associated with more or less negative outcomes.

Les strategies de coping chez les proches aidants de personnes atteintes de schizophrenie

Problématique. Les proches aidants jouent un rôle primordial de soutien auprès des personnes atteintes de schizophrénie. La symptomatologie et les perturbations du fonctionnement psychosocial des personnes atteintes de cette maladie peuvent entraîner un fardeau extrêmement élevé pour leur entourage. Les approches psycho-éducatives sont reconnues pour favoriser des stratégies de coping ayant comme impact d'atténuer la détresse des proches aidants et d'améliorer les relations interpersonnelles entre le proche aidant et la personne souffrant de schizophrénie. Buts: décrire et explorer les stratégies de coping chez les proches aidants de personnes atteintes de schizophrénie. Méthode: cette étude descriptive exploratoire a été menée auprès de 45 proches aidants, recrutés selon un échantillonnage de convenance. Ils ont rempli deux auto-questionnaires : (a) le questionnaire sociodémographique et (b) le Family Coping Questionnaire. Des statistiques descriptives de distributions et des analyses corrélationnelles bivariées ont été effectuées. Résultats: les résultats montrent que les stratégies de coping centrées sur le problème et les stratégies de coping centrées sur le maintien social sont plus utilisées que celles appartenant au coping centré sur l'émotion. Cependant, les stratégies de coping centré sur l'émotion sont encore souvent utilisées. Conclusion: malgré les limites de cette étude liées à la taille de l'échantillon, les résultats sont compatibles avec les études antérieures. Il semble important de poursuivre des recherches dans ce domaine pour mieux comprendre les associations entre les représentations de la maladie et les stratégies de coping. Il semble aussi crucial de développer, auprès des proches aidants, les interventions qui leur permettent une meilleure gestion des émotions.