“From my life, she will never be gone, even though she is no longer here”:A single case interpretative phenomenological analysis on spousal loss and resilience

Older people often face drastic life events, such as spousal loss, that profoundly affect their daily lives. Consequently, resilience—how one navigates life’s changes to avoid further adverse outcomes—is increasingly relevant in ageing studies. Although understanding older adults’ resilience is key to preventing adverse outcomes, the complexity of loss-related events and everyday resilience in later life is underexplored from a process-based perspective. This study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) case study of one individual to investigate resilience in response to spousal loss from a process-based perspective. Four interviews were conducted with this one participant and data was analysed following IPA guidelines. Findings indicate how resilience, in this case, resembles a process of continuous adaptation and renewal or “bouncing forward”, in the face of diverse adversities, as written by Bourbeau. This study enriches our understanding of the process-based perspective on resilience, which is essential for concretely defining resilience and its practical application

Gender Equality and Life Satisfaction:A Mediation Model with Individual Autonomy, Income Per Capita and Trust

Gender equality has been found to positively affect life satisfaction. However, the reason why gender equality affects life satisfaction remains relatively unexplored. In this paper, we hypothesize three mediators for this relationship: individual autonomy, income per capita, and generalized trust. All three variables have been found to positively affect life satisfaction. We argue that each mediator may, in turn, depend positively on gender equality, suggesting that individual autonomy, income per capita, and generalized trust positively mediate the relationship between gender equality and life satisfaction. Using a sample of 81 countries from 1990 to 2020, we find that individual autonomy and income per capita are important channels that together explain 98% of the total relationship between gender equality and life satisfaction. While the mediation effect of individual autonomy is robust, the significance of income per capita is less consistent when using alternative estimation techniques. For generalized trust we do not find evidence of mediation

Zwischen Räumen:Wie sich Nähe und Distanz in Städten durch die Sharing Economy verändern

The article examines whether and how the sharing economy, as a specific, non-exclusive practice of owning and using property objects, reproduces but also irritates and redevelops urban spatial and social relationships. To this end, it applies a methodological framework of analysis that, based on Georg Simmel and conceptually following Hartmut Rosa, examines phenomena and practices of sharing with regard to the relationships entered into with things, with others, as well as with oneself. Drawing on Simmel, a distinction is made between the private and the public as spheres in which proximity and distance are simultaneously practically negotiated and institutionally anchored from a spatial and social point of view. Property and its usage—alone or together with others—play a central role here, because spatial structures are formed and maintained, but can also change, depending on specific property objects and their particular use. Based on own empirical findings on the shared use of living space (homesharing) and vehicles (carsharing), the article examines what impact sharing practices have on proximity and distance relationships and thus on the (re)structuring of spaces within cities

The spiritual care intervention “In dialogue with your life story”: Results of a longitudinal study on palliative clients’ spiritual wellbeing

Background: Spiritual care is important for palliative care, but the evidence base for spiritual care provision is low.Aim:To investigate the course over time of clients’ spiritual wellbeing who participated in the spiritual care intervention “In dialogue with your life story.”Design: The intervention consisted of six individual sessions between client and chaplain of various faiths. A longitudinal study was conducted pre- and post-intervention, and a follow-up approximately 10 weeks after post-intervention. Spiritual wellbeing was measured using the EORTC QLQ-SWB32 and NEIS, and symptoms of anxiety and depression as secondary outcome measure using the HADS. Latent growth modeling was used to investigate changes in outcome measures over time.Setting/Participants: Adult clients receiving home-based, palliative care were eligible to participate in this study.Results: A total of 75 clients and 33 chaplains participated. On the four EORTC QLQ-SWQ32-subscales, a significant increase was found over time on “relationship with self,” “relationship with others,” and ‘“existential wellbeing” (linear trends). “Relationship with someone or something greater” significantly increased over time but decreased 10 weeks post-intervention (quadratic trend). On the two NEIS-subscales, ego-integrity significantly increased over time (linear trend), while despair significantly decreased (quadratic trend). On the two HADS-subscales, symptoms of anxiety significantly decreased over time (linear trend). No significant change was found for depressive symptoms.Conclusions: We provided first empirical evidence for an increase in clients’ spiritual wellbeing after enrollment in the spiritual care intervention “In dialogue with your life story.” Future research using control conditions is needed to investigate its causal effect

The impact of religious identity on intergroup encounters.

In recent decades, social cohesion in Western societies has been progressively undermined, leading to increased polarisation and fragmentation. Efforts to counteract this trend have included organising intergroup activities to restore trust and foster ‘bridge-building’ between different communities. While social psychology has extensively explored the dynamics of intergroup encounters, particularly in terms of their ability to promote successful community bridging, the role of religious identity in these encounters remains underexplored. Through an integrative literature review, this article aims to investigate the influence of participants’ religious identity on the outcomes of these bridging activities. A systematic literature search was conducted across various academic databases, utilising combinations of search terms such as ‘intergroup encounters’ and ‘religion’. In the search, both forward and backward snowballing techniques were added to ensure a comprehensive selection of relevant literature. Our analysis reveals that two central aspects of religious identity – religious truth claims and the perception of religious identity as a voluntary choice – pose significant challenges to bridging initiatives. In addition, minority versus majority status and self-uncertainty further complicate the effectiveness of these encounters. While interfaith interventions are often presented as mechanisms for enhancing bridging social capital, the findings suggest that they may inadvertently lead to increased bonding within religious groups, reinforcing existing divisions rather than fostering broader social cohesion. The implications of these findings for community-building initiatives are discussed