Thomas J. Johnson

Bio: Thomas J. Johnson is an academic researcher from Indiana State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Drinking game & Loving-kindness. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 24 publications receiving 872 citations.

Cultivating loving kindness: a two‐stage model of the effects of meditation on empathy, compassion, and altruism

Abstract: . We explore the role of meditative practice in cultivating experiences of compassion, empathy, and altruism and address an apparent paradox: Meditation often is associated with solitary retreat, if not preoccupation with one's own concerns. How, then, does such a practice promote compassion for others? We propose a two-stage model. The first stage involves disengagement from usual preoccupation with self-reinforcing, self-defeating, or self-indulgent behaviors and reactions; the second involves a focused engagement with a universal human capacity for altruistic experience, love, and compassion. Reference is made to the limited research literature and to clinical applications of loving kindness (metta) meditation in cultivating these processes.

Identifying mediators of the relationship between religiousness/spirituality and alcohol use.

Abstract: Objective: Religiousness is known to be inversely related to alcohol use and problems, but few studies have attempted to identify mediators of this relationship. We examined beliefs about alcohol, social influences, well-being, and motives for drinking as potential mediators of the relationship between religiousness/spirituality and alcohol use and problems. Method: Participants were 315 female and 197 male college students who responded to a survey sent to a stratified (by gender and year in school) random sample. We used path analysis to test models specifying hypothesized mediators of the relationship between several religious/spiritual constructs (identified via factor analysis in previous studies) and alcohol use and problems. Models were tested in the full sample and a subsample consisting of alcohol users only. Results: The effect of religious/spiritual involvement on alcohol use was mediated by negative beliefs about alcohol, social influences, and spiritual well-being. The effect of religious str...

Measuring college students' motives for playing drinking games.

Abstract: Students may choose to play drinking games not only for reasons related to alcohol consumption but also because of incentives related to other aspects of play (competition, fun, interpersonal dominance, etc.). College students (120 men and 167 women) completed measures of motives for playing (based on T. J. Johnson, S. Hamilton, & V. L. Sheets, 1999) and consequences of playing drinking games. Exploratory principal-components analysis identified 8 reasons for playing. Men and women differed in their endorsement of the factors. Motives for play directly predicted consequences of play independently of alcohol consumption. Specific motives predicted specific types of consequences. In multiple regression analyses, Conformity motives were negatively related to consequences and may represent a form of protective motive.

Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature

Abstract: Richard Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature brings to light the deep sense of crisis within the profession of academic philosophy which is similar to the paralyzing pluralism in contemporary theology and the inveterate indeterminacy of literary criticism. Richard Rorty's provocative and profound meditations impel philosophers to examine the problematic status of their discipline— only to discover that modern European philosophy has come to an end. Rorty strikes a deathblow to modern European philosophy by telling a story about the emergence, development and decline of its primary props: the correspondence theory of truth, the notion of privileged representations and the idea of a self-reflective transcendental subject. Rorty's fascinating tale—his-story —is regulated by three fundamental shifts which he delineates in detail and promotes in principle: the move toward anti-realism or conventionalism in ontology, the move toward the demythologizing of the Myth of the Given or anti-foundationalism in epistemology, and the move toward detranscendentalizing the subject or dismissing the mind as a sphere of inquiry. The chief importance of Rorty's book is that it brings together in an original and intelligible narrative the major insights of the patriarchs of postmodern American philosophy—W. V. Quine, Wilfred Sellars, and Nelson Goodman— and persuasively presents the radical consequences of their views for contemporary philosophy. Rorty credits Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Dewey for having "brought us into a period of 'revolutionary' philosophy" by undermining the prevailing Cartesian and Kantian paradigms and advancing new conceptions of philosophy. And these monumental figures surely inspire Rorty. Yet, Rorty's philosophical debts—the actual sources of his particular anti-Cartesian and antiKantian arguments—are Quine's holism, Sellars' anti-foundationalism, and Goodman's pluralism. In short, despite his adamant attack on analytical philosophy—the last stage of modern European philosophy—Rorty feels most comfortable with the analytical form of philosophical argumentation (shunned by Wittgenstein and Heidegger). From the disparate figures of Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Dewey, Rorty gets a historicist directive: to eschew the quest for certainty and the search for foundations.

Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct

Abstract: 1. Resolving Ethical Issues 1.01 Misuse of Psychologists’ Work 1.02 Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority 1.03 Conflicts Between Ethics and Organizational Demands 1.04 Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations 1.05 Reporting Ethical Violations 1.06 Cooperating With Ethics Committees 1.07 Improper Complaints 1.08 Unfair Discrimination Against Complainants and Respondents

Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol

Abstract: Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol The National Health and Medical Research council (NHMRC) released revised guidelines which aim to reduce the risks associated with alcohol consumption. The Guidelines can be found on the National and Medical Research Council website — http://www.nhrrirc.dov.au/publications/synobses/ds10s_yn.htnn It provides universal guidance for healthy adults aged 18 years and over and guidelines specific to children and young people and to pregnant and breastfeeding women. The guidelines do not represent a 'safe" or "no-risk" level. Rather, it is an advisory drinking level that enables healthy adults to maintain a low risk of alcohol-related accidents, injuries, diseases and death. What is a standard drink? The term "standard drink" should not be confused with a serving of alcohol, which is often much larger. For example, with wine, a standard drink corresponds to 100mL of wine, whereas a typical serve is at least 150mL. Australian law requires that all cans, bottles and casks containing alcoholic beverages be labelled with the approximate amount of standard drinks it contains. However, it can sometimes be difficult to translate standard drinks into real-life scenarios. There are no common glass sizes used across all drinking environments and people often underestimate how much they are drinking. This is compounded where large containers such as jugs and casks, are shared, where glasses are topped up by others, where the composition of mixed drinks is not known eg. cocktails or punch, and when pre-mixed spirit drinks contain a variable amount of alcohol per bottle or can.

Surveying the damage: a review of research on consequences of alcohol misuse in college populations.

Abstract: This article provides a review and synthesis of professional research literature on the types, extent and patterns of negative consequences produced by students' misuse of alcohol in college populations based on survey research conducted during the last two decades. Considerable evidence is available documenting a wide range of damage by some students' drinking done to themselves as well as to other individuals, although some types of consequences remain speculative. Damage and costs to institutions are likely to be substantial, but this claim remains largely an inference based on current studies. Drinking by males compared with that of females produces more consequences for self and others that involve public deviance, whereas females' drinking contributes equally with males to consequences that are personal and relatively private. Research on racial/ethnic background, time trends and developmental stages reveals patterns in student data on consequences of drinking, but these data are very limited in the literature. Evidence suggests there is only a modest correlation between students' self-perception of having a drinking problem and the many negative consequences of drinking that are reported.