As religiões sempre foram, em parte, religiões de cura. Ao longo da história, têm sido perspetivadas como aliadas na procura de sentido para a vida e suas vicissitudes, com destaque para as situações ...de doença. Desde o trabalho inaugura de William James, que referia o papel preventivo da religião em certas doenças, associado à ação da ciência, diversos estudos têm explorado a relação entre religiosidade/espiritualidade e saúde e bem-estar. Mas que papel e funções a religião desempenha hoje em dia, nas sociedades ocidentais contemporâneas? Neste artigo procuramos dar resposta a esta questão, bem como sistematizar um conjunto de investigação acerca da influência da espiritualidade/religiosidade em diversas áreas do ser humano, designadamente na saúde, bem-estar, suporte social e prevenção e redução de comportamentos de risco. Dos autores clássicos à contemporaneidade, este artigo debruça-se sobre: i) conceitos de religiosidade e espiritualidade; ii) o papel e funções da religião; iii) a interligação entre religião, sociedade, religiosidade, saúde e doença; iv) a influência da espiritualidade e religiosidade na saúde, bem-estar, suporte social, prevenção primária e comportamentos de risco; v) Religiosidade e espiritualidade enquanto estratégia de coping para entendimento e manejo de situações críticas.
This study analyzes how hard and soft conditions influence the development of entrepreneurship in cultural and creative industries (CCIs). The study further examines what influence the context has on ...the effect of these conditions. A multiple multivariate regression analysis examines the importance of both the hard and soft conditions to explain the differences between the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean countries of Portugal, Spain, and Greece. The sample comprises 123 entrepreneurs from the four countries. The use of this method represents an important contribution to the understanding of entrepreneurship dynamics and for the further fine-tuning of entrepreneurship policies in CCIs in different contexts.
Workaholism phenomenon affects a quarter of the employed world population. The concept has been used to describe hardworking employees, which is not resulting from external requirements. Considering ...that organizations with well-developed workplace spirituality have employees more committed to achieving self-development, but also to serve the company, the relationship between workaholism and workplace spirituality is not straightforward, remaining unclear. The principal aim of this research is to analyze the workaholism phenomenon, considering patterns of workaholic and non-workaholic workers and their relationships with dimensions of workplace spirituality. The sample is comprised of a heterogeneous group of 306 Portuguese employees, who were surveyed by the Workaholism Battery, five dimensions of Workplace Spirituality, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Cluster analysis defined three workaholic profiles (24% of the sample), and five non-workaholic profiles. Workplace spirituality dimensions differed according to worker profile and associations with work involvement, work enjoyment, and compulsive work addiction. Enthusiastic addicts and work enthusiasts showed the highest workplace spirituality, contrasting mainly with Reluctant hard worker, Disenchanted workers, and Unengaged workers, but also with work addicts. Workaholism is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, whose dimensions are distinctly related to workplace spirituality. Workplace spirituality development can promote a more balanced and healthy relationship with work.
Games of chance usually make people feel a whirlwind of emotions, especially in gambling. While those games depend more on luck than on individuals’ skills, optimism should be a distinctive feature. ...Considering the classic literature of the effects of religiosity on risk behaviors, the issue of the influence of religiosity on optimism in players of games of chance has been less studied, especially when we considered optimism as a multidimensional concept comprising intrinsic and extrinsic optimism and pessimism. Aims: To analyze the effect of religious beliefs and attitudes in optimism and pessimism dimensions in players of games of chance and gambling. Method: The sample consists of 271 recurring players of games of chance and gambling, who answered a questionnaire composed of measures of religious beliefs and attitudes, optimism, pessimism, and estimates of future occurrences, evidencing good psychometric properties. Results: Players are moderately religious and more optimistic than pessimistic, estimating a chance of 36% of highly unlikely desirable events. The structural model showed an overall influence of religious beliefs and attitudes higher on optimism (R2 = 44%) than on pessimism (R2 = 5%). However, the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic optimism has shown that the players anchor their optimism in different kinds of beliefs. Extrinsic desirable events, like winning the lottery, were more predicted by religious beliefs and attitudes in comparison with intrinsic desirable events. Inversely, religious beliefs and attitudes tend to predict more intrinsic pessimism in comparison with intrinsic optimism. Conclusions: Optimism is not a one-dimensional construct, should be analyzed considering the dichotomies of optimism/pessimism and intrinsic/extrinsic. In recurring players of games of chance and gambling, religious beliefs and attitudes predicted more optimism than pessimism, being more associated with extrinsic than intrinsic desirable events. More intrinsically pessimistic players seem to recur to religiosity to anchor their positive expectations.
Age determination has great importance in many clinical decisions, being commonly used in odontopediatrics, orthodontics, pediatrics, and forensic medicine. The Nolla and Demirjian et al. methods ...have been used for these purposes. However, estimating chronological age by means of the dental mineralization stage is not a straightforward analysis, and it is fundamental to test the validity of these methods and their applicability to populations. In this article we intend to compare the accuracy of estimating chronological age from dental age measured with the Nolla and Demirjian methods in a Portuguese and Spanish sample, considering the variables of sex and age-group.
The sample was composed of 821 orthopantomographs of healthy Portuguese (n = 270) and Spanish (n = 551) subjects from 4 to 34 years old. For the Nolla and Demirjian methods, seven mandibular left teeth were examined, staged according to the dental maturity scale of each method. We obtained a good index of inter-rater agreement, a good internal consistency for the teeth assessment, and a good temporal consistency.
Dental age was calculated for each method. The Demirjian et al. method tends to overestimate the real age of participants and the Nolla method tends to underestimate it. The accuracy of both methods varied between the sexes and age groups. Both methods were found to be more precise with males. As the age-group increases, the predictive capacities of both methods diminish. The Nolla method was more accurate than the Demirjian method in early and late childhood for both sexes. Neither method could predict chronological age in adults.
We can estimate chronological age for early and late childhood, through the Nolla and Demirjian methods, with the former showing greater predictive capacities than the latter. The Demirjian method tends to overestimate age and the Nolla method tends to underestimate it, leading to the importance of forming regression equations adapted to the population studied. Nolla and Demirjian formulas adapted to our sample were created as a function of sex and age-group.
Estimation of children's chronological age is highly important in human and forensic sciences. The Demirjian method has been reported as accurate for this purpose. The literature review shows some ...evidence that the accuracy of estimating chronological age via the Demirjian standards is not a straightforward process. The objective of this research is to analyze the reliability of the Demirjian standards in Portuguese and Spanish children and adolescents and adapt it to include sex and group age as contingent factors.
Orthopantomographs of 574 Portuguese and Spanish male and female children and adolescents were employed to test the reliability of the Demirjian method. After testing for inter-rater consistency and age estimation using the Demirjian standards, multiple regression analysis was performed controlling for sex and age group.
The Demirjian standards overestimated chronological age for both sexes, mainly for females. Through the development of regression functions, more detailed dental age estimation was performed. The predictive capacities of the Demirjian method and the significant teeth varied as a function of children's age. The Demirjian global standard predicted over 65% of the variance of the chronological age. Taking a tooth-by-tooth approach, the predictive ability increased by over 70%.
The accuracy of estimating chronological age via the Demirjian method is not as reliable as it might appear, judging from the results found according to age group and according to sex crossed with age group.
There is a positive relationship between learning music and academic achievement, although doubts remain regarding the mechanisms underlying this association. This research analyses the academic ...performance of music and non-music students from seventh to ninth grade. The study controls for socioeconomic status, intelligence, motivation and prior academic achievement. Data were collected from 110 adolescents at two time points, once when the students were between 11 and 14 years old in the seventh grade, and again 3 years later. Our results show that music students perform better academically than non-music students in the seventh grade (Cohen’s d = 0.88) and in the ninth grade (Cohen’s d = 1.05). This difference is particularly evident in their scores in Portuguese language and natural science; the difference is somewhat weaker in history and geography scores, and is least pronounced in mathematics and English scores (η2
p
from .09 to .21). A longitudinal analysis also revealed better academic performance by music students after controlling for prior academic achievement (η2
p
= .07). Furthermore, controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status and motivation did not eliminate the positive association between music learning from the seventh to the ninth grade and students’ academic achievement (η2
p
= .06). During the period, music students maintained better and more consistent academic standing. We conclude that, after controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status and motivation, music training is positively associated with academic achievement.
Achieving the balance between work and family life needs a holistic viewpoint on how these two aspects interact. It poses a significant challenge due to its impact on individuals, organizations, and ...society. Research suggests that employees engaged in both spheres tend to exhibit more favorable work attitudes, and experience improved health and wellbeing. In this study, we examined the interplay between work–family dynamics and work engagement among 654 university professors in Portugal. Using several statistical methods, including confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and multivariate analysis, we identified distinct conflict and facilitation patterns within work–family relationships. Our findings revealed four clusters representing different conflict-facilitation profiles: those characterized by either work → family facilitation or conflict, and, similarly, family → work facilitation or conflict. Notably, we observed a significant association between work engagement and work–family facilitation, particularly evident in dimensions such as vigor and dedication. Absorption showed fewer significant effects than the other dimensions. We discuss these results, suggesting interventions within the university professors’ careers, as well as further research directions.
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