The primary purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among vulnerability, self-transcendence, and well-being in Japanese hospitalized elders. With their declining functional health and diminishing social network, elderly people are considered as a vulnerable population, which require special care and attention in the field of nursing. Self-Transcendence is identified as one of the developmental resources that promote well-being in later adulthood during increased vulnerability; however, applicability of the concept of self-transcendence as well as its theory has never been tested in Japanese population. Thus, the current study specifically tested and refined a theoretical model of self-transcendence in Japanese elders.In this study, a nonexperimental descriptive design was used to examine relationships among the variables. A total of 105 elderly patients were recruited from 4 hospitals in Sapporo, Japan. The respondents' level of vulnerability was assessed by three aspects: vulnerability in health status, vulnerability in resource availability, and past vulnerable experience. Well-being was examined from the level of depression and life satisfaction. Besides psychosocial self-transcendence, spiritual self-transcendence from Japanese perspective was conceptualized and evaluated.Reliability testing provided adequate supports for all the study instruments. Findings of multiple regression analyses indicated mediating effects of psychosocial self-transcendence on the relationship between vulnerability in resource availability and well-being variables. Psychosocial self-transcendence also demonstrated direct effects on well-being. Spiritual self-transcendence did not show any mediating and moderating effect in the relationship between vulnerability and well-being; however, it was found to be the strongest predictor for the level of life satisfaction. In addition, the findings revealed that vulnerability in health status had a direct effect on the level of depression, but past vulnerable experience had no effect on both self-transcendence and well-being.Findings of this study provided further evidence of universality of the concept of self-transcendence and applicability of its theory to Japanese hospitalized elders. This study not only contributes to Japanese nursing research by adding the body of knowledge about self-transcendence and spirituality but also can be a basis for formulating interventions that help enhance well-being in vulnerable elderly patients.

No / This is a reply to Sue Mitchell and Francisco J. Eiroa-Orosa’s ‘Love your enemy.’ The latter seeks to explore the self-transcending potential of altruistic behaviour through a dialogical paradigm. It not only initiates fresh discussion on the subject of altruism, but also advances new discussion on Bakhtinian aesthetics. For the continuation of this forward momentum, we suggest a more nuanced approach to the placement of the ‘researcher’ within the applied methodological matrix. Similarly, we also advocate for the synthesising of research tools, often appropriated by theological studies, into said methodological matrix. This is a reply to: Mitchell, Sue and Eiroa-Orosa, Francisco J. 2018. “Love your enemy? An aesthetic discourse analysis of self-transcendence in values-motivated altruism.” Global Discourse https://doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2018. 1511766

Purposes/Aims: The purpose of this study is to examine the role of self-transcendence along with illness perception and selected demographic factors in the experience of depression in Taiwanese men who have oral cancer. There are three main research questions: 1) What are the relationships among the following variables: demographic variables (age, education level, marital status, income, and work class), illness perception, self-transcendence, and depression? 2) How does self-transcendence relate to depression–directly or as a mediator between illness perception and depression? 3) What set of variables best explain the variance in depression? Significance and Conceptual Framework Oral cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among men in Taiwan since 2003. Depression is common in oral cancer patients and is associated with poor quality of life and negative health outcomes, such as morbidity and mortality. Illness perception is the person’s understanding of his/her health threat based upon previous experiences and how perceptions affect an individual’s coping. Self-transcendence is an inner resource of which research evidence suggests that it promotes well-being and decreases level of depression in the context of significant life-altering health events. It is proposed then that during the crisis of diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer, self-transcendence may be an independent contributor to well-being, or function as a mediator in alleviating depression. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive design. A convenience sample of men who have a confirmed diagnosis of oral cancer was recruited from the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oncology, which is located at two medical centers in the same county in Taiwan. The inclusion criteria are male, ages 18 or older, ability to communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese, and agreeing to participate in this study. Participants completed a Demographic and Health Related Questionnaire, a Chinese version of the Self- Transcendence Scale, Chinese versions of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire, and a Chinese version of Beck’s Depression Inventory. Data analysis included use of descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. Results and Implications The results of this study support a clinical focus on facilitating self-transcendence to improve healing outcomes during this stressful event. Obtaining information about the role of self-transcendence in Taiwanese men with oral cancer may be particularly helpful in designing interventions or support programs to prevent or minimize depressive symptoms. Self-transcendence practices may help mediate the impact of negative illness perceptions on the emotional distress of men with oral cancer. Continued research and evaluation of practice applications of the theory will contribute to nursing knowledge concerning the relationships of illness perception, self-transcendence and demographic and health-related factors in depression among Taiwanese men with oral cancer.

Nature’s salutary effects are well-established. A psychological connection to nature and exposure to nature are both associated with a variety of well-being indicators. Attempts to explain why these benefits occur are often from the perspective of why nature reduces ill-being. This leaves a lack of understanding of why nature increases well-being (e.g., hedonic and eudaimonic well-being). Self-transcendence is proposed as a mechanism that is activated by nature and explains why people feel greater well-being from engaging with it. In addition to understanding why nature is beneficial, we need to understand when—under what conditions—it is beneficial. The benefits of nature vary based upon conditions such as the amount of biodiversity in the area and personality of the person in nature. Motivation to engage with nature is implicated as an important factor for whether or not nature is beneficial. Two multi-study manuscripts address these questions: (1) does self-transcendence explain why nature is beneficial and (2) does nature engagement motivation affect whether nature is beneficial? / Graduate / 2019-08-01

The grounded theory method is used to generate a theory of leaving crime (“going straight”) from 24 women and men who were interviewed for this study. The main concern for ex-offenders is the degree to which residuals of a stigmatized, past self can be transcended. This residual self is comprised of three interrelated phenomena: i) the visible evidence pointing to a disreputable past, ii) the remnants of disreputable character traits, thinking patterns and emotional states which persist into the present, and iii) the social interactions which stigmatize ex-offenders. Ten of the research respondents are “hardcore” ex-offenders because their former immersion in criminal identities left residuals that are more apparent or knowable to others. The other 14 have criminal identities that were transient, or limited in time and the extent to which they subscribed to criminal values. For both types of offenders, a self-crisis preceded the decision to go straight. Ex-offenders import an exculpatory conversation from helping others that interprets their past harms as the result of the disease of addiction, early childhood trauma, or as lives unfolding within some greater plan by God or fortune. Hardcore offenders seek enveloping forms of help which occupy their ongoing daily consciousness and routines, whereas transient criminal offenders use help for transitory and pragmatic ends. The more that a past, residual self is knowable to others and subjectively problematic, the greater the difficulty that ex-offenders will have negotiating their stigmatized identity. An ongoing process of interpreting and negotiating one’s identity with self and others lies at the core of going straight. The outcome of going straight is credentials which consist of clean time, official pardons for criminal records, amends made with others or society in general, the performance of good works, and most importantly, making distinctions between who I was and who I am. The self presented today is an authentic one, unlike the criminal identity which they now see in retrospect as inauthentic. The degree to which a residual self remains with ex-offenders varies, with hardcore ex-offenders more likely to show or report signs and traits which can be stigmatized by evaluative audiences. However, it is also apparent that the residual self can be used for pragmatic and credentializing purposes, especially when one’s current identity is linked to who one was in the past. The problem of the residual self is differentially negotiated through culturally endorsed narratives of reform. To the degree that ex-offenders discriminate who I was from who I am in familiar stories of change, the greater will be their success in resolving the problems of the residual self. The theory of the residual self fits with recent findings in developmental theories in criminology, and offers optimism about the possibilities for change in adulthood criminal pathways suggested by life-course theories. This study, and others like it, can help promote a wider discourse to counter the “once a con, always a con” thinking which stigmatizes ex-offenders. / Graduate

Health care complexities have limited the understanding of nursing care and have jeopardized the "soft skills" or foundation of caring as the art of nursing. Hospice nurses provide a deeper, more spiritual and complex type of care for critically ill and end-of-life (EOL) patients, which place them at a high risk for compassion fatigue. Using Reed's middle range theory of self-transcendence, the purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between compassion fatigue and self-transcendence among inpatient hospice nurses. A descriptive, correlational research methodology guided this inquiry surveying a convenience sample of 42 inpatient hospice nurses at 4 hospice locations. The Professional Quality of Life Scale assessment and Reed's Self-Transcendence Scale were used to survey inpatient hospice nurses. According to study results, although self-transcendence was not significantly associated with fatigue, there was a positive correlation between self- transcendence and compassion satisfaction and between affect and self-transcendence. This study leads to positive social change by providing hospice nurses strategies on how to cope with grief and trauma experienced on-the-job, leading to improved hospice care.

The purpose was to investigate whether using two type of interventions (i.e., Four rooms of change in school and EQ- workshop) in addition to curriculum guidelines can affect character development in children 10-12 years of age. The data was collected using the test Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (J-TCI; Cloninger, CR, 1994) in three elementary schools among students in fifth grade who had been involved in any of the two interventions for the past two years or no intervention at all. The J-TCI scales were used to, besides the seven personality dimension it measures, create a self-constructed empathy scale. A total of 55 participants were included in the study (girls n = 26 and boys n = 29). Statistical testing with MANOVA showed no significant main effect on empathy or any personality trait. There was however an interaction effect between intervention and gender on the character traits. Girls in the Four Rooms of change in school, compared to boys, reported higher Self-directedness and Cooperativeness and girls in the EQ-workshop reported higher Self-transcendence. The interventions Four Rooms at school and EQ workshop seems to have different impact on boys and girls. / Syftet var att undersöka om användandet av två typer av interventioner (dvs, Fyrarummaren i skolan och EQ verkstan) utöver Läroplanens riktlinjer kan påverka karaktärsutveckling hos barn 10-12 år. Data samlades in med hjälp av testet Junior Temperament och Character Inventory (J-TCI, Cloninger, CR, 1994) i tre grundskolor bland elever i femte klass som hade varit inblandade i någon av de två insatserna under de senaste två åren alternativt ingen intervention alls. J-TCI skalorna användes för att, förutom de sju personlighetsdimensioner den mäter, skapa en egentillverkad empatiskala. Totalt 55 deltagare ingick i studien (flickor n = 26 och pojkar n = 29). Statistisk testning med MANOVA visade ingen signifikant huvudeffekt på empati eller något personlighetsdrag. Det fanns dock en interaktionseffekt mellan intervention och kön på karaktärsdrag. Flickor i  Fyrarummaren i skolan, jämfört med pojkar, rapporterade högre Self-directedness och Cooperativeness och flickor i EQ-verkstan  rapporterade högre Self-transcendence. Interventionerna Fyrarummaren i skolan och EQ-verkstan verkar ha olika påverkan på pojkar och flickor.

This study (1) developed and tested the Socially Supportive Activity Inventory (SSAI) to assess the quantity and quality of socially supportive activities that institutionalized elders receive, and (2) tested the predicted relationships among the variables proposed in the hypothesized causal model, socially supportive activities, self-transcendence, and depression in institutionalized elders. For pilot testing psychometric properties of the SSAI, the content validity was 0.96. Test-retest reliability from a sample of 10 participants yielded stability coefficients of 0.76-1.00, indicating the SSAI is a highly relevant and reliable culturally-based instrument. In the main study, a total of 196 participants were recruited from eight elder care institutions. The results showed an elder's expectation of filial responsibility did not have a moderating effect on the willingness to be/remain institutionalized and on perceived stress. An elder's acceptance of institutionalization was significantly related to perceived stress and indirectly affected depression. The mediator effect of self-transcendence on the relationship between perceived stress and depression was supported. The participation of elderly residents in socially supportive activities demonstrated a moderating effect on the strength of a negative relationship between perceived stress and self-transcendence. In the modified model, an elder's willingness to remain institutionalized, perceived stress, and self-transcendence were significant predictors of depression, accounting for 54.7% of variance. Self-transcendence was the best predictor of depression. These findings contribute to an awareness of importance of culture factors as potential stressors. These findings also help to explain how the psychosocial mechanism of participation in socially supportive activities and the perception of self-transcendence act on depressed elders.

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to describe relationships among three spiritually-related variables (psychosocial self-transcendence, spiritual self-transcendence, and religious self-transcendence), and two health-related variables: illness distress (as an indicator of emotional well-being), and health-promoting behaviors in African American women diagnosed with breast cancer. A secondary purpose was to describe spiritually-related perspectives and behaviors reported by these women in reference to minimizing their illness distress and supporting healthy behaviors during their breast cancer trajectory. A convenience sample of 537 women with breast cancer completed an electronic survey. In Qualtrics, an on-line survey tool, six questionnaires: Demographic and Health-Related Questionnaire, Reed's (1991) Self-Transcendence Scale, Reed's (1986) Spiritual Perspective Scale, Spiritual–Religious Practices Scale, Distress Scale, and Walker's (1987) Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, were formatted to measure each of the variables stated in the research questions. In addition, a subgroup of 10 women were interviewed by phone to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the relevance of spiritually-related factors in African American women coping with breast cancer. Results of the study revealed several significant positive relationships between the independent and dependent variables. All three self-transcendence variables and many of the demographic and health related variables were found to be significant in explaining illness distress and the level of engagement in health promoting behaviors. In addition, the results of this study will contribute to better understanding of how spiritually-related variables and selected demographics may be relevant in helping African American breast cancer survivors reduce illness distress and modify health behaviors. Results from telephone interviews provide relevant data related to self-transcendence, illness distress, and level of engagement in health promoting behaviors.

The specific aims for this study were to: (a) describe positive and negative well-being in parental caregivers of children with cancer, (b) examine if parental caregivers' personal factors (i.e., resilience and/or demographic characteristics) and child-related contextual factors (i.e., ill child's cancer characteristics and/or demographic characteristics) predict parental caregivers' positive and negative well-being, and (c) test if self-transcendence mediates the relationship between resilience and well-being (positive and negative) in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Eighty parental caregivers whose children were diagnosed with any type of childhood cancer since at least two months prior to study start participated and completed a demographic instrument, the General Well-Being Schedule, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Self-Transcendence Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample demographics, levels of positive and negative well-being, self-transcendence levels, and resilience levels. Standard multiple regression was used to examine predictors of well-being. Baron and Kenny's three-step mediation analysis was used to test if self-transcendence mediated the relationship between resilience and well-being (positive and negative). Both positive and negative well-being exist in parental caregivers of children with cancer as 47% of parental caregivers were in the `positive well-being' category with total General Well-Being Schedule scores above the positive well-being cutoff of 73, 36.3% were in the `depressed' category with total scores above the depression cutoff of 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, and 45% had scores that exceeded the mean anxiety score of 39.64 on the State Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Instrument. None of the child-related contextual factors were found to predict positive and negative well-being in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Resilience positively predicted general well-being and negatively predicted depression and anxiety in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Satisfaction with current financial status negatively predicted depression. Employment status negatively predicted anxiety such that those who were not employed had significantly lower anxiety than those who were employed part-time and full-time. Self-transcendence mediated the relationship between resilience and positive and negative well-being respectively.