Will taxpayers ever like taxes?: Responses to the U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1986

Major policy changes like the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA) in the United States provide natural experiments to study attitudinal and behavior responses to law. Surprisingly, public evaluations of the TRA became increasingly negative after passage, while general support for the tax system became more positive in response to the changes. To explain this puzzle, we propose a dynamic model of taxpayer attitudes that is consistent with the observed loose linkage between logically-connected concepts. We briefly review the political context, objectives and impacts of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, and present several studies testing the impact of self-interest, prior beliefs, and social discussion on changes in attitudes and behavior.Results suggest that the complexity of taxes and difficulty in knowing objective impacts weakens the role of self-interest in attitudinal changes, thereby strengthening the role of prior beliefs and discussion. Evaluations of tax laws are most responsive to more politically-oriented influences.     

Patient assertiveness in ethnically diverse older women with breast cancer: Challenging stereotypes of the elderly

Patients' views of patient-physician interactions—particularly the perspectives of older, ethnically diverse women—are poorly understood. The older patient's attitude toward and understanding of the medical encounter, however, are essential to the design of strategies to improve patient-physician communication. To date, investigations have primarily emphasised the ways in which the therapeutic relationship is influenced by immutable patient characteristics. This qualitative study extends previous research findings by looking beyond the effect of ascribed categories (such as age, race, and gender) and focusing on aspects of patient behavior, specifically assertiveness. Focus groups were conducted with older African-, Chinese-, European-, and Hispanic American breast cancer patients from sites in the eastern and western United States. The study explores the potential of a form of patient activation for challenging stereotypes of the elderly and changing health care practitioners' behavior.     

尼采对历史及其历史教学的批判

尼采认为 ,历史是人的生命意志的反映 ,它是英雄人物在瞬间的艺术创作冲动的产物。人的历史开始于“个人具有创造性的自我解放欲望之际” ,这是尼采历史观的原始起点和意义支撑。他认为真正的历史应该有利于人的创造力的发挥和个体生命的解放 ,而现在的历史已经背离了历史的本来意义 ,成了生命发展的桎梏和障碍。现代历史教育是错误历史观与错误人生观相结合的产物 ,是一种摧残人性的教育 ,它使受教育者变得虚伪、迟缓、猜疑、抵触 ,并以软弱的人格、麻木的心态期待着刺激性“事件”的发生 ,哪怕它危及自己的生命。     

Studying Postmodern Families: A Feminist Analysis of Ethical Tensions in Work and Family Research

Through dialogue and reflexivity, feminist researchers aim to create knowledge that is emergent from people in relationship with one another. Reflexivity is a process whereby researchers place themselves and their practices under scrutiny, acknowledging the ethical dilemmas that permeate the research process and impinge on the creation of knowledge. Guided by these tenets, we analyzed the relations among our research practices, our participants, and ourselves to understand and reduce the ethical tensions we encountered in a multimethod research project designed to investigate work and family processes. Our reflective efforts underscore both the active nature of research participants and the importance of the sociopolitical contexts within and around the research process. We make suggestions for more ethical research.     

巫术的历史作用及其终结

巫术作为一种社会现象 ,在历史上曾起过一定的积极作用 ,如可以增强人类控制客观世界的意识 ,扩展人类控制客观世界的领域 ,增强人类战胜敌手的信心 ,此外还具有组织作用、道德教化作用、精神安慰作用、交流娱乐作用等。但一方面由于巫术的荒谬性 ,巫术一再失败 ,使人们对它失去了信心 ;另一方面 ,巫术的抽象功能被后来发展起来的宗教所代替 ,实用功能被科学所代替 ,因而 ,巫术在主流文化中的历史作用已经终结 ,但仍在文化的细枝末节中广泛存在着     

加强改革顶层设计关键问题研究

改革顶层设计不仅是一个政治新词汇,而且具有促进思想进一步解放的重要作用。改革顶层设计既不同于战略谋划与确定,也不同于战术制定与实施,它是介于二者之间而又联系二者的关键环节。对于加强改革顶层设计这一课题应结合改革历史进程进行深入研究,从而进一步明确加强改革顶层设计需要重视和把握的重点和难点问题,即突出导向性、体现规律性、强化统筹性、明确主体性、具有操作性、重视动力性。     

论民族旅游场域中的跨文化交流与认知——以云南元阳箐口哈尼族村为例

对元阳县箐口村哈尼族在民族旅游场域中的中外跨文化交流与认知情况的实地调查分析表明,在民族旅游的场域中,外国游客与东道主之间存在一定形式的交流互动,但是对双方认知获得和交流影响有所区别。基本来讲,这种旅游场域中的跨文化交流对东道主的影响要大于对外国游客的影响,但交流对双方的认知都有积极的意义。     

蒙古族生态文化视野中的森林生态自然观思考

人与自然和谐发展是人类社会进入到生态文明阶段的显著标志,也是解决当今环境问题的生态伦理基础。从用火观念、饮食文化、丧葬习俗、建筑风格、命名习俗、宗教观念、游牧方式、法制观念8个方面论述蒙古族传统文化中人与自然和谐发展、保护生态环境的有关内容,重点探讨蒙古族生态文化中与森林文化有关的内容,系统地挖掘民族文化中合理、有价值的成分,以期保存和发扬优良的传统文化,丰富森林文化研究的内容,为当今的森林环境保护与森林资源可持续发展提供有益的启示。