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The goal of the paper is to identify the message in letters written by Polish and Czech seniors. The letters were subject to qualitative analysis. The method used was the analysis of the inspired texts—letters written by older people to the younger generation, which may become a didactic tool for the younger generations to learn from the biographies of seniors. The result of the analysis is a list of categories reflecting the main aspects dominating in the letters. These categories are: message addressed to a younger generation, important events and people in individual life story, reflection upon the meaning of life and concerns and challenges in the course of life. All the seniors express their affirmation of family, share ethical reflections on their relationships with other people and on passing. Thus, the main message of the letters is a call to cherish family relationships, nurture relations with other people and show respect to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, spirituality and the meaning of life are becoming increasingly important variables in the study of well-being, health, and happiness. The concept of spiritual intelligence (SI) was suggested as a potentially significant construct expanding our understanding of psychological determinants of human functioning. The aim of this paper was to investigate the factorial validity of the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI; King, 2008) in the context of research on a general factor of spiritual intelligence as a psychological construct. The SISRI was administered to 833 adults in Poland. A four-factor solution with one second-order factor of spiritual intelligence provided an inadequate solution. A four-factor solution with correlated factors and a reduced number of items provided an adequate fit to the data. It is concluded that so far, no data are supporting a single factor of SI measured by SISRI-24, and previous studies, including the original study, show that the measurement with this scale is highly problematic. Without a strong theory and proper measurement, the development of this highly promising area of research may be hindered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of the paper is two-fold. The author is reading Mira Marcinów's book upon recognition of its importance in two debates; that on the subject of madness and its conditions, and that on Poland and its character, i.e. the specificity of Polish melancholy. The author is reading the book to reflect upon the status of melancholy in culture and its unique position. In this endeavour, author attempt to recognize the structure of the melancholic subject and its problematics. Above all, he wonder whether the melancholic has no doubts about his life. A fairly justified hypothesis would be that the melancholic sees himself as a dead rather than a living body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sharing a light-hearted account of important events in an academic career and life. • Introducing bifurcations in life and their local and global consequences. • Demonstrating beauty of undertaking quality research with friends from around the world. This paper dedicated to my late mum and dad (Ludwika and Karol Wiercigroch), presents a light-hearted account of important events in my academic career, which have influenced my development and contributed to my achievements. It meant to be published on the occasion of my round birthday, which celebration was delayed by COVID-19 pandemic and some other factors. Predominantly, it is based on a booklet I wrote in 2013 on the occasion of bestowing on me a title a doctor honoris causa by the Technical University of Lodz (LUT) of my native Poland. The main focus of this piece is the friendship and interactions with my academic colleagues around the world and in particular with Professor Tomasz Kapitaniak of the LUT. In mathematics, a bifurcation is a qualitative change in a solution, wherein a march is not only a synonym of a periodic excitation but also the passing time. In this context, a bifurcation being a qualitative change has a major influence on the global solution. This definition resonates well a much wider context and this paper attempts to provide some examples. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of ethnographic field research focusing on the worship of the Christ Child as practised by female members of a Fraternity of the Infant Jesus in the main church (kościół farny) in the city of Rzeszów in south-eastern Poland. Based on anthropological analysis of secondary sources and primary data collected through interviews, I try to answer the question of why the women choose to worship God as a Child, and how their choice is connected with their spiritual path. What kind of figures do they embrace as spiritual role models, and why? What is it about the worship of the Child Jesus that they find attractive, and how do they maintain, and contribute to, that form of worship? I will connect these aspects of the worship to women's strong need for "giving/protecting life" as well as for sensual relationship with the sacred. I treat this need as a self-embraced development strategy combining a fulfilled feminine identity with a religious life as worshippers of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study, involving 50 caregivers of Holocaust survivors, was to determine the degree of exposure to secondary traumatic stress (STS) and identify the mechanisms of its development. Several standardized measurement tools were used. It was found that a probable diagnosis of STS could be ascertained in 44% of caregivers. The multiple regression analyses model explains 72% of the total variance of STS. The strongest predictor, explaining 37% of the variability, turned out to be disruptions in beliefs about the meaning of life, spirituality and self-worth as a person. In order to reduce STS symptoms in caregivers, attention should be paid primarily to their cognitive functioning, including possible disruptions in basic beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual and existential issues are important factors for oncology patients' well-being. This study aimed to examine the beneficial role of spiritual experience, hope, and meaning in life for life satisfaction in patients diagnosed with breast and lung cancer. It was hypothesized that spiritual experiences and life satisfaction are indirectly related through hope, as well as meaning in life mediates the relationship between hope and life satisfaction. It was a pilot study with a sample consisting of 4 men and 46 women, 24–83 years of age oncology patients. The following measures were used: Cantril Ladder, Purpose in Life Test, Herth Hope Index as well as Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale. A sample of Polish patients with breast and lung cancer confirmed the beneficial effects of spiritual experiences and existential aspects of life for their life satisfaction. According to obtained results, hope was indirectly related to life satisfaction through meaning in life. Also, spiritual experiences were positively indirectly related to life satisfaction through the pathway of hope and meaning in life. Theoretical and practical implications of the achieved results were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study concerns the relationship between self-concept clarity, religiosity, and well-being, as well as the mediating influence of religiosity on the relationship between self-concept clarity and sense of meaning in life and self-esteem. Self-concept clarity was found to be a significant predictor of sense of meaning in life and self-esteem; intrinsic religious orientation was found to be a predictor of sense of meaning in life, while the quest religious orientation was a predictor for self-esteem. The cross-products of self-concept clarity and intrinsic religious orientation were found to be related to the sense of purpose in life, which would point to religiosity being a mediator of the relationship between self-concept clarity and sense of purpose in life. The cross-products of self-concept clarity and quest religious orientation were found to be a predictor of self-esteem, which indicates a mediating effect of this religious orientation in the relationship of self-concept clarity and self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adults in more developed countries can expect to celebrate their 85th, 90th and even their 100th birthdays. Although time horizons have a major influence on behavior and adult development, little is currently known about how young people feel about the prospect of living such long lives. We therefore explored young adults' preferred life expectancy (how long one wants to live) based on questionnaire data from N = 715 university students in Austria, Norway, Poland and Russia. The countries represented in the sample differ substantially with regard to period life expectancy and the extent to which women outlive men. Overall, participants indicated wanting to live for M = 87.43 years (SD = 14.91), M = 8.12 years longer than they expect to live and M = 13.04 years longer than they think that an average person with the same age and sex will live. There was thus no indication that participants felt that they will live "too long." There was a 7-year difference between the country subsamples with the highest and lowest PLE, providing first evidence that PLE meaningfully differs across countries. Men wanted to live longer than women in each country subsample. Despite country differences in the extent to which women outlive men, there was no evidence that the magnitude of the gender difference in PLE differed across country subsamples. PLE was also related to young people's representations of old age and subjective health. Young people who prefer to die relatively young (< 80 years) were much more likely to use tobacco daily and be physically inactive than their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article was to show the relationship of terminal values and forgiveness with meaning in life in Polish students who consider themselves faithful and practicing. The study involved youth studying at the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow. It was carried out among 368 students. The age of the participants ranged between 19 and 23. Three tools were applied: Rokeach Value Survey, Forgiveness Scale by Toussaint, and the Purpose in Life Test of Crumbaugh and Maholick. The analysis of the results obtained proves that terminal values and forgiveness have a statistically significant relationship with meaning in the life of the studying youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic dishonesty is dishonest behavior at school or university which is supposed to result in a passed exam or in a positive grade. Academic dishonesty is a global problem, present at every stage of education. Since the consequences of this phenomenon may be serious, such as a low level of knowledge despite receiving a diploma from a school or university or carrying dishonest behaviors over into other domains of functioning, research into this phenomenon also seems to be of high significance. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsification are the forms of academic of dishonesty. The aim of this study was to establish how academic dishonesty is related to self‐control, self‐beliefs, and satisfaction with life. The sample consisted of 631 participants, to whom we administered the Academic Honesty Scale, the Brief Self‐Control Scale, the Social Success Index, the Normalcy Feeling Scale, the Social Comparison Scale, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale. We found that academic dishonesty was linked with some of the variables. The results indicated that academic dishonesty and self‐control were negatively related to academic cheating and that social comparison was positively related to plagiarism and falsification. It also turned out that women scored lower than men on academic dishonesty. Research findings on academic dishonesty have a number of important implications for education, particularly for psychologists, teachers, and sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the study is to analyze the standard expected years of life lost (SEYLL) due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Poland from 1999 to 2014 by sex and place of residence. Methods: The number of deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (J40 –J44 and J47 according to ICD-10) over the period 1999 to 2014 was analyzed based on data obtained from the Central Statistical Office in Poland. Standard expected years of life lost due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were calculated by sex and place of residence according to the living population (SEYLLp) and the number of deaths caused by the disease (SEYLLd). Changes in the calculated measures were evaluated using joinpoint models. The annual percentage change (APC) and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) were also calculated. Results: The study revealed that COPD contributed to 1.8% of the total number of deaths which occurred between 1999 and 2014. The greatest decrease in the analyzed measures was observed among males from rural areas (p<0.05) (SEYLL: AAPC = -1.6; 95%CI: -3.0;-0.2; SEYLLp: AAPC = -2.0; 95%CI: -3.4;-0.6; SEYLLd: AAPC = -1.1; 95%CI: -1.2;-0.9). A statistically significant increase in the SEYLL and SEYLLp indices was observed among female city dwellers (SEYLL: AAPC = 2.4; 95%CI:0.7;4.0 and SEYLLp: AAPC = 2.4; 95%CI: 0.8;4.1). Conclusions: All studied measures were higher in the male group than in the female group, regardless of the place of residence. A male who died of COPD in Poland in 2014 potentially lost 14.9 years of life, whereas a female lost 14.2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects the main legislative framework and preoccupations for environmental protection and durable development in four European countries: Romania, Croatia, Poland and Slovenia. There it is an analyse around the question: The national legislative low is it constructed on ethical norms and values which should regulate the human behaviour and can be learned in the schools by a young age? The article brings in attention the ethical dimension as solid base for construction of a durable future of Terra life and try to reconnect the moral norms of alive with the legislation which it is not optional as the moral one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine whether meaning in life understood in terms of presence, search, and personal meaning is a mediator in the relationships between religious coping and psychological well-being. Associations of religiousness and psychological well-being are complex and suggest the existence of meaning and purpose in their internal structures. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, presence of meaning in life was a mediator between negative coping and psychological well-being in the scope of a total score and all its dimensions. Search for meaning in life did not mediate the above relations. In Study 2, personal meaning turned out to be a partial mediator between negative coping and psychological well-being. These findings suggest that meaning in life is a crucial element of religious coping and psychological well-being that is used by people as a part of their meaning system to cope with life's difficulties and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reveals the impact of a belief in god and god's Providence on the happiness and quality of life of patients benefiting from aesthetic medicine treatments in Poland (country where over 90 % of society declare to be deeply devout). The work also examines age and sex of the patients benefiting from beauty treatments (botulinum toxin, fillers, medical peels and needle mesotherapy), their quality of life and also the impact of various factors, including God and Divine Providence on their happiness. The research shows the analysis of factors influencing the successes or failures in the past year and presents the comparison of patients who have benefited from the aesthetic medicine treatments (cosmetic medicine) to the common average Polish citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research has found positive links between happiness and various aspects of religiousness, yet it remains unclear how religion contributes to happiness and other well-being outcomes. One possible route is through purpose in life. Among a sample of 208 Christian Polish university students we investigated the mediating role of purpose in life between religion and subjective well-being. Intrinsic religiosity, as expected, was related to higher levels of purpose in life, happiness and life satisfaction, and positively predicted happiness and life satisfaction through purpose in life. The findings support the notion that eudaimonia and eudaimonic constructs like purpose in life may be the links between religion and well-being outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polish Centre for life cycle assessment (LCA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 following the initiative of people involved in Polish scientific and R&D centers dealing with LCA. The role, mission as well structure and organization of PCLCA have been presented. Moreover, the current state of LCA implementation in Poland has been mentioned. However, LCA has been mainly used for scientific research less by industry and business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]