Conflicted Feelings Research Articles

When and why patients and families reject chaplains: challenges, strategies and solutions

Hospital chaplains perform important activities, but critical questions arise about the challenges they may face in working with patients, and how these professionals respond. Thirty-three telephone interviews of approximately 1 hour and were conducted with 21 board-certified chaplains. When asked about their biggest challenges and most rewarding interactions, several chaplains described rejections by patients or families. Patients and families at times rejected chaplains, and did so for six broad types of reasons – not wanting to discuss the disease due to conflicted feelings, including anger or frustration at the patient, the cosmos or God; or wanting to minimize it; wanting a chaplain of their own faith; or of a particular gender or other characteristic; being atheist or wary of religion; or misunderstanding what chaplains do. Patients at times also disagreed with family members about whether to reject a chaplain. Chaplains responded variously: feeling transitory hurt (which generally decreases with experience); respecting patients’ autonomy and leaving; exploring reasons for rejection; and revisiting later and often then making helpful connections. These data have important implications for future practice, education and research regarding chaplains and other providers – suggesting, for example, how patients’ families and the public might benefit from increased understanding about the field.

Development and evaluation of a patient decision aid for pediatric interval appendectomy

ObjectiveOne option for the treatment of perforated appendicitis in pediatric patients is interval appendectomy (IA). A patient decision aid (PDA) can be useful in the decision-making process regarding IA. The...

Neural and Cognitive Signatures of Guilt Predict Hypocritical Blame

A common form of moral hypocrisy occurs when people blame others for moral violations that they themselves commit. It is assumed that hypocritical blamers act in this manner to falsely signal that they hold moral standards that they do not really accept. We tested this assumption by investigating the neurocognitive processes of hypocritical blamers during moral decision-making. Participants (62 adult UK residents; 27 males) underwent functional MRI scanning while deciding whether to profit by inflicting pain on others and then judged the blameworthiness of others’ identical decisions. Observers (188 adult U.S. residents; 125 males) judged participants who blamed others for making the same harmful choice to be hypocritical, immoral, and untrustworthy. However, analyzing hypocritical blamers’ behaviors and neural responses shows that hypocritical blame was positively correlated with conflicted feelings, neural responses to moral standards, and guilt-related neural responses. These findings demonstrate that hypocritical blamers may hold the moral standards that they apply to others.

The Construction Mystique: The Revolution as Building Site in Contemporary Art from Cuba

ABSTRACT Cuban artists have been politically engaged since the 1959 revolution. Although many scholars have since studied how Cuban artists have responded to the notions of utopia and dystopia on the Marxist-Leninist island, no one has examined how, for decades, artists have turned to the topic of construction as a metaphor for the creation of a socialist society. I examine the changing relationship between cultural creators and the state by analyzing artists’ inclusion of images of masons, cement, bricks, and hard hats in their works. Through their involvement with building-site imagery—from erecting actual apartment towers to imagining fantastical forms of housing—Cuban artists have long reflected on their conflicted feelings toward the role of art in Cuba and toward their commitment, as both citizens and art workers, to the revolutionary project.

Bobkowski and the Banker

Abstract This essay begins with a discussion of the controversy among Polish émigré intellectuals, following Bobkowski's death, on the subject of his attitude toward the Jews during and after the war. In the course of this precursor to more recent debates, Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), for one, characterized Bobkowski's posture as antisemitic, but others rose to the writer's defense. Among them was Szymon Konarski (1894–1981), wartime director of the Paris office of the Polish Savings Bank (PKO), who came to know Bobkowski through their involvement in the support network for Polish workers in occupied France. An economist and amateur of Polish noble genealogy, Konarski was an ardent Catholic and member of the Knights of Malta. Twice arrested by the Gestapo for his charitable activities, Konarski encountered Jewish prisoners with whom he developed personal connections. Despite his conventional background, the memoirs he published after the war convey a deeply empathic response to the fate of the Jews. The essay compares his reactions to those recorded by Bobkowski at the time. It concludes with a consideration of Bobkowski's conflicted feelings on this matter in the years leading up to his death. The ambiguity inherent in his various pronouncements and published texts may explain Konarski's indignant response to Miłosz's accusation.

The neural correlates and the underlying processes of weak brand choices

Despite the advantages of strong brands over weak brands, consumers often choose weak brands. The authors test two competing explanations that can explain weak brand choices, by exploring the underlying strong/weak brand choice processes. We test these explanations in a simultaneous evaluation and choice-based scenario, using brands from several product categories. Through an fMRI study (and related behavioural studies), we found significant activation in Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), Dorsal ACC and Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) for weak brand choices. Our results suggest that weak brand choice involves an assessment of value/worth, including cognitive control over feelings of conflict, error-commission, and regret. Brain-behaviour correlation analyses, response times in a lexical-decision task, and choice responses in behavioural studies support these inferences. We contribute to the understanding of consumer-based brand equity, brand-affect associations, and joint/separate product evaluations, and also suggest actionable insights for firms/managers to leverage weak brands’ position.

'Replace uncertainty with information': shared decision-making and decision quality surrounding catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

As a first step in developing a decision aid to support shared decision-making (SDM) for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) to evaluate treatment options for rhythm and symptom control, we aimed to measure decision quality and describe decision-making processes among patients and clinicians involved in decision-making around catheter ablation for AF. We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study guided by an SDM model outlining decision antecedents, processes, and outcomes. Patients and clinicians completed semi-structured interviews about decision-making around ablation, feelings of decision conflict and regret, and preferences for the content, delivery, and format of a hypothetical decision aid for ablation. Patients also completed surveys about AF symptoms and aspects of decision quality. Fifteen patients (mean age 71.1 ± 8.6 years; 27% female) and five clinicians were recruited. For most patients, decisional conflict and regret were low, but they also reported low levels of information and agency in the decision-making process. Most clinicians report routinely providing patients with information and encouraging engagement during consultations. Patients reported preferences for an interactive, web-based decision aid that clearly presents evidence regarding outcomes using data, visualizations, videos, and personalized risk assessments, and is available in multiple languages. Disconnects between clinician efforts to provide information and bolster agency and patient experiences of decision-making suggest decision aids may be needed to improve decision quality in practice. Reported experiences with current decision-making practices and preferences for decision aid content, format, and delivery can support the user-centred design and development of a decision aid.

Making Sense of Being Mixed: Work-Related Effects of Attitudinal and Emotional Ambivalence

Ambivalence – the simultaneous experience of positive and negative emotions and/or cognitions towards a given target – is generally considered costly for employees. However, scholarship disagrees as to whether that premise holds. Research on attitudinal and emotional ambivalence is siloed in distinct literatures that call on different theoretical foundations and reveal discrepant effects of ambivalence. Attitudinal ambivalence scholars generally argue that it is undesirable, prompting biased information processing, behavioral hesitation, and withdrawal. Emotional ambivalence scholars instead argue that ambivalence is desirable, enhancing cognitive flexibility and judgment accuracy. To achieve greater construct clarity on attitudinal versus emotional ambivalence and reconcile prevailing views, we developed an integrative framework and used it to guide meta-analytic tests of 108 papers, 186 studies, and 355 effect sizes. Results revealed that attitudinal and emotional ambivalence are overlapping constructs, and both are associated with subjective feelings of internal conflict. Findings also showed that both forms of ambivalence similarly curtail action but enhance learning. Finally, results demonstrated that a closure imperative – a contextual moderator capturing a requirement to decide, judge, or estimate – weakened the relationships of attitudinal and emotional ambivalence with learning. Our findings offer suggestions for how ambivalence can reduce biased thinking in organizations.

Mind(fulness) Over Matter: Mechanisms of Mindfulness to Facilitate Work Functioning

The global pandemic and recent social unrest have challenged the way we think, feel, and function. It has left us with ongoing uncertainties of the future, which organizations attempt to navigate. As organizations search for and create a new sense of normalcy, we highlight the role of individual mindfulness as a way of being that organizations, leaders, and employees may cultivate to better manage their feelings of uncertainty, stress, or conflict that may be associated with the broader societal changes. The interest of mindfulness has been surging among practitioners and academics as more and more organizations employ various forms of mindfulness training for their employees (Reb et al., 2020). To this end, we ask, “how can mindfulness impact individuals to improve workplace functioning, interactions, and behaviors to ultimately influence a better future of work?” In this symposium, we consider antecedents of mindfulness such as metacognition, and both intrapersonal (e.g., identity and belonging tensions, emotional labor, well-being, engagement, psychological safety) and interpersonal (e.g., relationship satisfaction, work-home conflict, leadership) outcomes of mindfulness. In doing so, we advance mindfulness theory and practice by including a diverse set of papers which allow us to consider how mindfulness may shape employees’ functioning in the new world of work and amidst the challenges associated with the recently challenged social structures. Navigating the ‘Paradoxical Self’ with Mindfulness and Paradox Mindset Presenter: Sophia Town; Fordham U. Presenter: Josh Keller; UNSW Sydney Presenter: Timothy J. Vogus; Vanderbilt U. Presenter: Donald A. Lange; Arizona State U. Why Mindful Physicians Have More Satisfied Patients: An Emotional-Labor Account Presenter: Alisha Gupta; Virginia Commonwealth U. Presenter: Chris Reina; Virginia Commonwealth U. Presenter: Ravi S. Kudesia; Fox School of Business, Temple U. The Mediating Role of Boredom in Explaining Outcomes from Dispositional Mindfulness Presenter: Christopher James Lyddy; Providence College Presenter: Darren Jason Good; Pepperdine U. The Benefits of a Mindfulness Training Program for Women Leaders during the Covid-19 Pandemic Presenter: Megan Marie Walsh; U. of Saskatchewan Presenter: Erica Carleton; U. of Regina Presenter: Mikaila Ortynsky; Memorial U. of Newfoundland Presenter: Ellen Choi; Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson U. Presenter: Amanda J. Hancock; Memorial U. of Newfoundland Presenter: Kara Anne Arnold; Memorial U. of Newfoundland Mindful Leadership Fosters Psychological Safety in Teams Presenter: Adam Austen Kay; U. of Queensland Presenter: Yiqiong Li; U. of Queensland Presenter: Niklas Steffens; U. of Queensland Presenter: Zen Goh; Monash Business School

Letting Go of Grades: Creating an Environment of Autonomy and a Focus on Learning for High Achieving Students

In this essay we discuss an iterative, reflective writing assignment (the “learning charter”) as a way to understand how high-achieving students experienced an ungrading learning environment. Working with evidence from student written reflection and in-class conversations, we chronicle how students articulated their perspectives on this approach through the fifteen-week semester. Our findings indicate that despite initial uncertainty, students found the environment to be one that promoted learning for the sake of learning, cultivated mental wellness, and compelled them to pursue meaningful questions about their own educational goals and experience. While this development was not without feelings of conflict and struggle throughout the course, by the end of it, students reported a renewed focus on the value of learning. We suggest that the strategies employed in this course might be successfully adopted in or adapted to other courses for high-achieving students, as well as other student populations.

Impact and Risk of Moral Injury Among Deployed Veterans: Implications for Veterans and Mental Health.

The impact of “moral injury” (MI) among deployed veterans, defined as actions in combat that violate a veteran's moral beliefs and result in psychological distress, has increasingly become a significant clinical concern separate from other trauma- and stressor-related disorders. MI involves severe distress over violations of core beliefs often followed by feelings of guilt and conflict and is common among veterans with PTSD. While the psychological impact of PTSD is well-documented among veterans, this has been done less so with respect to MI. We studied MI among 1,032 deployed veterans who were outpatients in a large non-profit multi-hospital system in central Pennsylvania. The study included active duty and Guard/Reserve members, as well as veterans who were not Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) service users. Our hypothesis was that, controlling for other risk factors, veterans with high MI would have current mental disorders. Our secondary hypothesis was that MI would be associated with other psychopathologies, including chronic pain, sleep disorders, fear of death, anomie, and use of alcohol/drugs to cope post deployment. Most veterans studied were deployed to Vietnam (64.1%), while others were deployed to post-Vietnam conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. Altogether, 95.1% of the veterans were male and their mean age was 61.6 years (SD = 11.8). Among the veterans, 24.4% had high combat exposure, 10.9% had PTSD, 19.8% had major depressive disorder, and 11.7% had a history of suicidal thoughts. Based on the Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES), 25.8% had high MI post deployment, defined as a score above the 75th percentile. Results show that high MI among veterans was associated with current global mental health severity and recent mental health service use, but not suicidal thoughts. In addition, as hypothesized, MI was also associated with pain, sleep disorders, fear of death, anomie, use of alcohol/drugs to cope post-deployment, and poor unit support/morale during deployment. Deployed veterans with MI are more likely to have current mental health disorders and other psychological problems years after deployment. Further research is advised related to the screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention of MI among veterans and others after trauma exposures.

Impact of the Gap Between Social Workers' Work Interaction Frequency With Governments and Clients on Their Burnout in China: Mediating Effects of Role Conflict and Moderating Effects of Non-front-line Work.

BackgroundSince the 2000s, local governments have contracted out more and more social services to social work organizations in China. Social workers are thus experiencing the inconsistency between local governments' and clients' demands and the deviation from the professional duty of helping clients, which may result in conflicting and unclear roles in their jobs and further lead to burnout. Based on the Role Stress-burnout Model and the previous theoretical and field-work investigations, this study examined the effects of the government-client work interaction frequency gap on social workers' burnout as well as the mediating effects of role ambiguity and conflict and the moderating effects of the non-front-line work.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 2,643 front-line social workers and 2,599 supervisors or managers from 56 major cities all over China was conducted. Work burnout was measured by the 22-item three-dimension Maslach's Burnout Inventory Scale. Rizzo et al.'s 14-item scale measured role conflict and ambiguity. The government-client working interaction frequency gap was measured by the difference between the five-point level of work interaction frequency with governments minus the one with clients. Structural equation modeling was adopted to test the mediation and moderation models.ResultsResults showed that for the front-line social workers, besides directly reducing personal accomplishment, the government-client work interaction frequency gap could indirectly neutralize its alleviating effects on emotional exhaustion (Mediating effect ratio = −63.64 %), make its total effects on depersonalization significant (37.03%), and reduce personal accomplishment further (23.08%) through increasing social workers' feeling of role conflict. However, the above mediating effects of role conflict were not significant for social workers with extra management or supervision workload, revealing the moderating effects of non-front-line work.ConclusionsThis study revealed that front-line social workers in China who had more work interaction with governments and less with clients could have higher role conflict, increasing their burnout further. Therefore, social work educational programs should include adequate mental adjustment courses and practical emplacement to prepare students for the potential role conflict. Furthermore, higher-level governments should issue relevant regulations to form a collaborative rather than an employment relationship between local governments and social worker organizations.

Joy or Vexation: Respectable Motherhood and the Trope of Childhood in Nella Larsen's Passing

Nella Larsen's Passing (1929) illustrates that Irene's experience and perception of joy and pleasure are intertwined with her understanding of Black motherhood and childhood. During the early twentieth century, racial uplift leaders urged Black girls and women to embody the ideals of respectable motherhood as a means of both combating the infantilization of Black people and reclaiming the motherhood that slaveholders had denied to Black women. However, racial uplift leaders' insistence on the sacrificial and moral responsibilities of Black motherhood was often co-opted by a middle-class ideology, limiting Black women's ability to envision Black joy through their various forms of intimacy with Black children as well as their own childhoods. This essay contends such conservative aspects of respectable motherhood are exemplified by Irene, whose desire to maintain her family's middle-class status leads her to avoid complex questions about Black happiness. In addition to critiquing Irene's limitations, Larsen further explores Black women's erotic power by describing Irene's conflicted feelings about her childhood friend Clare's willful pursuit of pleasure. Informed by Audre Lorde's attentiveness to the Black inner girl child as a source of erotic power and Saidiya Hartman's Black feminist reading of love of pleasure, this essay argues that the manner in which Irene constructs her memory of Clare's girlhood and the ways the trope of childhood is deployed in the novel reveal Irene's fascination with Clare's yearning for a freer life and her willful refusal of self-abnegation.

Primary vs. secondary knowledge contents in reasoning: Motivated and efficient vs. overburdened

Primary knowledge is the knowledge for which our cognitive architecture has evolved so that we acquire it quickly and effortlessly. We are intrinsically motivated to process it. Secondary knowledge is the knowledge for which our cognitive architecture has not had enough time to evolve: it requires time, cognitive resources and is hardly motivating. This study proposed to test these evolutionary characteristics using the experimental paradigm of logical reasoning. We conducted five experiments (n = 720) varying (i) the content of syllogisms (primary or secondary knowledge), (ii) the presentation order of the knowledge types, (iii) the added extrinsic cognitive load, and (iv) the type of syllogism. Results showed that primary knowledge increased performance, emotional and cognitive investment and decreased perceived cognitive load. Second, presenting primary knowledge first would encourage participants to be motivated throughout the task, while presenting secondary knowledge first would undermine their motivation. Third, secondary knowledge seemed to lead to a feeling of conflict that consumed cognitive resources. All together, these results suggested that primary knowledge should be taken into account and not left aside because it is something “already learned”.

High-risk pregnant women\u2019s experiences of the receiving prenatal care in COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

BackgroundWomen with high-risk pregnancies are among the most vulnerable groups that require additional precautionary measures against the spread of COVID-19 plus receiving prenatal care. Yet, there is limited information on the status of prenatal care in women with high-risk pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women with high-risk pregnancies who were receiving prenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThe present qualitative study was conducted on mothers with high-risk pregnancies from September 2020 to March 2021. Purposeful sampling continued until achieving data saturation. Ghaem, Ommolbanin, and Imam Reza in Mashhad, Iran served as the research environment. Face-to-face and semi-structured interviews were effective data collection methods. Each interview lasted between 20 to 45 min (on average 30). The total number of participants was 31. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with data collection using the qualitative content analysis method developed by Granheim and Landman (2004).ResultsFollowing the reduction and analysis of data from women in high-risk pregnancies, as well as their perceptions and experiences with health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, eight subcategories and three main categories were identified, including 1) “Negative psychology responses,” 2) “Adoption behavior,” and 3) “Adjustment of health services in mutual protection.”Fear, anxiety, stress, feelings of loneliness, sadness, depression, guilt, doubt and conflict in receiving services were examples of negative psychological responses. The adaptive behaviors’ category reflected the behaviors of women with high-risk pregnancies in the context of the COVID COVID-19 pandemic. The Adjustment of health services in mutual protection indicated that health workers took preventive and protective measures against COVID-19, which, in addition to protecting themselves and their clients against COVID-19, gave women a sense of security.ConclusionReceiving prenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges for women with high-risk pregnancies, negatively impacting their psychological state and health-seeking behavior. Supportive and preventive care can ensure that women with high-risk pregnancies receive optimal prenatal care that focuses on COVID-19 prevention. We recommend implementing screening, psychological counseling, and education for women with high-risk pregnancies, as well as ensuring that they have access to women-centered health care services.

The Effect of Psychosocial Self-Care Education on Retirement Syndrome in Educators: A Quasi-experimental Study

Objectives Retirement is one of the life crises which can cause psychological and social problems in people and cause incompatibility and symptoms called Retirement Syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the psychosocial self-care training program on retirement syndrome in educators as a program to improve and expose retirees to retirement. Methods & Materials In this study, a two-group quasi-experimental method was performed on 64 education retirees in 1398 in Gonabad. After reviewing the entry and exit criteria of the research units (individuals were randomly assigned), they were assigned to two experimental and control groups. Psychosocial self-care training sessions were held once a week for 6 hours for one hour (for) the intervention group. The participants completed the retirement syndrome questionnaire at the beginning and end of these sessions. After data collection, the analysis was performed using SPSS software v. 20. The significance level was considered at P<0.05. Results This study considered 4 main categories regarding retirement syndrome. These categories include Feelings of confusion and conflict, Feelings of new effort and orientation, Feelings of old age and emptiness, and feelings of helplessness and failure. Also, based on the independent t-test, no statistically significant difference was observed between the retirement syndrome scores of the two groups before the intervention (P>0.05); however, the average score of retirement syndrome in the two groups after the intervention and the difference in the average score of retirement syndrome of the two groups before and after the intervention had a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). This means that the training program improved the intervention group’s retirement syndrome (P<0.05). Conclusion The results of the current study showed that holding face-to-face meetings and conducting psychosocial self-care training on retirement syndrome in retired educators positively reduced the symptoms of retirement syndrome. By teaching self-care and learning self-care strategies in old age, we can prepare retirees to cope with or reduce the symptoms of retirement syndrome.

Review: Into the Sea, by Ash Watson

Review: <i>Into the Sea</i>, by Ash Watson

Iselin as Object of Desire in Knut Hamsun's Pan and Victoria

Iselin as Object of Desire in Knut Hamsun's <i>Pan</i> and <i>Victoria</i>

Duality of practice in clinical research nursing.

International evidence suggests that Clinical Research Nurses (CRN) can have a dual role incorporating both clinical care and research responsibilities. This duality of role often assists in meeting the clinical care and research needs of the participants and can contribute to the credibility of the CRN role. Conversely, it can also lead to feelings of confusion and role conflict as CRN's time is divided. To identify and explore experiences of clinical and research roles among CRNs. This emerged as a theme in a wider research project exploring CRNs' experiences of working with clinical nurses. Following an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach, 10 CRNs participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Transcribed data were analysed and a number of themes emerged. Duality of role was one of these. Findings indicated that if CRNs fulfil a dual role, this can assist in care provision, research delivery and in building positive relationships with clinical nurses. However, there were also instances when a dual role led to clinical nurses questioning the value of research and to issues with competing demands of clinical care and research. These experiences had an important impact on some of the CRNs and led to reflection on the value of their role. This study identifies new understandings of a dual role of the CRN. The findings will inform the preparation and practice of this group of nurses, whilst also leading to a deeper understanding of the CRN's role in care and research delivery. It will also contribute to a wider appreciation of organisational factors and social interactions that impact on health care research.

Parental Worries, Child Maltreatment Risk and Empowerment: How Are They Noticed in Child and Family Services?

Parental empowerment has been related to their well-being and self-efficacy. Learning more about the signs describing child maltreatment risk are crucial for the welfare of children and families. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of child maltreatment (CM) and related worrying factors of parents and associations between the CM risk, worries and parental empowerment. The study is based on self-report surveys administered to parents in primary health care and hospital settings. The risk of CM and related worrying factors were measured by the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) from 453 parents. Family empowerment was measured by The Generic Family Empowerment Scale (G-FES). Parents expressed worries such as loneliness and distress (20%), feelings of persecution (9%), family conflict (17%), rigidity (21%) and financial insecurity (4%). The BCAP found 27 parents with increased risk. Parents with CM risk expressed more empowerment in connection to services for their child and family. It is crucial to discuss worries in child and family services before they raise the risk level. Tools such as the BCAP are useful in systematically identifying the child maltreatment risk and parental worries under discussion, offering possibilities for preventing child maltreatment and increasing well-being of children.