Indigenous Psychology: Grounding Science in Culture,Why and How?

My agenda is to ground psychological science in culture by using complex rather than overly simple models of culture and using indigenous categories as criteria of a translation test to determine the adequacy of scientific models of culture. I first explore the compatibility between Chinese indigenous categories and complex models of culture, by casting in the theoretical framework of symmetry and symmetry breaking (Bolender, 2010) a series of translations performed on Fiske's (1991) relational models theory. Next, I show how the dimensional approach to culture, prevalent in mainstream psychology, fails the translation test. Ethical implications of this analysis for cross cultural psychology are discussed.     

Sustainable cities: Oxymoron,utopia, or inevitability?

Some people argue that, by definition and common sense, cities can not be sustainable. Others say that the idea is utopian, but that we can learn from literacy examples. Still others assert that cities will, must, and are becoming sustainable. This article explores each point of view, cites examples of steps toward sustainability currently being taken by various types of communities, notes common elements among them, and offers a resolution based on different definitions of sustainability.     

Is the Case for Social Science Laws Strengthening?

The effectiveness of Kincaid's (1996) and McIntyre's (1996) cases for the possibility and actual existence of laws in social science is evaluated. The ways in which Kincaid and McIntyre argue against the confounding effects of four long-recognised barriers to the existence of social science laws are assessed. A brief review is presented first of definitions of causal (rather than regularity) laws. The four obstacles undermining causal laws are the non natural or social kind nature of the entities with which social science deals, the nature of mechanisms in social explanation, domain restrictions applying to causal explanation in social science, and the openness of the human systems encompassing socio-economic behaviour. Against the arguments of Kincaid and McIntyre, these four issues constitute fundamental a priori problems that continue to undermine the development of laws in social science, beyond those that can be derived by common sense, and that are potentially effective for policy-making.     

‘Leaning Against an Open Door’: Ideology and the cyclicality of public expenditure

When is government expenditure likely to be procyclical? While economists tend to anticipate counter-cyclical expenditure, recent studies report procyclical expenditure. This paper explores the impact of political ideology on the cyclicality of government expenditure. Predictions are tested with reference to government expenditure in the USA between 1950 and 2008. The likelihood of procyclical expenditure increases if groups that press for increased public expenditure are‘…leaning against an open door’.     

Science versus Human Welfare? Understanding Attitudes toward Animal Use

Scientists have been portrayed as having an uncaring attitude toward the use of animals and being inclined to reject the possibility of animal mind ( Baldwin, 1993 ; Blumberg & Wasserman, 1995 ), yet there is little empirical research to support these claims. We examined why disparate attitudes toward animal use are held. Scientists, animal welfarists, and laypersons (N = 372) were compared on questionnaire responses that measured attitudes toward four types of animal use, and factors that might underlie these views (including belief in animal mind). As expected, scientists and animal welfarists held polarized views on all measures, whereas laypersons fell between the two. Animal welfarists were consistently opposed to all types of animal use, whereas scientists expressed support for the use of animals for medical research, but not for dissection, personal decoration, and entertainment. Animal welfarists showed high levels of belief in animal mind for 13 animal types, and scientists believed some of the 13 animals to have at least a moderate capacity for cognition and most to have at least a moderate capacity for sentience. Hence, the negative image of the science community that is often portrayed was not supported by our data. Findings were discussed in relation to external (group membership) and internal (belief systems) factors, and it is concluded that some people hold fixed attitudes toward animal use, whereas others are more influenced by context.     

Gender effects for loss aversion: Yes,no, maybe?

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty - Gender effects in risk taking have attracted much attention by economists, and remain debated. Loss aversion—the stylized finding that a given loss carries...     

Participation in Science Service: Factors Influencing Volunteers’ Intentions

In spite of previous researches in large-scale volunteerisms have explored volunteer’s theory of planned behavior (TPB), little has been known concerning the scale development of volunteers’ Satisfaction and Motivation in related to science volunteer service. This study tested an expanded TPB model with a sample of 443 volunteers taken from a project for science volunteers run by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan. To explore volunteers’ perspectives on their involvement in science service, structured questionnaires examined their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, Satisfaction and motivation via continued observation throughout the duration of the project. The findings from the path analyses suggest that the TPB is a useful tool for understanding event volunteers’ intention. In addition, Satisfaction emerged as the exclusive determinant of sustained volunteering and also as the potential predictor of the effects of other variables on future volunteering behavior. However, it was found that the science volunteers’ motivation had significant negative correlation with behavioral intention. In general, the expanded model of TBP provided an appropriate framework for understanding the factors associated with volunteering. Practical implications and future research directions for science volunteer management are also discussed.     

Domestic violence, poverty, and social services: does location matter?

Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated.Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police-reported domestic violence incidents and assaults using OLS regression and correcting for spatial autocorrelation.Results. The presence of an agency within a town has no relationship with the rates of domestic violence. However, regional patterns are evident.Conclusion. Findings indicate that programs are not geographically mismatched with need, but neither are programs located in towns with higher rates of incidents or assaults. Future research and planning efforts should consider the geographic location of agencies.     

美国对华政策:现实接触,海外平衡,抑或合作安全?

本论文分析了美国对中华人民共和国政策的三种可选择的战略：（１）现实接触,（２）海外平衡,（３）合作安全。这三种战略分别从不同的视角描述了中国在美政策中的不同角色。现实接触基本上是目前克林顿政府的政策,将接触与遏制相结合。海外平衡基于对克林顿政府政策的现实主义批判,主张缩小美国在东亚的战略义务,采用权力平衡的方式。据此,①美国应当终止美日安保条约和与东亚其他政府（如韩国）的双边安全条约,取消在此地区的十万驻军,依靠使日本与中国相互抗衡来维持该地区的战略安全。本论文指出,由于各种原因这两种选择方案都…