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Most statistical methods applied in the social sciences involve testing direct relationships among variables. However, since psychology deals with complex phenomena, this corpus of methods is not sufficient to understand the mechanisms and conditions under which certain direct relationships apply. Moderation and mediation analyses were the first step towards understanding more complex relationships among variables. The analysis of mediation answers the question of "how" and "why", or through what mechanisms a particular relation is realized, while the analysis of moderation offers the answer to the question of "when", "for whom" and "under what conditions" a particular relation between the predictor and criterion variables applies. Although the increasing use of moderation and mediation analyses has led to advances in understanding the phenomena addressed by psychology, complex psychological theories require testing more complex models based on these analyses. Accordingly, this paper will outline theoretical rationales for using models such as moderated mediation, moderation mediation, parallel and serial mediation and three-way interaction. This paper focuses on explaining the conceptual differences between these complex models, through demonstrating the need to use these models on examples of different psychological theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews a new look at the Freudian concept of Oedipus complex representing an original creation and contribution to psychology and psychotherapy made by the author of this text. The author describes in brief the other concepts comparable with Oedipus one like Ajase complex (Japan) and Ganesha compleh (India), stemming mainly from Eastern cultural tradition as well as she included the other theoreticians from the West like Eric Fromm and Melanie Klein and some anthropological and sociological views and researchers. The author of this paper broadens the Freudian concept of Oedipus complex integrating the mentioned diversities into a new whole which provides more 'cultural empathy' and 'cultural competence' for therapeutic practice with clients coming from different cultural backgrounds. To put it briefly, the author pleads for more culture-oriented psychology and psychotherapy (intercultural psychotherapy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform of higher education has been giving its first results. Expected or not? Opinions of students, but also of teachers, are different. Have the planned changes of the way of studying, together with the new curriculum given the more efficient university studies? Numerous questions, posed even before the reform, are also important now. It seems that we can only be sure that both students and teachers have still been adapting to the new rules. The aim of this paper is to point out both positive and negative sides of the reform, from the point of view of students. In the paper, the results of survey done at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad during the school year 2007/2008 are presented. A questionnaire has been used in order to obtain relevant data from the students of sociology and psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]