The goal of this research synthesis is to obtain evidence about a new and upcoming idea of how political ideology and religious beliefs may be predicted by disgust, moral codes and physiological activity. Previously, it was believed by some that politics and religion were a product of an individual's environment and influences of an individual's family and friend's beliefs. Current research is trying to explain how much a person's biology influences their beliefs. This thesis will aim to explain how it is possible to obtain these types of data and why this research is important.

Adolescents face many challenges in their communities, families and individually during the complex developmental stage of adolescence. It is during this time that their sense of self and an identity apart from their parents become more strongly developed and they become more autonomous. As adolescents separate more and more from their parents they move progressively towards their peer relationships, which is an important part of identity formation. However, during this period they are exposed to many healthy and unhealthy influences in the community, especially when engaging with their peers and other social structures outside of the family. During childhood they were less likely to engage in undesirable or risk behaviour for fear of disapproval and rejection from their parents but during adolescence there is a strong need for approval from their peers, who might engage in and encourage risk behaviour. Effective coping strategies can be an important protective factor aiding them in making the right choices and decisions and resisting peer pressure. Previously, many models of adolescent coping have been taken from coping studies done with adults, which have not accounted for the developmental differences between adults and adolescents. Now as literature on coping with regards to adolescence is growing, the studies often ignore religious coping strategies and their potential impact on functioning. Yet, recent data suggests that religious behaviour and beliefs have a protective influence that moderates the impact of adverse interpersonal life events and social adversity as well as physical and mental health. Thus, this qualitative study applied case study methods to explore and describe the different coping strategies used by a group of church-going adolescents from branches of a non-denominational church in Durban. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the North-West University and informed consent was obtained from the parents and the adolescent minors before they participated in the study. Data was collected using a visual representation technique, two individual interviews and a focus group discussion with twelve participants. The data was analysed using thematic analysis and three main themes and various subthemes emerged. The first theme was understanding of coping as indicated by participants while the second theme identified the sources of their coping strategies and the third theme involved their specific coping strategies, which included religion, leisure activities, physical coping, social support systems, creativity and behaviour. These findings provide a greater understanding of the coping strategies and modalities used by church-going adolescents. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Adolescents face many challenges in their communities, families and individually during the complex developmental stage of adolescence. It is during this time that their sense of self and an identity apart from their parents become more strongly developed and they become more autonomous. As adolescents separate more and more from their parents they move progressively towards their peer relationships, which is an important part of identity formation. However, during this period they are exposed to many healthy and unhealthy influences in the community, especially when engaging with their peers and other social structures outside of the family. During childhood they were less likely to engage in undesirable or risk behaviour for fear of disapproval and rejection from their parents but during adolescence there is a strong need for approval from their peers, who might engage in and encourage risk behaviour. Effective coping strategies can be an important protective factor aiding them in making the right choices and decisions and resisting peer pressure. Previously, many models of adolescent coping have been taken from coping studies done with adults, which have not accounted for the developmental differences between adults and adolescents. Now as literature on coping with regards to adolescence is growing, the studies often ignore religious coping strategies and their potential impact on functioning. Yet, recent data suggests that religious behaviour and beliefs have a protective influence that moderates the impact of adverse interpersonal life events and social adversity as well as physical and mental health. Thus, this qualitative study applied case study methods to explore and describe the different coping strategies used by a group of church-going adolescents from branches of a non-denominational church in Durban. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the North-West University and informed consent was obtained from the parents and the adolescent minors before they participated in the study. Data was collected using a visual representation technique, two individual interviews and a focus group discussion with twelve participants. The data was analysed using thematic analysis and three main themes and various subthemes emerged. The first theme was understanding of coping as indicated by participants while the second theme identified the sources of their coping strategies and the third theme involved their specific coping strategies, which included religion, leisure activities, physical coping, social support systems, creativity and behaviour. These findings provide a greater understanding of the coping strategies and modalities used by church-going adolescents. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In Lycia, Xanthos and its main sanctuary, the Letoon, have throughout centuries kept some very particular features which have survived intense cultural upheavals and influences both Persian and Greeks. The infrastructures and shape of the Letoon indicates that there is more to the sanctuary’s rituals and architecture than normalised Greek divinities and temples. Lycia, following the Persian invasion in the 540s, remained a remote region of the empire and benefited from an autonomous status. Nevertheless the outside contacts and cultural exchanges multiplied and intensified, especially with the Persian ruling class, but also with the Greeks who took an increasing part into the trade and artistic influence of Lycia. The most important city of the region, Xanthos was the focus of the Persian presence in Lycia but also at the spearhead of Hellenic influence in western Lycia. This underlying Greek presence became ever more pregnant under the rule of the last dynasts of Xanthos at the turn of the fourth century and under the rule of the Carian satraps under the power of whom Lycia was put in the 360s. The Hellenistic period only confirm the prior trend. To begin with, we are trying to define how the Persians had an impact on the Lycian culture and conclude that it was a great influential force but stayed somewhat limited to the higher classes of the Xanthian society. The parallel with the Greek influence is contrasting. The arrival of Greek trends was more insidious but also more widespread to the lower classes of society and lasted longer. We will conclude that none of those influences were imposed but rather chosen by the Xanthian society. We will continue by trying to understand how those cultural manifestations affected local religious beliefs. By exposing the successive evolutions of the Letoon and of the divinities residing here, we will see that the syncretic divinities of the Letoon kept a lot of their ancestral attributes and places of worship are keeping track with their sacred past. In this process we are trying to show that religion holds a peculiar place in a nation or a city’s culture. In this attempt we are concluding that religion is the most stable aspect of a local culture and is the recipient for the safeguard of a nation’s identity.

Ninety college students served as subjects in research to investigate possible relationships between fear of death, religious doubt, and child-rearing practices. The following hypotheses were tested: 1) contingent childrearing practices would correlate negatively with religious doubt, 2) religious doubt would correlate positively with fear of death, and 3) contingent child-rearing practices would correlate negatively with fear of death. The second hypothesis was supported. Additional analyses revealed that those who changed religious preference from childhood to the present had lower fear of death scores than those who retained the same beliefs. The sample was also divided into religious and nonreligious groups. The religious group as a whole and religious females were found to have scored significantly higher on paternal contingent punishment. Religious individuals in the total sample also scored significantly higher on parental contingent punishment.

A narrative qualitative research design was used to understand the journeys of three lesbians with Oneness Pentecostal backgrounds who have reconciled their religious beliefs with their sexual orientation. Three participants were selected who met the following criteria: (a) the participant is a lesbian female who (b) grew up in a Oneness Pentecostal church and (c) has reconciled being a lesbian with her religious beliefs, and who is (d) willing to discuss her outing process. These participants were interviewed. The interview questions were submitted to participants prior to the scheduled interviews. The interviews began with an open-ended inquiry. In answer to the research question, the three participants’ stories revealed that reconciliation journeys are unique and complicated. The motivation to embark on a journey of reconciliation of religious beliefs with sexual orientation stemmed from the participants’ same-sex attractions. Further motivators for the participants to explore and reconstruct religious beliefs were feelings of shame and guilt. The participants arrived at a place where they could no longer deny their feelings. As I read the participants’ stories, I analyzed the stories by utilizing the narrative therapy term of “re-authoring.” I found that the three unifying aspects of re-authoring in the participants’ stories were re-authoring religious beliefs, re-authoring definitions of family and re-authoring self. .

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata Bernardelli de Souza Pinho.pdf: 570616 bytes, checksum: b5c6dc0acf40f40d2e8b00a95587d605 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this research was to investigate if the graduate students in psychology articulate their religious beliefs with the knowledge that they are getting in the course and how this is done. Psychology is a multiple science, covers a variety of theorical approaches, techniques and works with diverse themes. The duration of a graduate course is insufficient to teach the student everything that would be desirable, therefore the course leaves gaps to be filled over the course of an ongoing education. One of these gaps refers to the method of the psychologist to understand and handle in the clinic, questions related with religion and spirituality. The psychologist faced with the distance between what he learned in graduate and the demands of your exercise in the practical clinic and each time is most frequent the reference with questions spiritual and religious in the offices of psychology, which requires that the psychologist look at these themes. Through a qualitative research, with a tool of investigation that is the nondirective interview, aiming to explore and understand the students experience during the course, the articulation of their religious beliefs, acquired throughout his life, and the knowledge about the man and his conduct, offered in the psychology course. Five students of the last semester of graduate psychology participated of the research at a university in the city of Sao Paulo. The analysis of the interviews showed that there are several ways to handle the effects of the encounter between religious beliefs and knowledge gained from psychology, and with this meeting can produce intense conflicts or increase their knowledge and experiences / O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar se os alunos da graduação em psicologia articulam as suas crenças religiosas com os conhecimentos que estão adquirindo no curso, e como isso é feito. A psicologia é uma ciência múltipla, abarca uma variedade de abordagens teóricas e técnicas e presta-se a trabalhar com uma temática diversificada. O tempo de duração de um curso de graduação é insuficiente para ensinar ao aluno tudo o que seria desejável, conseqüentemente o curso deixa lacunas a serem preenchidas ao longo de uma formação continuada. Uma dessas lacunas diz respeito ao modo de o psicólogo compreender e manejar na clínica, questões referentes à religião e à espiritualidade. O psicólogo depara-se com a distância entre o que aprendeu na graduação e as demandas de seu exercício na prática clínica e é cada vez mais frequente a referência a questões espirituais e religiosas nos consultórios de psicologia, o que exige que o psicólogo dirija o seu olhar para estes temas. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, tendo como instrumento de investigação a entrevista não diretiva, na busca de explorar e compreender a experiência do aluno no decorrer do curso, na articulação de suas crenças religiosas, adquiridas ao longo de sua vida, e os conhecimentos sobre o homem e seu comportamento, ofertados no curso de psicologia. Participaram da pesquisa cinco alunas dos últimos semestres da graduação em psicologia de uma universidade localizada na cidade de São Paulo. A análise das entrevistas mostrou que existem diversas formas de manejar os efeitos do encontro entre as crenças religiosas e os conhecimentos adquiridos com a psicologia, e que este encontro pode produzir intensos conflitos ou ampliar os conhecimentos e as experiências

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:46:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ELISANGELA MAURA CATARINO.pdf: 1190807 bytes, checksum: c0097427a3f18675b113366e889c006c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-07 / This doctoral thesis sought to organize reading, literature and religious beliefs starting from the hypothesis that beliefs can participate and contribute to the readers training. It is known that the lack of reading habits has harmed students in different aspects, from their school performance to their qualification for working life. Based on this assumption, we noticed the need for researching this theme. Considering that the students bring with them different experiences of their beliefs, they can contribute with the total formation of the individuals. The method of the study was the field research with students of the 3rd year of high school in the State School Professora Lourdes de Oliveira Sampaio, in Luziânia, Goiás, Brazil. For the analysis, this work was divided into three chapters. The first one deals with the role of schools, writing in the social, readers construction and its critical sense, seeking a relationship with their religious beliefs in the formation of the reader for citizenship. The second chapter presents the analysis of the results found in the search, based on the identification of the social profile of the subjects, the tabulation of the data in relation to religion, religious beliefs, types of readings while motivating factor from readers. In the third, we present an analysis of aspects of religious beliefs from the text analysis of some authors of Brazilian literature, pointing out possibilities of motivating factors for formation of critical readers and hence to the formation of citizenship. / Esta tese de doutorado buscou articular leitura, literatura e crenças religiosas partindo da hipótese levantada de que as crenças podem participar e contribuir para a formação do leitor. É sabido que a falta do hábito da leitura tem prejudicado os alunos em diferentes aspectos, desde seu desempenho escolar até a sua qualificação para a vida profissional. Partindo desse pressuposto, nasceu a necessidade de pesquisa sobre o tema. Levando em consideração que os alunos trazem consigo diferentes experiências de suas crenças, nossa hipótese foi que elas podem contribuir para a formação plena desses sujeitos. O método da pesquisa valorizou o estudo de campo com os alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, do Colégio Estadual Professora Lourdes de Oliveira Sampaio, em Luziânia, Goiás. Para a análise, esta obra está dividida em três capítulos, além da Introdução e Considerações Finais. O primeiro versa sobre o papel da escola, da escrita no âmbito social, construção do leitor e de seu senso crítico, buscando uma relação com o viés da crença religiosa na formação do leitor para a cidadania. O segundo capítulo apresenta a análise dos resultados encontrados na pesquisa, partindo da identificação do perfil social dos sujeitos, da tabulação dos dados em relação à religiosidade, crenças religiosas e tipos de leituras enquanto fator motivador dos leitores. No terceiro, faz-se uma reflexão sobre os aspectos da crença religiosa a partir da análise do texto de alguns autores da literatura brasileira, apontando possibilidades de elementos motivadores para formação de leitores críticos e, consequentemente, também para a formação da cidadania.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo compreender os significados das crenças religiosas e do gênero incorporados às práticas pedagógicas de professoras do ensino fundamental I e como esses significados interferiram na escolha e permanência na docência. As crenças religiosas e o gênero foram tomados como algumas das estruturas que produziam significados, interferindo nos modos de agir e pensar das professoras. O estudo foi desenvolvido em uma Escola Municipal de Ensino Básico (EMEB) da Região do Grande ABC paulista. Foi realizado por meio da metodologia qualitativa tendo como abordagem o estudo de caso. Buscou-se realizá-la à luz da perspectiva etnográfica, utilizando-se de observações e de entrevistas semiestruturadas. O grupo estudado foi composto por cinco professoras do ensino fundamental I. Duas delas pertenciam à religião católica, duas eram evangélicas e uma se considerava espiritualista. Três temas foram destacados após o campo: a busca do controle sobre comportamentos considerados inadequados (indisciplina e violência) de meninos e meninas e o autocontrole das professoras; idealizações e cobranças às famílias: família ideal e família real e, a escolha e permanência na docência: da submissão à missão. Gênero e crenças religiosas produziram significados que perpassaram as atitudes e comportamentos nos processos de interações sociais e nas práticas pedagógicas das professoras. Essas práticas apontaram para a busca de sentidos da docência diante de condições adversas com que se deparavam no dia-a-dia escolar. Além disso, gênero e crenças religiosas, ao produzirem significados, mostraram-se como alguns dos elementos que interferiram na escolha e justificaram a permanência na docência. / This research aimed to understand the meanings of religious beliefs and gender incorporated into the pedagogical practices of teachers of elementary school, and how these meanings influenced the choice and permanence in teaching. Religious beliefs and gender were taken as some of the structures producing meanings, interfering modes of acting and thinking of teachers. The study was conducted in a Municipal Basic School of the ABC region in São Paulo state. It was conducted through qualitative methodology. We attempted to perform it in the light of the ethnographic approach, using observations and semi-structured interviews. The group of study was composed of five elementary school teachers. Two of them were Catholic, two Protestant and one Spiritualist. Three themes were highlighted after the field study: the attempt to control inappropriate behavior (indiscipline and violence) of boys and girls, and teachers self-control; idealizations and family accountability ideal/real family ; and the choice and stay in teaching from submission to mission. The study revealed that gender and religious beliefs produced meanings that permeate attitude and behaviors in processes of social interactions and in the teachers pedagogical practices. Those practices point to the search of directions facing the school everyday adverse conditions. Furthermore, when gender and religious beliefs produced meanings they were revealed as being some of the elements that have influenced the choice and justified staying in teaching.

Estuda a mediunidade de incorporação entre médiuns de Umbanda em sua dimensão psicossocial, a partir da teoria de papéis proposta por Hjalmar Sundén. Os Ss são 12 médiuns de incorporação, entre 16 e 61 anos de idade, 11 do sexo feminino e 1 do sexo masculino, do Templo Espírita de Umbanda Xangô Agodô, situado na cidade de São Paulo. Os médiuns passam por entrevistas semi-dirigidas e são observados durante rituais de incorporação. Com o objetivo de reconhecer a cultura do grupo ao qual pertencem, realizam-se, ainda, entrevistas informais com pessoas não médiuns que também participam regularmente das atividades do referido templo. Apresenta um modelo interpretativo interdisciplinar da mediunidade de incorporação, considerando: a) a importância da dimensão grupal ampla, da dimensão social dos grupos e da dimensão individual, e da relação entre estas dimensões para a compreensão da mediunidade de incorporação; b) a importância da linguagem, em sentido amplo, como meio de interação social necessário para a existência e manutenção da mediunidade de incorporação; c) o processo de construção tanto social quanto individual da mediunidade de incorporação; d) o processo de adoção e assumição de papéis por parte dos médiuns de incorporação; e) a função social da mediunidade de incorporação; e f) os possíveis ganhos psicológicos por parte dos médiuns de incorporação. Conclui que a mediunidade de incorporação pode , ser compreendida como um papel social complexo em queestão em jogo tanto elementos sociais quanto individuais em que as entidades incorporadas são consideradas como constructos psicossociais e, assim, os médiuns são, ao mesmo tempo, seus intérpretes e coautores / This dissertation analyses the psychosocial dimension of mediumship related to the embodiment of spirits, from the point of view of Hjalmar Sundén\'s Role Theory. The subjects studied were 12 Umbanda mediums, 11 of whom were female and 1 male, between 16 and 61 years-of-age, all participants of the Spiritist Temple of Umbanda Xangô Agodô, in São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The mediums were submitted to semioriented interviews and were observed during the rituals in which they claimed to incorporate spirits. In order to examine cultural aspects of their social group, other subjects who were not mediums but who participated regularly in the activities of that temple were informally interviewed. An interdisciplinary interpretative model of \"incorporative\" mediumship is presented which considers the following points: (a) the importante of the wider group dimension, the social dimension of small groups, of the individual dimension, and of the relationships established between these dimensions to an understond of \"incorporative\" mediumship; (b) the importante of language - considered in its broadest sense - as a way of social interaction which is necessary to the existente and maintenance of \"incorporative\" mediumship; (c) the process of social and individual construcion of \"incorporative\" mediumship; (d) the process of roletaking and role-adopting by \"embodiment\" mediums; (e) the social function of \"incorporative\" mediumship; and (f) the possible psychological benefitsobtained by \"incorporative\" mediums from their mediumship. It is concluded that mediumship which includes the embodiment of \"spirits\" can be understood as a complex social role that is comprised of both social and individual elements. The \"incorporated\" entities are considered to be psychosocial consctructs, therefore the mediums are, at the same time, their interpreters and their co-authors