Subjective well‐being: what do adolescents say?

The aim of this paper is to analyse how 10‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents define their own perceptions of well‐being and the factors influencing it at their age. Ten focus groups were organized, two from each age group. One group for each age included the students with the lowest scores in subjective well‐being (SWB) and the other included those with the highest, according to their responses to previously administered psychometric scales. The views of the participating adolescents were explored by means of a content analysis. In general, the children mentioned both positive and negative elements of participating in defining what constitutes well‐being. According to these children, well‐being is related to both affects and attitudes, relations with family and friends being key factors in it. Differences in the information provided reveal some variations according to age and SWB score. Children scoring lower in SWB tend to refer more to relationships with friends and basic needs covered, whereas those scoring higher tend to refer more to family relationships and not having problems. The results of this research can contribute to both social policy design and appraisal as they provide an in‐depth understanding of how SWB works at these ages.     

媒介批评视角下的肖洛霍夫形象

中国媒体对肖洛霍夫形象的构建,与中苏(俄)两国的政治、经济与文化关系密不可分。当两国关系处于和平友好阶段时,中国媒体对肖洛霍夫的态度就显得很亲善,甚至达到狂热崇拜的地步;一旦两国关系恶化,中国媒体对肖洛霍夫及其作品采取憎恶态度;只有两国关系正常化之后,媒介批评才归于理性与公正。     

Political Violence and Adolescent Out‐group Attitudes and Prosocial Behaviors: Implications for Positive Inter‐group Relations

The negative impact of political violence on adolescent adjustment is well established. Less is known about factors that affect adolescents' positive outcomes in ethnically divided societies, especially influences on prosocial behaviors toward the out‐group, which may promote constructive relations. For example, understanding how inter‐group experiences and attitudes motivate out‐group helping may foster inter‐group co‐operation and help to consolidate peace. The current study investigated adolescents' overall and out‐group prosocial behaviors across two time points in Belfast, Northern Ireland (N = 714 dyads; 49% male; Time 1: M = 14.7, SD = 2.0, years old). Controlling for Time 1 prosocial behaviors, age, and gender, multi‐variate structural equation modeling showed that experience with inter‐group sectarian threat predicted fewer out‐group prosocial behaviors at Time 2 at the trend level. On the other hand, greater experience of intra‐group non‐sectarian threat at Time 1 predicted more overall and out‐group prosocial behaviors at Time 2. Moreover, positive out‐group attitudes strengthened the link between intra‐group threat and out‐group prosocial behaviors one year later. Finally, experience with intra‐group non‐sectarian threat and out‐group prosocial behaviors at Time 1 was related to more positive out‐group attitudes at Time 2. The implications for youth development and inter‐group relations in post‐accord societies are discussed.     

Empathy to action: Child and adolescent out‐group attitudes and prosocial behaviors in a setting of intergroup conflict

The paper explored how to promote constructive intergroup relations among children and young people in a context of protracted conflict. Across two studies, the Empathy–Attitudes–Action model was examined in middle childhood and adolescence. More specifically, we tested the relations among dispositional empathy, out‐group attitudes, and prosocial behaviors for youth born after the peace agreement in Northern Ireland. In one correlational (Study 1: N = 132; 6–11 years old: M = 8.42 years, SD = 1.23) and one longitudinal design (Study 2: N = 466; 14–15 years old), bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed that empathy was associated with more positive attitudes toward the conflict‐related out‐group, which in turn, was related to higher out‐group prosocial behaviors, both self‐report and concrete actions. Given that out‐group prosocial acts in a setting of intergroup conflict may serve as the antecedents for peacebuilding among children and adolescents, this study has intervention implications.     

宏观税负、公共支出结构与个人主观幸福感 ——兼论“政府转型”

本文利用CGSS2006数据库,对政府转型下的宏观税负、民生财政支出和地区收入差距等与个人主观幸福感的关系进行实证检验后发现：（1）宏观税负对居民主观幸福感有显著负影响;（2）总体而言,政府公共支出增进了居民的主观幸福感;（3）从公共支出结构看,地方政府基建投资对于城镇居民的主观幸福感有显著负效应,政府用于科教文卫和社会保障的支出对居民的主观幸福感有显著正效应;（4）科教文卫支出与社会保障支出对市民与外来人员幸福感的影响存在显著差异。     

Imagination and Peace: On the Inner Dynamics of Promoting Peace Activism

The relations between peace activism and the Utopian, anticipatory, sympathetic, and compensatory functions of the imagination are explored, and the results of a group process using inner dialogue to help participants understand the dynamics of their relation to peace activism are analyzed. Social action is viewed here as arising in part from a successful negotiation between inner voices that inhibit progressing from the awareness of social problems into action and voices that encourage this integration of awareness and action. A revised group method to facilitate and sustain peace action in one's life is described, building on both my findings and Elise Boulding's work on imagining a peaceful future.     

Contributors to well-being of Chinese left-behind families: A dyadic perspective from family resilience and grandparent–grandchild relationship

There is evidence that grandchildren and grandparents in Chinese left-behind families (CLBF) suffer from immense life stressors. The well-being of both generations is of great concern. Guided by the family adjustment and adaptation response model and ecological model of well-being, the present study aimed to investigate the dyadic associations between family resilience and subjective well-being (SWB) of left-behind grandchildren and grandparents. Furthermore, we explored the extent to which relationship quality accounts for such reciprocal associations. A sample of 130 left-behind grandparent–grandchild (GP–GC) pairs completed self-reported questionnaires. Actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) revealed that both grandchildren's and grandparents' reported family resilience positively associated with their own SWB but not the other's SWB. Grandchildren's and grandparents' perceived relationship quality mediated the association between their perceived family resilience and their own SWB. Moreover, grandchildren-perceived relationship quality mediated the association between grandchildren-perceived family resilience and grandparents' SWB. Meanwhile, grandparent-perceived relationship quality mediated the association between grandparent-perceived family resilience and grandchildren's SWB. The findings highlighted the significance of family resilience and relationship quality in boosting the two generations' SWB in CLBF. The results also suggested that left-behind grandchildren and their grandparents depend on each other. Future intervention programs could be benefitted from integrating the enhancement of family resilience and improvement of grandparent–grandchild relationship quality to promote the well-being of left-behind family members.     

Hope and subjective well‐being among parents of children with special needs

The current study examined subjective well‐being (SWB) in parents who raise children with special needs. Previous studies that focused on parenting children with special needs stressed increased risk of depression. This study examined parental level of hope, the significance of being involved in a partner relationship and parental perception of the seriousness of their child's disability, each a factor that may influence parental SWB. A random sample of 92 parents raising children with special needs in Israel participated in the study. They completed three questionnaires, examining parent's perception of the severity of their child's disability, parental SWB and parents' level of hope. Results revealed that a high level of hope, being in a partnered relationship, and perception of the child's disability as having some positive influence on central aspects of the parents' life, are all significant contributors to raising parental SWB. Study findings show that ‘agency’, a component of the concept of ‘hope’, is a significant factor in predicting SWB in parents of a child with special needs. Perhaps awareness of how they can improve their SWB by using certain aspects of their lifestyle to their advantage can help improve quality of life for parents of children with special needs.     

The importance of social circumstances for Swedish women's subjective wellbeing

The importance of social circumstances for middle-age women's general subjective wellbeing (SWB) was investigated in a representative sample of Swedish women, aged 43 (N = 369). The results showed non-existent to moderate relationships between a number of social circumstances variables and general SWB. The strongest relationship was found between marital status and global life satisfaction. Being off work because of illness and household income were the strongest predictors of negative affect. A moderate relationship was found between a cumulated social disadvantage index and SWB, indicating that extreme differences in this index were related to fairly large differences in SWB. In person-oriented analyses, social circumstances were compared between women with a typical profile of generalised low SWB and women with a typical profile of generalised above-average SWB. The results indicated stronger relationships between SWB and the cumulative disadvantage index and unemployment than was the case in the variable-oriented analyses. When personality factors were controlled for, they eliminated nearly all relationships between the social circumstances variables and SWB, except for those between global life satisfaction and marital status or unemployment.     

Swedish and Lithuanian employed women's subjective well-being

National differences in subjective well-being (SWB) and relationships between SWB and socio-demographic factors were investigated in samples of middle-aged employed Swedish (N = 316) and Lithuanian (N = 308) women. The results showed that the Swedish women scored significantly higher on each SWB component than their counterparts in Lithuania, except in extrinsic job satisfaction. For the Swedish sample, the largest mean differences between different socio-demographic groups were found for global life satisfaction between married/co-habiting and single women and between women who had at least one child and those without children. For the Lithuanian sample, the largest differences in all SWB components were found between women characterised by high or low education/income.     

Aggressive behaviour in at‐risk children: contribution of subjective well‐being and family cohesion

We examined the contributors to aggressive behaviour in 111 at‐risk Israeli children aged 9–13 years who attended day centres over several years to prevent removal from their homes. This non‐normative transition to a day centre represents a difficult period of change for these children, which often manifests in aggressive behaviours, at least in the short term. To elucidate predictors of aggressive behaviour, we investigated a familial variable (family cohesion) and a personal variable (subjective well‐being [SWB]) that were previously shown to correlate with various aspects of children's aggression. Children's self‐reports underscored the importance of SWB for their aggressive behaviour. SWB's cognitive component – life satisfaction – correlated significantly with all four measures of aggressive behaviour (physical violence, verbal violence, anger and hostility). SWB's emotional component – negative affect – correlated significantly with all but verbal violence. Interestingly, SWB was found to mediate the hostility dimension of aggression (as well as family cohesion). Other significant findings revealed that family cohesion correlated positively with SWB (life satisfaction and positive affect) and correlated negatively with aggression (physical violence, verbal violence, anger and hostility). Various explanations were discussed alongside implications for day care staff's individual and family interventions.     

Antisocial and Prosocial Teasing Among Children: Perceptions and Individual Differences

Two studies examined fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students’ perceptions of antisocial and prosocial teasing among peers and potential correlates of individual differences in their tendencies to engage in both forms of teasing. The children were rated as showing a greater tendency to be prosocial teasers than antisocial teasers by both teachers and peers. In addition, the children indicated that they generally experienced and observed prosocial teasing more frequently than antisocial teasing at home and in school. Although boys were perceived to tease in a hostile, antisocial manner to a greater extent than were girls, the evidence for a gender difference in affiliative, prosocial teasing among these children was relatively weak. Additionally, systematic relations were found among ratings of the children's tendencies to engage in antisocial and prosocial teasing with peers, teachers’ ratings of their general level of antisocial and prosocial behavior with peers, ratings of the frequency with which they experienced antisocial and prosocial teasing at home and at school, and their attitudes toward antisocial and prosocial teasing.     

New Horizons of Economic Relations

The consistent policy of socialist countries that is directed toward improving relations with all countries irrespective of their social system and the obvious turn toward realism and the relaxation of tensions characteristic of the present policy of a number of Western powers have led to an improvement in the international political climate in recent years. The peace initiatives of the Soviet Union, the successful development of Soviet-French collaboration, the Soviet-West German and Polish-West German treaties, the quadrilateral agreement on West Berlin, the important results of Soviet-American negotiations, real prospects for convening an all-European conference on security and collaboration — all these things create favorable prerequisites for new and positive change in international relations.     

Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and Experience of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland

Two studies used random sample surveys to test the "contact hypothesis" on intergroup attitudes of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. In Study 1, archival data from two different surveys in 1989 ( N = 310 Catholics, 422 Protestants) and 1991 ( N = 319 Catholics, 478 Protestants) showed that contact was positively related to attitudes toward denominational mixing. Study 2 ( N = 391 Catholics, 647 Protestants) explored predictors of intergroup forgiveness, and also showed that intergroup contact was positively related to outgroup attitudes, perspective-taking, and trust (even among those who had a worse experience of sectarian conflict). These studies indicate that research in peace psychology can provide a deeper understanding of the conflict in Northern Ireland and, in due course, contribute to its resolution.     

Peace Fair or Warfare: Educating the Community

Psychologists who wish to promote peace and justice must investigate how to mobilize the political will of the people in order to improve the policy making of the elite. This is the second study in a program of action research designed to investigate ways of encouraging people to accept personal responsiblity for influencing governmental foreign policy. It reports an attempt to create an ideal educational experience—a peace fair—that would provide the set of conditions that the first study suggested were essential for the acceptance of personal responsibility. The fair was successful in convincing individuals that they personally could do something to help prevent nuclear war. However, it revealed a serious weakness in the current peace movement—an inability to portray convincingly a course of national action that could promote peace and justice. This is an essential component for efficient action. Suggestions are made for the next round of research.     

民进党当局的“台独外交”与东南亚

民进党当局出于地缘战略的考虑,在东南亚重点推行“台独外交”。一些东南亚国家由于历史、地理、经济、文化等诸多因素的考虑,采取的是一种在大陆和台湾之间搞平衡的实用主义政策,因而在台湾问题上不断突破对中国的承诺,使双边关系受到影响。东南亚国家应与中国联手遏制“台独”,这不仅有利于地区的和平、稳定与繁荣,也符合东南亚各国的根本利益。     

A Comparison of South-East Asian and Australian First-Year Students' Views on University

A questionnaire study was carried out with Asian and Australian university entrants in order to ascertain their differential attitudes as to the purposes of an ideal university, and their expectations as to the milieu of an actual university. The implications of the significant culturally based differences between the two groups are discussed in terms of relative value systems, culture-shock effects, and the ramifications for both academic policy and inter-racial relations.     

Unemployment, shame and ill health — an exploratory study

Unemployed young people in six Swedish municipalities were studied in respect of the degree of shaming elements experienced by them in their social environment and in respect of mental ill health. The nature of the investigation was exploratory. The study shows that experience of shaming elements in the environment owing to unemployment is relatively frequent. A larger proportion of the long-term unemployed and men account for more shaming elements than do the short-term unemployed and women. It seems as if the factor of shaming elements in the environment is important in order to understand the adverse health-related consequences of unemployment. A greater proportion of those who live in a more shaming environment show mental disorders, deteriorated health, changes in living habits, activities and social relations, than do those living in a less shaming environment. This report discusses possible explanations of the results in the light of existing moral concepts of work and unemployment, as well as of shaming attitudes towards the unemployed.     

Culture of Peace: Sociostructural Dimensions, Cultural Values, and Emotional Climate

This article examines how objective measures of sociostructural dimensions of a culture of peace are related to subjective national values, attitudes, and emotional climate. National scores on objective measures of four sociostructural dimensions were correlated with national means from a number of cultural value data sets and national indexes of emotional climate. Liberal Development was congruently associated with egalitarian, individualist values, a low negative emotional climate, and less willingness to fight in a new war. By contrast, Violent Inequality was associated with lower harmony values and less valuing of intellectual autonomy. State Use of Violent Means was strongly associated with low harmony values. Nurturance was associated with horizontal individualism, tolerance, cooperative values, and positive emotional climate. The conclusion discusses how the construction of a culture of peace must be based on values as well as objective sociocultural factors.     

Positive college attitudes among minority and low-income students as an indicator of academic success

Positive student attitudes among minority and low SES students toward the effectiveness of their college may be seen as a function of college success. These data suggest that students with positive attitudes toward their college experience had greater academic achievements than those who had negative attitudes.