While psychotherapists are trained to improve their clients’ quality of life, little work has examined the quality of life experienced by psychotherapist trainees themselves. Yet their life satisfactions and stresses would plausibly affect both their ability to learn new skills and conduct psychotherapy. Therefore, in the Society for Psychotherapy Research Interest Section on Psychotherapist Development and Training study, we investigated the patterns of self-reported life quality and their correlates in a multinational sample of 1,214 psychotherapist trainees. A comprehensive questionnaire was (...) used at the outset of trainings to assess trainees’ professional background, current life situation, personal characteristics, family background, and social and national origin. The findings indicated 54.3% of trainees’ lives could be characterized as fortunate or happy, whereas 14.3% could be characterized as clearly distressed or troubled. The strongest correlates of high life stress, a contributor to poor life quality, were economic insecurity, self-protectiveness, and attachment-related anxiety in relationships, and economic or psychological hardship in childhood. In turn, greater wellbeing was most strongly associated with a warm and open interpersonal style, being married, having sufficient economic means, and material and emotional security in childhood. While the results indicate the majority of therapists experience a relatively good quality of life, the findings also suggest potential targets for increasing trainees’ life quality when it may be deficient, such as those on a societal level, training program level, and individual level, in order to promote effective learning and therapy practice. (shrink)

The advancement in technology has changed the workflow and the role of human translator in recent years. The impact from the trend of technology-mediated translation prompted the ratification of technology literacy as a major competence for modern translators. Consequently, teaching of translation technology including but not limited to Computer-aided Translation and Machine Translation became part of comprehensive curricula for translation training programs. However, in many institutions, the teaching of translation technology was haunted by issues such as: narrow scope of curriculum (...) design, outdated technologies, and unbalance between theories and practices in teaching. The study was the pilot evaluation of a tailored course to foster translation trainees’ knowledge and abilities of data science. The course was designed to be a fundamental step toward sophisticated translation technologies. During the pilot evaluation of the 8-week course, 85 students were recruited as participants. The study adopted a mix-method design by employing a survey to investigate student’s level of satisfaction toward the course and focus group discussion to understand students’ attitudes and perceptions of key aspects of the course. By interpreting the results from statistical analysis of the survey and thematic analysis of the focus group discussion, the course of data science for translators was well received among participants. The evaluation project manifested the feasibility and effectiveness of a translator-oriented data science course. (shrink)

The induction period is a very important time in the career of a teacher and has a long?term influence on the teacher?s professional development, efficacy, job satisfaction and the length of his/her career. One of the key roles in this period is played by the trainee?s mentor. This paper presents the results of the extensive project ?Partnership of Faculties and Schools?, carried out at the Pedagogical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, with the financial support of the European Social Fund (...) and the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. We studied an induction project involving 361 teacher trainees and 331 mentors. The study reveals the trainees? expectations towards their mentors and the mentors? and trainees? evaluations of how the mentor aids a teacher trainee in developing their competences. (shrink)

Positive effects of person-environment fit on job satisfaction and persistence are well documented. However, little is known about the consequences of person-vocation fit for vocational education and training. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study, we examine the influence of selected P-V fit indicators on training satisfaction and premature contract termination for 4,097 trainees in VET. We find that most P-V incongruences do not lead to negative consequences. Training satisfaction is not affected by interest congruence (...) and skill congruence. However, moderate overeducation enhances training satisfaction. For PCT, there is a general effect of undereducation; undereducation increases the probability of PCT independent of educational qualification for the occupation. PCT is not affected by skill congruence and only for Realistic interests, congruence with the vocational environment reduces PCT probability. (shrink)

The interdisciplinary Hannover Qualification Programme on ethics consultation has trained hospital staff to operate clinical ethics services in their respective hospitals since 2003. To evaluate Hannover Qualification Programme, all former participants were contacted using an online questionnaire including four domains: status quo before attending Hannover Qualification Programme, present status, impact of Hannover Qualification Programme, future challenges. Research objectives were the long-term satisfaction with Hannover Qualification Programme and its impact on clinical ethics services. The response rate was 45%. Hannover Qualification (...) Programme was evaluated as helpful and the responders were capable of applying their acquired skills. Most participants could contribute to the implementation of clinical ethics services. They were satisfied with Hannover Qualification Programme and with the degree of changes in their hospitals. In conclusion, clinical ethics education had long-term effects on trainees and on their respective hospitals. Problems were mentioned rather in the field of utilisation than with implementation or quality of clinical ethics services. (shrink)

IntroductionPalliative care is an emotionally and spiritually high-demanding setting of care. The literature reports on the main issues in order to implement self-care, but there are no models for the organization of the training course. We described the structure of training on self-care and its effects for a Hospital Palliative Care Unit.MethodWe used action-research training experience based mostly on qualitative data. Thematic analysis of data on open-ended questions, researcher’s field notes, oral and written feedback from the trainer and the participants (...) on training outcomes and satisfaction questionnaires were used.ResultsFour major themes emerged: “Professional role and personal feelings”; “Inside and outside the team”; “Do I listen to my emotions in the care relationship?”; “Death: theirs vs. mine.” According to participants’ point of view and researchers’ observations, the training course resulted in ameliorative adjustments of the program; improved skills in self-awareness of own’s emotions and sharing of perceived emotional burden; practicing “compassionate presence” with patients; shared language to address previously uncharted aspects of coping; allowing for continuity of the skills learned; translation of the language learned into daily clinical practices through specific facilitation; a structured staff’s support system for emotional experiences.DiscussionSelf-care is an important enabler for the care of others. The core of our intervention was to encourage a meta-perspective in which the trainees developed greater perspicacity pertaining to their professional role in the working alliance and also recognizing the contribution of their personal emotions to impasse experienced with patients. (shrink)

There is a limited understanding of the student perspective of integrity in postgraduate research. This is of concern given that ‘research trainees’ may have a vulnerable position in formal investigations of research misconduct. This paper analyses qualitative data drawn from an Australian online academic integrity survey in a mixed methods research study. This analysis complements the quantitative survey data analysed earlier and sought to explore factors contributing to postgraduate research students’ satisfaction with policy and process, the ways institutions can (...) support students’ understandings and practice, suggestions for improving breach processes, and students’ concerns. We found that integrity training and modelling of ethical behaviour by staff were key factors contributing to students’ satisfaction. Students would have liked more ‘hands-on’ integrity training, accompanied by consistent and transparent enforcement of policy. Respondents expressed concern about the credibility of research output and educational standards. We call for recommendations from the extensive literature on academic integrity policy and practice to be extended to the postgraduate research sphere. (shrink)

Ethics courses are most commonly evaluated using reaction measures. However, little is known about the specific types of reaction data being collected and how these reaction data relate to improvements in trainee performance. Using a sample of 381 ethics training sessions, major reaction data categories were identified. Content and course satisfaction were the most frequently collected types of reaction criteria. Furthermore, content relevance and course satisfaction showed strong, positive relationships with performance criteria, whereas content satisfaction demonstrated (...) a moderate, negative relationship. These results and future directions for ethics training evaluation are discussed. (shrink)

Trait emotional intelligence concerns people’s perceptions of their emotional functioning. Two studies investigated this construct in surgeons and comparison occupations. We hypothesized that trait EI profiles would differ both within surgical specialties as well as between them and other professions. Study 1 compared the trait EI profiles of four different surgical specialties. There were no significant differences amongst these specialties or between consultant surgeons and trainees in these specialties. Accordingly, the surgical data were combined into a single target sample that (...) was compared against samples of engineers, executives and senior managers, lawyers, junior military managers, nurses, and salespeople. Surgeons scored significantly higher on global trait EI than junior military managers, but lower than executives and senior managers, salespeople, and nurses. There were no significant differences vis-à-vis engineers or lawyers. A MANOVA confirmed a similar pattern of differences in the four trait EI factors. Global trait EI scores correlated strongly with single-question measures of job satisfaction and job performance in the surgical sample. These findings suggest that interventions to optimize the trait EI profiles of surgeons can be helpful in relation to job satisfaction, job performance, and overall psychological wellbeing. (shrink)

ObjectiveThere have been increased efforts to implement medical ethics curricula at the student and resident levels; however, practising physicians are often left unconsidered. Therefore, we sought to pilot an ethics and professionalism curriculum for faculty in obstetrics and gynaecology to remedy gaps in the formal, informal and hidden curriculum in medical education.MethodsAn ethics curriculum was developed for faculty within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at a tertiary care, academic hospital. During the one-time, 4-hour, mandatory in-person session, the participants voluntarily (...) completed the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Handoff Clinical Evaluation Exercise, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and overall course evaluation. Patient satisfaction survey scores in both the hospital and ambulatory settings were compared before and after the curriculum.ResultsTwenty-eight faculty members attended the curriculum. Overall, respondents reported less burnout and performed at the same level or better in terms of patient handoff than the original studies validating the instruments. Faculty rated the professionalism behaviours as well as teaching of professionalism much lower at our institution than the validation study. There was no change in patient satisfaction after the curriculum. However, overall, the course was well received as meeting its objectives, being beneficial and providing new tools to assess professionalism.ConclusionThis pilot study suggests that an ethics curriculum can be developed for practising physicians that is mindful of pragmatic concerns while still meeting its objectives. Further study is needed regarding long term and objective improvements in ethics knowledge, impact on the education of trainees and improvement in the care of patients as a result of a formal curriculum for faculty. (shrink)

The 2012 Varsity Medical Debate between Oxford University and Cambridge University provided a stage for representatives from these famous institutions to debate the motion “This house believes that trainee doctors should be able to use the developing world to gain clinical experience.” This article brings together many of the arguments put forward during the debate, centring around three major points of contention: the potential intrinsic wrong of ‘using’ patients in developing countries; the effects on the elective participant; and the (...) effects on the host community. The article goes on to critically appraise overseas elective programmes, offering a number of solutions that would help optimise their effectiveness in the developing world. (shrink)

Desire satisfaction theories of well-being and deprivationism about the badness of death face similar problems: desire satisfaction theories have trouble locating the time when the satisfaction of a future or past-directed desire benefits a person; deprivationism has trouble locating a time when death is bad for a person. I argue that desire satisfaction theorists and deprivation theorists can address their respective timing problems by accepting fusionism, the view that some events benefit or harm individuals only at (...) fusions of moments in time. Fusionism improves on existing solutions to the timing problem for deprivationism because it locates death’s badness at the same time as both the victim of death and death itself, and it accounts for all of the ways that death is bad for a person. Fusionism improves on existing solutions to the problem of temporally locating the benefit of future and past-directed desires because it respects several attractive principles, including the view that the intrinsic value of a time for someone is determined solely by states of affairs that obtain at that time and the view that intrinsically beneficial events benefit a person when they occur. (shrink)

Welfare is at least occasionally a temporal phenomenon: welfare benefits befall me at certain times. But this fact seems to present a problem for a desire-satisfaction view. Assume that I desire, at 10am, January 12th, 2010, to climb Mount Everest sometime during 2012. Also assume, however, that during 2011, my desires undergo a shift: I no longer desire to climb Mount Everest during 2012. In fact, I develop an aversion to so doing. Imagine, however, that despite my aversion, I (...) am forced to climb Mount Everest. Does climbing Mount Everest benefit me? If so, when? A natural answer seems to be that if in fact it does benefit me, it benefits me at no particular time, and hence the desire-satisfaction view cannot accommodate the phenomenon of temporal welfare. In this paper, I argue, first, that a desire-satisfaction view can accommodate the phenomenon of temporal welfare only by accepting what I call the “time-of-desire” view: that p benefits x at t only if x desires p at t . Second, I argue that this view can be defended from important objections. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to present a general mechanistic framework for analyzing causal representational claims, and offer a way to distinguish genuinely representational explanations from those that invoke representations for honorific purposes. It is usually agreed that rats are capable of navigation because they maintain a cognitive map of their environment. Exactly how and why their neural states give rise to mental representations is a matter of an ongoing debate. I will show that anticipatory mechanisms involved in rats’ (...) evaluation of possible routes give rise to satisfaction conditions of contents, and this is why they are representationally relevant for explaining and predicting rats’ behavior. I argue that a naturalistic account of satisfaction conditions of contents answers the most important objections of antirepresentationalists. (shrink)

Increasingly, professionalism has been recognized as a core competency for health service professionals and is the domain in which vexing competence problems are observed in trainees. We begin by describing manifestations of problems of professionalism in accord with the values that fall within the rubric of this multifaceted construct. We provide an approach for evaluating problems of professionalism and discuss intervention for trainees with mild, moderate, or severe problems in this domain. We propose implications for training focused on enhancing the (...) culture of programs; bolstering the education, guidance, and mentoring provided related to professionalism; and encouraging best practices for addressing trainees with problems of professionalism. We conclude by sharing ideas about defining professionalism, identifying problems of professionalism, strengthening our approach to assessing professionalism and intervening when problems are evident, developing strategies for preventing professionalism problems, and ensuring that psychologists take seriously their responsibility to address professionalism concerns with colleagues. (shrink)

‘Patient satisfaction’: Knowledge for ruling hospital reform — An institutional ethnography Driven by funding restraint, Canadian health‐care has undergone over a decade of significant reform. Hospitals are being restructured, as text‐based practices of accountability bring a new business‐orientation into hospital and clinical management. New forms of knowledge, generated through records of various sorts, are a necessary resource for managing care in the new environment. This paper's research uses Canadian sociologist Dorothy E. Smith's institutional ethnographic methodology to critically analyse one (...) instance of text‐based management. I analyse information about ‘patient satisfaction’ as it is generated through a patient survey (in which I was implicated through my involvement with a hospitalized family member). Subsequently, I have studied the management environment into which that information would be entered. I argue that in the instance analysed, the information becomes part of a dominant consumer oriented healthcare discourse that subordinates concerns about ‘what actually happened’ as a professional caregiver would have known it. On this basis, I contend that this sort of taken‐for‐granted approach to making decisions about quality care in hospitals may be seriously, even dangerously, flawed. (shrink)

The tenuous claims of cost-benefit analysis to guide policy so as to promote welfare turn on measuring welfare by preference satisfaction and taking willingness-to-pay to indicate preferences. Yet it is obvious that people's preferences are not always self-interested and that false beliefs may lead people to prefer what is worse for them even when people are self-interested. So welfare is not preference satisfaction, and hence it appears that cost-benefit analysis and welfare economics in general rely on a mistaken (...) theory of well-being. This essay explores the difficulties, criticizes standard defences of welfare economics, and then offers a new partial defence that maintains that welfare economics is independent of any philosophical theory of well-being. Welfare economics requires nothing more than anevidentialconnection between preference and welfare: in circumstances in which people are concerned with their own interests and reasonably good judges of what will serve their interests, their preferences will be reliable indicators of what is good for them. (shrink)

Life satisfaction is widely considered to be a central aspect of human welfare. Many have identified happiness with it, and some maintain that well-being consists largely or wholly in being satisfied with one’s life. Empirical research on well-being relies heavily on life satisfaction studies. The paper contends that life satisfaction attitudes are less important, and matter for different reasons, than is widely believed. For such attitudes are appropriately governed by ethical norms and are perspectival in ways that (...) make the relationship between life satisfaction and welfare far more convoluted than we tend to expect. And the common identification of life satisfaction with happiness, as well as widespread views about the centrality of life satisfaction for well-being, are problematical at best. The argument also reveals an unexpected way in which philosophical ethics can inform scientific psychology: specifically, ethical reflection can help explain empirical results insofar as they depend on people’s values. (shrink)

We show that for every countable recursively saturated model M of Peano arithmetic and every subset A⊆M, there exists a full satisfaction class SA⊆M2 such that A is definable in (M,SA) without parameters. It follows that in every such model, there exists a full satisfaction class which makes every element definable, and thus the expanded model is minimal and rigid. On the other hand, as observed by Roman Kossak, for every full satisfaction class S there are two (...) elements which have the same arithmetical type, but exactly one of them is in S. In particular, the automorphism group of a model expanded with a satisfaction class is never equal to the automorphism group of the original model. The analogue of the first result proved here for full satisfaction classes was obtained also by Roman Kossak for partial inductive satisfaction classes. However, the proof relied on the induction scheme in a crucial way, so recapturing the result in the setting of full satisfaction classes requires quite different arguments. (shrink)

Background Informed consent is a process in which a healthcare provider obtains permission from an individual prior to surgery. Patient satisfaction with the informed consent process is one of the main indicators of healthcare service quality. This study aimed to assess patient satisfaction with surgical informed consent at Jimma Medical Center, Ethiopia, in 2020. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to June 30, 2020, at Jimma Medical Center. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires. (...) A systematic sampling technique was used to select the study participants. The collected data were coded, entered into Epi data version 3.1, and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to determine the association between patient satisfaction and socio-demographic and facility-related factors. In multivariate regression, predictors with a P-value of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Totally 372 study participants were interviewed with a response rate of 97.8%. Nearly two-fifths (43%) of patients were satisfied with surgical informed consent. Living in an urban area (AOR: 2.279, 95% CI 1.257–4.131), having current referred history (AOR: 1.856, 95% CI 1.033–3.337), consent form version (AOR: 2.076, 95% CI 1.143–3.773), time spent on the provision of informed consent (AOR: 5.227, 95% CI 2.499–10.936) and having better patient-health providers relationship (AOR: 5.419, 95% CI 3.103–9.464) predictors were positively associated with patient satisfaction. Conclusion Patient satisfaction with the surgical informed consent process was relatively low. Therefore, Health care professionals need to emphasize a way of delivering informed consent, patients' needs and obey a standard informed consent to improve patient satisfaction. (shrink)

Two different types of subjective well-being (SWB) measures exhibit a remarkable difference in their correlations with people’s circumstances. The life satisfaction method shows relatively a strong correlation with income and material conveniences while affective measures are more tightly linked with freedom. Why is this so? To explain this difference I examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying these measures by means of dual process theory. This theory identifies two broad categories of cognition. One is Type 1: fast, intuitive, automatic and autonomous. (...) The other is Type 2: slow, deliberate and under conscious control. (They are also known as System 1 and System 2). I argue that in our normal decision making there is a division of labor between these mechanisms. Type 2 is more focused on making choices, comparing material goods and tradeoffs between them, while Type 1 is more oriented at the freedom that is necessary to make those choices. (shrink)

This research characterizes and compares the job satisfaction of fitness professionals in Portugal between genders, ages, professional experience, professional title, and educational qualifications. A total of 401 fitness professionals answered the online questionnaire Job Satisfaction Scale, which has 16 factors rated on a Likert scale with seven levels. The statistical analysis comprises descriptive and statistical tests to compare the results of two or more groups. Overall, the results demonstrated that fitness professionals were moderately satisfied with their work. The (...) lower degrees of job satisfaction were concerning salary, opportunities for promotion, and stability at work. The highest levels of job satisfaction were related to the freedom to choose their work method, their work colleagues, the physical conditions of their workplace, and the opportunity to use their competencies. There were no differences in job satisfaction in terms of gender and a few differences between professional title and between educational levels. Regarding age and professional experience, the results showed significant differences in almost all factors, suggesting that, as fitness professionals get older and more experienced, their job satisfaction is greater. The results of this study suggest that even though fitness professionals are, in general, moderately satisfied with their work, some aspects can be improved by employers to increase their satisfaction levels. Such findings would assist employers in guiding the job satisfaction of their employees with consequent enhancements in the services provided by fitness professionals, which can increase participants’ retention in exercise fitness activities. (shrink)

This is the most important book on Hegel to have appeared in the past ten years. Robert Pippin offers a completely new interpretation of Hegel's idealism, which focuses on Hegel's appropriation and development of kant's theoretical project. Hegel is presented neither as a precritical metaphysician nor as a social theorist, but as a critical philosopher whose disagreements with Kant, especially on the issue of intuitions, enrich the idealist arguments against empiricism, realism and naturalism. In the face of the dismissal of (...) absolute idealism as either unintelligible or implausible, Pippin explains and defends an original account of the philosophical basis for Hegel's claims about the historical and social nature of selfconsciousness, and so of knowledge itself. (shrink)

This dissertation argues that the desire satisfaction theory, arguably the dominant theory of well-being at present, fails to explain why depression is bad for a person. People with clinical depression desire almost nothing, but the few desires they do have are almost all satisfied. So it appears the theory must say these people are relatively well-off. A number of possible responses on behalf of the theory are considered, and I argue that each response either fails outright, or requires modifications (...) to the desire satisfaction theory which make the theory unattractive for other reasons. Advisors: Joseph Mendola and John Brunero. (shrink)

This article sets down the foundations of a research project on Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers’ job satisfaction and job embededness. According to the literature, HPE teachers has a weak status inside and outside school which may conduct to professional marginalization. After describing the situation of the teaching profession in the province of Québec, the focus is directed toward HPE as a teaching specialty. A conceptual framework that articulates job satisfaction and job embededness models is then proposed. (...) In conclusion of this theoretical reflexion, considering the actual teacher shortage, school organizations are invited to adhere to a more sustainable approach of teaching resources management. (shrink)

We develop the theory of partial satisfaction relations for structures that may be proper classes and define a satisfaction predicate ($\models^*$) appropriate to such structures. We indicate the utility of this theory as a framework for the development of the metatheory of first-order predicate logic and set theory, and we use it to prove that for any recursively enumerable extension $\Theta$ of ZF there is a finitely axiomatizable extension $\Theta'$ of GB that is a conservative extension of $\Theta$. (...) We also prove a conservative extension result that justifies the use of $\models^*$ to characterize ground models for forcing constructions. (shrink)

According to a well-established view of desire satisfaction, a desire that p is satisfied iff p obtains. Call this the 'standard view'. The standard view is purely semantic, which means the satisfaction condition of desires is placed in the truth of the embedded proposition that indicates the content of the desire. This paper aims to defend the standard view against two frequently discussed problems: the problem of underspecification and desires conditional on their own persistence. The former holds that (...) the standard view cannot capture the specific ways of desire satisfaction. The latter holds that the standard view does not provide sufficient conditions for the satisfaction of desires conditional on their own persistence. To address the first problem, I will disambiguate different interpretations of desire ascriptions using de re/de dicto distinction. My argument to address the second problem rests on the disambiguation of different senses of satisfaction: semantic and agent. (shrink)

In response to a commentary on our research article (Azima and Mundler in Agric Hum Values 39:791–807, 2022), we address the argument that increased reliance on family farm labor with low or no opportunity costs leads to higher net revenue and greater economic satisfaction. Our response provides a nuanced perspective on this issue in the context of short food supply chains. We also examine the share of total farm sales from short food supply chains in terms of its effect (...) size on farmer job satisfaction. Finally, we emphasize the need for further research into the sources of occupational satisfaction among farmers involved in such marketing channels. (shrink)

Background:Healthcare organizations are now challenged to retain nurses’ generation and understand why they are leaving their nursing career prematurely. Acquiring knowledge about the effect of ethical work climate and level of perceived organizational support can help organizational leaders to deal effectively with dysfunctional behaviors and make a difference in enhancing nurses’ dedication, commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty to their organization.Purpose:This study aims to determine the relationship between ethical work climate, and perceived organizational support and nurses’ organizational commitment, job satisfaction, (...) and turnover intention.Methods:A descriptive correlational research design was conducted in all inpatient care units at three major hospitals affiliated to different health sectors at Alexandria governorate. All nurses working in these previous hospitals were included in the study (N = 500). Ethical Climate Questionnaire, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, Index of Job Satisfaction, and Intention to Turnover scale were used to measure study variables.Ethical considerations:Approval was obtained from Ethics Committee at Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. Privacy and confidentiality of data were maintained and assured by obtaining subjects’ informed consent to participate in the research before data collection.Findings:The result revealed positive significant correlations between nurses’ perception of overall ethical work climate and each of perceived organizational support, commitment, as well as their job satisfaction. However, negative significant correlations were found between nurses’ turnover intention and each of these variables. Also, approximately 33% of the explained variance of turnover intention is accounted by ethical work climate, organizational support, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, and these variables independently contributed significantly in the prediction of turnover intention.Recommendation:Strategies to foster and enhance ethical and supportive work climates as well as job-related benefits are considered significant factors in increasing nurses’ commitment and satisfaction and decreasing their turnover intention. (shrink)

One version of the desire satisfaction theory of well-being (i.e., welfare, or what is good for one) holds that only the satisfaction of one's present desires for present states of affairs can affect one's well-being. So if I desire fame today and become famous tomorrow, my well-being is positively affected onlyif tomorrow, when I am famous, I still desire to be famous. Call this the present desire satisfaction theory of well-being. I argue, contrary to this theory, that (...) the satisfaction of past desires that are no longer held does indeed affect one's well-being. The satisfaction of past desires is good for one in that the present satisfaction of past desires positively affects one's past well-being. I argue for this view in stages, starting with the recognition that many of our desires are satisfied not at an instant but over an interval of time, and that it is during this interval of time that our well-being is positively affected. Once we get our foot in the door with some temporal thickness to desire satisfaction and the associated well-being, I argue, the door must open more widely to allow for greater temporal distance between present desire satisfaction and past well-being. I defend my thesis that present satisfaction of past desires increases one's past welfare against objections, including the claim that it involves backward causation and Velleman's claim that the view is highly counterintuitive whether or not it involves backward causation. I argue that some of the objections rely on hedonistic intuitions, intuitions that most desire satisfaction theories of welfare aim to correct. Once properly understood and applied, my counterintuitive and controversial thesis is really quite innocuous. (shrink)

Research indicates that greater involvement in religion may be associated with better physical health. The purpose of this study is to see if the satisfaction of spiritual needs is associated with health. This model that contains the following core hypotheses: Individuals who attend church more often are more likely to receive spiritual support from fellow church members than people who attend worship services less frequently ; receiving more spiritual support is associated with stronger feelings of belonging in a congregation; (...) individuals who feel they belong in their congregations are more likely to feel their spiritual needs have been met; and people who feel their spiritual needs have been met are more likely to rate their health in a favorable manner. The data provide support for each of these relationships. (shrink)

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the doctrine of purgatory among Christian philosophers. Some of these philosophers argue for the existence of purgatory from principles consistent with historic Protestant theology and then attempt, on the basis of those principles, to formulate a distinctively Protestant view of purgatory—i.e., one that differs essentially from the Catholic doctrine as regards purgatory’s raison d’etre. Here I aim to show that Protestant models of purgatory which are grounded in the necessity of becoming (...) fully sanctified before entering heaven (Sanctification Models) fail to contrast materially with the Catholic model of purgatory, which has historically been formulated in terms of the necessity of making satisfaction for sins already forgiven (The Satisfaction Model). Indeed, I shall argue that contrary to widespread assumption, the Sanctification Model and the Satisfaction Modelare equivalent when the latter is properly understood. (shrink)

Background and Aim: Today universities admit International Students as well as national students. Tehran University of Medical Sciences has been also started admitting International Students in regards of its Internationalization aims. Student’s satisfaction is of high importance in order to gain the given goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction of International students of TUMS. -/- Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study. The target group was international students of TUMS, the participants were (...) selected through availability sampling. The research instrument was researcher-made questionnaire which the reliability calculated as 0.97 by Chronbach’s alpha. The data was analysied by Microsoft Excell version 2010. -/- Results: The overall satisfaction of the students was 70% (satisfied and completely satisfied) while the overall dissatisfaction was 10% (dissatisfied and completely dissatisfied). -/- Conclusion: Given satisfaction of more than half of the International students, TUMS has performed reasonably. Based on the results obtained in this research the university may pay attention to the fields reported as dissatisfied. (shrink)

We observe a number of connections between recent developments in the study of constraint satisfaction problems, irredundant axiomatisation and the study of topological quasivarieties. Several restricted forms of a conjecture of Clark, Davey, Jackson and Pitkethly are solved: for example we show that if, for a finite relational structure M, the class of M-colourable structures has no finite axiomatisation in first order logic, then there is no set (even infinite) of first order sentences characterising the continuously M-colourable structures amongst (...) compact totally disconnected relational structures. We also refute a rather old conjecture of Gorbunov by presenting a finite structure with an infinite irredundant quasi-identity basis. (shrink)

The economic theory of the consumer, which assumes individual satisfaction as its goal and individual freedom to pursue satisfaction as its sine qua non, has become an important ideological element in political economy. Some have argued that the political dimension of economics has evolved into a kind of “secular theology” that legitimates free market capitalism, which has become a kind of “religion” in the United States [Nelson: 1991, Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics. (Rowman (...) & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, Savage, Maryland); 2001, Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond (The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania); Thurow: 1983, Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics (Random House, New York); Milbank: 1990, Theology and Social Theory, Beyond Secular Reason (Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts)]. Consumer theory in its ideological form provides an important base for this religion and is no longer merely a positive framework for understanding consumer choice or estimating market demand. The paper explores the view of the human being, the “anthropology,” that is implicit in the economic theory of the consumer and compares its “theological” implications with the corresponding theological anthropologies in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The paper outlines the assumptions of consumer theory and then focuses on three aspects of the theory from a critical theological perspective: the individual in community, property ownership, and human destiny (or “eschatology” in theological terminology). The principal conclusion is that consumer theory, viewed from this perspective, leads to a reductionist and existentially harmful view of human beings. The maximization of individual satisfaction raises genuine ethical issues when viewed as a political and religious value. The paper argues that the issues could be ameliorated if economists would include more explicit treatment of a social dimension and ethical alternatives in consumer theory and if theologians would give greater attention to economic theory. (shrink)

The economic theory of the consumer, which assumes individual satisfaction as its goal and individual freedom to pursue satisfaction as its sine qua non, has become an important ideological element in political economy. Some have argued that the political dimension of economics has evolved into a kind of "secular theology" that legitimates free market capitalism, which has become a kind of "religion" in the United States [Nelson: 1991, Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics. ; (...) 2001, Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond ; Thurow: 1983, Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics ; Milbank: 1990, Theology and Social Theory, Beyond Secular Reason ]. Consumer theory in its ideological form provides an important base for this religion and is no longer merely a positive framework for understanding consumer choice or estimating market demand. The paper explores the view of the human being, the "anthropology," that is implicit in the economic theory of the consumer and compares its "theological" implications with the corresponding theological anthropologies in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The paper outlines the assumptions of consumer theory and then focuses on three aspects of the theory from a critical theological perspective: the individual in community, property ownership, and human destiny. The principal conclusion is that consumer theory, viewed from this perspective, leads to a reductionist and existentially harmful view of human beings. The maximization of individual satisfaction raises genuine ethical issues when viewed as a political and religious value. The paper argues that the issues could be ameliorated if economists would include more explicit treatment of a social dimension and ethical alternatives in consumer theory and if theologians would give greater attention to economic theory. (shrink)

The article is a generalization and analysis of some of the results of the monitoring of the satisfaction of graduates of the Russian State Social University, conducted in 2020. The results of similar monitoring carried out in other higher educational institutions are also considered. The article pays great attention to the relationship of various factors of graduates' satisfaction, corresponding to the prospects for improving the educational process based on the results of monitoring studies. The article may be of (...) interest both for researchers of the educational process in universities and for a wide range of specialists in the field of university pedagogy. (shrink)

I assess Anselm’s claim that the debt of sin is "infinite" by examining the thought-experiment used to illustrate it. The claim crashes due to a conflict with Anselm’s implied (and plausible) view of God’s obligations and due to interesting errors in his thought-experiment. Nevertheless, I defend his "Union-of-Obligation-and-Ability (UOA) strategy and his "Provision-of-Satisfaction" mechanism for explaining atonement, which relied functionally on sin’s infinite demerit, by changing them a bit. I also defend Anselm’s UOA and "Disorder-Avoidance" strategies from objections from (...) Duns Scotus. (shrink)

Latin-American immigration has transformed Chilean schools into new multicultural scenarios. Studies about intergroup dynamics among students from different cultural backgrounds and their psychological consequences are still limited in south–south migration contexts. Literature has suggested that intergroup relations influence students’ satisfaction with school, and they could be improved by the development of competences to cope with cultural differences. This study aims to verify if cultural self-efficacy and its dimensions mediated the influence of prejudice on satisfaction with school, in a (...) sample composed byN= 690 Chilean and Latin-American immigrant secondary students. Results showed that cultural self-efficacy reduced the effect of prejudice in satisfaction with school, in the cases of both immigrant and Chilean students. The dimensions of cultural self-efficacy in processing information from other cultures and mixing with different others make the difference. Findings’ contributions for the understanding of adolescents’ intergroup relations and psychosocial interventions at school are discussed. (shrink)

With advancing rank in medical training comes increased academic and clinical responsibility, including education and supervision of trainees and junior staff. When I became a senior postdoctoral fellow sub‐specializing in neonatology, I assumed the role of co‐attending in the neonatal intensive care unit. At that point in my training, I felt well prepared for the challenging task. I would be in charge, make decisions independently with the team, and supervise, as well as teach, the junior fellows, residents, and practitioners. In (...) short, I would assume full responsibility for the care of the patients, their families, and the medical team. My mentor, an experienced attending, would discuss every patient with me each day, but would otherwise stand in the shadows, available for help and guidance when needed. On the very first day, one of the smaller premature babies on our service started having difficulty breathing, and it was soon clear that she would need to have her endotracheal tube reinserted. (shrink)

In comparison with a highest attainable good, a future of everlasting progress may appear subjectively dissatisfying or objectively deficient. This is the satisfaction problem. I defend the progressive view against three strands of the satisfaction problem and argue that the notion of a highest good faces a satisfaction problem of its own.

This study employs the tools of conversation analysis in order to assess consultee satisfaction in chat endings obtained from the e-counseling provided by the Youth Board of Cyprus. In order to study whether consultees are satisfied with the service they receive during the chat, an alternative approach of exploring consultee satisfaction to those that rely on self-report or questionnaires, which are methods that are external to the actual interactions, has been applied. Therefore, internal indications of consultees’ satisfaction, (...) as displayed in the ways in which they express appreciation, or otherwise, during the closing stages of chats, is the preferred method. Indications of satisfaction, or otherwise, produced during the chat, through displays of appreciation, withholding appreciation or even exhibiting dissatisfaction, do help to inform chat-handlers about the extent to which they have satisfied consultees’ expectations. Internal indicators of consultee satisfaction are displayed in the closing stages of the e-counseling chats. The different expressions have consequences on how the chat ends, with satisfied consultees ending the chat with strong and enthusiastic expression of appreciation and with dissatisfied consultees expressing resistance in reaching termination. (shrink)

Research and policymaking on positive mental health and well-being have increased within the last decade, partly fueled by decreasing levels of well-being in the general population and among at-risk groups. However, measurement of well-being often takes place in the absence of reflection on the underlying theoretical conceptualization of well-being. This disguises the fact that different rating scales of well-being often measure very different phenomena because rating scales are based on different philosophical assumptions, which represent radically different foundational views about the (...) nature of well-being. The aim of this paper is to examine the philosophical foundation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in order to clarify the underlying normative commitments and the psychometric compromises involved in the translation of theory into practice. SWLS is widely used by psychologists, public health professionals, economists, and is popular in national and international surveys of well-being. This paper introduces the philosophical theory of life satisfaction and explores how three central discussions within life satisfaction theory are reflected in the construction of the SWLS; Whether we should be equally satisfied with our past, present and future, Whether we should be satisfied with all the various domains of our lives, and How to avoid the trap of “false consciousness”, i.e. that people fail to recognize the injustice or misfortune of their lives. In the end, life satisfaction theory is contrasted with affective foundational theories of well-being, to explore the magnitude and limits of SWLS as a rating scale based on life satisfaction theory. (shrink)

Modern physics encompasses theoretical and experimental research divided in subfields with specific features. For instance, high energy physics (HEP) attracts significant funding and has distinct organizational structures, i.e., large laboratories and cross-institutional collaborations. Expensive equipment and large experiments create a specific work atmosphere and human relations. While the gender misbalance is characteristic for STEM, early-career researchers are inherently dependent on their supervisors. This raises the question of how satisfied researchers with working in physics are and how different subgroups – female (...) and early-career researchers – perceive their work environment. We empirically investigated job satisfaction and satisfaction with the academic system among physicists (N=123) working in large laboratories, universities, and independent institutes. The scale for measuring the satisfaction with the academic system in physics yielded three factors: experience of research autonomy, opportunities to use one's knowledge, and appreciation of the research by the general public. The results show that physicists are less satisfied with the academic system than with their work environment. Moreover, female scientists and junior researchers experience their jobs more negatively. The results emphasize the need for improving work and research conditions for underprivileged groups in physics. Interestingly, no significant effect was found between different types of academic institutions and general job satisfaction. Finally, physicists felt that their work has not been well understood by the public. (shrink)