Modelling the effect of religion on human empathy based on an adaptive temporal-causal network model.

BACKGROUND: Religion is a central aspect of many individuals' lives around the world, and its influence on human behaviour has been extensively studied from many different perspectives. METHODS: The current study integrates a number of these perspectives into one adaptive temporal-causal network model describing the mental states involved, their mutual relations, and the adaptation of some of these relations over time due to learning. RESULTS: By first developing a conceptual representation of a network model based on the literature, and then formalizing this model into a numerical representation, simulations can be done for almost any kind of religion and person, showing different behaviours for persons with different religious backgrounds and characters. The focus was mainly on the influence of religion on human empathy and dis-empathy, a topic very relevant today. CONCLUSIONS: The developed model could be valuable for many uses, involving support for a better understanding, and even prediction, of the behaviour of religious individuals. It is illustrated for a number of different scenarios based on different characteristics of the persons and of the religion.

Why religion's burdens are light: from religiosity to implicit self-regulation.

To maintain religious standards, individuals must frequently endure aversive or forsake pleasurable experiences. Yet religious individuals on average display higher levels of emotional well-being compared to nonreligious individuals. The present article seeks to resolve this paradox by suggesting that many forms of religion may facilitate a self-regulatory mode that is flexible, efficient, and largely unconscious. In this implicit mode of self-regulation, religious individuals may be able to strive for high standards and simultaneously maintain high emotional well-being. A review of the empirical literature confirmed that religious stimuli and practices foster implicit self-regulation, particularly among individuals who fully internalized their religion's standards. The present work suggests that some seemingly irrational aspects of religion may have important psychological benefits by promoting implicit self-regulation.

Building cooperative care communities.

Four of the individuals behind an unusual Dutch project to bring together, under one overall "umbrella", a range of integrated healthcare, social care, educational and leisure facilities within a multicultural, multi-activity centre located in one of Amsterdam's most socially diverse "problem" districts, describe how the project evolved, and its ambitious short- and long-term goals.

Age and violent-content labels make video games forbidden fruits for youth.

OBJECTIVE: To protect minors from exposure to video games with objectionable content (eg, violence and sex), the Pan European Game Information developed a classification system for video games (eg, 18+). We tested the hypothesis that this classification system may actually increase the attractiveness of games for children younger than the age rating. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Participants were 310 Dutch youth. The design was a 3 (age group: 7-8, 12-13, and 16-17 years) x 2 (participant gender) x 7 (label: 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+, violence, no violence, or no label control) x 2 (game description: violent or nonviolent) mixed factorial. The first 2 factors were between subjects, whereas the last 2 factors were within subjects. Three personality traits (ie, reactance, trait aggressiveness, and sensation seeking) were also included in the analyses. Participants read fictitious video game descriptions and rated how much they wanted to play each game. RESULTS: Results revealed that restrictive age labels and violent-content labels increased the attractiveness of video games for all of the age groups (even 7- to 8-year-olds and girls). CONCLUSIONS: Although the Pan European Game Information system was developed to protect youth from objectionable content, this system actually makes such games forbidden fruits. Pediatricians should be aware of this forbidden-fruit effect, because video games with objectionable content can have harmful effects on children and adolescents.