The Purpose-in-Life Scale (PILS) : internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity and construct validity among Catholic priests in Italy

The Purpose in Life Scale was designed to provide a 12-item unidimensional measure of purpose in life employing a five-point Likert rating for each item. The present study supports the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of this instrument among 155 Catholic priests (mean age = 46 years, SD = 12.16). Internal consistency reliability generated an alpha coefficient of .90. The first factor generated by principal component analysis accounted for 49.5% of variance. Concurrent validity against the Purpose in Life Test was supported by a correlation of .63. Construct validity was supported by a correlation of .54 with the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale and by a correlation of -.51 with the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry. These properties commend the scale for future use among Catholic priests

Professional burnout among Catholic religious sisters in Italy : an empirical enquiry exploring the protective role of quality of community life

This study set out to examine three questions regarding the prevalence and correlates of burnout among a sample of 194 Catholic religious sisters in Italy who completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory alongside the Big Five Factor model of personality and the Index of Community Satisfaction. Regarding the prevalence of burnout, the data demonstrated that the mean scale scores of these sisters on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment all came within the normal range proposed by the test manual. Regarding the personality correlates of burnout, the data demonstrated that the two key personality predictors of higher burnout scores among these sisters were high neuroticism scores and low agreeableness scores. High openness scores also predicted higher personal accomplishment, but were unrelated to differences in emotional exhaustion or in depersonalization. Regarding predictors of community life, after taking individual differences in age and personality into account, higher levels of community satisfaction were associated with lower levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of depersonalization, but unrelated to levels of personal accomplishment. This finding suggests that, a good quality of community life among religious sisters may enhance resilience against burnout, while a poor quality of community life among religious sisters may exacerbate burnout

Openness to mystical experience and psychological type : a study among Italians

This study examines Ross’ thesis that intuitive types are more open than sensing types to mystical experience among a sample of 1,155 Italians who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales alongside the Mystical Orientation Scale. The data supported Ross’ thesis. Intuitive types recorded a significantly higher mean score than sensing types on the index of mystical orientation. Ranking the sixteen complete types according to their mean mystical orientation scores located INFPs with the highest scores and ISTJs with the lowest scores

Psychological temperament and the Catholic priesthood : an empirical enquiry among priests in Italy

This study draws on psychological type theory that has its origins in the work of Jung (1971) and psychological temperament theory as proposed by Keirsey and Bates (1978) to explore the psychological preferences and profile of Catholic priests serving in Italy. Data provided by 155 priests demonstrated an overwhelming preference for sensing and judging (SJ at 76 %), followed by intuition and feeling (NF at 12 %), intuition and thinking (NT at 8 %), and sensing and perceiving (SP at 5 %). In their study of styles of religious leadership, Oswald and Kroeger (1988) characterize the SJ preference as ‘the conserving serving pastor.’ The implications of these findings are discussed for leadership strengths and weaknesses in the Catholic Church

The persistence of spiritual experience among churchgoing and non-churchgoing Italians : sociological and psychological perspectives

The study presented in this article draws on theories and methods developed within the psychology of religion to examine, from a fresh perspective, a problem established within the sociology of religion: the ‘oddity of the Italian situation’. The study employs the notion of openness to mystical experience as an indicator of the level of spiritual awareness among a sample of 1,155 Italians ranging in age from 14 to 80 years. The data demonstrated that, while levels of openness to mystical experience remain quite high among non-churchgoing Italians, these levels are significantly associated with sex, age, religious attendance, and personal prayer. Moreover, the differences between attenders and non-attenders are sensitive to the ways in which aspects of mystical experience are expressed. The dialogue between the psychology of religion and the sociology of religion generates fresh insight into the religious and spiritual landscape of Italy today

Work-related psychological health among Catholic religious in Italy : testing the balanced affect model

Drawing on the classic model of balanced affect, the Francis Burnout Inventory (FBI) conceptualised good work-related psychological health among religious leaders in terms of negative affect being balanced by positive affect. In the FBI negative affect is assessed by the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (SEEM) and positive affect is assessed by the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (SIMS). A sample of 156 religious leaders (95 men and 61 women) serving with the Roman Catholic Church in Italy completed SEEM and SIMS together with an independent measure of wellbeing. The results confirm the hypothesis that high SIMS scores reduced the negative effects of high SEEM scores on the independent measure of wellbeing

Reappraisal of Ischemic Heart Disease: Fundamental Role of Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Angina Pectoris

In recent years, it has become apparent that coronary microvascular dysfunction plays a pivotal pathogenic role in angina pectoris. Functional and structural mechanisms can affect the physiological function of the coronary microvasculature and lead to myocardial ischemia in people without coronary atheromatous disease and also in individuals with obstructive coronary artery disease. Abnormal dilatory responses of the coronary microvessels, coronary microvascular spasm, and extravascular compressive forces have been identified as pathogenic mechanisms in both chronic and acute forms of ischemic heart disease. The condition characterized by anginal symptoms and evidence of myocardial ischemia triggered by coronary microvascular dysfunction, in the absence of obstructive coronary disease, is known as microvascular angina. The concept of microvascular angina, however, may extend further to include patients with obstructive coronary artery disease and individuals with angina after coronary revascularization or heart transplantation because coronary microvascular dysfunction contributes to myocardial ischemia in many such patients. Patients with microvascular angina constitute a sizeable proportion of all cases of stable angina undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography and of those with persisting angina after successful coronary revascularization. Coronary microvascular dysfunction is also often responsible for angina in individuals with cardiomyopathy and heart valve disease as well as acute coronary syndrome cases such as Takotsubo syndrome and myocardial infarction with no obstructive coronary artery disease. Patients with stable microvascular angina present typically with effort or rest chest pain and a reduced coronary flow reserve or microvascular spasm. This condition, which affects women and men, can markedly impair quality of life and prognosis and represents a substantial cost burden to healthcare systems and individuals alike. In recent years, progress in the diagnosis of myocardial ischemia and the use of tests to investigate functional and structural causes for a reduced coronary flow reserve and microvascular spasm have allowed the identification of an increased number of cases of microvascular angina in everyday clinical practice. Although some of the available anti-anginal drugs may be helpful, treatment of coronary microvascular dysfunction remains a major challenge. The present article discusses the fundamental role that coronary microvascular dysfunction plays in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease, the clinical characteristics of patients presenting with microvascular angina, and possible diagnostic and therapeutic strategies

Modulating membrane shape and mechanics of minimal cells by light: area increase, softening and interleaflet coupling of membrane models doped with azobenzene-lipid photoswitches

Light can effectively interrogate biological systems providing control over complex cellular processes. Particularly advantageous features of photo-induced processes are reversibility, physiological compatibility, and spatiotemporal precision. Understanding the underlying biophysics of light-triggered changes in bio-systems is crucial for cell viability and optimizing clinical applications of photo-induced processes in biotechnology, optogenetics and photopharmacology. Employing membranes doped with the photolipid azobenzene-phosphatidylcholine (azo-PC), we provide a holistic picture of light-triggered changes in membrane morphology, mechanics and dynamics. We combine microscopy of giant vesicles as minimal cell models, Langmuir monolayers, and molecular dynamics simulations. We employ giant vesicle elelctrodeformation as a facile and accurate approach to quantify the magnitude, reversibility and kinetics of light-induced area expansion/shrinkage as a result of azo-PC photoisomerization and content. Area increase as high as ~25% and a 10-fold decrease in the membrane bending rigidity is observed upon trans-to-cis azo-PC isomerization. These results are in excellent agreement with simulations data and monolayers. Simulations also show that trans-to-cis isomerization of azo-PC decreases the membrane leaflet coupling. We demonstrate that light can be used to finely manipulate the shape and mechanics of photolipid-doped minimal cell models and liposomal drug carriers, thus, presenting a promising therapeutic alternative for the repair of cellular disorders.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest

The psychological temperament of Catholic priests and religious sisters in Italy : an empirical enquiry

This study draws on psychological temperament theory (a development from psychological type theory) to map the characteristics of 95 Catholic priests and 61 religious sisters in Italy, who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The data demonstrated a strong preference for sensing and judging (the Epimethean Temperament, SJ) among both priests (71%) and religious sisters (61%). In their study of religious leadership, Oswald and Kroeger characterised the SJ preference as ‘the conserving serving pastor’. The implications of these findings are discussed for leadership strengths and weaknesses in the Catholic Church

The psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Astley-Francis scale of attitude toward theistic faith : a study across the age range of 13- to 80-years

The Italian translation of the Astley-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Theistic Faith was tested among a sample of 934 Italian-speaking participants (517 females and 417 males) between the ages of 13–80 years (mean age 30.1 years, SD = 16.0). The data supported the unidimensionality, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the instrument and commended it for further use in contributing to comparative empirical research within the empirical psychology of religion