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Background: Previous studies showed that lay people see modernization as a threat to social fabric because it will make people less warm and moral. The purpose of this paper is to describe lay people's understanding of the effects of different types of modernization. Specifically, we checked how social, economic, technological and conventional development are expected to influence communion, agency and well-being in the future society. Methods: We conducted three cross-sectional studies using online surveys. Prolific participant pool users over 18 years of age that held Canadian citizenship and resided in Canada were eligible to take part in the study in exchange for financial compensation. T-tests and linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS statistical package. Results: Participants expected that people in future society will have lower well-being than today. Technological modernization was expected to decrease communion and well-being but increase agency in the future, while social modernization was expected to strengthen societal communion, agency and well-being. Conclusion: Lay people believe that different types of modernization will have different effects on society. Whereas technological progress is viewed ambivalently, social development is seen as uniformly positive for well-being of society. In order to counter pessimism about the future, policy makers should focus on social development while striving to mitigate negative social aspects of technological advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The goal of this study was to develop a self-report scale measuring the teacher's interpersonal behavior in teacher-child dyads in elementary schools and to provide evidence of the scale's validity. Using the framework of interpersonal theory, the Questionnaire on Dyadic Interpersonal Teacher Behavior (DITeB) models teacher behavior in an interpersonal circumplex that allows for the simultaneous analysis of teacher behavior along the two orthogonal dimensions of communion (warmth) and agency (guidance, monitoring). Methods: We analyzed 440 dyadic teacher-child relationships derived from 88 teacher reports. Teachers rated the 20 items (8 scales) of the DITeB to describe their interpersonal behavior towards a child. To test the scale's structural validity, we conducted confirmatory circumplex structural analyses. To test the scale's construct validity, we used teachers 'descriptions of relationship quality (closeness, conflict, dependency), and of their child related emotions (enjoyment, anger, anxiety). In addition, teachers reported on the child's academic performance (numeric grades), as well as their professional beliefs about heterogeneity and self-efficacy for adaptive teaching, data which were used for further construct validation. Results: We obtained empirical support for both structural and construct validity of the DITeB. Teacher interpersonal behavior correlated significantly with perceived relationship quality and emotions: high relationship quality and positive emotions were associated with high communion and low agency, whereas low relationship quality and negative emotions were associated with low communion and high agency, supporting construct validity. Additionally, as child's academic performance improved, teachers' agency decreased. Towards different groups of children, teachers' interpersonal behaviors varied systematically based on their professional beliefs: teachers with strong heterogeneity beliefs tended to be more communal towards low-performing children compared to high-performing children. Moreover, teachers with strong self-efficacy towards adaptive teaching adjusted their agency more flexibly according to children's performance in school, further supporting the construct validity of our instrument. Discussion: We discuss how our instrument enriches the spectrum of existing scales on interpersonal teacher behavior. By focusing dyadic specific teacher behavior, the DITeB allows examining the extent to which the teacher adapts their behavior to child characteristics (adaptive teaching), and the effect of teacher behavior on child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Narrative identity is a promising approach for understanding the content of individuals' ethnic identities but can be limited by the time‐intensive nature of human coding and the reliance on preestablished coding systems. Background: The aim of our preregistered study is to elucidate the content of individuals' ethnicity‐related experiences using a novel statistical approach. Method: We applied structural topic modeling (STM), a natural language processing tool, to narratives written by an ethnically diverse sample of 1149 young adults about a moment they felt aware of their ethnicity. Results: We identified 14 topics within ethnicity narratives and analyzed how each topic related to both the participant's ethnicity and the human‐coded themes of agency and communion. For example, the topic Gained perspective of structural inequality was associated with greater agency, whereas Peer dynamics was associated with greater communion. Ethnic/cultural celebration was associated with both. Conclusions: This study introduces STM as a useful tool for extracting topic content in narrative data and demonstrates how the multi‐method assessment of ethnicity narratives provides greater insight into the content of ethnic experiences. These findings contribute to our understanding of contextualized aspects of personality, including the innovative ways we might examine them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few opportunities for ordinary people not familiar with death to think about it, whereas basic research on death attitudes is insufficient. This study thus examined the attitudes toward death among ordinary people through a qualitative analysis using Erikson's theory of generativity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 middle-aged and older Japanese individuals. The results showed that death attitudes were individualized and consisted of seven components, mainly those related to agency and communion. The change in death attitudes manifested as a change in weight from agency to communion, a change in meaning and perspective, and an orientation toward well-being. In conclusion, the change in death attitudes is to become more generative by balancing agency and communion through the function of narration. This change might be termed "the maturity of death attitudes" because it is oriented toward eudaimonic well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interface between work and family domains has received considerable scholarly attention in recent decades due to its substantial impact on outcomes related to work, family, health, and well-being. However, individuals experience this impact differently, with some demonstrating resilience while others are more vulnerable to negative effects. In this study, we investigate the role of individuals’ life goals and gender in the work-family interface, using the framework of the work-home resources model and selfregulation theory. Using Structural Equation Modeling with data from Waves 8 and 10 of the German Family Panel (pairfam), we found that life goals significantly moderate these effects: individuals prioritizing agentic goals feel the detrimental impact of work-to-family interference (WtFI) on life satisfaction more intensely than those who prioritize communal goals and those whose goals are balanced. In contrast, the effect of family-to-work interference (FtWI) on life satisfaction was significant only for individuals prioritizing communal goals, with no significant moderation effect observed across the other life goal groups. We observed no significant gender difference in the impact of either WtFI or FtWI on life satisfaction. We also discuss potential theoretical and practical implications in light of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective Method Results Conclusion The evolving life story is integral to personality, and motivational themes are central features of the life story. Personality implies individual differences that are relatively stable over time, but still allow for developmental processes. This study explored both long‐term stability and developmental change in thematic content of the life story.Fulfilled and unfulfilled agency and communion were studied in brief entire life narratives across 4 measurements in 12 years in a cohort‐sequential design including six cohorts (n = 172; age 8–77).Fulfilled agency and communion, as well as unfulfilled agency exhibited moderate rank order stability over 4 and 8 years, fulfilled communion showed even a modest 12‐year stability, whereas unfulfilled communion displayed an unsystematic pattern. Developmentally, multilevel analyses revealed an inverted U‐shaped association between age and both fulfilled and unfulfilled agency, peaking in mid‐life. Fulfilled communion declined after emerging adulthood, but unexpectedly did not increase again in old age. Unfulfilled communion showed no systematic age trends. Girls and women told life narratives with more fulfilled and unfulfilled communion, whereas genders did not differ in either kind of agency.The content of the life story exhibits rank‐order stability over time and systematic mean‐level development across the life span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After reflecting on the issue of (safe) water in the context of SDG 6 with the support of the most recent scientific data, the present study provides clear theological reasoning based on insights developed within the Eastern Orthodox tradition, such as ontological interconnectedness, deep incarnation, and cosmic liturgy towards an eco-ethos which can contribute to sustainable environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document of the International Theological Commission, "Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church" (2018), sanctions an idea that has been gaining ground in recent decades: synodality is a structural dimension of the church. This essay assesses the biblical foundation that this document offers in terms of this constitutive rather than operational understanding of synodality. To fit all the theological pieces of the synodality puzzle together and give them biblical consistency, this article takes two steps. The first focuses on exploring the theological welding between the church understood from the Trinitarian Mystery (LG 1–8) and the church as the people of God (LG 9–17). Second, this propaedeutic operation builds a solid framework that allows us to justify why the ITC document brings up certain biblical quotations, to fit them into a coherent reflection and at the same time to present other passages that are absent in the document. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Two studies investigated how facial signals of communion and agency intersect to shape first impressions. Study 1 primarily investigated how enhancing or reducing facial signals of communion or agency affected impressions of these dimensions. Results demonstrated that the manipulation of facial signals of communion affected impressions of both communion and agency, whereas the manipulation of facial signals of agency affected only impressions of agency. Secondly, data from Study 1 were used to categorize the Basel Face Database stimuli into the four cells of the stereotype content model (SCM). Study 2 investigated how combined facial signals of communion and agency impact individuals’ evaluations, emotions and behavioural intentions towards targets. Results showed that communion signals in faces have a stronger impact on overall evaluations and behavioural intentions compared to agency signals. Furthermore, in line with the SCM, specific combinations of communion and agency evoked distinct emotions: admiration (high communion–high agency), pity (high communion–low agency) and contempt (low communion–low agency). Together, the research emphasizes the primary role of communion in social perception, highlighting theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Previous studies showed that lay people see modernization as a threat to social fabric because it will make people less warm and moral. The purpose of this paper is to describe lay people’s understanding of the effects of different types of modernization. Specifically, we checked how social, economic, technological and conventional development are expected to influence communion, agency and well-being in the future society. Methods We conducted three cross-sectional studies using online surveys. Prolific participant pool users over 18 years of age that held Canadian citizenship and resided in Canada were eligible to take part in the study in exchange for financial compensation. T-tests and linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS statistical package. Results Participants expected that people in future society will have lower well-being than today. Technological modernization was expected to decrease communion and well-being but increase agency in the future, while social modernization was expected to strengthen societal communion, agency and well-being. Conclusion Lay people believe that different types of modernization will have different effects on society. Whereas technological progress is viewed ambivalently, social development is seen as uniformly positive for well-being of society. In order to counter pessimism about the future, policy makers should focus on social development while striving to mitigate negative social aspects of technological advancements.

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The Thirteenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) marked a pivotal moment for global Lutheranism. The assembly served as a platform for Lutherans worldwide to converge in Krakow, where they collectively discerned their shared future. While critics have claimed that the LWF has departed from its confessional identity, the Thirteenth Assembly of the LWF nevertheless demonstrated continuity with its historical and confessional roots, now underscored by a renewed focus on hope as the central theological principle. Numerous contextual and global challenges necessitate a theological agenda for a unified movement forward. Through an eschatological lens of hope, Lutherans globally are encouraged to deepen their reflection on biblical interpretation, theological contributions, and ecclesial missional practice. A realistic understanding of Christian hope shapes how one thinks and acts in the here and now in the most difficult of circumstances. This shift is already evident in the new LWF strategy and has begun to manifest regionally. This essay is an invitation to a hopeful theological agenda for the Lutheran communion and aims to make a significant contribution to world Christianity and society at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the theological implications of being a church member in a contemporary context that highly values individual autonomy, by engaging with John Zizioulas's ecclesiological framework. Initially, the article elucidates the notion of the 'autonomous self', drawing upon the intellectual contributions and life experiences of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It posits that Rousseau's dilemma of losing self or suffering from loneliness represents the challenge faced by those holding this autonomous anthropological assumption. The article subsequently employs John Zizioulas's constructs of ontological personhood and communion ecclesiology as counterpoints to this quandary. It contends that Zizioulas's trinitarian-informed theological anthropology offers an ecclesial means to surmount this existential dilemma, arguing that church membership is an act of participating in divine and familial communion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies have demonstrated the detrimental effects of social exclusion on an individual's self-perception. Nonetheless, existing literature has predominantly focused on its impact on global self-esteem, often neglecting the nuanced effects of various reasons for social exclusion on distinct dimensions of self-evaluation, such as agency and communion. Based on the Big Two model perspective, the present research aims to examine the differential impacts of social exclusion on the distinct dimensions of self-evaluation, namely agency and communion, considering the reasons for social exclusion. It is hypothesized that social exclusion affects different facets of self-evaluation—agency and communion—depending on the context of exclusion. Study 1 identified negative correlations between perceived social exclusion and self-evaluation measures through questionnaires, including global self-esteem and the self-concepts of agency and communion, within a sample of 483 participants (283 females). Studies 2a (n = 93; 75 females) and 2b (n = 91; 66 females), which employed a recall paradigm to manipulate social exclusion in the domains of communion and agency, respectively, revealed that communion exclusion diminished communal self-evaluation, and agency exclusion significantly reduced both agentic and communal self-evaluation. These findings highlight the necessity of distinguishing various types of social exclusion and their distinct effects on the dimensions of self-concept. The research has important implications for the development of interventions aimed at enhancing individual psychological well-being and promoting inclusive social environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined whether congruence with gender stereotypes is associated with support for online feminist campaigns. In Study 1 (Ntweets = 510,000), we investigated how two real-world movements (i.e., #metoo and #sexstrike) were viewed in terms of adhering to the traditional feminine stereotype of high warmth/communion and low competence/agency, as per language used in the tweets posted within each campaign. We found that the #metoo movement was characterised by more communal and less agentic content than #sexstrike. In Study 2 (N = 195), when presented with descriptions of the movements modelled after #metoo and #sexstrike, participants associated the #metoo-like campaign with more feminine (e.g., community orientation) and less masculine concepts (e.g., rebelliousness), which, in turn, translated to greater declared support for the campaign. In Study 3 (N = 446), conducted in a more controlled and context-independent setting, we once again observed the link between the gender stereotypes attached to feminist movements and the support they received. We also found that this effect was independent of the effect of perceiving movements as violating social norms. Controlling for feminist identification, political conservatism, and gender system justification did not affect the pattern of results. Uncovering these stereotype-related effects on support for feminist movements furthers understanding of the strategies that might be used in the fight for gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates that perceived accounting information reliability is biased by the information user's assessments of the information provider's narcissism as well as the user's own narcissism levels. We examine the specific subtypes of user narcissism driving these biases. Ninety-nine business professionals acting as information users read a simulated interview with an information provider (a corporate accountant) focused on a possible revenue misstatement and then assessed the perceived reliability of the information. We also examined the influence of perceived provider communion on reliability assessments. Consistent with narcissistic tolerance, information reliability assessments were higher when both the user and provider were higher in agentic narcissism. Consistent with narcissistic hypocrisy, assessments were lower when both the perceiver and provider were higher in antagonistic narcissism. Also, perceived provider communion was positively associated with reliability assessments. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of these findings for future management accounting research and practice. Data Availability: Data are available from the first author. JEL Classifications: M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lutheran–Catholic report Baptism and Growth in Communion (2019) argued that on the basis of a common understanding of baptism, it would be possible for both Lutherans and Catholics to consider themselves as being in communion within the one body of Christ and in this sense as churches. However, this approach was not supported unambiguously on the Catholic side. One commission member stated that the Catholic Church is the "only fully identifiable" visible manifestation of the body of Christ. Also, the use of "elements of sanctification and truth" as ecclesial criteria was seen to be too optimistic. As a result of this, Baptism and Growth in Communion is now understood only as an open‐ended study document that is not yet ready for reception. It seems the starting point of the report was a belief that the Lutheran and Catholic understandings of the church differ so much that a new approach is needed, namely through the mutual recognition of baptism and the mutual recognition of baptizing communities as members of the body of Christ. However, this path does not appear to be possible in the proposed form because of the criticism from the Catholic side. Instead, it might be possible to make progress through a Joint Declaration on the Church that can pick up the insights of the reports On Church and Church Communion (2018), Communion in Growth (2017), as well as Baptism and Growth in Communion and other major dialogue documents in ecumenical ecclesiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses polynomial regression and response surface analyses to investigate the joint effects of agentic and communal goals on bullying and the moderating role of prosocial strategies. The sample included 917 adolescents (Mage = 13.54, SD = 1.02) from rural, suburban, and urban areas in China. The findings revealed that higher agentic and lower communal goals were associated with a linear rise in bullying. Surprisingly, when both social goals were higher simultaneously, bullying followed an inverted U-shaped pattern. Furthermore, prosocial strategies moderated the joint effects of the two social goals. Adolescents who are more likely to use prosocial strategies do not show significant changes in bullying when both goals are at a higher level. In contrast, those who are less likely to do so show a linear rise in bullying, regardless of changes in social goals. This study improves our understanding and intervention of bullying behavior, emphasizing a non-pathological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communion and agency are two essential dimensions for understanding personality traits. This study comprised 49 in-depth interviews and three focus groups with experienced social workers in China to address the following research questions: (1) What is the orientation of Chinese social workers towards communion and agency? (2) What challenges do they encounter in their daily practice? (3) How do they interpret and utilize agency in coping with these challenges? The findings revealed three main themes: (a) Participants demonstrated a clear preference for communion over agency, reflecting a strong orientation towards social concern; (b) The professional challenges faced by participants varied significantly across career stages, with distinct requirements for agency at each stage; and (c) Participants’ understanding of agency was primarily rooted in professional competence. At different career stages, participants displayed varying levels of professional competence and agency, both of which were essential for addressing social concerns and developing strategies for long-term professional survival. The study suggests that social workers need to balance social concerns with individual development, view social work rationally as an ordinary job, and focus on enhancing both their professional competence and personal agency to achieve their aspirations.

This study delves into gender stereotypes among young people in Kosovo and Albania, emphasizing cultural differences that are often overlooked in research. The study involved 412 students from Kosovo and 255 students from Albania who were surveyed using the Qualtrics Platform. Students rated the desirability of agentic and communal traits for men, women, and themselves. Results showed that males associated agentic traits with other males, while females associated communal traits with females. Females were still primarily associated with caring and communal roles, while males dominated achievement-oriented, agentic roles. Although some relaxation of gender stereotypes was observed, these findings highlight the need to address deeply ingrained gender stereotypes through transformative programmes that promote a more balanced and inclusive societal framework. Such programmes would encourage the participation of young males and females alike for a more equitable society.

IntroductionThe goal of this study was to develop a self-report scale measuring the teacher’s interpersonal behavior in teacher-child dyads in elementary schools and to provide evidence of the scale’s validity. Using the framework of interpersonal theory, the Questionnaire on Dyadic Interpersonal Teacher Behavior (DITeB) models teacher behavior in an interpersonal circumplex that allows for the simultaneous analysis of teacher behavior along the two orthogonal dimensions of communion (warmth) and agency (guidance, monitoring).MethodsWe analyzed 440 dyadic teacher-child relationships derived from 88 teacher reports. Teachers rated the 20 items (8 scales) of the DITeB to describe their interpersonal behavior towards a child. To test the scale’s structural validity, we conducted confirmatory circumplex structural analyses. To test the scale’s construct validity, we used teachers ‘descriptions of relationship quality (closeness, conflict, dependency), and of their child related emotions (enjoyment, anger, anxiety). In addition, teachers reported on the child’s academic performance (numeric grades), as well as their professional beliefs about heterogeneity and self-efficacy for adaptive teaching, data which were used for further construct validation.ResultsWe obtained empirical support for both structural and construct validity of the DITeB. Teacher interpersonal behavior correlated significantly with perceived relationship quality and emotions: high relationship quality and positive emotions were associated with high communion and low agency, whereas low relationship quality and negative emotions were associated with low communion and high agency, supporting construct validity. Additionally, as child’s academic performance improved, teachers’ agency decreased. Towards different groups of children, teachers’ interpersonal behaviors varied systematically based on their professional beliefs: teachers with strong heterogeneity beliefs tended to be more communal towards low-performing children compared to high-performing children. Moreover, teachers with strong self-efficacy towards adaptive teaching adjusted their agency more flexibly according to children’s performance in school, further supporting the construct validity of our instrument.DiscussionWe discuss how our instrument enriches the spectrum of existing scales on interpersonal teacher behavior. By focusing dyadic specific teacher behavior, the DITeB allows examining the extent to which the teacher adapts their behavior to child characteristics (adaptive teaching), and the effect of teacher behavior on child outcomes.

The paper investigates the illusion of control by proxy in games of chance - an attempt to exert control by assigning it to others who are perceived as more capable, communable or luckier. Following up on research by Wohl & Enzle, who showed participants' preference to ask lucky others to play a lottery instead of doing it themselves, we included proxies with positive and negative qualities in the domains of agency and communion, as well good and bad luck. In three experiments (total N = 249) we tested participants' choices between these proxies and a random number generator in a task consisting of obtaining lottery numbers. We obtained consistent preventative illusions of control (i.e. avoidance of proxies with strictly negative qualities, as well as proxies with positive communion but negative agency), however we observed indifference between proxies with positive qualities and random number generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stereotypes content model indicates that two traits (i.e., warmth and competence) govern individuals' impression formation. The great variety of research that has used this theory since the early 2000s leads to a need for a structured overview of prior findings. The goal of this study is to provide a concise map of research streams and present a research agenda. We conducted a systematic literature review of 955 articles. A bibliographic coupling analysis showed four clusters, i.e., (1) the general theoretical foundations of the SCM, (2) the societal impact of key stereotypes (with emphasis on gender), (3) research in clinical psychology and child development, and (4) marketing. Taking a closer look at research in marketing (using co-occurrence analysis), six research streams were identified, including research on branding, country-oforigin, front-line service providers, prosocial consumer behavior, perception of endorsers, and, more recently, on artificial intelligence (AI). The review presents key findings and research gaps across these topics. Finally, we reviewed the few articles that, although not falling into these streams, opened important research veins. This process provided the essential information to present a promising and complete research agenda, to continue building knowledge with impactful implications in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the corporate and social dimensions of discipleship by examining the theological vision of the Parish Communion movement of the last century. It outlines what the Parish Communion movement sought to achieve liturgically and how that was undergirded by its underlying ecclesiology. Elements of the theology underpinning the movement are examined, including its corporate Body theology and its social theology. How these themes contribute to contemporary elaborations of discipleship are then explored, including a reflection on the legacy of the movement in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the less examined facets of communion and sacramentality within the church, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the church as continually 'in-becoming'. It applies the concept of 'negative work' to approach dynamics of difference, disruption, and transformation, spotlighting the church as an evolving entity in a continuous state of 'becoming'. The essay reevaluates sacramentality, shifting from establishing unity to emphasizing the mysterious and uncontrollable. By employing 'negative work', and analysing its implications for the understanding of sacramentality and communion, it explores a church as oriented towards transformation and 'negative' participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lord's Supper is viewed as a miracle meal by African Pentecostals. However, it is suggested that a miracle notion only partly conveys the meaning embedded in the Lord's Supper. The study adds that the Lord's Supper is a symbolic ritual that involves spiritual and mystical participation in God's economy by grace through faith in Jesus Christ in the Spirit. Admission to the Lord's Supper should be based on faith in Jesus Christ and a preparation process that includes instruction, baptism, confirmation, and regular penitential prayer such as the 'speaking'. The essay argues that infants can partake in the Lord's Supper based on the faith of their parents or guardians, while children of responsible age can participate if they go through the confirmation rite. The discussion covers church governance principles and suggests that limiting the covenantal rights of offending members is just insofar as the church remains an ethical institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Missional' accounts of ecclesiology, developed in the light of the theology of missio Dei since the 1950s, include some that carry a sacramental emphasis, treating the dominical sacraments as primary for the church's being and also recognized continuity in the ordering of ministry as integral to this sacramental identity. Nonetheless, continuing tensions are evident in the literature on missional ecclesiology and in controversies around church policy and practice. One factor here is an underlying contrast between an approach that locates the church's participation in the missio Dei in its action towards the world and another that puts the weight instead on its sustaining a distinctive form of being-in-relationship. Treating the relation between gospel, communication and communion as the critical theological framework for articulating the church's participation in the missio Dei , the article proposes that this can support an ecclesiology that, constructively addressing this contrast, is both thoroughly missional and deeply sacramental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I build on recent critiques of theological accounts of the eucharistic which overextend the practice's potential to form a Christian ethic and alternative polis. In analysing these critiques, often drawing on historical and contemporary cases of Christian malformation and its basis in liturgical practice, I suggest a greater distinction is needed between the practice's ability to raise political consciousness and the necessity of separate material political action. I approach this reconfiguration through appeal to debates on the political efficacy and responsibility of art, focusing in particular on contemporary German theatre director, Thomas Ostermeier and his influential production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. Ostermeier distinguishes theatrical performance from material politics, while still demonstrating how theatre might enact a repoliticisation, provoking audiences to think beyond the story on stage to the world beyond where they live and try to act. Connecting the theological critiques with Ostermeier's work, I offer three areas in which a reconfiguration of the relationship between the Eucharist and Christian ethics might focus: depristinising in practice, disrupting catharsis, and being sent. These theatrical interventions allow for clearer recognition of the practice's ethical and political limits and potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideas of the Orthodox theologian Bishop John Zizioulas (1931-2023) particularly focus on trinitarian ecclesiology. For him, the Trinity consists of Persons in communion, and the nature of God himself is relational. Trinitarian unity is therefore the prototype, and the Church is its reflection. The essence of the Church is communion, which results from the fact that the Trinity is communion. Zizioulas' view of the Church is steeped in a trinitarian perspective. Zizioulas pointed out that the Church is based on the double divine economy: the work of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Holy Trinity with the Church also has consequences for the structure of the Church. In this way, the Church becomes hierarchical in the sense in which the Holy Trinity itself is hierarchical: because of the specificity of the relationship. Becoming a person means breaking down the barriers of individualism and entering into communion life. This is realized in the Church through Baptism and Eucharist. The aim of the article is therefore an attempt to present and evaluate John Zizioulas' concept of trinitarian ecclesiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Two studies examined how young adults from historically advantaged (Study 1) and disadvantaged (Studies 1 and 2) racial groups perceived agentic and communal traits of their group over time. Consistent with previous research on dynamic stereotypes of gender, disadvantaged groups were expected to perceive significant gains in agentic traits from the past to the present. This tendency was expected to increase with ethnic identification. Method: In Study 1, White American (n = 226) and African and Latinx American (n = 60) students at a predominantly White private college in the Midwestern United States participated in an online survey. In Study 2, African American (n = 137) and Latinx American (n = 167) young adults were recruited primarily via an online platform (www.prolific.co) to complete an online survey. Results: In both studies, African and Latinx Americans attributed significantly lower levels of agency to past ingroup members than to present members. Although ethnic identification was not correlated with the difference between present and past agencies, it was more strongly correlated with present agency than with past agency for both groups. These patterns were not observed among White Americans. Conclusions: Similar to women, African and Latinx Americans perceived significant gains in agentic traits of their group members from the past to the present. These perceptions may serve the needs of historically disadvantaged groups for a positive social identity by affirming how far the ingroup has come. Public Significance Statement: The present research has found that although White Americans stereotype their group members as consistently high in agency (i.e., traits like competence, competitiveness) both in the past and in the present, African and Latinx Americans stereotype past group members as lower in agency compared to present group members. Findings suggest that disadvantaged group members may be motivated to promote a belief in racial progress by emphasizing positive changes in group characteristics that lead to improved social status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans have been getting tattoos and telling stories for thousands of years. Although research on narratives has been gaining momentum in the past few decades, it is only now that the connection between tattoos and the life story is arousing interest among researchers. For this study, the use of tattoos as an expression of narrative identity was explored using reflective writing exercises and semi-structured interviews. Ten South African university students with at least one tattoo were selected through purposive sampling. Thematic narrative analysis revealed that the participants used tattoos to express their agency and unique identities and to represent their communion in the form of affiliation and intimacy. The participants expressed their resilience with their tattoos and the redemption narratives connected to them. Tattoos were used as reminders of the nuclear events that shaped their narrative identity and for some, incorporated the vicarious narratives from family. This study emphasizes the importance of all three layers of the self for narrative identity development by describing how the actor, agent, and author use tattoos to perform their various roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of the author's pastoral-theological thesis Synodality and a Mission of the People of God: a Transformation of Pastoral Practice in the Diocese of Brno as a Response to the Change of an Era (2023). The thesis was questioning how the Church should respond to the present change in epoch and especially to the weakness of the Christian testimony of the Communion of the People of God in the past and in the present time. Critical theological research, including the Magisterium of Pope Francis, and pastoral discernment demonstrate that the best answer is a synodal renewal. The work consequently offers an outline of the basic concrete features of this renewal. The work offers these results as an inspiration for other particular churches in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After reflecting on the issue of (safe) water in the context of SDG 6 with the support of the most recent scientific data, the present study provides clear theological reasoning based on insights developed within the Eastern Orthodox tradition, such as ontological interconnectedness, deep incarnation, and cosmic liturgy towards an eco-ethos which can contribute to sustainable environmental development.

The document of the International Theological Commission, “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church” (2018), sanctions an idea that has been gaining ground in recent decades: synodality is a structural dimension of the church. This essay assesses the biblical foundation that this document offers in terms of this constitutive rather than operational understanding of synodality. To fit all the theological pieces of the synodality puzzle together and give them biblical consistency, this article takes two steps. The first focuses on exploring the theological welding between the church understood from the Trinitarian Mystery (LG 1–8) and the church as the people of God (LG 9–17). Second, this propaedeutic operation builds a solid framework that allows us to justify why the ITC document brings up certain biblical quotations, to fit them into a coherent reflection and at the same time to present other passages that are absent in the document.

Most individuals yearn to experience interpersonal closeness and connection to others at work. Would those experiences be related to lower work-family conflict (WFC), which in turn would be related to enhanced wellbeing? In the current study we build on job demands-resources (J-DR) and self-determination (SDT) theories to investigate differences across the life course in the effect of communion job resources (employee involvement and supportive leadership) and job hindrance demands (surface acting) on important dimensions of employee wellbeing (namely mental health, sleep quality and work-engagement). Moreover, we study the proportion of the total effect of job demands and resources on individual outcomes that is mediated by the subjective assessment of WFC. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis, which draws on the 6th European Working Conditions Survey (N = 35,377 employees in 35 countries), reveals that communion job resources are associated with lower WFC, which in turn is associated with enhanced wellbeing. Conversely, communion job hindrance demands and structural demands (long working hours) are related to heightened WFC, which is translated into diminished wellbeing. The model is significant for both men and women from all age groups, but parameter estimates magnitude are stronger for women aged 50 +. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown associations between spiritual experience and prosocial behaviour. However, the mechanism between spiritual experience and prosocial behaviour has not been thoroughly studied. We argue that communion, agency, and private practice explain their relationship. Spiritual experience cultivates communion by forming a connection with others. Spiritual experience increases the sense of self or agency, which leads to prosocial behaviour by being more sensitive to one's sense of self. Private practice mediates between spiritual experience and prosocial behaviour. We tested the model by evaluating the responses of 1316 participants who completed the prosocial behaviour, communion, agency, private practice, and spiritual experience scale. Process macro model 4 was used to analyse the mediation. The results show that agency, communion, and private practice partially mediate between spiritual experience and prosocial behaviour. Emphasis is placed on the value of positive interaction, sense of self, and personal spiritual activities in expressing prosocial behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Morality‐Agency‐Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking suggests that traits linked with morality are important for respect and liking; traits related to competence or assertiveness are important for respect and traits related to warmth are important for liking. However, tests of this model have tended not to consider traits related to immorality, incompetence, lack of assertiveness or coldness. This study addressed this issue by utilizing a within‐subjects design in which participants were required to rate their respect and liking for individuals with specific trait types across four categories (moral; competence; assertiveness; and warmth) at three levels (positive, negative and neutral). The central tenets of the MAC model were supported for 'positive' traits (morality, competence, assertiveness and warmth). However, for 'negative' traits (immorality, incompetence and lack of assertiveness), individuals were similarly not liked and not respected. Individuals who were cold were respected more than liked. The findings of this study extend the MAC model by indicating that the amount that individuals are respected versus liked depends not only on trait type but also whether a trait is positive or negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of work in consumer psychology has been devoted to understanding how individuals manage resource discrepancies. This includes tangible resources – such as money, food, and products – as well as intangible resources – such as time, skills, and social relationships. Resource discrepancies can either be positive – as in the case of having substantial wealth – or negative – as in the case of poverty. Several constructs across the behavioral sciences have been introduced to describe how consumers perceive their various resource discrepancies including, but not limited to, power, social status, scarcity, inequality, and social class. However, little guidance is provided to understand when and why these resource‐based constructs can produce both overlapping and opposing consequences. This conceptual article provides a resolution to this issue by introducing an integrative theory that situates these constructs within the same unifying framework based on two fundamental dimensions: high (vs. low) personal control and self‐ (vs. other‐) dependence. Based on this framework, we offer eight testable propositions and develop a research agenda for academics interested in studying resource discrepancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes a particular reinterpretation of ecclesiology through a mereologic model, in order to describe the community in its dynamism and interrelation, in communication with tradition and the magisterium council. Mereology, studies starting from the One and then to the parts, it looks at the One so that, the final point will not be exclusively of the communion We, but, the One, known as the original point from which we start and where we arrive. From this perspective of unity, the implications, from an ecumenical point of view are very interesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: People are overwhelmed with COVID-19 news every day, which induces stress but also makes people feel connected to others. The present study examined two conflicting pressures of COVID-19--stress and communion--on the link between COVID-19 saliency and psychological consequences in two cultures. Specifically, we aimed to examine whether COVID-19 saliency and daily emotional experiences are mediated by COVID-19 stress and communion, and whether the relation between communion and daily emotions is emphasized among Koreans compared to U.S. participants. Method: We collected a 14-day daily diary from South Koreans (n= 201) and the U.S. participants (n= 128), measuring individuals' daily experiences of COVID-19 and emotions. Results: COVID-19 saliency led to COVID-19-related stress, which was positively linked to daily negative emotions; COVID-19 saliency was also positively associated with communion, which led to decreased negative emotions in both cultures. As hypothesized, the opposite effect of COVID-19 stresses and communion emerged for positive emotions. Further, culture significantly moderated the relationship between communion and daily emotions, suggesting that communion is a more important coping mechanism for Koreans than U.S. individuals. Conclusions: The current study speaks to the importance of a sense of communion to cope with the negative consequences of the global crisis, especially for individuals from East Asian cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The stereotypes content model indicates that two traits (i.e., warmth and competence) govern individuals’ impression formation. The great variety of research that has used this theory since the early 2000s leads to a need for a structured overview of prior findings. The goal of this study is to provide a concise map of research streams and present a research agenda. We conducted a systematic literature review of 955 articles. A bibliographic coupling analysis showed four clusters, i.e., (1) the general theoretical foundations of the SCM, (2) the societal impact of key stereotypes (with emphasis on gender), (3) research in clinical psychology and child development, and (4) marketing. Taking a closer look at research in marketing (using co-occurrence analysis), six research streams were identified, including research on branding, country-of-origin, front-line service providers, prosocial consumer behavior, perception of endorsers, and, more recently, on artificial intelligence (AI). The review presents key findings and research gaps across these topics. Finally, we reviewed the few articles that, although not falling into these streams, opened important research veins. This process provided the essential information to present a promising and complete research agenda, to continue building knowledge with impactful implications in different contexts.

The ideas of the Orthodox theologian Bishop John Zizioulas (1931–2023) particularly focus on trinitarian ecclesiology. For him, the Trinity consists of Persons in communion, and the nature of God himself is relational. Trinitarian unity is therefore the prototype, and the Church is its reflection. The essence of the Church is communion, which results from the fact that the Trinity is communion. Zizioulas’ view of the Church is steeped in a trinitarian perspective. Zizioulas pointed out that the Church is based on the double divine economy: the work of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Holy Trinity with the Church also has consequences for the structure of the Church. In this way, the Church becomes hierarchical in the sense in which the Holy Trinity itself is hierarchical: because of the specificity of the relationship. Becoming a person means breaking down the barriers of individualism and entering into communion life. This is realized in the Church through Baptism and Eucharist. The aim of the article is therefore an attempt to present and evaluate John Zizioulas’ concept of trinitarian ecclesiology.

At the center of Trstenjak's life and work is man. This is why anthropology has a special place in his scientific interest, not as a specific discipline, but as a search for an answer to the question who a human being is and how to live together in interpersonal relationships, in society and in culture. In the paper, we discuss Trstenjak's scientific and human-experiential ≫reflections≪ of society and culture. We are particularly attentive to his understanding of man as a person and as a being of symbol, not of reason. His approach has a strong and a weak side. The strong one seems to be his fundamental intuition about the person and the symbol that enabled him to have a deep insight into the soul of man, nation, and culture. The weakness of the approach, however, is some of its limitations and ambiguities, so we critically confront Trstenjak's thought with authors who have deepened the theme of the person and the symbol. In the next part of the paper, we discuss his thoughts on the Slovenian man, family and nation. We believe that his thoughts are still relevant and worthy of attention. The paper concludes with a reflection on the importance of Trstenjak's thoughts for our times. This, we believe, cannot be shown without taking into account his reflection on the five great thinkers who for him were a key mental reference and the challenge of how to face the choices of life.