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Lay people's views regarding the acceptability of adolescents' abortion as a function of religious involvement, as a function of circumstances (e.g., fetus' age), and as a function of current legislation in the country were examined. We compared data gathered in Portugal at a time when abortion on request was illegal, and data gathered in France where abortion on request has been legal since 30 years. Adult participants were presented with 64 vignettes of a few lines that were composed according to a five withinsubject factors design: the adolescent's age (15 years vs. 17 V years) x the adolescent's plans regarding schooling (leave school vs. go to college) x the number of months of the fetus (1, 2, 3, or 4 months) x the attitude of the adolescent's family (agree vs. disagree) x the attitude of her boyfriend, 2 x 2 x 4 x 2 x 2. Through cluster analysis, three contrasting personal positions were found: Never acceptable, depending on circumstances, and always acceptable. The judgment rule of participants adopting the "depending" position was: Acceptability = Fetus' age + Schooling plans + Partner's agreement + (Parent's agreement x Adolescent's age). The percentages of participants endorsing the always unacceptable position were higher among regular attendees of religious service and among Portuguese participants than among other participants. The ways respect for religious tradition and respect for current laws impact of people's views regarding adolescent's abortion were shown to be independent the one from the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on virtues and character strengths has increased over the last decade. A total of 283 young participants from Portugal completed a measure of character strengths (Furnham and Lester in Eur J Psychol Assess 28:95-101, ) grounded on the values in action inventory of strengths (Peterson and Seligman in Character strengths and virtues: a handbook of classification, APA Press, Washington, DC, ). Participants also completed well-being measures, and a Big Five personality trait measure. The study examined the factor structure of self-assessed character strengths as well as demographic (particularly gender), well-being and personality correlates of the virtues which are the 'higher order' classification of the strengths. Our results provided evidence for a four-dimensional model, though somewhat different from the theoretical formulation. Females typically scored higher on character strengths than males. Regressions investigating demographic, well-being and personality determinants of these strengths evidenced personality factors (particularly openness and agreeableness) were always most powerful predictors of the self-reported strengths than demographic and well-being measures. Limitations of the research are discussed and directions for future investigation are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The views of French, Portuguese, and Spanish people on end-of-life decisions were compared. Two hundred seventy-seven adults from Barcelona, Oporto, and Toulouse judged the acceptability of life-ending procedures in 42 scenarios composed of all combinations of 3 factors: the patient's age (30 or 80 years), the patient's life expectancy (days, weeks, or months), and the type of procedure (suicide, suicide assisted by the physician, euthanasia by the physician at the request of a suffering patient, euthanasia of a comatose patient at the family's request, euthanasia of a comatose patient as stipulated in the patient's advance directives, euthanasia of a comatose patient without advance directions and without a request from the family, or euthanasia of a suffering patient without a request from the patient). In all 3 countries, the type of procedure had the major effect. The 4 procedures implemented by the patient or at the patient's request were, on average, considered acceptable. The 2 procedures not implemented at the patient's request were considered unacceptable. Euthanasia of a comatose patient at the request of the family was judged mildly acceptable. The attitudes of the people in Toulouse, Oporto, and Barcelona concerning the acceptability of ending a patient's life have now largely converged, although Spanish participants were statistically significantly more accepting than French and Portuguese participants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the effects of age and gender on work-related subjective well-being, looking at job-related affective well-being and job satisfaction. Specifically, it investigates whether older women, who may be doubly disadvantaged in being old and being women, are victims of a 'double jeopardy' effect. Self-reported survey-data were obtained from 446 adults employed full-time. The results of this study suggest that age seems to matter more than gender in the workplace, and that aging is associated with lower job-related well-being and higher job satisfaction. Although older women reported slightly lower job-related affective well-being than men, the decrease of subjective well-being with age impacts on both genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three separate issues concerning the relation between age and satisfaction with sex life are addressed in this article. The first issue was concerned with the age generalizability of the factor structure produced by responses to the Satisfaction with Sex Life Scale (SWSLS). The second issue was to examine whether there were differences in the satisfaction with sex life according to certain background characteristics, namely age. Finally, the relationship between scores on the SWSLS with those on other relational constructs was explored. Data collection involved completion of a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,144 participants. The mean ages of the sample were 38.99 years in (SD = 16.91); ages ranged from 20 to 80. The data indicated that the factor structure of responses to the SWSLS were highly similar through adult life. Religious involvement, marital status, and love status influenced satisfaction with sex life. Expected correlations with measures of other relationship constructs were found. The strongest predictor of satisfaction with sex live across the adult life span was love satisfaction. Suggestions concerning the use of the SWSLS for research and clinical purposes are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A central construct within the positive psychology literature is satisfaction with life. The aim of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction with life among adolescents from returned immigrant families in Portugal, as well as the background, the intercultural contact and the adaptation factors related thereto. The sample consisted of 615 adolescents (mean age = 16.5 years; SD = 1.4). The mean duration of sojourn in Portugal for the sample was 8.4 (SD = 4.6). They answered a self-report questionnaire. A comparison group involving 217 young Portuguese was also included in the study. Adolescents from returned immigrant families revealed similar levels of satisfaction with life in comparison with peers who have never migrated. The notion that geographic mobility of parents is a primary cause of adaptation problems in their children appears to be incorrect. Predictive factors -- demographic, intercultural, and adaptation variables -- were significantly linked to the satisfaction with life of youth. Combined, these variables explained 37% of the variance in life satisfaction. The results help us understand which variables are important to target when developing interventions to improve the life satisfaction of adolescents from returned immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paintings are used to explore issues in the psychology of love. Examples of paintings are suggested, for presentation in slide form, that illustrates the different colors of love: Eros (passionate love), Ludus (game-playing love), Storge (companionate love), Pragma (practical love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), and Agape (selfless love). The most frequent associations of paintings with each one of the six love styles were used to ask to the students to write stories about them. Students discussed their choices and the reasons for them. These findings spurred lively discussion about love attitudes. Students' overall evaluations of the activity were positive and encouraged the use of this activity in future courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]