bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
`Triangulation', Marital Discord and Child Behaviour Problems
Authors: Westerman Michael A.
Published: March 2007

Studies have so far provided little understanding of mechanisms underlying observed associations between marital discord and child behaviour problems. I argue that recent findings pointing beyond the parent-child dyad should lead us not only to look at other `parts' of the family, but also to develop conceptual and methodological approaches that depart from those that have so far guided studies of dyadic relationships. I present an overview of a programme of research that investigates marital discord-behaviour problem relationships in terms of the family therapy concept of triangulation. The goals of the article are to describe one response to one issue in the `beyond the dyad' area (the issue of mechanisms) and to provide general guidelines for developing family level research strategies to investigate other issues in this area.
Adolescents' Interaction with Parents and Friends: Dialectics of Temporal Perspective and Evaluation
Authors: Rawlins William K. , Holl Melissa R.
Published: March 2007

This research investigated the management of interaction with parents and friends as described by thirty-two high school juniors in open-ended interviews. An interpretive analysis of the respondents' remarks identified two dialectical principles informing their decisions to talk with parents and/or friends. The dialectic of historical perspective and contemporary experience regards opposing temporal orientations by parents and friends towards adolescent activities. The dialectic of judgement and acceptance involves polar evaluative tendencies demonstrated by parents and friends that were mediated by perceptions of caring. A qualitative ordering of hypotheses concerning the interplay of these principles is presented and implications are discussed.
An Exploratory Investigation of Deception in Close Relationships
Authors: Metts Sandra
Published: March 2007

This study explores the form and function of deception in close relationships. Free response descriptions of situations involving the deception of a relational partner were obtained from 357 university students and other adults. Descriptions were coded for type of deceptive communication, antecedent condition, type of information and reasons given for being deceptive. Results indicated that falsification was the most frequently reported type of deceptive communication and avoiding hurt to partner was the most frequently reported specific reason for deception. Comparisons across types of relationship revealed that (1) married respondents reported proportionately more instances of omission and fewer instances of explicit falsification relative to other relationship types, (2) dating respondents reported proportionately more reasons focused on protecting their resources and avoiding stress/abuse from partner, (3) dating respondents reported proportionately more reasons focused on avoiding relational trauma/termination, and (4) married respondents reported proportionately more reasons focused on avoiding threats to partner's face/self-esteem. For the total sample, high ratings of relational satisfaction, closeness and perceived partner commitment were associated with the general category of partnerfocused reasons.
The Construct Validity of Individual and Interpersonal Correlates of Roommate Relationship Quality
Authors: Saidla Debie D.
Published: March 2007

There is a need for validated constructs and instruments with which to approach the study of individual traits and interpersonal processes which enable college roommates to develop and maintain quality relationships. This study investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of four constructs important to college roommate relationships: empathic responding, perception of experience (in the relationship), similarity of partners and interpersonal understanding. The design employed Campbell & Fiske's (1959) multitrait-multimethod matrix. Each constructwas represented by two `companion variables' that were measured using both the psychometric and single-item self-rating methods. Forty roommate pairs enrolled in a Relationship Skills program participated in the study. One individual variable, Perception of Trust and Intimacy, and one interpersonal variable, Understanding, showed promising evidence of convergent and discriminant validity.
Correlates of Relationship Beliefs: Gender, Relationship Experience and Relationship Satisfaction
Authors: Frazier Patricia A. , Esterly Ellen
Published: March 2007

The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the role of gender, gender-related personality attributes, age and relationship experience in explaining individual differences in relationship beliefs; (b) test various explanations of gender differences in relationship beliefs; and (c) examine correlates of relationship satisfaction for men and women. Subjects (N = 337), who ranged in age from 19 to 47, completed questionnaires assessing relationship beliefs, gender-related personality attributes, relationship experience, proposed mediators of gender differences in relationship beliefs and relationship satisfaction. Results indicated, first, that men and women differed somewhat in their relationship beliefs, and that both instrumental and expressive personality traits were predictive of relationship beliefs. Relationship experience was also associated with relationship beliefs, although more so for women than men. Second, regression analyses provided evidence regarding various mediators of gender differences in relationship beliefs. For example, it appeared that men were more `game-playing' in their intimate relationships than women because they were less aware of the emotional aspects of their relationships and placed greater importance on sex. Finally, relationship beliefs and relationship experience were associated with relationship satisfaction, accounting for more than 50 percent of the variance in satisfaction for both men and women.
Social Support and Reciprocity: A Cross-Ethnic and Cross-National Perspective
Authors: Antonucci Toni C. , Fuhrer Rebecca , Jackson James S.
Published: March 2007

This cross-national study examined the perception of reciprocity in support relationships and the degree to which reciprocity predicts life satisfaction. Comparisons of white and black American elderly with elderly from south-western France indicate cultural differences. The French are much more likely to perceive their support relationships as reciprocal and very unlikely to report receiving less support than they provide. Among elderly white Americans, age, lower educational levels and functional limitations are associated with not perceiving support relationships as reciprocal. The pattern is similar but not significant among black Americans. French elderly with more functional limitations report that they receive less than they provide, whereas those who are married are more likely to report that their relations are reciprocal. Comparisons of white and black Americans over the full adult age range reveal that for white Americans, age, education, functional limitations, and marital status are important factors predicting reciprocity in social relations; for black Americans again the pattern is similar, but only functional limitations and marital status significantly predict reciprocity. Generally, reciprocal relationships are most positively related to life satisfaction in comparison to both receiving more or receiving less support in white and black American adults and American and French elderly.
Marital Stability and Changes in Marital Quality in Newly Wed Couples: A Test of the Contextual Model
Authors: Kurdek Lawrence A.
Published: March 2007

This study presents evidence supporting a contextual model of marriage that demographic and personality variables relevant to relationship functioning provide a context within which marital events are appraised. Changes in marital relationships were examined from the time of marriage to 1 year later. Twenty-three couples who separated/ divorced before their first anniversary reliably differed from 353 couples who stayed together on demographic variables, personality variables and spousal discrepancies on the personality variables. The intact couples were divided into six types of couples which varied by marital history of each spouse (first marriage or remarriage after divorce) and presence/absence of children or stepchildren. Over both times of assessment, couples experiencing a premarital pregnancy reported the lowest marital quality. Marital quality decreased over the 1-year period, especially for couples having experienced a premarital pregnancy and for couples in a remarriage or in a stepfather family. Husbands' and wives' marital quality, as well as changes in marital quality over the 1-year period, were related to their own personality scores as well as to the overall discrepancy between husbands' and wives' personality scores.
Examining Personal Relationship Thinking: The Relational Cognition Complexity Instrument
Authors: Martin Robert W.
Published: March 2007

A review of the literature demonstrates that `relationship thinking' is a central factor influencing the behavior of personal relationship participants. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess individual levels of relational cognition complexity, a structural quality of relationship thinking. Scores obtained via the Relational Cognition Complexity Instrument (RCCI) were found to have moderate 1-week test-retest reliability and high internal consistency. They were also found to have discriminant validity relative to measures of person cognition complexity and verbal intelligence. Male relationship partners were also found to score significantly lower on the RCCI than were female relationship partners.
Intimacy Status and Couple Conflict Resolution
Authors: Prager Karen J.
Published: March 2007

Fifty couples participated in a study to assess the relationship between individual intimacy development and conflict resolution style. Each individual was given an intimacy status interview, and couples were videotaped while discussing an area of conflict in their relationship. The hypothesis that men and women classified into the Intimate status would use more cognitively oriented conflict resolution strategies was not supported, although a trend indicated that women in the Pseudointimate status used more cognitive, problem-focused conflict resolution strategies than women in the Merger status, while women in the Merger status used more affective, emotion-focused strategies than women in the Pseudointimate status. Men in the Merger status were more coercive than other men when paired with Merger women. Sequential analyses showed that partners tended to respond to each other in kind, and that both affective and coercive acts temporarily discouraged problem-focused acts from the partner for the next two acts. Intimacy status had little relationship with the sequencing of conflict behavior between partners, but was predictive of individuals' own sequences of behavior. Results support in part the notion that intimacy status affects the way in which individuals resolve conflict in an important relationship.
Influence Strategies at Home and at Work: A Study of Sixty Dual Career Couples
Authors: Steil Janice M. , Weltman Karen
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the extent to which several individual difference variables (specifically, access to resources, self-confidence levels, the tendency to be dominant as compared to nurturant and sex) as well as one context variable (home or work), predicted the frequency with which professional men and women used three kinds of influence strategies. The outcomes associated with each kind of strategy use were then assessed for men and women for each context. Direct strategies were reportedly used the most frequently. Indirect-unilateral strategies (e.g. withdrawal) were used more frequently at home while indirect-bilateral strategies (e.g. suggesting, smiling) were used more frequently at work. Women reported using suggesting and smiling more than men did, but sex, overall, was a poor predictor of strategy use. The less self-confident respondents were, the more frequently they used indirect-unilateral strategies. The more nurturant that women were, the more frequently they used indirect-bilateral strategies. Strategy use was unrelated to most outcomes at home. When differences in self-confidence were partialed out, the use of direct strategies was associated with positive outcomes for men at work, but not for women. Conversely, the use of both kinds of indirect strategies was associated with perceptions of negative outcomes for women, but not for men.
Close Relationships in their Physical and Social Contexts: A Transactional Perspective
Authors: Werner Carol M. , Brown Barbara B. , Altman Irwin , Staples Brenda
Published: March 2007

This article calls for more research that embeds dyadic relationships in their physical, social and temporal contexts. We use ethnographic accounts of courtship, wedding and placemaking practices in two different societies and find that: (1) social and environmental rituals often make salient the couple members' relationship to one another and their degree of obligation to their families and society; (2) events almost always involve significant use of the physical environment in terms of the location of events, the exchange of gifts, the use of special clothing and objects, etc.; and (3) activities occurring during these stages often symbolize and forecast future relationships between dyad members and between the dyad and its family and kin. Although network researchers often take into account the dyad's social context, our analysis suggests that physical and temporal qualities are also important.
Intergenerational Family Communication: Generational Differences in Rural Families
Authors: Weigel Daniel J. , Weigel Randy R.
Published: March 2007

The aging of our society creates increased opportunity for intergenerational communication between parents and adult children. While many researchers have studied the overall relationships within intergenerational families, few have examined communication within such families. This study explores generational differences in perceptions of communication problems, family communication resources and communication satisfaction in a specific intergenerational family system -the intergenerational farm family. Using repeated measures MANOVA, generational communication differences were examined with a sample of 284 adult family members. The younger generation saw significantly more communication problems in the intergenarational family, viewed fewer family communication resources and had lower family communication satisfaction than the older generation. The discussion highlighted four factors that may account for these generational communication differences.
`Sweet Pea' and `Pussy Cat': An Examination of Idiom Use and Marital Satisfaction Over the Life Cycle
Authors: Bruess Carol J.S. , Pearson Judy C.
Published: March 2007

One hundred and fifty-four couples participated in this study to assess the relationship between their recalled use of idiosyncratic communication and marital satisfaction over the life cycle. Couples ranged from `newly married' to `married over 50 years'. Each couple was given the satisfaction sub-scale of Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment scale and were asked to recall idioms they use within their marriage. The hypothesis that satisfied husbands and wives report more idioms than unsatisfied spouses was supported. Results also suggest that spouses' use of idioms declines over the life cycle. Couples married less than five years with no children reported using the most idioms; couples in later stages recalled using the fewest number of idioms. The notion that idioms are developed and used in the early stages of relationships was supported by these findings.
Social Avoidance and its Relation to Bartholomew's Adult Attachment Typology
Authors: Duggan E. Stryker , Brennan Kelly A.
Published: March 2007

In her four-fold model of attachment, Bartholomew (1990) distinguished two socially avoidant attachment styles, fearful and dismissing, in terms of self-esteem and social avoidance. Unfortunately, her measure of social avoidance (sociability) cannot discriminate sociability from shyness, an important aspect of social avoidance. The association of shyness and sociability with Bartholomew's attachment-style groups was assessed in a sample of 676 participants. Fearful subjects differentiated themselves from dismissing subjects on ratings of sociability and shyness, suggesting that dismissing subjects' social avoidance is due to low sociability, whereas the fearful subjects' social avoidance is due to shyness. Results are discussed in terms of the maintenance of avoidance attachment styles and of their implications for the study of social avoidance.
Children's Friendships: The Giant Step Beyond Peer Acceptance
Authors: Schneider Barry H. , Wiener Judith , Murphy Kevin
Published: March 2007

Differences and similarities between the constructs of friendship and global peer acceptance in childhood are considered. Research to date has identified the features of children's friendships. Children appear to be capable of forming stable, close friendships at younger ages than was once thought. Gender differences in children's friendships have received considerable attention, but other types of individual difference have not been studied extensively. The synthesis of findings obtained using diverse methodologies in testing constructs derived from different theories has contributed to appreciation of the distinct and complex nature of children's friendships.
Marital Satisfaction and Passionate Love
Authors: Aron Arthur , Henkemeyer Lisa
Published: March 2007

One hundred married individuals completed questionnaires measuring marital satisfaction, passionate love, social desirability and six relationship-relevant variables - global happiness, relationship excitement, relationship boredom, sex-minus-arguments frequency, amount of shared activities and kissing frequency. Consistent with previous research, marital satisfaction had moderate to large correlations with the six relationship-relevant variables; for most variables, these correlations remained after partialing out passionate love and social desirability. For women, passionate love was moderately correlated with marital satisfaction and with the six relationship-relevant variables; for most variables, these correlations remained after controlling for marital satisfaction and social desirability. However, for men there were no significant correlations with passionate love.
Factor Structure of Social Relationships: An Examination of Relational Models and Resource Exchange Theories
Authors: Haslam Nick
Published: March 2007

Although several accounts of elementary relational forms have been proposed, little empirical research has attempted to test, refine and compare them. Such research can strengthen claims that there are relational universals, and can provide a unifying framework and conceptual currency for further study. In the present study, the factor structure of 500 social relationships sampled from 50 undergraduate subjects was examined using items representing relational forms proposed by Fiske (1991) and Foa & Foa (1974). The results are interpreted in light of their implications for the internal organization of the two theories, the interrelations of the two theories, and the relations of both theories to common dimensions of social relationships. It is argued that theories of the basic forms of social relationship must be revised in light of the empirical associations of their elements, and that the time is now ripe for confirmatory tests of these forms.
The Three Faces of Friendship
Authors: Hartup Willard W.
Published: March 2007

This article sets out to establish a clear distinction between having friends, the identity of one's friends and friendship quality in children and adolescents. Problems regarding identifying children's friends, the significance of having friends and the quality of friendships in relation to developmental outcome are examined. The author urges the adoption of sounder measures of multidimensional assessment and more comprehensive, longer-term longitudinal designs.
Relationship Science in the 21st Century
Authors: Kenny David A.
Published: March 2007

Relationship science, as a young developing science, needs to develop a detailed empirical base. Various trends outside of the field are likely to influence the field. We are probably going to see more biological concepts and explanation, as well as more research on relationships for people in retirement and in service-oriented employment. Relationship research will continue to employ quantitative and qualitative methods. Among the quantitative methods to be increasingly used are network analysis, event history analysis and multilevel models.
Constructions of Early Parenting, Intimacy and Autonomy in Young Women
Authors: Dresner Rachel , Grolnick Wendy S.
Published: March 2007

This study explores relations between young women's patterns of intimacy and autonomy and their constructions of early relationships with their parents. Based on Bowlby's (1973) notion of the `internal working model' of attachment, it was predicted that women evidencing intimacy in current relationships would construct perceptions of their parents as having been accepting. It also was hypothesized that women exhibiting greater autonomy in their everyday functioning would describe their parents as having afforded them more encouragement of independence than those displaying less autonomy. Intimacy was measured using the Revised Intimacy Interview (Levitz-Jones & Orlofsky, 1985) and autonomy measures included the General Causality Orientation (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and Self-Reliance (Greenberger et al., 1974) scales. Results suggest that, as predicted, women displaying intimate relationships perceived their fathers as having been more accepting than those evidencing either enmeshed (merger) or superficial relationships. Further, autonomy was tied to constructions of support for independence by mothers and fathers. The findings shed light on the underlying dynamics and defenses of individuals displaying different patterns of intimacy and autonomy.
Diversity within Lesbian and Gay Families: Challenges and Implications for Family Theory and Research
Authors: Demo David H. , Allen Katherine R.
Published: March 2007

This paper describes and discusses diversity among lesbian and gay families along central dimensions of social stratification: gender, sexual orientation, generation, age, race and ethnicity. We examine implications of this diversity for traditional family theories, identify and discuss sexist and heterosexist assumptions of dominant family theories and suggest the usefulness of an integrative approach that combines insights from positivist and post-positivist theories. We conclude by proposing research questions, directions and methods to guide future empirical work, facilitate theory development and enrich our understanding of diverse family forms.
Free Recall or Recognition in Collecting Egocentered Networks: The Role of Survey Techniques
Authors: Neyer Franz J.
Published: March 2007

The egocentered networks of 479 young adults were studied twice over a 1.5-year period using two different techniques of collecting egocentered network data. In the first study conducted in 1988 - a free recall technique was employed, whereas the second study, starting from 1990, used a recognition technique in generating egocentered networks. It was shown that both techniques lead to different networks not only with respect to morphological features of social networks, but also and more importantly with respect to functional and relational features. The recognition technique seems to be useful in collecting exchange networks with high numbers of network members and strong activity, while free recall produces networks which are smaller and less active in comparison, but nevertheless can be identified as networks of significant others.
Anticipation of Marital Dissolution as a Consequence of Spousal Infidelity
Authors: Shackelford Todd K. , Buss David M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined five sources of spousal and relationship costs that might facilitate heightened anticipations of seeking divorce as a consequence of spousal infidelity. Three separate data sources were employed. Fist, 214 participants reported their satisfaction with the marriage and their anticipations of seeking divorce as a consequence of spousal infidelity. Second, participants provided information on their spouse's personality and behaviors their spouse performed that upset them. Third, couples were interviewed by two interviewers, who subsequently provided independent ratings of each participant's personality, mate value, and attractiveness, as well as ratings of the quality of the couple's interaction. Greater anticipations of divorcing an unfaithful spouse were reported by women higher in mate value than their husbands; women married to emotionally unstable men; men reporting lower marital satisfaction; and women in couples displaying greater conflict during the interview. Discussion locates results within an evolutionary psychological perspective and addresses methodological issues of this study.
The Perceived Acceptance Scale: Development and Validation
Authors: Brock Douglas M. , Sarason Irwin G. , Sanghvi Hari , Gurung Regan A.R.
Published: March 2007

The Perceived Acceptance Scale (PAS), a new instrument designed to assess perceptions of acceptance within specific categories of relationships, is described. Acceptance is defined as relationship-specific and relatively stable cognitive appraisals that others care for and value us and that their concern is not contingent upon our holding particular attitudes or acting differently from how we typically act. We hypothesized that acceptance would predict relationship quality and mediate the association between perceptions of social support and emotional adjustment. Development of the PAS proceeded in two steps: (1) construct definition and initial scale construction; and (2) scale development and assessment of reliability and validity evidence. The PAS provides separate scores that reflect acceptance from one's mother, father, family in general and friends. These scores are internally consistent and exhibit test-retest reliability. Each PAS score showed discriminant and convergent validity in correlational analyses with emotional adjustment, relationship quality and global perceptions of social support. Following the statistical control of the effects of global perceptions of social support and sex, the PAS scores predicted unique variance in self-esteem, loneliness, social competence and optimism.
Real/Izing the Relational
Authors: Gergen Kenneth J. , Walter Regine
Published: March 2007

From a social constructionist standpoint, there is no single or privileged language by which we must account for social and personal relationships. In this light, we may inquire into the limits and potentials of various modes of scholarly expression: to whom do they communicate and with what societal implications? We press such inquiry forward by exploring the potentials of relational art for conveying the intelligibility of a relational conception of self. By pairing text and graphics, we illustrate the possibilities for `making real' a conception of the self as relationally constituted.
The Inflow of American Television Fiction on European Broadcasting Channels Revisited
Authors: De Bens Els , de Smaele Hedwig
Published: March 2007

Empirical research in the 1970s and 1980s revealed the dominant position of American fiction on European television, in consequence of which the term `Dallasification of television content' was launched. By the end of the 1990s the situation had not changed drastically. The results of our programme analysis from 1997, in which the origin of films and series on 36 public and commercial channels from six European countries was traced, confirmed (1) the importance of fiction on European television, (2) the dominant position of American fiction and (3) the limited distribution of European fiction in Europe. This is not self-evident considering the efforts of the European Union since the end of the 1980s to counter these tendencies (quota for European productions, support measures for the audiovisual industry). Our findings also clearly confirm the distinction between public and commercial channels, according to which public channels broadcast a wider range of national, non-national European and American fiction. American series cannot touch the popularity of domestic series, which oust the American series in prime-time on both public and commercial channels. The American movie, however, is predominant also in prime-time. US fiction succeeds in breaking through all cultural barriers in Europe, whereas in the distribution of European fiction, language and cultural proximity continues to play a decisive role.
On Framing the Campaign: Mass Media Roles in Negotiating the Meaning of the Vote
Authors: Missika Jean-Louis , Bregman Dorine
Published: March 2007

The campaign role of the mass media has often been studied from the standpoint of communication effects on voting results. This article offers a new approach, focusing on the media's role in constructing a meaning for election results. This meaning is negotiated and accepted by politicians and electors according to a process which is described here. Argumentation is based on an empirical study of the legislative election campaign in France in March 1986, using methods drawn from the agenda-setting literature and the author's model of `Abstracts for Decision' in public opinion formation.
The `Event as Event' and the `Event as News': The Significance of `Consonance' for Media Effects Research
Authors: Noelle-Neumann Elisabeth , Mathes Rainer
Published: March 2007

In 1970 Halloran, Elliott and Murdock published Demonstrations and Communications which, due to its methodological design, represents a pioneering study in modern mass communication research. The authors were able to demonstrate similarity among the various media's reporting of an anti-Vietnam demonstration in London and that the actual `event as event' was completely different in nature from the `event as news'. Recent studies show that when reporting is consonant the mass media have a considerable influence on society. The media have particular influence over the subjects discussed in a society, the aspects of and criteria on a topic which are considered important and the climate of opinion which the population perceives as prevailing on a given subject.
Aids, Moral Panic and Opinion Polls
Authors: Rocheron Yvette , Linné Olga
Published: March 2007

This article looks critically at the current literature about Aids and relates some of the assumptions to the concept of the `moral panic'. It discusses this concept in relation to what we know about mass communication effects today and looks at the encoding and decoding of messages in a specific social context. The article also examines the campaign on Aids which has been carried out in the UK and finally looks at the audience responses in opinion polls and in a small-scale study carried out at the Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester.
The New Revisionism in Mass Communication Research: A Reappraisal
Authors: Curran James
Published: March 2007

The major developments of mass communication research, particularly in Britain, during the last fifteen years are reviewed critically. A new revisionist movement has emerged that challenges the dominant radical paradigms of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This has taken the form of contesting the underlying models of society, the characterization of media organizations, the representations of media content, the conception of the audience and the aesthetic judgements that underpinned much `critical' research. The author argues that this revisionism is in part a reversion to certain discredited conventional wisdoms of the past, a revivalism masquerading as new and innovatory thought. However, part of the new critique can be seen as a reformulation that could potentially strengthen the radical tradition of communications research.
Commercial Broadcasters in the Member States of the European Community: Their Impact on the Labour Market and Working Conditions
Authors: Thomass Barbara A.
Published: March 2007

In five European countries (Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain) the effects of commercial TV suppliers on the labour market and the conditions of work have been surveyed. Although new posts have been created by new stations, in the majority of the examined countries this greater number of jobs is threatened by growing competition in the television market. An increasing number of jobs are being transformed from employed to casual ones. The dissolution of the characteristics of traditional jobs and the development of multi-skilled work, especially the mixture of technical and editorial tasks in the responsibility of journalists, is reported.
A Phenomenology of Globalization? Giddens on Global Modernity
Authors: Tomlinson John
Published: March 2007

Anthony Giddens's account of social modernity gives prominence to the process of globalization. This article examines one specific aspect of Giddens's discussion of global modernity: his claim that `although everyone lives a local life, phenomenal worlds for the most part are truly global'. This idea is explored in three directions: in the context of Giddens's general theory of time-space distanciation; in relation to his discussion of the mediation of experience characteristic of modernity; and finally in relation to the `unifying' potential of the globalization process.
The Sacred Side of Professional Journalism
Authors: Broddason Thorbjörn
Published: March 2007

Traditional definitions of professionalism emphasize criteria such as collective control over entry into the profession, an ethical code supported by self-policing, a special set of skills and a definable body of knowledge, as well as client relations with the public. By such definitions the occupational role of journalists does not qualify as professional. An analysis of well-established professions such as the clergy and medicine does, however, reveal that current definitions of professionalism do not recognize the sacred aspect of a vital service rendered by a profession. Taking this into account, the role of the journalist might qualify as professional in spite of falling short on some traditional criteria.
Resistance through Routines
Authors: Ridell Seija
Published: March 2007

The article takes as its starting point the widely acknowledged tendency within contemporary media studies to shift the focus of interest from media texts more and more to the daily contexts of their reception and use. It sees the most extreme expression of this development in the `epistemology of the everyday' as put forward in Hermes' recent research programme. Based on a thesis of the `meaninglessness' of everyday media use, this programme can be viewed as a challenge to critical cultural audience research, most notably by implying that the routines of daily life not only accommodate the media and their genres but at the same time denude them of their power. In the article this challenge is assessed from the perspective of the critical cultural study of news reception by examining the untheorized status of the `everyday' within ethnographically inspired media studies. Here the metaphorical equation of daily life and television viewing with `flow' is used as a central illustration in order to also assess critically the usefulness of the flow metaphor itself in approaching empirically the use and interpretation of mass media. The article argues that such a narrow and unreflexive understanding of everyday activity, experience and meaning making forms an obstacle to redeeming the emancipatory and empowering promises of an `epistemology of the everyday'.
The Transformation of the Media System of the Former German Democratic Republic after the Reunification and its Effects on the Political Content of Newspapers
Authors: Hagen Lutz M.
Published: March 2007

Whereas the structure of the broadcasting system in the newly formed eastern states very much resembles the structure in the western states, the local and regional print media markets in the newly formed German states today still resemble the situation in the German Democratic Republic in that the dominating newspapers are the ones that already dominated before 1989. These papers were taken over by West German publishers in 1989. But the great majority of journalists working in the newly formed states today had already been working as journalists there before the Wall came down. However, a content analysis including 10 papers from the newly formed states and 10 from the West German states reveals only minor differences between papers from the eastern and the western parts of Germany. Journalists in the newly formed states were a bit more careful about voicing their opinions. Only the number of some political main actors and their evaluations differed to any great extent between eastern and western papers.
Civilizational Patterns and Civilizing Processes
Authors: Arnason Johann P.
Published: March 2007

The notion of civilization has from the outset had a double meaning: unitary and pluralistic. Both aspects were important to the development of the social sciences, but attempts to theorize them at the level of basic concepts are of relatively recent date and the results still controversial. While the idea of civilization in the singular found its most seminal expression in Norbert Elias's analysis of the civilizing process, classical sociology did not go beyond inconclusive reflections on civilizations in the plural, and a more explicit frame of reference for comparative analyses has only begun to take shape in the last few decades (most importantly in the work of S. N. Eisenstadt). This article outlines a provisional model of civilizational patterns and suggests ways of linking it to the study of civilizing processes. The main structural components to be noted are cultural interpretations of the world (understood as latent problematics, compatible with a variety of articulations); institutional constellations, with particular reference to the frameworks for political and economic life; and representative ideologies, linked to canonical texts and embodied in the strategies and self-images of sociopolitical elites. The dynamics of these interconnected factors must be analysed in several contexts: on the level of civilizational complexes which encompass whole families of societies; in the historical dimension, stretching across successive generations of societies; and with reference to regional configurations and their distinctive historical patterns. This conception of civilizations provides a background to the analysis of intercivilizational encounters, and a better understanding of the latter theme - on the whole neglected by civilizational theorists, with the notable exception of Benjamin Nelson - will in turn serve to develop a more interactionist theory of civilizing processes.
Perso-Indian Statecraft, Greek Political Science and the Muslim Idea of Government
Authors: Arjomand Saïd Amir
Published: March 2007

The conditions of civilizational borrowing, the principles of selectivity and the emergent qualities of civilizational synthesis are examined with reference to medieval Muslim conceptions of state and society. The article highlights the features of pristine Islam which invited the political thought of other civilizations, or more precisely, the Indian science of government and Greek political science. With the cultural integration of Iran into the Muslim caliphate, especially after the `Abbasid revolution in the mideighth century, the Indian borrowing via the Middle Persian translation emerged as an integral part of the Arabic and Persian literature on statecraft. The reception of Greek political science was a part of the translation of Greek philosophy and medicine into Arabic a century later, and was developed into the discipline of practical philosophy or political science. Through the mutual accommodation of the shari`a and a political culture derived from Greek and Perso-Indian sources, the civilizational encounters under consideration introduced an unmistakable element of pluralism - or at any rate, dualism - in the normative order of medieval Islam.
EQUALITY WITHOUT LIMITS? WOMEN'S WORK IN THE SOCIALIST SOCIETY OF THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Authors: Meier Uta
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses the transformation as well as the reproduction of conventional role sets of women in the family and in the larger society, particularly at work. The analysis is based on a representative sample of families belonging to different social classes and strata. The empirical research strategy was to compare socio-economic status and gender, and thereby to identify typical patterns according to the criteria `socially homogeneous' (spouses with the same SES) and `socially heterogeneous' (spouses with different SES).

Inequalities of employed women, especially regarding income distribution and power relations, also persist in a socialist society though the participation of the female workforce is indispensable. They are closely linked with an unequal division of household tasks. In conclusion, social policy concepts are discussed to empower women at work, with special emphasis on the use of their acquired high level of general and vocational knowledge and skills (`qualifications'), and to empower men, particularly those belonging to the working class, to change conventional patterns at home.
Is There a Transnational Business Community?
Authors: Carroll William K. , Fennema Meindert
Published: March 2007

This article tries to answer two questions. The first is whether capitalist class formation is now taking place at a transnational level; the second is what regime of corporate governance was becoming dominant in the last quarter of the 20th century. The answers given are based on a comparison of the networks of interlocking directorates among the 176 largest corporations in the world economy as of 1976 and 1996. The analysis suggests that from the 1970s to the 1990s an Atlantic business system developed. However, Japanese firms were not integrated into this network while the European Union was indeed creating a European business community. The research lends support to the hypothesis that the network has become less a device for domination and control and more a device for building hegemony. This also suggests that corporate governance is increasingly based on exit strategies rather than on voice as has been common in continental European contexts.
MODERNISATION: EXHUMETUR IN PACE (RETHINKING MACROSOCIOLOGY IN THE 1990s)
Authors: Tiryakian Edward A.
Published: March 2007

An important challenge for macrosociology in the 1990s is to account for the cluster of social movements in different post-World War II settings, most recently those that intend structural changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. To account for these extraordinary phenomena of historical significance calls for a new global synchronic and diachronic analysis.

After discussing three major waves of these movements that have in common a challenge to the authority of the modern state, this paper proposes that `neo-modernisation analysis' may be the most appropriate macro-paradigm to relate sociology to the comparative study of cycles of modernisation and of centres of modernity. It is highly relevant since many regions of the world are undergoing an important new phase of modernisation and since there may be taking place an important shift in the epicentre of modernity.

State socialism is bankrupt in Eastern Europe. Governments, ruling parties, of the opposition, experts, and expert committees are desperately searching... for a new paradigm, a new social and economic model with which to launch these countries onto a new course of dynamic development.

(Hankiss 1990: 183)
CONDITIONS FOR SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN BIOGRAPHY
Authors: Bohler Karl Friedrich , Hildenbrand Bruno
Published: March 2007

Sociological research in biography examines how, under continually changing social conditions, subjectivity is constituted in intersubjective processes. The reciprocity of the individual and society is not only stated as a matter of fact but is also made a guideline in sociological research. At all levels of this research area, society is the subject of discussion, ranging from a general view on social modernisation processes to issues like properties of specific milieus and family structures, and up to the socialised subject.
DUAL SYMBOLIC CLASSIFICATION AND THE PRIMARY EMOTIONS: A PROPOSED SYNTHESIS OF DURKHEIM'S SOCIOGENIC AND PLUTCHIK'S PSYCHOEVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF EMOTIONS
Authors: TenHouten Warren
Published: March 2007

Durkheim's and Mauss's proposal that emotions play a causal role in the emergence of dual-symbolic classification schemes is evaluated by analysing two of their three case studies of dual classification - that of the Australian Aborigines and the `divinatory compass' of trigrams associated with the ancient Chinese text I Ching. Because Durkheim and Mauss attempted no classification of the emotions, their model remains conceptually underspecified and untested. Plutchik, in contrast, provides a psychoevolutionary classification of the emotions but does not provide for his `stimulus' social content. Through a theoretical synthesis of the sociogenic and psychoevolutionary perspectives of Durkheim and Plutchik, respectively, it is argued that a model sufficient for analysis of the classification-emotion linkage can be obtained and applied to two Durkheim-Mauss case studies. A study of Durkheim's Elementary Forms supporting his hypothesis that interaction rituals result in an effervescence of sentiment is explicated in terms of at least seven of Plutchik's eight primary emotions. The divinatory compass of eight trigrams is found to be structurally isomorphic to Plutchik's `wheel' of primary emotions.
Mass Higher Education and the Social Sciences in Greece
Authors: Petmesidou Maria
Published: March 2007

This article aims to contribute to the debate on major changes in tertiary education in Europe over the last 15 years by focusing on mass higher education in Greece and the place of the social sciences in it. It examines the main objectives and effects of the significant educational reform, introduced by the Panhellenic Socialist Party in the early 1980s, and of the subsequent amendments to it, with an emphasis on excessive state control over higher education, and the statist/clientelistic mode in which graduate markets function in Greek society. These characteristics account for many of the rigidities in the structure of the social sciences and put severe limits on the ability of the Greek higher education system to respond to the challenges of European competition in education and research.
Global Environmental Change in the News
Authors: Mazur Allan
Published: March 2007

Important hazards to the global environment, including climate change, ozone depletion, rainforest destruction and species extinction, were prominently covered by the American mass media during the period 1987-90. As a result, these hazards became important problems on the American agenda of risks, and were soon taken up by other nations, at least until news coverage fell after 1990. This article shows why these particular hazards, which had all been recognized by experts for years, suddenly became important news stories after long periods of inattention. It also speculates why these hazards failed to regain much media attention during the period 1992-6, a time when global warming and other problems intensified, and the White House was occupied by an administration ostensibly sympathetic to environmental concerns.