Asian multiculturalism in communication: Impact of culture in the practice of public relations in Singapore

This study aims to understand the role of cultural values in influencing public relations practice in Singapore. Given that Singapore exhibits a hybrid of cultures, it purposes to comprehend how multiculturalism is operationalized and to uncover if the values that have a greater influence on organizational communication resemble those in individualistic or collectivistic societies. Using Gudykunst’s (1998) seven dimensions that influence individualism-collectivism on communication as a guide, this study interviewed 20 public relations practitioners in Singapore. Our findings showed that although the patterns expressed is slightly more consistent with those found in collectivistic cultures, it does not resemble collectivism in entirety. Multiculturalism in Singapore displays a blend of certain cultural hybridity, which is aligned with it being a multicultural cosmopolitan city that embodies Western modernity while retaining its Asian values. Our findings further reinforced the idea that public relations professionals need to be multicultural themselves to effectively communicate with culturally diverse stakeholders in today’s globalizing era of multiculturalism.     

Political Socialization and Reactions to Immigration‐Related Diversity in Rural America*

Abstract We explore the roots of tolerance for immigration‐related diversity from a political socialization perspective. Among rural adolescent respondents, we find that attitudes toward immigrants are surprisingly variable along a number of important dimensions: anticipated socioeco‐nomic status, family longevity in the community, and employment in agriculture. The extent to which an adolescent's family is anchored in the community proves to be an important determinant of diversity attitudes. Tolerance for diversity is also contextually conditioned by the percentage of immigrants settled in a neighborhood, and the percentage of the local population employed in farming. Interestingly, lower income youth are more welcoming of immigration than the affluent, particularly when they live near them. Without quite labeling these rural adolescent populations racially “progressive,” the youth we encountered mostly expressed the norms of tolerance and civility essential for avoiding unpleasant intergroup conflict.     

Discrimination that Travels: How Ethnicity Affects Party Identification for Southeast Asian Immigrants*

Objectives. The critical importance of party identification as a determinant of vote choice is well documented. Given the increasing diversity of the population in the United States, it is critical that we understand the process of socialization into the political system for immigrant groups. It is especially important that we should be able to distinguish differences in socialization within a group. Methods. Using a framework developed by Cain, Kiewiet, and Uhlaner (1991) , we use newly available data to test their assertions about the development of party identification in Asian‐American immigrants. Results. Looking at a sample of foreign‐born Asian Americans, we find that critical differences can exist within groups. Conclusions. The differences within groups have an important effect on the development of party identification for those immigrants.     

Numerical evaluation of observed sojourn time distributions for a single ion channel incorporating time interval omission

The dynamical aspects of single ion channel gating can be modelled by a semi-Markov process. There is aggregation of states, corresponding to the receptor channel being open or closed, and there is time interval omission, brief sojourns in either the open or closed classes of states not being detected. This paper is concerned with the computation of the probability density functions of observed open (closed) sojourn-times incorporating time interval omission. A system of Volterra integral equations is derived, whose solution governs the required density function. Numerical procedures, using iterative and multistep methods, are described for solving these equations. Examples are given, and in the special case of Markov models results are compared with those obtained by alternative methods. Probabilistic interpretations are given for the iterative methods, which also give lower bounds for the solutions.     

Ulstermen and Loyalist Ladies on Parade: Gendering Unionism in Northern Ireland

This article explores parades as central institutions in the construction and maintenance of unionist ethno-gender identities and a crucial part of politics in Northern Ireland. It presents a brief historical review of the origins of Protestant marches and the organizations which are key to sustaining this tradition. It then analyses the contemporary marches, including the highly contested Portadown parade and the tranquil all-Ireland demonstration,held in Rossnowlagh in the Republic. These overwhelmingly male events are important to the maintenance of the gender order of unionism. The parades reveal the subordinated feminity within unionism: women participate in small numbers by invitation only. At the same time, they reveal competing masculinities: traditional, 'respectable' unionist masculinity is challenged by the more virile loyalism of 'Billy boy' and 'kick the pope' bands and marchers. This analysis explains why these competing masculinities are central, not only to the maintenance of male hegemony, but also to the ethno-national politics of parading, helping to set the boundaries of accommodation with nationalists and the state.     

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.     

Mean functions based on meta-mixtures in nonhomogeneous Poisson processes

This paper deals with the software reliability model based on a nonhomogeneous Poisson process. We introduce new types of mean functions which can be either NHPP-I or NHPP-II according to the choice of the distribution function. The proposed mean function is motivated by the fact that a strictly monotone increasing function can be modeled by a distribution function and an unknown distribution function approximated by a mixture of beta distributions. Some existing mean functions can be regarded as special cases of the proposed mean functions. The EM algorithm is used to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters in the proposed model.     

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.     

Parental transfer of financial knowledge and later credit outcomes among low- and moderate-income homeowners

It is well established that acquiring financial skills during childhood is linked with better savings in adulthood. Little is known, however, about the relationship between parental teaching of money management early in life and children's financial outcomes in adulthood. This is particularly true for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Using data from Community Advantage Program survey data for 2,389 LMI homeowners, we find that adults who report receiving high levels of money-management teaching in childhood from their parents are associated with higher credit scores and lower credit card debt in adulthood. We also find that the level of parental financial teaching influences the relationship between children's later educational attainment and credit scores. These findings suggest implications for initiatives promoting financial capability for parents and children.