The Congruence of Academic Motivation and Catholic Education

Student motivation is of central concern for all teachers, as students cannot learn if they are not engaged and attentive during class. This essay describes how Catholic schools are uniquely designed to promote positive motivational patterns in students based on their foundation in the mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Paschal Mystery relates to students pursuing mastery goals and persisting through challenges, the Trinitarian Mystery reflects the focus on community and belongingness, the Incarnation relates to striving for excellence, and the Eucharist reflects the need for purpose. When Catholic schools are rooted in these mysteries and the mission of the Church, students are primed for a positive motivational experience in school

Testing the TEBOTS model in self-threatening situations: The role of narratives in the face of ostracism and mortality

The TEBOTS model predicts that narratives are sought after more often in times of depletion. The present study aimed at expanding this idea by testing whether engagement with narratives is also intensified under self-threatening conditions. Further, we examined whether narratives can serve coping functions. In a 3(Threat: mortality salience vs. ostracism vs. control condition) × 2(Review of the narrative: positive vs. negative) online experiment (N = 228), we tested whether self-threats and the expectation towards the narrative increase entertainment experiences and facilitate self-serving attributions. The results demonstrated that self-threats and a positive review indeed increased the entertainment experience. Narratives could support coping with an existential threat through enhancing self-serving attributions. The findings are discussed in light of the TEBOTS model and its application in the context of self-threats

The psychology of mukbang watching: a scoping review of the academic and non-academic literature

Internet technology has facilitated the use of a wide variety of different activities and applications in online contexts. Despite a large amount of research regarding these activities including online social networking, online gaming, online shopping, online sex, and online gambling, very little is known regarding online eating shows called ‘mukbang’ (i.e. a portmanteau of the South Korean words for ‘eating’ [‘meokneun’] and ‘broadcast’ [‘bangsong’] that refers to online broadcasts where individuals eat food and interact with the viewers). The present study carried out a scoping review of the academic and non-academic literature (i.e. peer-reviewed publications, academic theses, and the print media) in order to examine the psychological characteristics of mukbang viewers and consequences of mukbang watching. A total of 11 academic outputs from different disciplinary fields (mainly peer-reviewed papers) and 20 articles from national UK newspapers were identified following an extensive literature search. Results from the scoping review indicated that viewers use mukbang watching for social reasons, sexual reasons, entertainment, eating reasons, and/or as an escapist compensatory strategy. Furthermore, mukbang watching appears to have both beneficial consequences (e.g., diminishing feelings of loneliness and social isolation, constructing a virtual social community,) and non-beneficial consequences (e.g., altering food preferences, eating habits, and table manners, promoting disordered eating, potential excess, and ‘addiction’). Implications of the study and directions for future research are also discussed

Corporate Psychological Responsibility: CPR Is Needed

Corporate Psychological Responsibility (CPR) is the responsibility of an organization to focus on psychological factors that impact employees to create a competitive advantage for all stakeholders (Sweet, 2020). This manuscript seeks to introduce a framework and model for CPR. A literature review of components that impact employees psychologically in motivational theory and in positive organizational behavior was conducted to identify elements that should be managed to become a psychologically responsible organization. Five pillars of CPR are introduced: health and safety, psychological capital, positive relationships, valued rewards, and fair organizational policies/practices. Organizations that take CPR seriously can create a competitive advantage

Mentorship from the student perspective

Midwifery Basics: Mentorship 3 When undertaking a programme of pre-registration midwifery education, student midwives are working towards responsible and accountable practice at the point of registration. In order to facilitate this, mentors are required to support learning in a range of clinical settings and contribute to the development of the students ability to practice as a safe and competent midwife (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008, 2011). Experiences of mentorship can influence how a student midwife's confidence and competence develops and may shape how they will subsequently practice once qualified (Hughes and Fraser, 2011; Licqurish and Seibold, 2008). Consequently, supportive and positive mentorship is essential to enhance student learning experiences in practice and to promote their personal and professional developmen

Cultural Assets and Racial Discrimination: A Person-Based Exploration of Culturally Relevant Coping with African American Male Adolescents

African-American youth from economically-disadvantaged, urban families and communities are disproportionately exposed to stressful life conditions, including racial discrimination, placing them at increased risk for mental health problems (Gonzales & Kim, 1997; Grant et al., 2000). Though exposure to racial discrimination can span a lifetime, examining youths’ encounters with discrimination during adolescence allows us to better understand how they affect development during a critical period in which they are developing racial/ethnic identity and increasing their use of reasoning. Coping research with African American youth has found evidence for racial discrimination predicting use of culturally-relevant coping strategies (Gaylord-Harden & Cunningham, 2009) and suggests that low-income African American youths may draw upon other unique and culturally-relevant coping strategies that are not captured on existing measures of universal coping strategies. Some of these coping strategies are reflected in a 52-item measure called the Youth Africultural Coping System Inventory (Y-ACSI; Gaylord-Harden & Utsey, 2007) including four afrocentrically-derived factors: Emotional Debriefing, Spiritually-Centered Coping, Maintaining Harmony, and Communalistic/Collectivistic Coping. Given the unique coping patterns of African-American boys, the current study attempted to validate the Y-ACSI in a sample of African American adolescent males using confirmatory factor analysis, determined whether racial discrimination predicts the use of culturally relevant coping strategies beyond that of mainstream coping, identified groups of youth based on their coping patterns and racial discrimination experiences and examined patterns of psychosocial functioning among latent coping groups. The current study was comprised of 660 African American male adolescents between the ages of 14-18 (Mage = 15.39 SD = 1.70, 47.7% 9th graders) recruited from three all-boys, public, charter schools in low-income Chicago neighborhoods as part of a larger, longitudinal study examining determinants of academic and socio-emotional outcomes. A first-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) testing the four-factor structure of the Y-ACSI yielded inadequate fit for the sample; therefore, four second-order CFAs were run for each of the four factors, all achieving adequate fit. Additionally, multiple regression analyses revealed that racial discrimination only predicted levels of emotional debriefing coping (ß = -0.93, p = .026). Latent Class Analysis identified a four-class solution based on culturally-relevant coping strategy use and exposure to racial discrimination, yielding the following groups: mixed coping, low discrimination group (n = 45); moderate coping, high discrimination group (n = 196); high coping, low discrimination group (n = 117); and high coping, high discrimination group (n = 244). Finally, comparisons among the four LCA groups in regard to psychosocial variables revealed the influence of racial discrimination on school belonging and of culturally relevant coping strategy use on social skills. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that African American male adolescents indeed culturally-relevant coping strategies at varying levels and presents much-needed insight into the complex relationship between culturally-relevant coping and racial discrimination within this population

Exploring the Violence Cycle: A Case on Children Exposed to Violent Conflict Becoming Actual Violent Conflict Perpetrators

In their everyday live, children are exposed to several violent encounters in schools, at home or their community at large. Studies reports that children exposed to instances of domestic violence at home and in schools stand high chances of becoming violent. Whereas several such researches have been conducted erstwhile across the globe, Africa, precisely Nigeria which has been plagued with incessant sectarian violence is yet to prioritise attention on this perturbing issue, especially as it regards the effect the spinning of the violent cycle stands to impact on conflict mediation and resolution. This gave rise to the conduct of this research assessing the violence cycle proposition using communal violence with clearly identified differences as exemplified through hostile groups with children samples. The paper explores deep understanding on the possibility of children exposed to violent conflict becoming actual violent conflict perpetrators sequel to varying level of exposure to the hostile animosity. It further examines the foreseeable future of such communities drawing from the views, opinions and the tendency of the child victim upon whom deduction is made on his/her tendency of exhibiting violent attributes as an actual violent conflict perpetrator. Thereafter, conclusion is made with suggestions and recommendations towards curbing the problem. Keywords: Violence cycle, violent conflict, actual violent conflict perpetrators, Jos, Nigeria

When Actors Don’t Walk the Talk: Parasocial Relationships Moderate the Effect of Actor-Character Incongruence

The study examines the effect of a narrative that featured an actor playing a counterattitudinal role. Participants read an online magazine interview with a popular comedian and then watched a sitcom in which this actor played a role that was either consistent or inconsistent with his personal views. Parasocial relationships with the actor moderated the effect of actor-character incongruence. Specifically, incongruence was associated with lower support for narrative-related attitudes, but only among viewers with weak parasocial relationships. These results provide evidence of the existence of vicarious cognitive dissonance, wherein witnessing another person’s hypocritical behavior produces attitude change in the observer

Running to well-being: A comparative study on the impact of exercise on the physical and mental health of law and psychology students

Research indicates that, in comparison to other university students, law students are at greater risk of experiencing high levels of psychological distress. There is also a large body of literature supporting a general negative association between exercise and stress, anxiety and depression. However, we are not aware of any studies exploring the impact of exercise on the mental health of law students specifically. This article reports evidence of a negative association between exercise and psychological distress in 206 law and psychology students. Compared to psychology students, the law students not only reported greater psychological distress, but, in addition, there was a stronger association between their levels of distress and their levels of exercise. Based on the results of this study, we suggest a simple yet effective way law schools might support the mental health of their students

What Are We Missing?: A Comparison of Experiences of Race-Based Trauma by Black Americans and Black Jamaicans

Current literature explains that events resulting from instances of white supremacy and racism are traumatizing for Black individuals (Phillips, 2020). Prior literature illuminates the impact of racism and resulting race-based trauma on Black individuals but is lacking regarding the lived experiences of race-based trauma in Black individuals in the U.S. and Black individuals from Jamaica. The goal of this study was to fill a gap in current literature by providing counselors and counselor educators with information regarding the experiences of Black clients to better inform multicultural, trauma-informed counseling practices and counselor education pedagogy. This study explored the experiences of race-based trauma in Black individuals in the U.S. and Jamaicans identifying as non-white using phenomenological methodology through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Using a phenomenological methodology grounded in Critical Race Theory, semi-structured interviews were completed with 5 individuals identifying as Black Americans and 5 self-identified Black Jamaicans. Questions used in the interviews were aimed to explore (a) ways in which Black individuals have experienced race-based trauma as previously defined; (b) the impact of majority versus minoritized ethnic group status on the experience of race-based trauma; (c) resiliency factors employed by Black individuals to cope with race-based trauma; and (d) if and how race-based trauma impacts the daily functioning and behaviors of individuals self-identifying as Black. The findings of this study illuminate the experiences of these individuals as it relates to race-based trauma and the resiliency factors employed to facilitate coping. Furthermore, a cross-cultural examination of the experiences of racism when the individual is in the majority racial group in their nation, compared to when they are not within the majority racial group is presented, thereby providing the counseling profession with a broader illustration of the Black experience. Implications for licensed professional counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators are presented