The Sensitivity of the Bible Verse Selection Task to the Relationship Between Christian Fundamentalism and Religious Outgroup Prejudice

Four different studies provide evidence to support the validity of the Bible Verse Selection Task (BVST) as a measure of the strength of Christian fundamentalist beliefs by showing correlations between BVST scores and measures of negativity toward people who often represent “outgroups” for Christians. That is, respondents who obtained high scores on the BVST (representing a greater tendency to select Biblical passages associated with fundamentalism as most central to their faith or belief system) also showed a tendency to obtain high scores on measures of negative feelings, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes toward atheists, gay men, lesbian women, and Muslims. These relationships were generally consistent across both Christian-only samples and general samples, with statistically significant coefficients obtained for 30 of 32 predicted correlations. These results support the utility of this scale for research purposes

Differences among religiously unaffiliated and Christians in the perceptions of the personality of Jesus

Oishi et al. (2011) demonstrated that Christians living in Korea and Christians living in the United States differ in their perceptions of Jesus, in a manner that is aligned with cultural values. The present study examined differences in the perception of Jesus within the United States, examining agnostics, atheists, Catholics and nondenominational Christians, specifically assessing perceptions of his personality traits and moral foundations. Differences were observed between Christian groups and religiously unaffiliated groups, especially on the perceived levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and respect for Authority. However, among Christians, nondenominational Christians perceived higher levels of Conscientiousness, Openness, and respect for Authority than Catholics did. Finally, agnostics perceived higher levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Compassion and lower levels of Neuroticism than atheists did

Reliability of MTurk Data from Masters and Workers for Personality and Cognitive Abilities

Previous research has supported the use of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) for online data collection in individual differences research. Although MTurk Masters have reached an elite status because of strong approval ratings on previous tasks (and therefore gain higher payment for their work) no research has empirically examined whether researchers actually obtain higher quality data when they require that their MTurk Workers have Master status. In two different online survey studies (one using a personality test and one using a cognitive abilities test), the psychometric reliability of MTurk data was compared between a sample that required a Master qualification type and a sample that placed no status-level qualification requirement. In both studies, the Master samples failed to outperform the standard samples

Ego-Identity Status and Life Satisfaction in Emerging Adult Third Culture Kids and Individuals with Multicultural Identities

We investigated life satisfaction and identity development in emerging adult (age 18-30) monocultural European American individuals, multicultural individuals, and Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs are defined as individuals who lived for a significant amount of their developmental years in a country that their parents did not grow up in and that has a culture different from that of their parents’ native country. We hypothesized that in emerging adulthood TCKs and multicultural individuals experience (1) less life satisfaction and (2) different levels of identity exploration and commitment compared to monocultural European American individuals. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers were screened to qualify for one of the three populations, and qualified workers voluntarily took the 5-to-10-minute study survey. Data was collected from 81 qualified workers and analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance tests on life satisfaction and identity status score means to determine significant difference. No significant differences in life satisfaction were found. Significant differences were found for identity status but not as expected. Only the TCK group scored significantly lower than the monocultural group in identity exploration. Only the multicultural group scored significantly lower than the monocultural group in identity commitment. Overall, it appears that TCKs and multicultural individuals are exploring identity less and committing to an identity less than monocultural individuals. Ethnic identity salience and acculturation to mainstream culture were also analyzed for significant differences amongst the three populations. Such characteristics may influence identity exploration and commitment

The Development and Validation of the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale

A series of studies was conducted to create the 22-item Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale on the basis of theoretical descriptions of intellectual humility, expert reviews, pilot studies, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The scale measures 4 distinct but intercorrelated aspects of intellectual humility, including independence of intellect and ego, openness to revising one\u27s viewpoint, respect for others\u27 viewpoints, and lack of intellectual overconfidence. Internal consistency and test-retest analyses provided reliable scale and subscale scores within numerous independent samples. Validation data were obtained from multiple, independent samples, supporting appropriate levels of convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. The analyses suggest that the scale has utility as a self-report measure for future research

The Relationship between Success Modeling and Fear of Success in College Students

This study examined fear of success (FOS) in relation to biological sex and success modeling. Students (N = 108) from a small, liberal arts college completed self-report measures of FOS, success modeling, and demographic factors. It was hypothesized that: (a) no sex differences would be found for FOS and (b) success modeling would be negatively related to FOS. Results indicated female participants reported higher levels of FOS than male participants and success modeling by parents but not by peers was negatively related to FOS. Thus, despite recent societal evidence of equitable achievement, women may still experience higher levels of FOS than men. Also, parental success modeling may be more influential than peer success modeling among college students

Same Book, Different Bookmarks: The Development and Preliminary Validation of the Bible Verse Selection Task as a Measure of Christian Fundamentalism

The development and preliminary validation of a new measure of Christian fundamentalism required a multi-stage process. In an initial exploratory study, participants indicated which of a set of Bible verses were most central to their faith, and factor analysis was used to identify verses that appeared to tap a latent dimension of religious fundamentalism (Study 1). These relationships were re-tested with a new method in a new sample (Study 2), and the items that predicted fundamentalism in both samples were incorporated into a new measure of Christian fundamentalism, the Bible Verse Selection Task (BVST). Importantly, the forced-choice format of the BVST may be less impacted by social desirability response styles that may affect scores on existing fundamentalism scales (Studies 3 & 4) while preserving useful levels of criterion-related validity (Study 5) and convergent evidence of construct validity (Study 6). These studies provide initial psychometric evidence for the BVST as an internally consistent measure of Christian fundamentalism that predicts scores on other fundamentalism scales and related constructs including traditionalism, authoritarianism, and political conservativism

Autistic Masking

This study investigated the relationships between autistic masking and depression, anxiety, gender identity, sexual orientation, social trauma, self-esteem, authenticity, and autistic community involvement. Participants were autistic adults (n=342) recruited through autistic social media groups. The majority of participants (63%) reported being members of sexual minorities. The study found higher self-reported autistic masking behaviors were associated with higher reports of past social trauma (p \u3c .001, b = .26), greater anxiety (p \u3c .001, b = .37) and depression symptoms (p \u3c .001, b = .312), lower self-esteem (p \u3c .001, b = -.25), lower authentic living (p = .005, b = -.16), greater accepting of external influence (p \u3c .001, b= .33), higher self-alienation (p \u3c .001, b = .26), and lower participation within the autistic community (p \u3c .001, b = -.19). Autistic masking was not found to be associated with gender identity or sexual orientation. Participants who reported involvement in previous ABA therapy reported higher past social trauma than participants involved in some other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavior therapy

Differential Gene Expression in Cord Blood of Infants Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Analysis of the Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium Cohort

The Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium clinical trial was conducted between 1997 and 2007, and demonstrated a significant reduction in cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm infants who were exposed to peripartum magnesium sulfate (MgSO4). However, the mechanism by which MgSO4 confers neuroprotection remains incompletely understood. Cord blood samples from this study were interrogated during an era when next-generation sequencing was not widely accessible and few gene expression differences or biomarkers were identified between treatment groups. Our goal was to use bulk RNA deep sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes comparing the following four groups: newborns who ultimately developed CP treated with MgSO4 or placebo, and controls (newborns who ultimately did not develop CP) treated with MgSO4 or placebo. Those who died after birth were excluded. We found that MgSO4 upregulated expression of SCN5A only in the control group, with no change in gene expression in cord blood of newborns who ultimately developed CP. Regardless of MgSO4 exposure, expression of NPBWR1 and FTO was upregulated in cord blood of newborns who ultimately developed CP compared with controls. These data support that MgSO4 may not exert its neuroprotective effect through changes in gene expression. Moreover, NPBWR1 and FTO may be useful as biomarkers and may suggest new mechanistic pathways to pursue in understanding the pathogenesis of CP. The small number of cases ultimately available for this secondary analysis, with male predominance and mild CP phenotype, is a limitation of the study. In addition, differentially expressed genes were not validated by qRT-PCR

Rad3ATR Decorates Critical Chromosomal Domains with γH2A to Protect Genome Integrity during S-Phase in Fission Yeast

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rad3 checkpoint kinase and its human ortholog ATR are essential for maintaining genome integrity in cells treated with genotoxins that damage DNA or arrest replication forks. Rad3 and ATR also function during unperturbed growth, although the events triggering their activation and their critical functions are largely unknown. Here, we use ChIP-on-chip analysis to map genomic loci decorated by phosphorylated histone H2A (γH2A), a Rad3 substrate that establishes a chromatin-based recruitment platform for Crb2 and Brc1 DNA repair/checkpoint proteins. Unexpectedly, γH2A marks a diverse array of genomic features during S-phase, including natural replication fork barriers and a fork breakage site, retrotransposons, heterochromatin in the centromeres and telomeres, and ribosomal RNA (rDNA) repeats. γH2A formation at the centromeres and telomeres is associated with heterochromatin establishment by Clr4 histone methyltransferase. We show that γH2A domains recruit Brc1, a factor involved in repair of damaged replication forks. Brc1 C-terminal BRCT domain binding to γH2A is crucial in the absence of Rqh1Sgs1, a RecQ DNA helicase required for rDNA maintenance whose human homologs are mutated in patients with Werner, Bloom, and Rothmund–Thomson syndromes that are characterized by cancer-predisposition or accelerated aging. We conclude that Rad3 phosphorylates histone H2A to mobilize Brc1 to critical genomic domains during S-phase, and this pathway functions in parallel with Rqh1 DNA helicase in maintaining genome integrity