Psychological type profile of Methodist circuit ministers in Britain : similarities to and differences from Anglican clergy

Psychological type theory is employed to profile similarities and differences between Methodist ministers in Britain and the Church of England clergy profiled in an earlier study by Francis, Craig, Whinney, Tilley and Slater (2007). New data were provided by 693 male and 311 female Methodist ministers who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales. These data demonstrated that both male and female Methodist ministers were less likely to prefer intuition, and more likely to prefer sensing, compared to their Anglican colleagues. Also, male Methodist ministers were more likely to prefer feeling and less likely to prefer thinking in comparison with their Anglican colleagues. In other respects, the Methodist ministers and the Anglican clergy recorded similar profiles. These findings are interpreted to illuminate characteristics of strength and weakness in Methodist and Anglican ministry in England and to highlight potential challenges in effecting cooperation between the two denominations

Religious orientation, mental health and culture : conceptual and empirical perspectives

This special edition of Mental Health, Religion and Culture brings together thirteen original empirical studies that employ theories and measures based on the notion of ‘religious orientation’. As originally conceived, Allport’s notion of religious orientation distinguished between the two motivational styles of intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity. Subsequent work distinguished between extrinsic-personal and extrinsic social motivations, and added the third orientation styled as quest religiosity. The first set of seven studies draws on a variety of measures of religious orientation developed since the mid-1960s, including single-item measures. The second set of six studies draws on the New Indices of Religious Orientation proposed by Francis in 2007. Collectively these studies confirm the continuing vitality of the notion of religious orientation for informing empirical research within the psychology of religion and strengthen the foundation for future work in this area

Introducing the modified paranormal belief scale: distinguishing between classic paranormal beliefs, religious paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity among undergraduates in Northern Ireland and Wales

Previous empirical studies concerned with the association between paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity have produced conflicting evidence. Drawing on Rice's (2003) distinction between classic paranormal beliefs and religious paranormal beliefs, the present study proposed a modified form of the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale to produce separate scores for these two forms of paranormal belief, styled 'religious paranormal beliefs' and 'classic paranormal beliefs'. Data provided by a sample of 143 undergraduate students in Northern Ireland and Wales, who completed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity alongside the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, demonstrated that conventional religiosity is positively correlated with religious paranormal beliefs, but independent of classic paranormal beliefs. These findings provide a clear framework within which previous conflicting evidence can be interpreted. It is recommended that future research should distinguish clearly between these two forms of paranormal beliefs and that the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale should be routinely modified to detach the four religious paranormal belief items from the total scale score

Development of alternative carriers for use of Beauveria Bassiana in Ostrinia nubilalis suppression on corn

The European corn borer (ECB) is a serious pest of corn causing significant yield losses in the Midwest. In continuous work on innovative control of the ECB via an entomopathogenic fungus, this project evaluated alternative carriers for delivery of Beauvaria bassiana without increasing indigenous mycotox-Entomology ins

Role of Insect Diseases in Managing the European Corn Border

Disease is what ever goes wrong with an insect and signifies a departure from the state of health or normality (Steinhaus 1949). Diseases can be categorized as infectious or noninfectious. An infectious disease results from invasion by a living microorganism whereas a noninfectious disease is any ailment in which a microorganism is not involved. Insect pathology is the study of diseases in insects and a component of the broader discipline of biological control i.e., management of pest insects with living organisms. There are four general groups of microorganisms that are routinely studied in insect pathology. They are: bacteria, viruses, fungi and microspora. An example of the fungi and an example of the microspora will be discussed herein because these disease causing agents occur naturally in populations of the European com borer whereas bacteria and viruses will not be discussed because they do not usually occur in wild populations of the European com borer. Disease-causing organisms can be indigenous or exogenous. Indigenous pathogens are present in the insect ecosystem whereas exogenous ones are introduced. The impact of two disease causing organisms (both indigenous), a fungus, Beauveria bassiana and a microspora, Nosema pyrausta on management of the European com borer will be discussed

West Point Women: An Oral History of the West Point Experience and Leader Identity Development

Although women have been at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point for over 40 years, they are an understudied group. This omission also encompasses studies about leader development and leader identity development. Over the years, West Point has focused its leadership research on identifying predictors of leadership performance and, with the integration of women cadets, merely added them into their studies to see if they had the same predictors as men. Other than this shift, the literature neglects how women’s experiences at West Point affected their leader identity development. To address this knowledge blind spot, this study employed feminist oral history to capture memories and stories of women from the Class of 1985, the sixth West Point class to include women. The artifact-elicitation interviews focused on how these alumnae interpreted the way their West Point experiences informed their leader identity development at the Academy, in the Army, in subsequent civilian careers, and today. The intense holistic West Point leadership experience was not the only factor that informed the women’s leader identities. Being members of a small, marginalized group at a male-dominated, hypermasculine institution also played a significant role. The effects of tokenism, sexism, misogyny, and sexual misconduct added extra layers of challenge to the women’s journeys. As junior officers in a Cold War Army where they were often even more underrepresented, the women drew on and adapted the lessons learned from West Point to be effective leaders. Lessons from West Point continued to inform the women’s leader identities in subsequent civilian careers and in raising families and/or caretaking. This study helped fill a gap in the understanding of women’s experiences at West Point, especially around leader identity development, and was the first study to take a longitudinal approach. Future studies on West Point women from subsequent decades would help increase overall understanding of the experiences of women at West Point, in the Army, and in other traditionally male-dominated institutions like STEM. In addition, a more qualitative approach to understanding the leader identity development of all cadets would help make the leadership research at West Point more in-depth and robust

The association between church attendance and psychological health in Northern Ireland : a national representative survey among adults allowing for sex differences and denominational difference

This study extends previous research concerning the association between religion and psychological health in six ways: (1) by focusing clearly on religious attendance (church attendance); (2) by employing a robust measure of psychological distress (GHQ-12); (3) by studying a highly religious culture (Northern Ireland); (4) by taking sex differences into account (male or female); (5) by taking denominational differences into account (Catholic or Protestant); (6) and by obtaining a national representative sample (N = 4,281 adults aged 16 and above). Results from a 2 (sex) by 2 (denomination) ANCOVA demonstrated that Catholics recorded significantly lower levels of psychological health compared to Protestants, and that females showed significantly lower levels of psychological health compared to males. In addition, females reported higher frequency of religious service attendance than males, and Catholics reported higher attendance rates than Protestants. A significant positive association was found between frequency of religious attendance and GHQ-12 scores, and this association was moderated by sex and denomination. In conclusion, the results suggest that there may be sex and denominational differences in further understanding the relationship between frequency of religious attendance and psychological health

In Situ Nanomechanical Measurements of Interfacial Strength in Membrane-Embedded Chemically Functionalized Si Microwires for Flexible Solar Cells

Arrays of vertically aligned Si microwires embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have emerged as a promising candidate for use in solar energy conversion devices. Such structures are lightweight and concurrently demonstrate competitive efficiency and mechanical flexibility. To ensure reliable functioning under bending and flexing, strong interfacial adhesion between the nanowire and the matrix is needed. In situ uniaxial tensile tests of individual, chemically functionalized, Si microwires embedded in a compliant PDMS matrix reveal that chemical functionality on Si microwire surfaces is directly correlated with interfacial adhesion strength. Chemical functionalization can therefore serve as an effective methodology for accessing a wide range of interfacial adhesion between the rigid constituents and the soft polymer matrix; the adhesion can be quantified by measuring the mechanical strength of such systems

Synthesis and Characterization of Mixed Methyl/Allyl Monolayers on Si(111)

The formation of mixed methyl/allyl monolayers has been accomplished through a two-step halogenation/alkylation reaction on Si(111) surfaces. The total coverage of alkylated Si, the surface recombination velocities, and the degree of surface oxidation as a function of time have been investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and microwave conductivity measurements. The total coverage of alkyl groups, the rate of oxidation, and the surface recombination velocities of Si(111) terminated by mixed monolayers were found to be close to those observed for CH_3−Si(111) surfaces. Hence, the mixed-monolayer surfaces retained the beneficial properties of CH_3−Si(111) surfaces while allowing for convenient secondary surface functionalization