It is becoming clear that many of today’s management theories are inadequate theoretically and practically to move understanding, scholarship, and practice to where it needs to be for scholars, business leaders, and policy makers to cope with an increasing fraught world. This Special Issue’s focus is on sustainability. Sustainability challenges need to incorporate multidisciplinary interventions and the trans- and interdisciplinary nature of solutions. To actively seek transformation toward sustainability, fundamental and innovative short-term as well as long-term efforts are required in (...) society, economy, technology, and education, including our understanding of human behavior and attitudes toward the management of the environment. This introductory piece presents natural science theories as a promising approach for achieving progress toward transformation for sustainability. (shrink)

This paper seeks to provide an approach for achieving a more socially and environmentally sustainable life by reframing the rules of engagement with the planet and with each other by setting minimum standards on essential criteria i.e., by defining “off-limits”zones for corporate action. For a more humanistic and socially just way of living life that would sustain the planet, a set of moral boundaries that cannot be breached are conceived. We offer a set of possible normative leverage points that must (...) not be violated by business in the long-term. Our paper takes a forward-looking view beyond the current generational targets for sustainability. We operate on the premise that sustainability involves preserving the future generations of the planet in both an environmental and human sense. The Moral Boundaries for Business framework embraces the Seventh Generation Principle. The moral boundaries we offer in this paper, if followed, are meant to have positive implications for humanity and the planet in the next seven generations. (shrink)

We propose a liminality-based analysis of the process of ethical leadership/followership in organizations. A liminal view presents ethical leadership as a process taking place in organizational contexts that are often characterized by high levels of ambiguity, which render the usual rules and preferences dubious or inadequate. In these relational spaces, involving leaders, followers, and their context, old frames may be questioned and new ones introduced in an emergent way, through subtle processes whose evolution and implications may not be easy to (...) grasp even by those participating in them. (shrink)

We propose a liminality-based analysis of the process of ethical leadership/followership in organizations. A liminal view presents ethical leadership as a process taking place in organizational contexts that are often characterized by high levels of ambiguity, which render the usual rules and preferences dubious or inadequate. In these relational spaces, involving leaders, followers, and their context, old frames may be questioned and new ones introduced in an emergent way, through subtle processes whose evolution and implications may not be easy to (...) grasp even by those participating in them. (shrink)

Este dossiê representa a continuidade de um projecto que tem procurado debater publi­camente o património dos agentes ligados à produção e circulação do livro. Centrando-se nos espólios dos livreiros, a introdução problematizante e os depoimentos procuram dis­cutir o seu carácter invisível enquanto objecto de pesquisa, salvaguarda e divulgação. Há, então, uma reflexão que urge fazer, à semelhança do que ocorre com o património dos edi­tores (arquivos históricos e não só), no sentido de reconhecer o estatuto patrimonial e histó­rico dos acervos (...) dos livreiros e das livrarias enquanto espaços fundamentais da construção da cultura impressa e da história do livro e da edição. Mas é também urgente conferir ao debate um cunho de acção e de cooperação inter-institucional que suscitem uma sensibili­dade política e o aparecimento de possibilidades concretas de salvamento, recolha e depó­sito sistemático de um dos mais fundamentais elementos da memória colectiva escrita. Os depoimentos referidos são de Fátima Ribeiro de Medeiros e dos Livreiros da Sá da Costa. (shrink)

A diversidade do pensamento filosófico sobre as transformações modernas e contemporâneas que cercam a produção artística desdobra-se nos quinze textos que compõem o livro, os quais abordam os mais variados gêneros: cinema, poesia, escultura, pintura e fotografia. Além disso, os textos dialogam ora com autores consagrados - de Winckelmann e Schelling a Benjamin e Rancière -, ora com os próprios artistas - de Glauber Rocha a Joseph Kosuth - e ora com contextos socioculturais mais amplos - desde o capitalismo estético (...) até a estética dos gêneros. Os principais problemas filosóficos que balizam a história da estética e se mantém no cerne dos debates modernos e contemporâneos atravessam esta coletânea: temas tradicionais como a educação do gosto, o conceito de beleza, o princípio da imitação da natureza e a relação entre aparência e verdade são atualizados com acuidade. Temas fundamentais do século XX como a autonomia da arte, o papel da arte na invenção de um povo, a liberdade e a experiência estética, a perda da materialidade das obras de arte e a função da crítica de arte também recebem atenção cuidadosa. Temas que dialogam diretamente com a situação atual das artes são igualmente contemplados, como a subsunção da arte pelo consumo, o possível caráter transgressor e revolucionário do gesto artístico e o papel das imagens na contemporaneidade. (shrink)

Em tempos de cultura digital, observa-se o acesso a uma quantidade incomensurável de informações sem que sejam feitas relações que poderiam transformá-las em conceitos. Uma vez que prevalece o uso instrumental de tais informações, arrefece concomitantemente a postura ética que o questiona. É nesse contexto que o professor ocupa um posto decisivo no que diz respeito à organização e à discussão de tais informações com seus alunos. Este artigo tem como objetivo argumentar que a postura de Pedro Goergen como educador (...) oferta aos alunos um tipo de relação que faz com que a própria figura do professor seja eticamente ressignificada nessa sociedade de cultura digital. (shrink)

GESTÃO DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS EM MEGAVENTOS: ASPECTOS CONCEITUAIS.

The development of educational technologies is enhancing a distinctive feature of learning environments: the learner’s personalized environment. However, the current literature in e-learning seems to neglect an important discussion: will individuals and organizations face an enhancement concerning ethical dilemmas due to this evolution? To promote this discussion, this paper builds on a consideration of e-learning definition and its ethical dilemmas, and human-centred learning concept and its dimensions, to examine the implications of integrating social and cultural contexts. By examining the evolution (...) of e-learning management systems the argument progresses to a discussion of the relationships between pedagogy and ethics. By framing evidence at different scales, the authors critically reflect on the ethical dilemmas embedded in e-learning systems. The discussion concludes with advocating the adoption of an extension of “three P” mode of pedagogy to become the “P3E” model: personalization, participation, productivity, lecturer’s ethics, learner’s ethics, and organizational ethics. (shrink)

The evolution of philosophy and physics seem to acknowledge that "informational existentialism" will be possible. Therefore, this contribution aims to comprehend if Heidegger existentialism can enrich the bound between information theory and the intercultural dialogue as regards to information. Even so, an important query arises: why specifically Heidegger's philosophy? Because it highlights an intercultural dialogue namely with East Asian and with Arabic philosophy, which is also consistent with the debate concerning the potential value and contribution of information theory to the (...) intercultural dialogue. Therefore, this manuscript intends to understand if information is shaping worldwide cultures as a consequence of its existence. (shrink)

Objective: Symptom improvement is often examined as an indicator of a good outcome of accessing mental health services. However, there is little evidence of whether symptom improvement is associated with other indicators of a good outcome, such as a mutual agreement to end treatment. The aim of this study was to examine whether young people accessing mental health services who meaningfully improved were more likely to mutually agree to end treatment.Methods: Multilevel multinomial regression analysis controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and (...) referral source was conducted on N = 8,995 episodes of care [Female = 5,469, 61%; meanAge = 13.66 years] using anonymised administrative data from young people's mental health services.Results: Compared to young people with no change in mental health difficulties, those showing positive meaningful changes in mental health difficulties were less likely to have case closure due to non-mutual agreement. Similarly, they were less likely to transfer or end treatment for other reasons than by case closure due to mutual agreement.Conclusion: The findings suggest that young people accessing mental health services whose symptoms meaningfully improve are more likely to mutually agree to end treatment, adding to the evidence that symptom improvement may be appropriate to examine as an indicator of a good outcome of accessing mental health services. (shrink)

Background:Essential for the help relation, empathy is the ability to understand, share, and perceive the subjective experience of other human beings.Objective:The objective in this non-experimenta...

O tradicional problema do conhecimento do singular mantém-se hoje em dia: o impasse assinalado por Aristóteles prevalece na maioria das ciências actuais que lidam precisamente com casos particulares, contingentes, imprevisíveis, que escapam ao enquadramento nos modelos categoriais. Este Colóquio sobre O Estatuto do Singular constituiu um desafio para todos aqueles que em diversas áreas filosóficas e científicas se enfrentam com a necessidade de repensar modelos e estratégias aplicáveis ao caso prático, à decisão, à acção, à inovação, à invenção; noções como (...) o incerto, o provável, o casual, o frequente, o diferente, o imprevisível - exigem um novo modo de pensar e uma revisão das formas típicas da racionalidade. O tópico convocou, além da filosofia, uma ampla gama de domínios: desde as ciências e artes médicas, a biologia, até ao direito e às ciências humanas e sociais, passando também pela literatura e a arte. O que se pretendeu foi apresentar uma sinopse de diferentes olhares e perspectivas sobre um ponto de mira comum: «o estatuto do singular» foi o leit motiv para abrir um horizonte de pensamento e de diálogo profícuo e abrangente. (shrink)

Several countries maintain universal health coverage, which implies responsibility to organize delivery formats of healthcare services and products for citizens. In Brazil, the health system has a principle of universal access for more than 30 years, but many deficiencies remain and the country observes a day practice for those seeking judicial decisions to determine provision of healthcare.

Resumo: Esse ensaio buscará sondar as relações entre filosofia e literatura, no pensamento de Gilles Deleuze, a despeito de sua parceria conjunta com Félix Guattari, atentando tanto para as concepções de escrita expressas ao longo de sua obra quanto para o modo como essas concepções teriam influenciado o estilo de seus escritos filosóficos. Partindo da premissa deleuziana de que a escrita possui um acentuado lastro clínico, sendo a responsável pela elaboração de um diagnóstico das forças capazes de aprisionar ou calar (...) a vida, procurar-se-á esmiuçar as ressonâncias desse lastro clínico, na concepção de filosofia como ato criativo, elaborada pelo autor. Como hipótese a ser aqui trabalhada, defende-se que a escrita deleuziana - compreendida como portadora de uma literalidade, conforme sustenta François Zourabchivili, ou como encrustada de uma poética imanentista, tal qual sugere Anita Costa Malufe - procuraria produzir uma zona de vizinhança ou indiscernibilidade entre a escrita filosófica, de caráter mais exegético, e a escrita literária, mais afectiva, de modo a produzir um deslocamento na relação do leitor com o ato de pensar.: In this essay we pretend to study the relationship between philosophy and literature in Gilles Deleuze’s thought, despite of his partnership with Félix Guattari, mapping the conceptions of writing throughout his work and considering the influence of these conceptions to forge a certain style in his philosophical texts. Starting from the deleuzian premise that writing has a strong clinical backing - being responsible for the elaboration of a diagnosis of the forces liable to imprison or silence life -, we will examine the resonances of this clinical backing in his conception of philosophy as a creative act. Our hypothesis is that the deleuzian writing - having a certain literality, as François Zourabchivili argues, or encrusted with an immanentism poetics, as Anita Costa Malufe suggests - would produce a so-called neighborhood zone or zone of indiscernibility between philosophical writing, with a more exegetical character, and literary writing, which is more affective, in order to produce a shift in the reader’s relationship with the act of thinking. (shrink)

A imaginação poética roseana garante e norteia os fluxos de uma arte literária geradora de um universo consubstanciado pela figura animal. Rosa deposita em sua tessitura, de forma sui generis, o intenso lirismo da palavra essencial para descrever delicadamente sua animália, porquanto o brilho celestial de seu bestiário reverbera de sua poesia primeira. Partindo da concepção filosófica de Gaston Bachelard acerca da essência poética de Lautréamont, lançamos um olhar sobre alguns possíveis aspectos que seriam destacados pelo filósofo francês no interior (...) da ação poética roseana, enfatizando a relevância e as peculiaridades da figura animal estabelecida em meio à composição literária de Guimarães Rosa. Bachelard reflete acerca da excepcional poeticidade que Isidore Ducasse extrai da figura animal em Les Chants de Maldoror, no qual o poeta alcança o âmago do vigor poético por meio de impulsos primitivos gerados a partir da extrema agressividade e violência de seu bestiário, engendrando assim uma espécie de transmutação poética fundada em uma realidade psicológica. A essência da poesia ducasseana evoca um dizer genuíno, inesperado e arrebatador fundamentado na primitividade surrealista de experiências do pensamento. Nesse devir, Lautréamont recolhe seu dito poético do súbito das imagens, visto que as palavras já se esvaziaram de uma fala original, e perderam-se em sua transparência. O poeta dispensa a linguagem solapada pela falação para pronunciar seu discurso poético por meio de suas imagens, instaurando assim uma múltipla enunciação. (shrink)

CADERNOS DE FILOSOFIA EXTRAVAGANTE - ANTÓNIO TELMO Vários Autores Um dos sinais do Quinto Império é que ainda há andorinhas O provérbio diz que uma andorinha não faz a Primavera Mas eu acho que faz Enquanto houver um homem onde resida a espiritualidade há sempre um princípio do Quinto Império António Telmo Este terceiro volume dos Cadernos de Filosofia Extravagante é o primeiro que se publica após a partida de António Telmo, que os imaginou, concebeu e fundou Constitui por isso, (...) na íntegra, um preito de homenagem ao autor da História Secreta de Portugal, nele se inserindo, bem a propósito, as actas do Colóquio A Obra e o Pensamento de António Telmo, realizado em 14 e 15 de Fevereiro de 2011, no Palácio da Independência, em Lisboa, por iniciativa do Instituto de Filosofia Luso-Brasileira, documento a que acrescem alguns testemunhos de amigos que, por uma ou outra razão, não puderam participar naquela comemoração, e duas entrevistas, uma das quais se encontrava por publicar, pelo filósofo concedidas na última década Por outro lado, nestas páginas o leitor poderá ainda encontrar dois escritos do autor de O Bateleur – um poema e um conto – nunca antes dados ao papel em letra de forma E, o que talvez seja mais, uma série significativa de correspondência epistolar até agora mantida inédita, tendo o filósofo por destinatário São missivas de Álvaro Ribeiro, José Marinho, Agostinho da Silva, Dalila Pereira da Costa e António Quadros, definindo um arco temporal que vai da publicação de Arte Poética, em 1963, à de Filosofia e Kabbalah, em 1990 Quase trinta anos de uma vida filosófica singular em que, a cada passo, são bem notórias a admiração e a amizade que mestres e condiscípulos lhe dedicam Autores- António Telmo, Pedro Martins, Renato Epifânio, Américo Rodrigues, Helena Estriga, António Braz Teixeira, Joaquim Domingues, Abel de Lacerda Botelho, Roque N Brás de Oliveira, M N Vieira, Luís Paixão, António Carlos Carvalho, Cynthia Guimarães Taveira, Rui Lopo, António Quadros Ferro, Carlos Aurélio, António Cândido Franco, Rodrigo Sobral Cunha, Carlos Vargas, Manuel Ferreira Patrício, Pedro Sinde, Paulo Santos, Pedro Paquim Ribeiro, Maurícia Teles da Silva, J Pinharanda Gomes, António Quadros, Avelino de Sousa, Elísio Gala, José Paulo Ribeiro Albuquerque, Helder Cortes, Eduardo Aroso, Isabel Xavier, Jesus Carlos, Álvaro Ribeiro, José Marinho, Agostinho da Silva, Dalila Pereira da Costa. (shrink)

Body awareness refers to the individual ability to process signals originating from within the body, which provide a mapping of the body’s internal landscape and its relation with space and movement. The present study aims to evaluate psychometric properties and validate in French two self-report measures of body awareness: the Postural Awareness Scale, and the last version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire. We collected data in a non-clinical, adult sample using online survey, and a subset of the (...) original sample also completed the retest control. Factor analyses and reliability analyses were conducted. Construct validity of the PAS and the MAIA-2 were examined by testing their association with each other, and with self-report measures of personality, alexithymia and dispositional trait mindfulness. Factor analyses of the PAS supported the same two-factor structure as previously published versions. For the MAIA-2, factor analyses suggested that a six-factor structure, excluding Not-Worrying and Not-Distracting factors, could successfully account for a common general factor of self-reported interoception. We found satisfactory internal consistency, construct validity, and reliability over time for both the PAS and the MAIA-2. Altogether, our findings suggest that the French version of the PAS and the MAIA-2 are reliable self-report tools to assess both components of body awareness. (shrink)

Although from a philosophical perspective, many reflections can be brought up about the theorizing process, in this essay, we aim to reflect on the importance of the alignment between ontology and epistemology. This is particularly relevant because deeper discussions about the philosophical roots that underlay the theorizing processes remain as a lack in organizational and management studies. To support our work, we adopted the epistemic-ontological alignment model as a conceptual tool and the Resource-Based View (RBV) and some of its questionings (...) as an example to carry out a reflection exercise about its epistemic-ontological alignment. RBV is a theory that plays a prominent role in management studies, especially in the strategy field. Nevertheless, discussions regarding RBV philosophical foundations are not common in the mainstream of strategic management. After our analysis, we advise that scholars care about the philosophical roots of their theoretical proposals to promote constructive dialogue in their research communities. This can avoid empty discussions and criticisms based on incongruous worldviews. Our reflections also suggest that future research should embrace the plurality of paradigms as a source of renewal and transcendence in the production of knowledge. A multi-paradigmatic movement towards more eclecticism in Administrative Science can help produce new and underexploited combinations of knowledge in the theorizing process. (shrink)

O maniqueísmo fundamenta-se na afirma9áo de dois principios ontológicos oríginantes do mundo: o Bem ou a Luz, representado no sol, e o Mal ou as Trevas, personificado na matéria. Desse dualismo ontológico, deriva a idéia de que o homem náo é responsável pelo mal que pratica, mas esse é culpa de sua natureza má ou o mal está inerente á sua natureza corpórea. Daí que, a rigor, náo existe mal moral no maniqueísmo, mas apenas mal natural. Entretanto, paradoxalmente, esse fala (...) de uma Moral do dever, através da qual a parte boa do homem (a alma) deve lutar para libertar-se das amarras da matéría (o corpo), mediante uma rigorosa vida ascética, concretizada na observáncia dos trés mandamentos chamados de trés selos: o selo da boca, das máos e dos seios. (shrink)

Resenha da obra: ZUIN, Antônio Álvaro Soares; COSTA, Belarmino Cesar Guimarães da; GOMES, Luiz Roberto; LASTÓRIA, Luiz Antônio Calmon Nabuco (org.). Teoria crítica, formação cultural e educação: homenagem a Bruno Pucci. Piracicaba: Editora Unimep, 2018. 396p.

I provide an argument against the Aristotelian view of universals, according to which universals depend for their existence on their exemplifiers. The argument consists in a set of five jointly inconsistent assumptions. As such, the argument can be used to argue in favour of other conclusions, such as that exemplification is no relation or that plausible principles concerning ontological dependence or grounding do not hold.

In this work, the first of a series, we study the nature of informal inconsistency in physics, focusing mainly on the foundations of quantum theory, and appealing to the concept of quasi-truth. We defend a pluralistic view of the philosophy of science, grounded on the existence of inconsistencies and on quasi-truth. Here, we treat only the ‘classical aspects’ of the subject, leaving for a forthcoming paper the ‘non-classical’ part.

O artigo propõe uma análise multidisciplinar sobre o pensamento jurídico, tendo como objetivo a reflexão crítica sobre os saberes e práticas jurídicos na sociedade brasileira. O artigo elabora inicialmente uma análise crítico-conceitual de trabalhos de Guillermo O´Donnell sobre estado de direito e democracia na América Latina. Em seguida, adota a noção de agregados jurídicos para apresentar distintas dimensões de pesquisas sócio-jurídicas sobre o direito. Enfim, usa a metáfora da nebulosa de imunidades para a proposta de discernir os atributos positivos do (...) estado de direito no pensamento jurídico brasileiro e suas consequências para a democracia. (shrink)

No presente trabalho apresentamos e traduzimos o texto “O Perigo da confirmação não-empírica", de Carlo Rovelli, cosmólogo italiano, um dos proponentes da gravitação quântica em loop. Trata-se do texto apresentado por Rovelli em 2015 durante o chamado “Debate de Munich” sobre o problema da base empírica do método científico. Rovelli analisa – e se contrapõe – à proposta do filósofo da ciência Richard Dawid, que em String Theory and the Scientific Method, defende que teorias científicas podem ser avaliadas, aceitas e (...) defendidas a partir de critérios não-empíricos. Rovelli, a despeito de concordar com Dawid quanto a importância histórica dos argumentos não-empíricos no desenvolvimento de teorias físicas, sustenta que a confirmação empírica deve permanecer sendo considerada indispensável para a prática científica e o sucesso cumulativo da ciência. (shrink)

This book develops and applies a unified interpretation of John Rawls’ theory of justice as fairness in order to clarify the account of citizenship that Rawls relies upon, and the kind of educational policies that the state can legitimately pursue to promote social justice. Costa examines the role of the family as the "first school of justice" and its basic contribution to the moral and political development of children. It also argues that schools are necessary to supplement the education (...) that families provide, teaching the political virtues that support just social institutions. The book also examines the questions of whether civic education should aim at cultivating patriotic feelings, and how it should respond to the deep cultural pluralism of contemporary democratic societies. (shrink)

We propose a special look at new epistemological possibilities in constructing knowledge to fill the gap between theory development and its practical and societal applications. We turn our attention to the strategy field of studies, which is traditionally positivist, but that also accommodates some timid attempts to produce content from other onto-epistemological bases, such as strategy as practice. Then, we explore the possible interchange between strategy as practice and the Epistemologies of the South. Once strategy as practice is based on (...) practice rationality, which conceives social life as continuous production, it allows considering a wider diversity of social experiences surrounding strategic management. Likewise, the Epistemologies of the South represent a processual approach, which considers the social realities of developing countries and allows the inclusion of marginalized voices in social sciences' theorizing movements. We develop a conceptual-methodological guide for researchers to reflect on the possible ways to systematically rescue pieces of many social experiences forgotten by normal science, promoting cognitive and social justice in research, especially in the strategy field. Our proposal is a reflection about exploring what is not done, what is not practiced and make possible to expand the universe of social experiences considered for analysis in organizational and management studies. In doing so, we call the attention of scholars to start a paradigm shift from marginalization to the inclusion of multiple social realities toward cognitive and social democracy in research. (shrink)

S. Jaśkowski introduced the discussive propositional calculus D₂ as a basis for a logic which could be used as underlying logic of inconsistent but nontrivial theories. D₂ has afterwards been extended to a first-order predicate calculus and to a higher-order logic. In this paper we present a natural version of D₂, in the sense of Jaśkowski and Gentzen; as a consequence, we suggest a new formulation of the discussive predicate calculus. A semantics for the new calculus is also presented.

BackgroundStudies and meta-analyses found individual, meso and micro-social factors that are associated with individual well-being, as well as a positive socio-emotional climate or collective well-being.AimThis article simultaneously studies and examines these factors of well-being.MethodWell-Being is measured as a dependent variable at the individual and collective level, as well as the predictors, in three cross-sectional and one longitudinal studies. Education and social intervention workers from Chile, Spain and Uruguay participate; a subsample of educators from the south central Chile and from Chile, (...) Uruguay and Spain ; workers from organizations in Latin America and Southern Europe, military cadets from Argentina ; and teams from Spanish companies.ResultsIndividual and collective well-being indicators were related, suggesting that the emotional climate as a context improves personal well-being. Individual factors, psychosocial factors were positively associated with personal well-being in education and social intervention context. Organizational dynamic or transformational culture is directly and indirectly associated with individual well-being through previously described psychosocial factors. Group processes such as internal communication and safe participation, task orientation or climate of excellence as well as leadership style that reinforces participation and belonging, were positively associated with collective well-being in labor and military context and predict team work socio-emotional climate in a longitudinal study- but were unrelated to individual well-being. Transformational leadership plays a mediating role between functional factors and social-emotional climate in work teams. Organizational role autonomy, functional organizational leadership, integration and resources were associated with collective well-being in organizations. Organizational leadership moderates the relationship between task orientation and collective well-being in military context.ConclusionIndividual and microsocial factors influence personal well-being. Meso level factors favorable to well-being through processes which reinforce social belonging, influence directly collective well-being and indirectly personal well-being. Leadership that reinforces participation and belonging play a central role for emotional climate. Stress and emotional climate playing an important pivotal role for psychological well-being. (shrink)

A number of biologists and philosophers have noted the diversity of interpretations of evolvability in contemporary evolutionary research. Different clusters of research defined by co-citation patterns or shared methodological orientation sometimes concentrate on distinct conceptions of evolvability. We examine five different activities where the notion of evolvability plays conceptual roles in evolutionary biological investigation: setting a research agenda, characterization, explanation, prediction, and control. Our analysis of representative examples demonstrates how different conceptual roles of evolvability are quasi-independent and yet exhibit important (...) relationships across scientific activities. It also provides us with the resources to detail two distinct strategies for how evolvability can help to synthesize disparate areas of research and thereby potentially serve as a unifying concept in evolutionary biology. (shrink)

BackgroundThe impact of a cancer diagnosis may be traumatic, depending on the psychological resources used by patients. Appropriate coping strategies are related to better adaptation to the disease, with coping flexibility, corresponding to the ability to replace ineffective coping strategies, demonstrated to be highly related with self-efficacy to handle trauma. The Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma scale is a self-rated questionnaire that assesses the perceived ability to cope with potentially traumatic events, providing a measure of coping flexibility. The current (...) study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of the PACT Scale in Portuguese patients with breast cancer.MethodsThe study included 172 patients recently diagnosed with early breast cancer. Participants completed a Portuguese version of the PACT scale, and instruments of self-efficacy for coping with cancer, of quality of life, and of psychological distress that were used as convergent and divergent measures, thus assessing construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the factor structure of the Portuguese version of PACT scale and reliabilities were examined.ResultsResults from the CFA confirmed the two-factor structure, consistent with the original Forward and Trauma focus subscales. The two subscales demonstrated high internal consistencies. Convergent and divergent validities were confirmed: the PACT scale was related to high self-efficacy to cope with cancer, to high perceived quality of life, and to low psychological distress.DiscussionOverall, the current results support and replicate the psychometric properties of the PACT scale. The scale was found to be a valid and reliable self-reported measure to assess Portuguese breast cancer patients regarding beliefs about their capabilities in managing the potentially traumatic sequelae of cancer. The PACT is a simple and brief measure of coping flexibility to trauma, with potential relevance for application in clinical and research settings. (shrink)