bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are Sanctions Effective?
Authors: Tsebelis George
Published: March 2007

Although economic sanctions have been quite frequent in the twentieth century, a close examination of the low success rate (33 out of 83 cases) indicates that sender countries are not able to select the appropriate cases. Moreover, analysts sometimes offer contradictory advice for such selection. This article provides a game-theoretic explanation of these phenomena. Six different game-theoretic scenarios lead to the same equilibrium outcome. This is a mixed strategy equilibrium. The success ratio is the outcome of the selection of mixed strategies by both sender and receiver countries. Under a wide range of (specified) circumstances, the size of the sanction has no impact upon the behavior of the target country. Finally, some empirical implications of the game-theoretic analysis are compared to existing empirical generalizations, and further implications for empirical research are discussed.
Theoretical Perspectives on Ethnic Political Behavior in the Soviet Union
Authors: Dutter Lee E.
Published: March 2007

A plural society is defined as one which is ethnically diverse and whose ethnic divisions are politically relevant. Extant theories of politics in plural societies focus primarily on democratic political systems— that is, societies which, during some period of their recent political history, have been characterized by Western-style democratic political and governmental institutions. As a consequence, there has been little effort to formulate and apply analytical or theoretical frameworks which are specifically relevant to nondemocratic systems such as the Soviet Union. The principal objectives of this article are: (1) to augment, modify, and reformulate existing theoretical ideas on ethnic political behavior in plural societies so that their scope includes nondemocratic political systems; and (2) to assess the applicability of these ideas to the Soviet Union.
Some Notes on Rational Behavior, Normative Behavior, Moral Behavior, and Cooperation
Authors: Kondo Tetsuo
Published: March 2007

The question of cooperation is examined in terms of both the theory of rational choice and the theory of social norms. Is it possible for rational individuals to bring about cooperation, or is normative behavior needed to maintain cooperation? Through the development of the Learning-Bayesian PD game, the following propositions are obtained. First, cooperation is maintained by farsighted and perfectly rational individuals who have the expectations of reciprocity. Second, however, this cooperation is not stable; disturbance or deviant behavior overthrows cooperation. Third, even under the existence of disturbance, if individuals behave normatively, they can maintain cooperation; normative behavior works as a stabilizer. Finally, if they behave not only normatively but morally (i.e., according to a categorical imperative), they can even transform noncooperation into cooperation; moral behavior works as a catalyzer of the transformation.
Response to Strategy and Communication in an Arms Race-Disarmament Dilemma
Authors: Betz Brian
Published: March 2007

Subjects (40 males and 40 females) played against a simulated other in a six-choice prisoner's dilemma game that was described in terms of an arms race. The simulated other employed either a GRIT or tit-for-tat strategy, with either communication or no communication. The GRIT strategy elicited more cooperation than the tit-for-tat strategy, and there was an interaction such that the GRIT strategy with communication produced more cooperation than any of the other conditions. In addition, explicit communication decreased the occurrence of deception being employed against the GRIT strategist. Although GRIT produced more conciliation than tit-for-tat, the simulated other using GRIT was also taken advantage of more frequently; to avoid exploitation, modifications in the GRIT strategy may be needed. The results are discussed in terms of how explicit communication is needed for GRIT to be optimally effective and how additional communication may reduce exploitation.
Arab and Jewish Attitudes
Authors: Al-Haj Majid , Katz Elihu , Shye Samuel
Published: March 2007

This article deals with the attitudes of Arabs and Jews in Israel regarding a Palestinian state. These include their images of such a state, the costs and benefits perceived if a Palestinian state were established, and the fears and desires involved, including the desire to keep contact with the Palestinian population in the various life domains. The article will attempt to analyze the extent to which the attitudes toward the establishment of a Palestinian state and its likely character derive from a rational calculus of expected costs and benefits to one's own group.
Democracies, Disputes, and Third-Party Intermediaries
Authors: Raymond Gregory A.
Published: March 2007

The proposition that democracies rarely fight one another has been well-substantiated by empirical research. A prominent explanation for this finding is that shared norms fostered by a democratic political culture promote peaceful conflict resolution. Joint democratic dyads allegedly have a greater propensity than other types of dyads to entrust third parties with judicial competence to settle their disputes. The results from a study of 206 dyadic disputes involving third-party intermediaries support this claim. The presence of joint democracy in dangerous, war-prone dyads has a strong positive effect on the probability of referring interstate disputes to binding third-party settlement, even when controlling for alliance bonds and geographic proximity. In addition, the more a joint democratic dyad is marked by coherent regimes or a rough parity in the distribution of military capabilities, the greater the propensity to refer disputes to binding third-party settlement.
Coercive Power And Concession Making in Bilateral Negotiation
Authors: De Dreu Carsten K. W.
Published: March 2007

This experiment examined the effects of negotiators' and opponents' coercive capability on level of demand and on communication of threats and promises. Applying conflict spiral and deterrence perspectives inspired contrasting predictions. Subjects were given high, moderate, or low coercive power and learned that their opponents had low, moderate, or high coercive power. Subsequently, subjects negotiated through computers with opponents (in reality, simulated by a computer), who sent compellent threats or promises designed to induce some desired behavior. Higher levels of the focal negotiator's coercive power increased communication of threats but did not influence level of demand. Higher levels of the opponent's coercive power produced greater decline in level of demand but only when the opponent sent threats instead of promises. Power balance produced less communication of threats and greater decline of demand than power preponderance. The conclusion discusses limitations and contributions, as well as the applied value for mediation and dispute resolution.
How Civil Wars End
Authors: Mason T. David , Fett Patrick J.
Published: March 2007

What conditions determine whether a civil war ends in a negotiated settlement or a military victory? The authors address this question by developing an expected utility model of the choice between seeking an immediate settlement or continuing to fight in anticipation of eventual victory. The model implies that the likelihood of a settlement varies with estimates of the probability of winning, the time required to win, the rate at which the costs of conflict accrue, and the payoffs for victory versus settlement. Logistic regression results suggest that a settlement becomes less likely the larger the government's army and more likely the longer the civil war lasts. Payoff and cost variables had no effect on the likelihood of a settlement.
State-Sponsored Mass Murder
Authors: Krain Matthew
Published: March 2007

The author argues that openings in the political opportunity structure, rather than the levels of concentration of power, best predict the onset of genocides or politicides and which states will engage in the most severe state-sponsored mass murder. These and other hypotheses are tested. Analysis of logit models reveals that civil war involvement is the most consistent predictor of the onset of genocides or politicides, and other political opportunity structure variables have some effects, especially when in combination with at least one of the other political opportunity structure variables. Analysis of negative binomial event-count models also reveals that political opportunity structure variables best account for the degree of severity of a given genocide or politicide. In sum, openings in the political opportunity structure are more important in understanding what affects the onset and degree of severity of genocides and politicides than other more static variables.
Reactions and Reciprocity
Authors: Pahre Robert
Published: March 2007

If one country lowers its tariffs, other countries might follow suit by liberalizing or defend their market by raising tariffs or do nothing at all. The question of a state's reaction to the tariff policy of another has been undertheorized, although it plays an important, implicit role in debates between theories. To understand these reactions, the author proposes a model of trade policy and tariff reciprocity that encompasses variables from both the domestic and international levels of analysis in a way that is compatible with several different theories. Two major testable propositions follow from the analysis. First, two countries' tariffs will move in opposite directions without trade agreements. Second, two countries' tariffs will move in the same direction when they have signed a trade agreement. These hypotheses find substantial support in both quantitative and qualitative tests against the period from 1815 to 1914, when there was substantial variation in countries' willingness to sign reciprocal tariff agreements.
How Rational Is “The Rational Public”?
Authors: Knopf Jeffrey W.
Published: March 2007

Specialists on U.S. public opinion and foreign policy have rejected the Almond-Lippmann consensus, which implied public attitudes were dangerously erratic, and have moved in varying degrees toward a view of public opinion as rational. Consensus on this new view would be premature. The revisionists have not yet addressed all elements of the traditional critique of the American public. In particular, they have overlooked the thesis of postwar foreign policy realists that the public reacts to foreign threats too slowly and then too strongly. This article presents a preliminary test of the classical realist hypotheses, through an analysis of public opinion on military spending from 1965 to 1991. On balance, the results favor the rational public perspective. Some caveats, however, suggest the need for further research before the traditional, negative view of the public should be rejected.
U.S. Public Views of International Involvement from 1964 to 1993
Authors: Chanley Virginia A.
Published: March 2007

Differing views about the nature of public opinion are central to the debate concerning public influence on foreign policy. This study examines U.S. public opinion on the fundamental issue of the extent to which the nation should be involved in activity beyond its borders. The author develops annual time-series measures of two distinct views of internationalism—general internationalism and militant internationalism—in the period from 1964 to 1993. Time-series regression analyses indicate that changes in public support for general and militant internationalism correspond to changes in public views of the important issues of the day. The analyses reveal less support for militant internationalism associated with a higher percentage of liberal ideological identification in the years from 1964 to 1989. Overall, this research supports the view that aggregate changes in public support for internationalism are consistent and predictable.
Apprehension and Temptation
Authors: Hwang Peter , Burgers Willem P.
Published: March 2007

The influences of trust and time horizon on the robustness of cooperation have been widely recognized. Nonetheless, separate streams of literature in social science have differentially emphasized these two constructs. The authors examine the conjoint influences of trust and time dimension on cooperation and show that trust and time dimension jointly determine the level of apprehension and temptation in a relationship, which, in turn, moderate fear and greed, respectively. Understanding how apprehension and temptation work in a relationship helps to answer the following questions: How do trust and time horizon influence greed and fear and hence cooperation? How sensitive are apprehension and temptation with respect to changes in trust and time horizon? Why are trust and time horizon individually necessary but not sufficient for cooperation?
Do People Need Foreign Enemies?
Authors: Murray Shoon Kathleen , Meyers Jason
Published: March 2007

The authors use the collapse of the Soviet Union to test the hypothesis that some people are psychologically predisposed to “need enemies.” The findings from the 1988-1992 Leadership Opinion Project (LOP) panel data show that those respondents who had been highly suspicious of Soviet motives before the end of the cold war are more likely to view other countries with suspicion and to perceive the international environment as dangerous after the Soviet collapse. There is no evidence that people have actually transferred old fears about the Soviet Union onto a replacement enemy. China is the country most frequently named as the United States' main adversary after the cold war, making it the most likely object for the transference of hostility. Yet, even the most ardently anti-Soviet respondents do not exhibit greater fear or animosity toward China after they have lost their old enemy.
Influences on Children’s Sharing in a Multicultural Setting
Authors: Stewart Sunita Mahtani , McBride-Chang Catherine
Published: March 2007

The authors examined contributors to sharing in Western and Asian children in relation to hypotheses derived from the cross-cultural framework. Parenting practices emphasizing training and awareness of others, and children’s moral reasoning were associated with larger donations. Asian girls shared more when their donations were identified rather than anonymous and shared more than Asian boys. Western boys and girls shared equally in all conditions. Moral reasoning was associated with donation, consistent with previous findings. Parenting practices and moral reasoning predicted 15% of the variance in anonymous donation. The findings suggest an integration of developmental and cultural influences on sharing in elementary school children.
Cultural Norms and Subjective Disability as Predictors of Symptom Reports among Asian Americans and White Americans
Authors: Okazaki Sumie , Kallivayalil Diya
Published: March 2007

Past studies have found that Asian Americans and White Americans differ not only on global levels of well- being but also on the bases for judgments of well-being. The authors examined whether cultural norms about specific mental health problems predict self-reports of those symptoms above and beyond the subjective assessment of their own functioning. Asian Americans ( n = 200) and White Americans ( n = 200) rated how normative they viewed depression and social anxiety syndromes and completed self-report measures of depression, social anxiety, and disability. The results revealed that perceived cultural norms about depression were related to depressive symptom reports among Asian Americans but not among White Americans. Cultural norms about social anxiety were not differentially associated with reports of social anxiety in the two ethnic groups.
A Typology of Animosity and its Cross-National Validation
Authors: Jung Kwon , Ang Swee Hoon , Leong Siew Meng , Tan Soo Jiuan , Pornpitakpan Chanthika , Kau Ah Keng
Published: March 2007

Four types of animosity, the emotional antagonism felt toward a specific entity, were identified as a function of their sources (situational vs. stable) and locus (personal vs. national) of manifestation. A five-country survey was conducted in Asia to validate the typology, using the United States and Japan as target entities. Results affirmed the four-factor structure of the proposed typology. Several cross-national differences in animosity were also uncovered. Indonesians, Malaysians, and Thais tended to have greater situational animosity toward the United States than Japan, except for Koreans and Singaporeans. Not surprisingly, Koreans showed greater stable animosity toward Japan than the United States. Asians also demonstrated a higher level of animosity at the national than personal level. Implications arising from the findings are discussed and directions for future research suggested.
Unexpected Correlations and the Cross-Cultural Method
Authors: Guthrie George M.
Published: March 2007

Cross-cultural studies, in which the cases are societies rather than individuals, may be subject to errors due to individual differences within societies, cultural differences in behavior variables, and the implicit theories of the observers. In addition, antecedent variables may correlate more highly with unexpected consequences than with dependent variables predicted from theory. Ratings provided by Whiting and Child (1953) were correlated and the resulting matrix of correlations between all antecedent and all dependent variables was examined. Off-diagonal correlations, e.g., that between oral socialization anxiety and anal explanations of illness, were often found to be as high as correlations predicted from psychoanalytic theory. It was concluded that the caution suggested by Campbell and Fiske (1959) for validity studies should be applied to crosscultural studies.
Problems of Translation in Cross-Cultural Research
Authors: Sechrest Lee , Fay Todd L. , Zaidi S. M. Hafeez
Published: March 2007

There are various types of translation problems, not all of which have received sufficient attention. Translation of questions or other verbal stimuli has received more attention than problems of achieving equivalence in translations of orienting and task in-structions and responses. Vocabulary equivalence must take into account language as used by respondents and the possibility of terms lacking equivalents across languages. Equivalence in idiom and in grammar and syntax may be important, but equivalence in terms of experiences and concepts tapped is probably most important of all. Direct translation cannot be assumed to produce equivalent versions of verbal stimuli. Back-translation is not only achievable but is likely to be highly satisfactory if care is taken in its use, especially in locating translators facile in the actual language of target subjects. While the de-centering proposals of Werner and Campbell have much to recommend them, de-centering becomes progressively difficult as one goes from two to multi-culture studies. For the latter purposes a "carrier" language seems inevitably necessary.
Ethnocentrism and Causal Attribution in a South Indian Context
Authors: Taylor Donald M. , Jaggi Vaishna
Published: March 2007

Hindu Ss were asked to attribute the behavior of in-group (Hindu) and out-group (Muslim) members performing socially desirable or undesirable acts in terms of internal and external causes for the behavior. Subjects made internal attributions of in-group members performing socially desirable acts and external attributions for undesirable acts. The converse was true for attributions made by the Hindu Ss with respect to the same behavior performed by Muslims. The results were discussed in terms of the importance of attribution theory principles for studying prejudice and the relationship between attitudes and behavior.
The Acceptance of "Barnum" Personality Interpretations by Japanese, Japanese-American, and Caucasian American College Students
Authors: Diamond Michael Jay , Bond Michael H.
Published: March 2007

Native Japanese, Japanese-American, and Caucasian American students at universities in Japan and Hawaii were compared on their acceptance of Barnum personality statements. The Barnum descriptions were filled with personality clich6s and were presented to the subjects as having been interpreted by "several clinical psychologists" from the Ss' Rorschach protocols. The results indicated that all three groups were equally and highly likely to endorse these descriptions as being true of themselves even when attempts were made to control for compliance effects. The findings were discussed with reference to similar acculturation influences in terms of mass media and course content self-concept learning experiences among university students. Finally, the utility of intra-and intercultural personality assessment was considered in terms of the high base rate Barnum statement acceptance.
Universality and Distinctiveness in Dimensions of Japanese Person Perception
Authors: Bond Michael H. , Nakazato Hiroaki , Shiraishi Daisuke
Published: March 2007

Dimensions of Japanese person perception were assessed using Norman's (1963) method and stimulus materials. These dimensions were then compared statistically with results from similar studies involving subjects from the United States and from the Philippines. Students from Japan and the United States grouped the same behaviors into the five factors of extroversion, good-naturedness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and culture. For all three subject populations, the same behavior descriptions were grouped together to form the high variance dimensions of extroversion, good-naturedness, and conscientiousness. The factors of emotional stability and culture, however, appear to be construed in culturally specific ways. Differences in the relative strength of the first three factors across the three cultures were discussed with the prominence of the extroversion factor in Japan being related to the importance of relative status in Japanese society.
The Effect of Training on the Pictorial Depth Perception of Shona Children
Authors: Leach M. L.
Published: March 2007

African children (63) in primary grade 3 were instructed in pictorial depth perception and the control group (n = 63) were given compensatory nonperceptual treatment. Instruction resulted in two significant gains: more of the instructed children consistently perceived depth in the pictures than the uninstructed children (100% perceiving depth in line-and-tone drawings incorporating combined depth cues); more of the instructed consistent depth perceivers also offered appropriate explanations for their 3-D judgments than the uninstructed. Uninstructed children, however, performed unexpectedly better than had been predicted on the basis of previous research. This may have been due to test and pretest procedures adopted, which suggests the need for investigation of assumptions governing testing procedures in cross-cultural perception studies of this nature.
Religious Role Differentiation as an Aspect of Subjective Culture
Authors: Bochner Stephen
Published: March 2007

A synthesis between reference group theory and structural analyses of social behavior is proposed, through a link between the concepts of role salience and role differentiation. This integration is then extended to provide a framework for some of the processes mediating individual differences in subjective culture, and some of the problems inherent in cross-cultural communication. The theoretical analysis is illustrated by an empirical study which compared religious role salience and/or differentiation in four cultural groups. The religious role was found to be more salient and less differentiated among Pakistani Moslems than among Javanese Moslems, Thai Buddhists, and Philippine Catholics.
Level I and Level II Intelligence in Inuit and White Children from Similar Environments
Authors: Taylor Lorne J. , Skanes Graham R.
Published: March 2007

The participants in this study consisted of 239 children residing in four communities on the coast of Labrador-63 lnuit and 176 White subjects. The Level I and Level II intelligence measures were a series of digit span tests and Raven's progressive matrices, respectively. The results indicated some differences between the Inuit and White sample in Level I measures, decreasing with age, and a significant difference on the Level Il tests favoring the Inuit sample.
Contrasting Cultural Patterns of Interpersonal Closeness in Doctors' Waiting Rooms in Sydney and Jakarta
Authors: Noesjirwan Jennifer
Published: March 2007

It is suggested that Indonesians, in contrast to Australians, place a greater emphasis on interpersonal closeness. This was examined by comparing patterns of behaviour in doctors' waiting rooms in Jakarta and in Sydney, using an observation schedule and a follow-up interview. It was found that Indonesians are significantly more likely to be accompanied by another adult. They are also significantly more likely than Australians to sit close to another stranger, and to talk to another stranger. The interview responses indicated a greater Indonesian sensitivity to the presence of other persons. The study provides a partial demonstration of a general Indonesian cultural theme.
The Colored Blocks Test
Authors: Feldman Carol Fleisher , Stone Addison
Published: March 2007

A recently developed test of basic Piagetian stage abilities is described, and new data collected in rural Hawaii and in a working-class Chicago suburb are used to defend its validity. The test makes use of familiar test stimuli-blocks of different colors and shapes-which are reasonably salient cross-culturally. The use of (1) identical materials in assessment of all levels of cognitive development and (2) minimal verbal cues of simple construction serve to enhance (a) the internal consistency of the measure in tapping the child's full potential and (b) the measure's practical utility in a cross-cultural testing situation. The subtasks are designed to correspond to a theoretical description of the stages of cognitive development as defined by Piaget. In order to provide validation for the test, some preliminary empirical confirmation of the correspondence between the abilities tapped by the present test and those tapped by standard Piagetian tests is presented. Finally, data from all of the measures are used to argue that a stage of thinking with some, but not all, of the characteristics of formal operations may in fact be a universal development.
Levenson's IPC (Internal-External Control) Scale
Authors: Lao Rosina C.
Published: March 2007

To examine further the cross-cultural feasibility of the internal-external control of reinforcement construct, one part of the study was conducted in Taiwan, using 517 Chinese college students, and the other part consisted of 423 American college students. Levenson's IPC Scale and an information questionnaire were used to compare the two groups. After translating the materials into Chinese for the Chinese subjects, comparisons of the locus of control concept between the two cultures and between sexes were made. In general, similar patterns between males and females on the IPC were found for both American and Chinese students, and I, P, and C were also found to correlate with a similar number of confidence and expectancy variables for the two cultures. These results, taken together and compared with data from previous studies, suggest that the locus of control variable may be tapping some basic psychological dimension common to both cultures.
Ethnic Affirmation by Chinese Bilinguals
Authors: Yang Kuo-Shu , Bond Michael H.
Published: March 2007

What is the effect on the response of bilinguals when they are presented with a questionnaire in their first or their second languages? To examine this question 121 university students completed a survey on their identification with Chinese or Western practices. The questionnaire was written in Chinese or English and administered in small groups by one of four investigators-two Chinese, two Western. Results showed higher levels of Chinese identification in response to the English version of the attitude survey. It was proposed that this ethnic affirmation depends on the respondent's level of identification with the first culture and the availability of behaviors to affirm or deny that first culture. The phenomenon of ethnic affirmation extends beyond questionnaire responding and would seem applicable to any situation where one's ethnic salience is heightened. Cross-cultural interaction, particularly in a research context, is a prime example.
Aggression and its Escalation
Authors: Jaffe Yoram , Shapir Nahum , Yinon Yoel
Published: March 2007

Physical aggression, its escalation, and felt responsibility for it, were compared in group and individual action of Israeli natives and of European Russian, Caucasian, and Georgian new immigrants to Israel. The experimental paradigm was a modified Buss aggression machine paradigm for measuring physical aggression. Generally, aggression was greater and escalated faster, and felt responsibility was lower, in groups than in individuals. Georgians were the most aggressive and European Russians were the least so. Diffusion of responsibility and its disinhibitory role in collective action was the major explanation. The ethnic differences were seen as reflecting the influence of sociocultural training in aggression (Georgians) versus that of a history of severe punishment for aggression (European Russians).
English, French, and Italian Adjective Check Lists
Authors: Fioravanti Mario , Gough Harrison G. , Frere Lydie J.
Published: March 2007

The Adjective Check List is intended for cross-cultural as well as intracultural research, and in fact has been widely used in such inquiry. Translations should attend to psychological attributes of the items, such as social desirability, as well as to linguistic equivalence. Endorsement rates in self-description give still another index of the comparability of items in two versions of a test. Ratings of the desirability of ACL items in English, French, and Italian were obtained from small panels of American, French, and Italian judges. Inter-judge alphas ranged from .89 to .98, and cross-national correlations among the panels ranged from .82 to .88. Within this pattern of general consistency, individual items were identified that showed significant differences, either in regard to the gender of the person being described or to the language in which the item was stated. These items tended to reflect sex-role stereotypes, or folk notions about national character. Item desirability ratings and endorsement rates can provide useful information concerning the degree of equivalence between a test in its original and translated formats.
Evaluation of Persons with a Physical Disability
Authors: Shurka Esther , Katz Shlomo
Published: March 2007

The impact of ethnic group, disability framework, and responsibility for the disability on evaluation of the physically disabled was examined in Israel. Arab and Jewish students were asked to evaluate a disabled person shown on videotape. Before and after seeing the videotape, subjects were given additional information pertaining to the circumstances in which the person became disabled. The results of the three-way analysis of variance indicated that disability per se was not the sole variable that influenced evaluations of the disabled; the variables of the study superimposed on the disability did affect the evaluations of the disabled. Disability framework, that is, civilian versus military disabled, appears to have the strongest single effect on evaluation of disabled persons. Responsibility for the disability influenced the evaluations in certain identifiable contexts. Ethnic group expressed itself as a general variable and its impact could only be assessed in relation to the other variables.
Self-Reported Expression of Embarrassment in Five European Cultures
Authors: Edelmann Robert J. , Asendorpf Jens , Contarello Alberta , Zammuner Vanda , Georgas James , Villanueva Concepcion
Published: March 2007

Self-report data on the physiological/behavioral response associated with embarrassment were collected by questionnaire in Greece, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. Blushing/increased temperature and smiling/grinning were reported consistently across nations, although blushing, as indexed by temperature change, was reported with twice the frequency in the U.K. sample as in the other European samples; gaze aversion and face touching were also reported with greater frequency in U.K. sample. Southern European respondents were less likely to report gaze aversion and very unlikely to report laughing when embarrassed. The general "understatement" of embarrassment in the U.K. sample and "overstatement" of embarrassment in the Greek sample are discussed in relation to national stereotypes.
The Role of Acculturation in the Attitudes, Norms, and Expectancies of Hispanic Smokers
Authors: Marin Gerardo , Ossmarin Barbara Van , Sabogal Regina Otero , Sabogal Fabio , Perezstable Eliseo J.
Published: March 2007

Data from 263 Hispanic smokers in the San Francisco area showed that, in general, among the highly acculturated, attitudes, norms, and expectancies toward smoking resembled those held by an equivalent group of white non-Hispanic smokers. Level of acculturation had no significant effect on generalized attitudes toward smoking, but it was associated with the level of certainty with which five stereotypes were assigned to smokers. Acculturation level also affected the perceived normative influence of parents and the willingness to follow the desires of parents and physician. Acculturation had a more significant effect on discriminating the importance assigned to antecedents and consequences of smoking; responses of the highly acculturated again resembled those of the white non-Hispanics. The implications of these findings in the development of culturally appropriate smoking cessation materials for less acculturated Hispanics are discussed.
Paranormal Beliefs and their Implications in University Students from Finland and the United States
Authors: Tobacyk Jerome J. , Pirttilä-Backman Anna-Maija
Published: March 2007

University students from Finland and the southern United States were compared in (a) paranormal beliefs; (b) four personality adjustment constructs-alienation, anomie, death concerns, and death threat; and (c) relationships between paranormal beliefs and these personality adjustment constructs. Americans reported significantly greater belief in Traditional Religious Belief, Superstition, Witchcraft, and Extraordinary Life Forms. Finns reported significantly greater death concerns and death threat, whereas the Americans reported significantly greater anomie. Paranormal beliefs showed stronger relationships with measures of personality adjustment for the Finns than for the Americans. There were 13 significant relationships between paranormal belief subscales and measures of personality adjustment among the Finns and only five among the Americans. Findings are consistent with the notion that secularization has advanced further in Finland than in the United States.
A Temporary Decline of Thinking Ability During Foreign Language Processing
Authors: Takano Yohtaro , Noda Akiko
Published: March 2007

It was predicted that the use of a foreign language should cause a temporary decline of thinking ability because the heavier processing load imposed by a foreign language than by a native language should produce stronger interference with thinking to be performed concurrently. A divided-attention experiment with Japanese-English and English-Japanese bilinguals confirmed this prediction: performance in a thinking task (i.e., calculation) declined when a concurrent linguistic task (i.e., question-answering) had to be performed in their respective foreign languages. This decline is distinguished from foreign language processing difficulty per se because the thinking task involved no foreign language use. The decline was also observed in another divided-attention experiment employing a different type of thinking task, that is, spatial reasoning problems adopted from intelligence tests.
Taboo Topics among Chinese and English Friends
Authors: Goodwin Robin , Lee Iona
Published: March 2007

This study adopted Gudykunst and Tmg-Toomey's Cultural Variability Model to examine gender and cultural patterns in levels of taboo within the friendships of students from two cultures. Eighty-two British and 81 Chinese students completed self-report schedules inquiring about those topics they considered to be taboo in their relationship with a close friend. Responses were evaluated in a 2 (Sex) x 2 (Culture) x 2 (Sex of Friend) design, and levels of taboo for 35 topics of discussion/behaviours were recorded. Results were largely consistent with the Cultural Variability Model, with Chinese students recording a greater level of taboo than their British counterparts and with males recording higher levels of taboo in their friendship than females. Interaction effects were not as expected, with males disclosing more to other male friends rather than to female friends.
The Theme of Giving Back to Parents in Chinese and American songs
Authors: Rothbaum Fred , Xu Xiaofang
Published: March 2007

Based on the assumption that there is greater reciprocity of relationships (i.e., mutuality of give and take) in China than there is in the United States, the authors predicted cultural differences in the incidence of songs in which adult children express a desire to give back to parents. More songs expressing giving back to mothers than giving back to fathers was also predicted. Popular songs in both cultures were rated for themes of positive or negative giving back to parents. Almost all of the Chinese songs expressed positive giving back, and the majority of U.S. songs expressed negative giving back. More songs about mothers than about fathers were found only for the Chinese songs. American songs' focus on fathers, about whom there are negative feelings, may reflect the U.S. disposition to negative giving back. Processes underlying giving back-involving modeling, caregiving practices, direct tuition, and reciprocity-are discussed.
New Zealand and Singaporean Attributions and Achievement Perceptions
Authors: Ng Danny , Mcclure John , Walkey Frank , Hunt Maree
Published: March 2007

Several aspects of cross-cultural differences in attributions remain relatively unexplored, including the issue of different criteria for success and failure, different forms of achievement motivation, the likelihood of making attributions, and different perceptions of causes on the dimensions of controllability, stability, and locus. The present study solicited New Zealand (Pakeha/European descent) and Singaporean (Chinese) students' attributions for their own success and failure in examinations. Also assessed were the criteria of success and failure, the likelihood of obtaining success and failure, the importance of achieving success and failure, the relative likelihood of giving an attribution for success or failure, and ratings of ten causes on the dimensions of controllability, locus, and stability. Differences between the cultures were obtained for several of these factors. These differences are related to different values in the two cultures, and have implications for theories of attribution and achievement motivation.
Self Development of Venezuelan Adolescents
Authors: Villegas-Reimers Eleonora
Published: March 2007

This study explores Kegan's theory of self development in a sample of 72 Venezuelan adolescents (aged 12 to 18). This study tests (a) whether Kegan's stages are found in a sample of Venezuelan adolescents and if they are equivalent to those found in U.S. adolescents of the same ages, (b) whether Kegan's Subject-Object Interview can be successfully used in a culture other than the United States, (c) whether age, gender, and their interaction have an effect on the stages of self development of this Venezuelan sample, and whether that effect is equivalent to that found in the U.S. subjects. Results show that, as predicted (given the information about U.S. samples), Stages 2, 3, and 4 are found among Venezuelan adolescents; that the instrument can be successfully used to assess these stages; that age has a significant effect, but gender has no effect.
Within-Culture and Gender Differences in Self-Concept
Authors: Watkins David , Regmi Murari
Published: March 2007

Open-ended self-descriptions were provided by 301 urban and 251 rural Nepalese secondary school children. The responses were coded according to whether they were "large group" collectivist, "small group" collectivist, or individualist and evaluative or nonevaluative self-references. As predicted, the rural, less modernized group gave fewer individualist responses but, contrary to prediction, did not provide either more "small group" collectivist responses or fewer evaluative responses. There was also no tendency for the males to report a more individualistic self. Both groups, particularly the rural, frequently reported future-oriented self-descriptions. The findings, therefore, questioned the generalizability of theoretical notions of culture and the self.
Cultural Differences in Illness Schemas
Authors: Edman Jeanne L. , Kameoka Velma A.
Published: March 2007

Physical illness attributions of Filipinos and Americans were compared to examine cultural variations in the causal component of the physical illness schemas. American (n = 50) and Filipino (n = 100) women rated physical, psychological, and spiritual-social illness explanations, and, as predicted, the Filipino women attributed the cause of illnesses to spiritual-social explanations more frequency than the Americans. The influence of education on illness attributions was also examined, and the findings indicated that less educated Filipino women tended to attribute illnesses to spiritual-social causes more often than the more educated group. Implications of cultural differences in illness schemas are discussed, as well as the impact of education on schema formation.
Toy Stories
Authors: Farver Jo Ann M. , Welles-Nyström Barbara , Frosch Dominick L. , Wimbarti Supra , Hoppe-Graff Siegfried
Published: March 2007

One hundred twenty 4-year-old children (30 from each culture, half girls) told two stories using toys with aggressive and neutral cues. Preschool teachers rated children's social competence and classroom behavior and parents completed a questionnaire about their child-rearing practices. Children's narratives were coded for length, complexity, story characteristics, thematic content, and number of aggressive words. Results showed that American children's narratives had more aggressive content, aggressive words, unfriendly characters, and mastery of situations with aggression than those of the Swedish, German, and Indonesian children. Although there were cross-cultural differences in the frequency of aggression in the narratives, there were similar intracultural patterns in children's individual characteristics that were related to aggression in the stories. The findings suggest that children's narratives reflect their knowledge and experience of aggression in their culture.
Cultural Influences on Emotional Responding
Authors: Tsai Jeanne L. , Levenson Robert W.
Published: March 2007

Ethnographic descriptions suggest that compared to European Americans, Chinese Americans place a greater emphasis on emotional moderation. To assess whether such cultural differences influence actual emotional responding, we compared the physiological responses and reported affect of 22 Chinese American and 20 European American college-age dating couples in an interpersonal context, that is, during conversations about areas of conflict in their relationship. Although some of our findings were consistent with ethnographic notions of greater emotional moderation in Chinese culture (Chinese Americans demonstrated less variable and less positive reported affect and less variable cardiac interbeat intervals than European Americans), other findings were not (Chinese Americans and European Americans did not differ in most measures of physiological responding and in reported negative affect).
Prejudice toward Immigrants to Spain and Israel
Authors: Stephan Walter G. , Ybarra Oscar , Martnez Carmen Martnez , Schwarzwald Joseph , Tur-Kaspa Michal
Published: March 2007

An integrated threat theory composed of four variables was used to predict attitudes toward immigrant groups in Spain and Israel. The four threats are symbolic threats based on value differences between groups; realistic threats to the power, resources, and well-being of the in-group; anxiety concerning social interaction with out-group members; and feelings of threat arising from negative stereotypes of the out-group. All four threats were significant predictors of attitudes toward one or more of the immigrant groups. It was predicted, and found, that intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes were more powerful and consistent predictors of prejudicial attitudes toward immigrants than were realistic threats or symbolic threats. The implications of the theory for the causes and reduction of prejudice were discussed.
Ecological Psychology, Caring, and the Boundaries of the Person
Authors: Pilisuk Marc
Published: March 2007

The central theme of ecological psychology is interdependence or connection that serves to sustain the balance of life on the planet. The lack of interdependent orientation is clearly seen in a report of a comparative risk assessment process used to rank environmental dangers. Combined emphases on self-development and objective indicators give psychology too little capacity to address ecological concerns. Ecological psychology shares with some indigenous Native American cultures a mode of thought in which interconnection and its psychological counterpart, caring, are predominant. The underlying beliefs of ecological psychology provide a new paradigm in which the work of psychologists can be a constructive response to dire environmental challenges.
Thriving after Trauma: The Experience of Parents of Murdered Children
Authors: Parappully Jose , Rosenbaum Robert , van den Daele Leland , Nzewi Esther
Published: March 2007

Psychological literature on trauma usually focuses on pathology that results from trauma and pays little attention to positive out-comes. This article presents a phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of a profoundly traumatized group of people—parents whose son or daughter has been murdered—to assess if they were able to experience a positive outcome resulting from their trauma and to identify associated processes and resources. Of 65 parents who volunteered, 16 were selected to complete a questionnaire and were given in-depth, semistructured interviews. The interview data, analyzed qualitatively, affirm positive outcomes for these parents. Four processes—acceptance, finding meaning, personal decision making, and reaching out to others in compassion—and six resources—personal qualities, spirituality, continuing bond with the victim, social support, previous coping experience, and self-care—facilitate a positive outcome.
Self-Actualization and Women: Rank and Freud Contrasted
Authors: Sward Keith
Published: March 2007

In their sharply contrasting images of "femininity," Rank and Freud were, at bottom, espousing two radically different concepts of self-actualization. To Freud, women are essentially creatures of instinct, destined by nature to function passively as sex objects and caretakers. Writing in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Rank regarded this sex model as patriarchal and reductionistic. It was his position that women as well as men have a drive for self-realization that transcends the socially imposed roles of any specific culture. After his break with Freud, Rank's thinking about women in particular and about human nature in general became increasingly humanistic, existential, and interpersonal. For these and other "heresies" Rank was excommunicated by the Freudian Establishment.