Douglas A. MacDonald

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Detroit Mercy

Background: Traditional methods for administering and scoring gross anatomy practical laboratory examinations are time and resource-intensive and can be susceptible to errors in grading. Alternative approaches, such as audience response systems (e.g., clickers) and computerized scoring, appear to hold promise to improve the examination experience f...

Using a sample of 593 undergraduate students, the study examined the relationship between spirituality, wisdom, and eudaimonic well-being with the purpose of testing if wisdom serves a mediating role in a directional model wherein spirituality is theorized as influencing well-being. Correlational analyses revealed that all three constructs are sign...

Purpose: Traditional methods for the administration and scoring of gross anatomy practical laboratory examinations are time and resource intensive and can be susceptible to errors in grading. Alternative approaches, such as the use of audience response systems (e.g., clickers) and computerized scoring appear to hold promise to improve the examinati...

This presentation was part of the larger session entitled Spirituality and Health: State of the Science and Applications for the Improvement of Human Functioning given at the United Nations General Assembly 78th Meeting Science Summit. The presentation focused on providing a critical overview of the status of spirituality as a construct with attent...

This dataset contains item and dimension score data for the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory-Revised (ESI-R) for samples of respondents from eight different countries. All data are fully coded, labelled, and ready to use for reanalysis (this includes recoding of ESI-R items which were reverse scored- this is already done to the relevant items...

This dataset contains item and scale level data for the Spirituality Adjective List (SAL) and the dimension scores for the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory-Revised for samples of respondents from three different countries (i.e., United States, Uganda, and India). It also includes information on participant age and sex. All data are fully coded...

The chapter provides an overview of existing theories of health and well-being that are relevant for a positive psychology of religion and spirituality. Emphasis is given to theories that have an empirical basis or whose main constructs are operationalized through validated measurement instruments. This chapter covers several theories focused on sp...

Founded in the 1960s, transpersonal psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology that has been dedicated to the study of exceptional human experiences and functioning inclusive of ancient and indigenous spiritual and mystical traditions. While initially holding tremendous promise to expand psychological science and practice beyond the purview of con...

“Black Dog Syndrome” (BDS) is a putative phenomenon based on a supposed bias against dogs of black coloration. Many think it decreases their adoption rates, causing them to languish in shelters and to suffer increased euthanasia rates. However, despite many anecdotes supporting the existence of BDS, previous research found mixed results. This study...

Background: Vaping continues to grow as an alternative to smoking and as a recreational activity for people of all ages, including minors. The billion-dollar industry offers users a plethora of flavors, nicotine concentrations, e-juice combinations, and devices. While some studies suggest vaping is beneficial for certain ailments and as a smoking...

This study replicated and extended previous research (Bloom & Friedman, 2013) indicating that humans can correctly identify emotional expressions in photographs of dog faces when tested with one breed (i.e., a Malinois). It examined the effect of dog facial morphology on accuracy of emotion identification by using images of a Malinois, as well as t...

Introduction: Very little is known about the immediate physiological implications of vaping or inhaling second-hand vapor. This study used a quantitative approach to understand the short-term physiological implications of vape use and exposure to sec-ond-hand vapor for people who do not vape. Material and methods: One hundred and forty-eight peo...

La psychologie fait face à une crise de réplicabilité dans laquelle sa crédibilité en tant que science est remise en question. Une condition préalable recommandée pour explorer la réplicabilité est d’abord d’explorer la reproductibilité en réexaminant soigneusement les études existantes pour détecter tout problème interne avant de tenter de les rep...

Aim Certain individuals are more prone to dental caries than others are. Caries risk may be related in the secretion of certain defensive salivary proteins including secretory IgA (sIgA) and proline-rich acidic protein (PRAP-1). In this study, we investigated the relationship between PRAP-1 and sIgA leading to the susceptibility of development of d...

Vaping is a fairly new and legal way young people are inhaling substances into their lungs. Very little is currently known about the immediate physiological impact or the psychosocial reasons surrounding vape use. This study used a mixed methods approach to (a) understand the short-term physiological implications of vape use compared with people wh...

Although he formally departed from the transpersonal psychological community in the 1990s, Ken Wilber was, and continues to be, one of the most important and influential theoreticians in this subdiscipline of psychology. Given his indisputable prominence and substantive contributions to transpersonal psychological thought, both Harris L. Friedman a...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the how different aspects of the birthing environment were associated with a parturient's states of consciousness, spirituality, and satisfaction with the childbirth experience. DESIGN The study utilized a convergent mixed methods research design involving both quantitative and qualitative component...

Tanning salons were first introduced in the United States in 1978 and were not regulated until the 1980s. Studies have determined that use of a tanning bed before the age of 35 years increases the risk of developing melanoma by 75%. The appropriate use of these devices has been met with many opposing views from the Tanning Bed Association, policy m...

Background: A survey of nursing administrators in the United States was conducted to solicit opinions about health economics (HE) course competencies for baccalaureate nursing programs. Purpose: To provide rationale for intensifying educational efforts to increase nurses' awareness about the value of HE skills in their everyday work. Methods:...

Well-being is a central construct and outcome variable in positive psychology and yet there is considerable ambiguity in terms of its definition and operationalization, particularly with regard to its similarity and differences to concepts in the areas of humanistic/existential psychology and spirituality. In this chapter, the author provides a bri...

A Spanish adapted version of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory- Revised (ESI-R; MacDonald, 2000a, 2000b), a 30-item measure of a five factor model of spirituality, was administered to a sample of 376 adults along with Spanish adaptations of the NEO-FFI personality inventory (Manga, Ramos, & Morán, 2004), the Ryff ’s Scales of Psychological...

Using a sample of 263 male Peruvian school children of ages ranging from 11 to 16 years, a Spanish translation of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory- Revised (ESI-R; MacDonald, 2000a, 2000b) was evaluated in terms of its reliability and factorial validity. Examination of the internal consistency of the five ESI-R dimensions revealed somewhat...

Using a sample of 493 adults, the present investigation examined the psychometric properties of a Brazilian adaptation of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory- Revised (ESI-R; MacDonald, 2000a), a measure of an empirically derived five dimensional model of spirituality which has been shown to have some promise for cross-cultural research. Reli...

Introduction: The examination of cognitive reserve (CR) literature reveals a lack of consensus regarding conceptualization and pervasive problems with its measurement. This study aimed at examining the conceptual nature of CR through the analysis of reflective and formative models using eight proxies commonly employed in the CR literature. We hypo...

We critically re-examine Fredrickson et al.’s renewed claims concerning the differential relationship between hedonic and eudaimonic forms of well-being and gene expression, namely that people who experience a preponderance of eudaimonic well-being have gene expression profiles that are associated with more favorable health outcomes. By means of an...

Supporting Information. (PDF)

Skin cancer is a significant public health challenge with an incidence reaching epidemic proportions. Many health care providers, including nurse practitioners, have expressed a concern that they are not optimally prepared with the current knowledge related to skin cancer prevention and early detection. The Roebuck SCAN (Skin Cancer Assessment of N...

Results from the 2009 National College Health Assessment were analyzed by gender and sexual orientation for college students’ nonmedical use of prescription drugs. Male and female students identified as having a minority sexual orientation (gay or bisexual) were significantly more likely to use nonmedical prescription drugs than heterosexual studen...

Using data obtained from 4004 participants across eight countries (Canada, India, Japan, Korea, Poland, Slovakia, Uganda, and the U.S.), the factorial reliability, validity and structural/measurement invariance of a 30-item version of Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI-R) was evaluated. The ESI-R measures a five factor model of spirituality...

Significance This article critically reanalyzes the work of Fredrickson et al. [Fredrickson BL, et al. (2013) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(33):13684–13689], which claimed to show that distinct dimensions of psychological well-being are differentially correlated with levels of expression of a selection of genes associated with distinct forms of immune...

Belief in the paranormal is fairly prevalent in the general population. Previous research has shown a link between several personological characteristics and paranormal beliefs. The current study attempted to further investigate this link by replicating previous models that have shown a link between childhood trauma, fantasy proneness, and paranorm...

Happiness and optimism have been related to personality factors including extraversion. Examination of extraversion definitions in the literature reveals that many conceptualizations of the construct tend to include positive affect. This raises questions as to whether research findings involving the association of extraversion to happiness may be a...

This chapter presents information regarding the status of quantitative assessment as it applies to the definition and measurement of constructs arising from, or related to, spirituality and transpersonal psychology. It provides this information to assist transpersonal psychologists in becoming aware of available technologies and to compel researche...

This chapter provides an overview of some of the empirical research that has been done on meditation with primary attention directed toward investigations identifying its physical and neurological manifestations and correlates, as well as to studies examining its impact on psychological and social functioning. The chapter explains general trends an...

In this chapter the author approaches transpersonal psychology as a subdiscipline of psychology and defines it as the scientific study of consciousness, particularly non-ordinary states, modes, processes, and structures of consciousness with the intent of: (a) elucidating its nature, characteristics, expressions, functions, correlates, causes, and...

Koenig (J Nerv Ment Dis 196:349-355, 2008) and others have asserted that measures of spirituality used to investigate its association with health seem to present a misleading picture of the relationship because of evidence suggesting that spirituality has become conceptually confounded with well-being. To evaluate this claim, the present study used...

Although the literature suggests that incivility on the part of staff nurses toward student nurses in the clinical setting exists, no instrument was found that addressed this phenomenon. This article describes the development and validation of the uncivil behavior in clinical nursing education (UBCNE) tool to measure nursing students' experiences w...

In this brief article, the author draws attention to the fact that much of the current scientific research on yoga has tended to exclude spirituality as a focus of study. In response, he presents arguments and information regarding the value of incorporating spiritual constructs in yoga investigations and makes suggestions for future studies.

This study investigated the relations between altruism, empathy, and spirituality in a sample of 186 university students. Zero-order and partial correlations controlling for age, sex, and social desirability indicated that, although altruism and empathy are related to each other in a manner consistent with previous research, the association of both...

Several studies have employed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the latent structure of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993), a measure that assesses PTSD symptomatology. Findings have failed to support the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., t...

Using a sample of 555 undergraduate students, the present study examined the factorial dimensionality of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). In particular, using confirmatory factor analysis, the study explored the goodness of fit of both one and two factor models, the latter of which were based upon the work of Paulhus and Reid (...

The present investigation examined the relation between spirituality, measured by the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI; MacDonald, 2000); and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Clinical (MMPI-2 RC) scales (Tellegen et al., 2003) using data from a previously published study (i.e., MacDonald & Holland, 2003). Zer...

Neurobiological advances have resulted in growing interest in many psychological phenomena heretofore resistant to scientific scrutiny, including within transpersonal psychology and parapsychology. These advances perhaps can resolve longstanding tensions between these two psychological subdisciplines, which have generally been treated as disparate....

Using a sample of 196 undergraduate students, the present study investigated the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Fitness Assessment, a measure of spiritual fitness designed for use by health and fitness professionals. Examination of inter-item consistency produced satisfactory alpha coefficients for the total test and its three subscales....

Harris Friedman has made a unique contribution to science by constructing the first explicitly transpersonal measure, helping to bring transpersonal psychology into the realm of more conventional science. He has also engaged in a wide range of professional activities during his career, including mentoring younger scholars and professionals. This pa...

Spirituality has become the focus of growing attention by scholars over the past few decades in a variety of disciplines including psychology, nursing, medicine, social work, counseling, and business. Despite this attention, confusion and controversy exists regarding what spirituality is and whether or not it is even worthy of being considered a sc...

Using a sample of 647 Canadian children in kindergarten to Grade 3 (325 boys, 322 girls), the present study evaluated the perceived effectiveness of Skillstreaming (McGinnis & Goldstein, 2003), a widely known social skills program implemented to target the development of four skill sets, i.e., listening, following directions, problem-solving, and k...

Interest in spirituality, and its relation and relevance to identity as per the theories of Erikson and Marcia, has been on the increase in recent years. While the available studies suggest that spirituality has import for identity development, the literature is somewhat limited due to problems with conceptualization and measurement of spirituality...

Using a sample of 296 university students, this study examined the reliability and factorial validity of the Death Transcendence Scale (DTS; Hood & Morris, 1983) using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Reliability analyses found that with the exclusion of one item from the Nature subscale, all five DTS subscales (i.e., Mystical, Religious, Creati...

This article presents information on standardized paper-and-pencil measures of spiritual and transpersonal constructs that hold promise for use in yoga research. Nine instruments are discussed at length including the Assessment Schedule for Altered States of Consciousness, Ego Grasping Orientation, Expressions of Spirituality Inventory, Hindu Relig...

Though the relation of spirituality to self has long been recognized in established spiritual and religious systems, serious scientific interest in spirituality and its relation to identity has only started to grow in the past 20 years. This paper overviews the literature on spirituality and identity. Particular attention is given to describing and...

Humanistic psychology’s tradition of controversy regarding the worth of psychological testing and assessment is reviewed. Assessment is defined as a process involving qualitative professional judgments integrating information from various sources and necessarily guiding all professional activities, whether performed explicitly or implicitly. Testin...

Reviews the book, A Sociable God: Toward a New Understanding of Religion by Ken Wilber (see record 2005-14156-000 ). This book is a modification of an earlier version originally printed in 1983 and rereleased in 1984 with a different subtitle. The 2005 version is essentially identical to the original, with the exception of a new lengthy introductio...

Using a sample of 303 Catholic Polish university students, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess the goodness of fit of two- (Intrinsic and Extrinsic) and three-factor (Intrinsic, Personal Extrinsic, and Social Extrinsic) conceptual models to the Allport and Ross Religious Orientation Scale (ROS). Although the results of the CFA...

This paper discusses certain parallels between the work of Jean Gebser, the European philosopher and student of consciousness, and A Course in Miracles (ACIM), a contemporary spiritual system. More specifically, it 1) establishes parallels between Gebser’s conception of the ego, especially its basis in anger, and the ego according to ACIM, and 2) s...

The present investigation was an exploratory examination of the relation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) Clinical scales to spirituality operationalized in terms of self-reported religious involvement and scores on a multidimensional measure called the Expressions...

Throughout its existence, transpersonal psychology has held a strong interest in exploring the implications of consciousness and spirituality for health, both physical and mental. This article provides a brief overview of the theoretical, empirical, and clinical contributions of transpersonal psychology to the understanding and facilitation of huma...

Using a sample of 262 undergraduate volunteers, correlational and regressional analyses were completed to examine the relation of self-reported complex partial epileptic-like signs to a five-dimensional model of spirituality assessed by the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory. Analyses show that spirituality is significantly predictive of Complex...

The present investigation examined the relation of the Five Factor Model of personality as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised to the seven-factor model of temperament and character as tapped by the Temperament and Character Inventory by testing a sample of 344 undergraduate students. Correlations and regression analyses suggest there...

Emphasis on holism is a distinguishing quality of humanistic psychology and important for any psychological assessment purporting to be humanistic. To be holistic, assessment should encompass the entire range of human functioning, including the trans‐personal dimension, and requires methodological pluralism, including use of psychological tests. Re...

This article reports on the current status of psychometric testing as it pertains to the measurement and assessment of constructs relevant to humanistic and transpersonal psychologies. In so doing, information is provided on available instruments and associated empirical research findings exploring the relation of humanistic/transpersonal phenomena...

Using data obtained from 296 university undergraduate students, standard regression analyses were calculated for men and women separately to examine the relation of spirituality, defined multidimensionally as per the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI), to boredom proneness as measured by the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS). Results reveal th...

Using a sample of 376 undergraduate students, the present investigation examined the validity of the Self-Transcendence Dimension of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Though evidence of reliability, criterion validity, and convergent validity for the total Self-Transcendence dimension was generally obtained, factor analysis of the TCI...

This study examined the validity of the Self-expansiveness Level Form of Friedman with particular emphasis on the Transpersonal subscale, a measure of transpersonal self-concept, in terms of its basic psychometric properties and its relation to the NEO Personality Inventory--Revised. Support for the basic psychometric properties of the scale in ter...

The present article focused on the development and measurement of a factor model of the expressions of spirituality. Study 1 (N = 534) involved the use of factor analysis to examine the latent factor structure in a sample of 11 measures of spiritual constructs. Study 2 (N = 938) focused on the replication of Study 1 results and on the construction...

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of religion, defined in terms of religious affiliation, religious involvement and religious orientation, to the five factor model of personality as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised using a religiously heterogeneous sample of 1129 Canadian university students. Results indi...

Provides the results of the authors' ongoing literature searches with 2 specific aims in mind, namely to (1) advocate the increased use of psychometric instruments in transpersonal and spiritual research to further scientific development in the field and (2) aid in bringing some order to the growing body of empirical literature by providing informa...

Provides information on measures of spiritual and transpersonal constructs. 10 different instruments described are the Ego Permissiveness Inventory; the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory; the Feelings, Reactions, and Beliefs Survey; the Immanence Scale; the Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Well Being Scale; the Psychomatrix Spirituality Inventor...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Windsor, 1997. Includes abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Data obtained from a sample of 102 university students were used to calculate Pearson product moment correlations between measures of complex partial epileptic signs, peak experiences and paranormal beliefs. Significant correlations ranging from .35 to .42 (p < .001) were found between all three measures. Moreover, notable relations were obtained b...

Using data obtained from 48 male and 161 female undergraduate students in psychology, correlations between scores on the scales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the facets of the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness domains of the NEO Personality Inventory were low to moderate.

WAIS-R and NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) scores obtained from 85 rehabilitation clients of the Evaluation and Development Center of Southern Illinois University's Rehabilitation Institute were utilized to examine the relationship between psychometric intelligence and personality. Correlational analyses revealed that the NEO-PI Openness domain...

Describes 20 standardized assessment instruments useful for research in transpersonal psychology. The general benefits and limitations of such measures are considered. 54 additional measures of relevance to transpersonal research, with bibliographic references, are listed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined the relationship between scores on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) by administering these measures to 161 female and 48 male Canadian university students. Notable correlations were found for MBTI Introversion and Extraversion with NEO-PI Extraversion, MBTI Sensation and Intuition with NEO-P...

Examined the Self Expansiveness Level Form (SELF) both in terms of its reliability and validity and in its relation to 2 major measures of personality, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI). Data from a total of 351 undergraduates in 2 experiments indicate that the SELF can be viewed as a fairly consisten...