Do cultural orientations moderate the relation between Chinese adolescents’ shyness and depressive symptoms? It depends on their academic achievement

We examined the moderating roles of individualistic and collectivistic cultural orientations and academic achievement on the relation between Chinese adolescents’ shyness and depressive symptoms. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N = 492) from an urban school participated in the study during seventh (T1) and eighth (T2) grades. Adolescents self‐reported their shyness, cultural orientations, and depressive symptoms. The school provided records of their academic achievement. Concurrently, shyness and individualism were positively whereas collectivism and academic achievement were negatively, associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Longitudinally, T1 shyness (but not individualism, collectivism, or academic achievement) predicted T2 depressive symptoms after controlling for stability in depressive symptoms. Concurrent relations between shyness and depressive symptoms were moderated by adolescents’ cultural orientations. Specifically, collectivism was protective whereas individualism was harmful, for shy adolescents’ adjustment. Furthermore, collectivism and academic achievement jointly moderated the relations between shyness and depressive symptoms concurrently and longitudinally. The results suggest that cultural orientations may influence shy adolescents’ depression symptoms through individual‐level self‐evaluation, and indicate that cultural factors and academic achievement need to be considered comprehensively for understanding and improving shy Chinese adolescents’ psychological adjustment.     

Does social capital always raise life satisfaction? A comparison of South Korea and Taiwan

This study examined the relationship between social capital and life satisfaction in an Asian context, focusing on South Korea and Taiwan. We considered two components of social capital – networks and trust – and argue that the ability of social capital to increase life satisfaction depends on the context. Using the national Life and Society survey data from South Korea (N = 978) and Taiwan (N = 1,200), our analysis found that, when several control variables, such as subjective social status, self‐reported health condition, sex and belief in individualism, were considered, social capital was positively related to life satisfaction in Taiwan, while there was no significant association between social capital and life satisfaction in South Korea. The South Korean case revealed that social capital is not a good predictor of life satisfaction in a context in which being successful is overwhelmingly emphasised.     

当代中国企业组织的人本化建构

组织层面的“以人为本”包括“发挥人的效用”与“给人以自主”两个方面。但以个人主义为取向的现代企业组织在集体主义传统浓重的中国日常生活环境下,无法给人以自主;同时,集体主义既是传统生产方式下现代企业组织实现效率的有效手段,更为后工业生产所必需。这就要求现代企业组织来构筑集体主义,以在中国实现“以人为本”,但它不能通过继承中国传统的集体主义来实现,因其缺乏市场经济所要求的个体自由。中国企业组织的人本化建构,要求的是一种由员工持股与现代企业制度相结合所建构的含纳个体自由的新集体主义。     

个体主义和集体主义的跨文化心理学研究述评

在跨文化心理学的研究中,研究者常常将个体主义和集体主义作为决定个体行为和价值观的两种不同的文化变量,寻找人类心理和行为在不同文化背景下的普遍性和特殊性。本文主要论述了个体主义和集体主义的定义,个体主义和集体主义维度,个体主义和集体主义研究方法;对个体主义和集体主义研究的文化局限、测量的方法进行了简要的评价。并对其研究的意义提出了新的展望。     

The Impact of Social Capital on Labor Force Participation: Evidence from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey

Objectives . Few studies apply the concept of social capital to labor force participation. In this research, I study the relationship between friendship networks and labor force participation as represented by employment and hours worked. Methods . I test five hypotheses representing social capital with network structure, network quality, and network diversity using nationally representative data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey. Since this survey enables comparisons across racial/ethnic and gender groups, I am also able to specify how social capital interacts with race/ethnicity and gender to influence labor force participation, while controlling for other prominent theoretical concerns such as human capital theory. Results . I find that friendship networks are generally positively related with increased labor force participation. Further, I find significant social capital differences based on race/ethnicity and gender. Conclusions . I illustrate that social capital can be applied across a broader racial/ethnic/gender spectrum. The findings suggest that programs that attempt to bring valuable labor market information to individuals and communities lacking employment–related information are likely to be effective in reducing inequality, especially if combined with programs for developing human capital.     

Loneliness and Peer Relations in Adolescence

The present study examined whether adolescent loneliness would be lower within the context of positive relationships with peers. The core conceptual model predicted that hypothesized links between peer‐rated social behaviors or victimization and loneliness would be mediated by social acceptance. Relationship experiences (i.e., social acceptance, reciprocal liking, and romantic relationship history), also were hypothesized to serve as protective factors in the links between social behaviors/victimization and loneliness. Finally, we examined sociometric status group differences in loneliness. Participants were 2091 11th grade students (61 percent girls). As expected, adolescent loneliness was positively associated with shyness, even when social acceptance was controlled. Additionally, loneliness was positively correlated with victimization and inversely related to prosocial and disruptive behavior. The link between victimization and loneliness was fully mediated by social acceptance; no other mediational models were supported. Also, the three relationship experience variables were unique predictors of loneliness (with social acceptance explaining the bulk of the variance in loneliness). There was no evidence, however, that social acceptance moderated the links between social behavior or victimization and loneliness. Sociometric analyses revealed that neglected and shy‐rejected, but not aggressive‐rejected adolescents, were lonelier than average peers.     

‘She is looking at me! Shall I share?’ How Chinese and American preschoolers respond to eye gaze during sharing

Previous research shows that the recipient's verbal communication about desires increases young children's sharing behavior. The current study examined how an adult partner's non‐verbal communication through eye gaze influenced sharing behavior in children from different cultures. We presented one hundred forty‐six 3‐ to 5‐year‐old American and Chinese children with a Dictator Game, in which they were asked to distribute resources between themselves and an experimenter. Children were randomly assigned to three conditions, in which the experimenter alternated her gaze between the child and the items that she wanted, or looked randomly around the room, or left when the child made decisions about sharing but claimed to come back later. Results showed that Chinese children shared more than American children did in the alternating‐gaze condition, but not in the other two conditions; furthermore, the experimenter's alternating gaze influenced Chinese children to be more generous, but had no significant effect on American children. This suggests that compared to American children, Chinese children may be more compliant with others’ requests communicated through a subtle cue of eye gaze. The study demonstrates important differences in sharing behaviors between American and Chinese preschoolers, and these differences are consistent with the cultural constructs of individualism and collectivism.     

Comparison on predictors of mental health service use among Asian older adults

Studies have mostly examined mental health service use of older Asian immigrant combining all Asian Americans into one group whereas immigration backgrounds and socioeconomic status of each Asian minority group are different. Therefore, this study aimed to identify predictors of mental health service use within specific ethnic groups among older Asian adults focusing on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese in California. The Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BMVP) is used to guide the secondary data analysis of a sample of 3,453 older Asian immigrants from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Logistic and linear regression analyses are performed to examine predictors of mental health service use and the frequency of mental health service use, respectively. As results, mental health‐seeking patterns differ by ethnicity within the older Asian immigrant sample, not being married (Korean), higher levels of acculturation (Filipino), lower levels of neighborhood cohesion (Korean and Vietnamese), higher levels of perceived safety (Korean) and lower levels of perceived safety (Vietnamese), higher levels of mental distress (Korean and Filipino), and having perceived need (all) were related to more visits for mental health services. The study findings highlight the necessity of cultural competency services and programs for each Asian ethnicity.     

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.     

Neither individualism nor anti-individualism: The coevolution of social systems and psychic systems

Major paradigms in sociology and social sciences usually embrace either individualism or anti-individualism as fundamental worldview. This paper explores a third way between individualism and anti-individualism developed by German sociologist Niklas Luhmann in his systems theory. Luhmann treats actors or individuals as psychic systems and he distinguishes them from social systems. In a nutshell, social systems produce communication, whereas psychic systems produce consciousness. In line with anti-individualism, Luhmann therefore argues that social systems are irreducible to psychic systems and their actions. On the other hand, Luhmann joins ranks with individualism to assert that psychic systems are not rigorously constrained by social systems. Ultimately, Luhmann explains that social systems and psychic systems are part of each other's environment and that each type of systems provides the ecological conditions that the other type depends on to emerge and grow. To discuss this third way between individualism and anti-individualism, the paper examines more specifically two central points in Luhmann's theory: (1) how social systems and psychic systems are separated from each other, and (2) how social systems and psychic systems are coevolving.     

Differences in inmate-inmate and inmate-staff altercations: Examples from a medium security prison

Inmate violence is a major concern for correctional organizations. Most research on violence lump together inmate-inmate and inmate-staff violence and attempt to understand them from a single perspective. This article posits that inmate-inmate and inmate-staff violence are different phenomenon. Data from a medium security prison is used to understand the relationship between inmate-inmate and inmate-staff violence and other variables. Inmate-inmate altercations are related to structural and interpersonal variables. Inmate-staff altercations are related to the extent to which inmates are involved in social relationship with other inmates and see the correctional staff as a physical threat to them. variables. Inmate-staff altercations are related to the extent to which inmates are involved in social relationship with other inmates and see the correctional staff as a physical threat to them. variables. Inmate-staff altercations are related to the extent to which inmates are involved in social relationship with other inmates and see the correctional staff as a physical threat to them.     

从政治技艺到一般社会学——重新考察涂尔干的政治社会学遗产

通过考察涂尔干的一般社会学及其论题的形成过程,可以发现涂尔干建立的从特殊科学到一般科学的社会科学体系与他力图扩展的政治学古典分析框架直接相关,他的一般社会学则扮演了传统政治学的角色。沿着涂尔干最初的论题,可以进一步探讨其理论与社会主义、个人主义和孟德斯鸠政治学说之间的关联,并搭建一个用以理解其政治学说的框架。涂尔干将政治范畴从纯粹的政府理论扩展至社会总体,目的是将后者作为现代政治的首要问题。唯有在此框架下,他的政治理论才能得到恰当的理解。最后,涂尔干并未否定政治的首要位置和政治家的地位,他主张的带有文明论和整体论色彩的政治理论作为政治社会学遗产的价值远未得到充分揭示。     

Causal Attributions of Dementia Among Korean American Immigrants

To better understand conceptualizations of dementia, this study explored causal attributions of dementia among 209 Korean Americans, using a self-administered questionnaire in Korean. Findings show that Korean Americans endorsed various causal attributions. Factor analysis yielded 3 dimensions of their attributions including psychological, physical/environmental, and cognitive/social. Bivariate analyses showed that younger age and higher education were related to more physical/environmental attributions, and younger age was related to more cognitive/social attributions. The study provides an understanding of causal attributions of dementia that practitioners need to understand to provide culturally competent practice and highlights a need to customize public education messages by specific ethnic groups.     

Causal attributions of dementia among Korean American immigrants

To better understand conceptualizations of dementia, this study explored causal attributions of dementia among 209 Korean Americans, using a self-administered questionnaire in Korean. Findings show that Korean Americans endorsed various causal attributions. Factor analysis yielded 3 dimensions of their attributions including psychological, physical/environmental, and cognitive/social. Bivariate analyses showed that younger age and higher education were related to more physical/environmental attributions, and younger age was related to more cognitive/social attributions. The study provides an understanding of causal attributions of dementia that practitioners need to understand to provide culturally competent practice and highlights a need to customize public education messages by specific ethnic groups.     

论林语堂的民族观念及自由意识

林语堂深受中西文化浸润,其民族观念体现在他试图通过个人文化趣味与文化感悟,阐发中国传统文化伦理的人文价值及其对应于社会文化选择的个人文化特质,把中国传统文化中以＂刚柔并济＂为特征的道家哲学和儒家＂中庸之道＂合而为一,归结为＂中国的人文主义＂。他从中国传统文化意识中寻求灵感,帮助自己确立了基于个人主义的自由观念,并创建了文学＂性灵论＂,进一步张扬个性。民族观念和自由意识的确立帮助林语堂对中国人的生命意识有了更深切地体会,并在中西文化之间找到了自己的人生信念。     

Social disclosure among Korean domestic adoptive parents: the role of self-esteem

This study examines the relationship among involuntary childlessness, social support, and social disclosure of Korean domestic adoptive parents. Data were collected from a sample of 90 such parents who had already disclosed the adoption to their child. Path analysis revealed that involuntary childlessness does not directly affect social disclosure of adoption, but it does affect the self-esteem of adoptive parents, and parental self-esteem was significantly and positively related to social disclosure. Social support reinforces the self-esteem of adoptive parents, thus contributing to the social disclosure of adoption. This research highlights the importance of pre- and post-adoption counselling that address the unique experiences of adoptive families in South Korea.     

Representing the Mental World in Children's Social Behavior: Playing Hide-and-Seek and Keeping a Secret

This study examined the relationship between children's developing theory of mind and their ability to engage in two social behaviors which have, as their cognitive underpinning, the representation that what one knows may not be accessible to others. Children of 3, 4, and 5 years, in a quasi‐naturalistic setting, played hide‐and‐seek and also were required to keep a secret about a surprise. The ability to play hide‐and‐seek was significantly related to children's ability to refrain from disclosing the secret, and there was a significant relationship between these behaviors and children's social cognition, as measured by theory of mind tasks. The relationship between these social behaviors and tasks measuring executive function was not significant once age was taken into account. With regard to the development of these social behaviors, few 3‐year‐olds, but most 4‐year‐olds, and almost all 5‐year‐olds could successfully play hide‐and‐seek and keep a secret. This study demonstrates the importance of the conceptual understanding of mental states in the young child's social world.     

在瞻望黄金世界中迷失现在--读解《洼地上的"战役"》兼及17年文学的"现代性"问题

路翎的短篇小说<洼地上的"战役">是否不恰当地描写了志愿军战士王应洪与朝鲜姑娘金圣姬之间"不该发生的"的爱情?17年文学的"现代性"应该以何为标准?这是本文要解决的主要问题.一切对文学文本的重读与文学史著的改写,都具有伽达默尔所说的"效果史"特征.半个世纪后的今天,重读<洼地上的"战役">,会有一些令人激动也令人伤感的收获,由此亦将引发一个关于17年文学"现代性"问题的深长思索.     

Chinese seniors’ attitudes towards government responsibility for social welfare: Self‐interest,collectivism orientation and regional disparities

Government responsibility for social welfare remains a significant issue in the field of social welfare. Public welfare attitudes not only refer to the social needs of members of society, but also are viewed as the basis for government responsibility for social welfare. Data used in this study came from the Moderate Universalist Social Welfare Survey with a final sample of 1,166 seniors from four Chinese cities in 2012. This study examined seniors’ attitudes towards government responsibility for providing specific welfare and mixed welfare. It concluded that seniors’ welfare attitudes share the traits of self‐interest in general. Seniors’ perception of social rights and cities of residence were two important factors associated with welfare attitudes in both aspects of specific and mixed welfare. The stronger seniors’ social rights perception was the more favourable were the attitudes they held towards government responsibility for social welfare, indicating the collectivism orientation of their welfare attitudes.     

Empirical Analysis of Fiscal Soundness and Public Social Expenditure: A Lesson for the Future Direction of the Korean Welfare State

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relations between fiscal soundness and public social expenditure in advanced welfare states so as to reconsider the conventional wisdom that welfare expenditure aggravates national finances. Through this, I propose the clues of building the sustainable Korean welfare state. I focus on the interdependent relationship between fiscal soundness and public social expenditure based on fiscal sociology. Considering this interaction, I form two sets of simultaneous equations models and employ a special statistical method, three‐stage least squares (3SLS). The results regarding the causal relationship between fiscal soundness and public social spending indicate that, if public welfare spending is increased, fiscal health is damaged. However, as many comparative social policy researchers have pointed out, outcomes of welfare states differ from country to country according to the composition of public welfare spending. Specifically, some welfare states with priority given to social services such as vocational training or childcare services have maintained the stability of public finance. By extension, we can say that public social expenditures have a positive influence on fiscal soundness based on the composition of social expenditures. Finally, it is possible to create financially sustainable welfare states.