Aristotle on Forming Friendships

In lieu of an abstract, here is the article\u27s first paragraph: Although he lived long ago, the ethical writings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) still have relevance to the present day, particularly when we want to understand the meaning of friendship. In Books VIII and IX of his work the Nichomachean Ethics (named in honor of both his father and son, who shared the name Nichomachus), Aristotle categorizes three different types of friendship: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, and friendships of the good (also known as virtuous friendships). Briefly, friendships of utility are where people are on cordial terms primarily because each person benefits from the other in some way: business partnerships, relationships among co-workers, and classmate connections are examples. Friendships of pleasure are those where individuals seek out each other’s company because of the joy it brings them. Passionate love affairs, people belonging to the same cultural or social organization, and fishing buddies all fall into this category. Most important of all are friendships of the good. These are friendships based upon mutual respect, admiration for each other’s virtues, and a strong desire to aid and assist the other person because one recognizes an essential goodness in them. (See Tim Madigan’s article ‘Aristotle’s Email, Or, Friendship in the Cyber Age’ in Philosophy Now 61 for further details on these categories.) But, the questions remain – just why do we need friends? And if we do need them, how do such relationships arise

Measuring perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise: Review, critique, recommendations

Over the past 25 years, a number of multidimensional measures of perfectionism has been developed. Based on different models of multidimensional perfectionism, these measures contain different numbers of subscales, and most of the time the different subscales bear different names. This presents a confusing situation to researchers unfamiliar with the often complex details of the perfectionism literature who want to conduct research on perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise and need to make a decision as to what measure to use to capture individual differences in multidimensional perfectionism. The aim of the present chapter is to give researchers some guidance in this decision. To this aim, the chapter will (a) review the available multidimensional measures that have been published in international peer-reviewed journals and (b) provide a critique of these measures. In addition, the chapter will provide (c) recommendations on which measures to use and guidance on which decisions researchers have to make when using these measures to capture perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise

Perfectionism and attitudes towards doping in junior athletes

Recent theory and research suggest that perfectionism is a personal factor contributing to athletes’ vulnerability to doping (using banned substances/drugs to enhance sporting performance). So far, however, no study has examined what aspects of perfectionism suggest a vulnerability in junior athletes. Employing a cross-sectional design, this study examined perfectionism and attitudes towards doping in 129 male junior athletes (mean age 17.3 years) differentiating four aspects of perfectionism: perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, parental pressure to be perfect, and coach pressure to be perfect. In the bivariate correlations, only parental pressure showed a positive relationship with positive doping attitudes. In a multiple regression analysis controlling for the overlap between the four aspects, perfectionistic strivings additionally showed a negative relationship. Moreover, a structural equation model examining the relationships between all variables suggested that coach pressure had a negative indirect effect on attitudes towards doping via perfectionistic strivings. The findings indicate that perceived parental pressure to be perfect may be a factor contributing to junior athletes’ vulnerability to doping, whereas perfectionistic strivings may be a protective factor

Perfectionism and burnout in junior athletes: A three-month longitudinal study

Perfectionism in sports has been shown to be associated with burnout in athletes. Whether perfectionism predicts longitudinal changes in athlete burnout, however, is still unclear. Using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, the present study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and athlete burnout in 101 junior athletes (mean age 17.7 years) over 3 months of active training. When structural equation modeling was employed to test a series of competing models, the best-fitting model showed opposite patterns for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Whereas perfectionistic concerns predicted increases in athlete burnout over the 3 months, perfectionistic strivings predicted decreases. The present findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are a risk factor for junior athletes contributing to the development of athlete burnout whereas perfectionistic strivings appear to be a protective factor

Athletes’ perfectionism and reasons for training: Perfectionistic concerns predict training for weight control

Exercise and training for sports are associated with a number of psychological and health benefits. Research on exercise, however, suggests that such benefits depend on the reasons why individuals participate in sport. The present study investigated whether individual differences in perfectionism predicted different reasons for training and examined four dimensions of perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, coach pressure to be perfect, parental pressure to be perfect) and three reasons for training (avoidance of negative affect, weight control, mood improvement) in 261 athletes (mean age 20.9 years). Regression analyses showed that perfectionistic concerns positively predicted avoidance of negative affect and weight control, whereas perfectionistic strivings positively predicted mood improvement. The findings suggest that individual differences in perfectionism help explain why athletes train for different reasons

Survey of university programs in remote sensing funded under grants from the NASA University-Space Applications program

NASA's Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA) is currently assessing approaches to transferring NASA technology to both the public and private sectors. As part of this assessment, NASA is evaluating the effectiveness of an ongoing program in remote sensing technology transfer conducted by 20 university contractors/grantees, each supported totally or partially by NASA funds. The University-Space Applications program has as its objective the demonstration of practical benefits from the use of remote sensing technology to a broad spectrum of new users, principally in state and local governments. To evaluate the University-Space Applications program, NASA has a near-term requirement for data on each university effort including total funding, funding sources, length of program, program description, and effectiveness measures

Study of Federal technology transfer activities in areas of interest to NASA Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications

Forty-three ongoing technology transfer programs in Federal agencies other than NASA were selected from over 200 current Federal technology transfer activities. Selection was made and specific technology transfer mechanisms utilized. Detailed information was obtained on the selected programs by reviewing published literature, and conducting telephone interviews with each program manager. Specific information collected on each program includes technology areas; user groups, mechanisms employed, duration of program, and level of effort. Twenty-four distinct mechanisms are currently employed in Federal technology transfer activities totaling $260 million per year. Typical applications of each mechanism were reviewed, and caveats on evaluating program effectiveness were discussed. A review of recent federally funded research in technology transfer to state and local governments was made utilizing the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, and abstracts of interest to NASA were selected for further reference

Options for organization and operation of space applications transfer centers

The benefits of developing regional facilities for transfer of NASA developed technology are discussed. These centers are designed to inform, persuade, and serve users. Included will be equipment for applications and demonstrations of the processes, a library, training facilities, and meeting rooms. The staff will include experts in the various techniques, as well as personnel involved in finding and persuading potential users

State Liquor Control Boards v. Local Government: Who Should Control the Location of Liquor Establishments?

The Pennsylvania Liquor Code vests exclusive control over all aspects of the regulation of liquor sales in the state Liquor Control Board. In doing so, the power of local governments to regulate land use within their boundaries is usurped when it comes to the location of liquor-licensed establishments. This article looks at the effect of state level regulation of the location of liquor establishments on both the local citizenry and the owners of licensed liquor establishments and argues in favor of more localized control over the location of such establishments

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport

Objectives and Method: The Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (MIPS; Stoeber, Otto, & Stoll, 2006) is a commonly used measure of perfectionism in sport. However, there is limited empirical evidence supporting its subscale structure and composition. Therefore, the present study investigated the factor structure of the MIPS in a sample of 470 athletes (mean age 20.0 years). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the data supported the hypothesized four-factor structure of the MIPS, differentiating: striving for perfection, negative reactions to imperfection, parental pressure to be perfect, and coach pressure to be perfect. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the MIPS has acceptable factorial validity and therefore may be a useful measure to explore individual differences in perfectionism in sport