Religious orientation and life aspirations.

The effects of religiosity on well-being appear to depend on religious orientation, with intrinsic orientation being related to positive outcomes and extrinsic orientation being related to neutral or negative outcomes. It is not clear, however, why intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity has the relationships they do. Self-determination theory may provide a useful framework of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that may help to answer this question. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity would be related to intrinsic and extrinsic life aspirations. We hypothesized that intrinsic religiosity would be positively related to intrinsic life aspirations and negatively related with extrinsic life aspirations, and that extrinsic religiosity would be positively related to extrinsic life aspirations and negatively related to intrinsic aspirations, and that life aspirations would partially mediate the relationships between religious orientation and outcome. To study these hypotheses, a random national sample (total number of 425, average age of 52, 59 % female) completed the measures of religious orientation, life aspirations, affect, and life satisfaction. It was found that intrinsic religiosity was positively related to positive affect, life satisfaction, and intrinsic life aspirations and was negatively related to negative affect and extrinsic life aspirations. Extrinsic religiosity was positively related to extrinsic life aspirations and was not related to the intrinsic life aspirations. When both religious orientation and life aspiration variables were included together in the model predicting outcome, both remained significant indicating that religious orientation and life aspirations are independent predictors of outcome. In conclusion, although religious orientation and life aspirations are significantly related to each other and to outcome, life aspirations did not mediate the effects of religious orientation. Therefore, self-determination theory does not appear to completely account for the effects of religious orientation.

Women in academic medicine: a report of focus groups and questionnaires, with conjoint analysis.

BACKGROUND: The percentage of women graduating from U.S. medical schools has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, but the distribution of women and men across faculty ranks in academic medical centers has remained nearly unchanged. Women remain underrepresented in the senior ranks of academic medicine. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the work environment at Duke University Medical Center, with particular emphasis on gender climate. METHODS: An independent firm conducted structured focus groups and administered questionnaires, analyzed through conjoint analysis. Focus groups were stratified by rank and included the following groups of women: medical students, residents, fellows, junior faculty, senior faculty, and women in fields with few women. RESULTS: The conjoint analysis demonstrated that the women placed high value on the quality of their personal and work lives and rated these as more important than other traditional markers of career success, such as stature of their institution or earnings potential. Discussions during the focus groups elaborated on what "quality of personal and professional life" meant. They described a need for career efficiencies that allow individuals to excel professionally while also honoring their personal values and responsibilities. The discussions also suggested that similar problems have increasing importance for men. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that institutions should provide more alternative models of success and increase flexible work options. Future studies of women in academic medicine should explore the role of value conflict in career development in academic medicine and probe the idea that the priorities articulated by the women in these focus groups may reflect the values of a generation as much as they do gender.