Identical Mean Research Articles

The Lens of Civic Identity: A Developmental Model for Undergraduate Education

For democracy to thrive, citizens must be engaged participants. Higher education must foster the growth of citizens through experience. This will enable undergraduates to develop their individual Civic Identities, whereby they see themselves as “active participants in society with a strong commitment and responsibility to work with others towards public purposes,” as defined by the AAC&U.; In A Framework for Understanding Student Engagement and Outcomes, Schnaubelt et al. ask whether it’s important to have a definition of civic identity, and what that definition might be. These questions are similar to questions our campus has been discussing for many years. The answer we have found is that, paradoxically, while a clear definition is important, the specific term (i.e. “civic identity”) does not need to be explicitly in that definition. Herein, we describe the multi-year, democratic process of creating and supporting an across-campus movement to centralize civic identity development into a higher education curriculum. The work was framed through a new model that provided specific developmental stages for students. Through this model, students and campus educators better understood and embraced college-wide civic learning outcomes that embrace the Building Blocks One and Two described by Schnaubelt: Capacity to engage constructively across differences and Democratic knowledge and skills. This ongoing work has been successful precisely because we engaged constructively in a democratic process of generating buy-in across campus. For example, we found that the term “civic identity” did not resonate on our campus as an outcome per se. Instead, it became a lens to focus discussion: What does civic identity mean in the context of our ethos? At our institution, it means “fostering a just, equitable, and sustainable world.” Our work gave rise to an update to the college’s Mission Statement, revisions to General Education requirements, and a common writing prompt across First-Year Seminars. We have also begun using our model for assessment: How do we measure a student’s capacity to engage across differences, and their development of democratic knowledge, habit, and skills? With foundational pieces built into First-Year Seminars, all incoming students engaged with civic learning in their first semester, and the common writing prompt became a useful tool for assessment. Annual retreats dedicated to evaluation of the student responses to this prompt became an ongoing opportunity to discuss and maintain buy-in, as well as a place to understand how students are developing their civic identities; we present data collected over four years of this work. This article provides a map as well as lessons learned to support other colleges’ work to live into the call from A Crucible Moment (2012) to make civic learning an integral part of a college education.

A study on the impact of life meaning on occupational identity of nursing students in China:a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWith the alterations of the Chinese epidemic prevention policy, China experienced a nationwide wave of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from December 2022 to January 2023.The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic extends beyond individual perceptions of the meaning of life and attitudes toward life and death; it also affects the professional identity of nursing students.This study explored nursing students’ professional identity and life meaning of affected by the pandemic.MethodsAn online survey was conducted using the Chinese version of the Nursing Student Career Identity Scale and the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire to assess the current status of nursing students’ professional identity and sense of life meaning. Data were also collected on participant gender, education, clinical practice experience, and COVID-19 infection.ResultsThe scores for nursing students’ sense of professional identity (61.58 ± 16.16) and sense of life meaning (45.29 ± 12.65) were both at an intermediate level. Compared to the scores before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese nursing students’ professional identity scores increased, while their sense of life meaning scores decreased. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between professional identity and sense of life meaning (p < 0.001); nursing students exhibited a stronger professional identity when they had a relatively higher sense of life meaning than those with a relatively lower sense of life meaning.ConclusionEnhancing nursing students’ sense of meaning in life is crucial for maintaining their professional identity. Attention should be given to life education for nursing students and the development of relevant educational curricula.

Integrated self-consistent macro-micro traffic flow modeling and calibration framework based on trajectory data

Calibrating microscopic car-following (CF) models is crucial in traffic flow theory as it allows for accurate reproduction and investigation of traffic behavior and phenomena. Typically, the calibration procedure is a complicated, non-convex optimization issue. When the traffic state is in equilibrium, the macroscopic flow model can be derived analytically from the corresponding CF model. In contrast to the microscopic CF model, calibrated based on trajectory data, the macroscopic representation of the fundamental diagram (FD) primarily adopts loop detector data for calibration. The different calibration approaches at the macro- and microscopic levels may lead to misaligned parameters with identical practical meanings in both macro- and micro-traffic models. This inconsistency arises from the difference between the parameter calibration processes used in macro- and microscopic traffic flow models. Hence, this study proposes an integrated multiresolution traffic flow modeling framework using the same trajectory data for parameter calibration based on the self-consistency concept. This framework incorporates multiple objective functions in the macro- and micro-dimensions. To expeditiously execute the proposed framework, an improved metaheuristic multi-objective optimization algorithm is presented that employs multiple enhancement strategies. Additionally, a deep learning technique based on attention mechanisms was used to extract stationary-state traffic data for the macroscopic calibration process, instead of directly using the entire aggregated data. We conducted experiments using real-world and synthetic trajectory data to validate our self-consistent calibration framework.

Doers of Torah: Lights from the Targumim and Their Implication for Jas 1.22

In this article, I argue that the phrase ‘doers of the word’ in Jas 1.22 is derived from the Hebrew expression הרותה ישוע‎ or the Aramaic one אתירוא ידבע‎. Both phrases possess an identical meaning that remained stable over time, functioning almost as technical terms. The first one is found in some Pesharim from Qumran while the second appears in the Targumim. In both corpora, the phrase is consistently found in contexts of judgment (often implying a division within the elect people between those who remained faithful to God and those who did not) and bears strong ethical overtones. Most of these passages are eschatologically oriented and present the ‘doers of the law’ as closely related to the Messiah. I suggest that the expression found in James still carries the overtones of the original phrase it translates.

How Changes in Team Performance Impact Team Identity

Abstract: Despite a wealth of team identification research, little scholarship has focused on how considerable changes to a team’s performance may impact the meaning of the team identity (as such a meaning is understood/ exposited by in-group members). To this end, we examined fans of a historically poor-performing team that had reversed course, becoming a winner. We conducted semi-structured interviews with supporters of Major League Baseball’s (MLB’s) Chicago Cubs to explore how the team’s 2016 World Series (i.e., championship) win had impacted supporters’ identification with the team. We noted two primary themes defining how the team identity had changed: (1) different expectations for performance following the championship; and (2) the team’s new success representing a threat to interviewees’ understanding of the team identity meaning. We also observed constants in the composition of the team identity, factors unchanged by the success. We make our primary contribution by addressing the role of considerable team performance changes in the meaning of team identity.

When "who I am" is under threat: Measures of threat to identity value, meanings, and enactment.

Although scholars across fields have studied threats to individuals' identities for their impact and ubiquity, the absence of standard scales has hindered the advancement of this research. Due to the lack of identity threat measures, the myriad existing propositions and models remain untested which may generate skepticism of the field. In the comparatively rare instances where deductive models have been tested, studies often suffer from methodological shortcomings related to the absence of a standard measure (e.g., the use of scales that tap into adjacent constructs) or an assumption of unidimensionality, despite recognition that identity threat can take various forms. Such shortcomings can yield inaccurate conclusions and threaten content validity. In response to these issues, we followed recommended steps to develop three measures capturing threats to identity value, meanings, and enactment. We rigorously validated these measures across different contexts: threats to teachers' work-related identity, to pregnant women's leader identity, and to organizational members' lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning identities. Our results provide evidence of the psychometric validity of the three measures and their applicability to different types of identities individuals hold. Using our measures, scholars will be able to further explore identity threat triggers and outcomes, the mechanisms underlying the effects of the three different types of threat on outcomes, and temporal dynamics. Researchers can also use our measures in designing interventions. Ultimately, this will allow management and applied psychology scholars to develop better guidance for organizations and employees dealing with the commonplace, yet difficult experience of identity threat. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

2022 개정 미술과 교육과정 정체성 역량 고찰

Identity was the most actively discussed issue in current society, which was characterized by delocaliza-tion, multiculturalization, and pluralization. Contemporary art has also faced various problems surrounding humans occurring in the same era and provided clues through images to solve them. The starting point was respect for humans, and it always started with a discussion about identity. While witnessing these changes in art, school art education has focused on identity as a starting point for leading an individual's life in the 21st century educational transition. However, identity was a concept that changes and is con-structed, and has gone through various transformations before being converted into an educational competency. Reflecting the overall spirit of the 2022 revised Korean National Curriculum with the vision of ‘leading talent with inclusiveness and creativity,’ ‘initiativeness’ was also emphasized in the 2022 revised Korean National Art Curriculum, which reflected self-identity. autonomy, self-development, self-reflection, self-exploration, self-understanding, self-orientation, and subjectivity understanding were proposed as iden-tity competencies with sub-competencies. This study examined the meaning of identity in education and various discussions related to identity based on the identity issue of contemporary art as a basis for under-standing the identity competency of the 2022 revised Korean National Art Curriculum. This study focused on explaining its meaning in detail and helping people understand and apply it in their educational settings.

Tunteiden yhteys oppijoiden ja opettajien identiteetteihin kielenopetuksessa

Emotions and identities are at the core of all human activity and learning. Emotions motivate us, help us to make sense of our experiences and teach us about ourselves, in other words shape our identities. Emotions are thus in a key role in planning and developing language teaching at schools. This article focuses on the role of emotions and identities in learning and teaching a language. The article shows how different emotions affect language learning and the identity development processes of the learner, and how language teachers can help their students to deal with their emotions and turn them as a resource for identity development. We also look at the meaning of emotions and teacher identities in language teacher development.

Disclosure as family practice: Changing family dynamics in Hong Kong after a gay son comes out

AbstractThis paper examines the family dynamics between parents and gay sons after the latter's disclosure of their sexual orientation. Situated in the “doing family” and life course literature, the paper offers a sociological account of coming out and family dynamics in Hong Kong that presents the narratives of both gay sons and their parents, examining the changing moral and emotional economies of family life across two generations. Thirty‐five in‐depth individual interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of gay sons (n = 15) and their mothers (n = 14) and/or fathers (n = 6). The findings revealed that heteronormative family life, as part of the moral economy of family life, is challenged after disclosure, with parents forced to admit or accept the queer component of their family. Yet, both parents and gay sons work hard to accomplish a “correct” version of sexual normativity that views homosexuality as inborn (sexual essentialism) and conforms to the “good homosexual” image. Sons' disclosure also shifts the burden of the closet, as part of the emotional economy of family life, to their parents, especially mothers, on whom that burden often takes an emotional toll. The paper concludes that disclosure is a contested site of negotiation of the meaning of male identity, parenthood, and homosexuality, as well as a key family practice that changes the moral and emotional economies of families, eventually leading to the formation of new family forms. By viewing disclosure as family practice in a culture where intergenerational closeness and family co‐residence are prominent, this paper rethinks coming out, arguing that in the Chinese context it should be understood not only as identity politics, as it often is in Western contexts, but also as relational politics, thus revitalizing the coming‐out debate across cultural contexts and offering new insights on the relationship between homosexuality and contemporary family life.

Ritual as a Sign and Means of Identity

The paper aims to show how it is possible to associate the conceptof identity with “ancestral customs” and “cultural memory”. Withthat purpose the author tries to outline a particular version of collectiveremembering grounded in the use of ritual resources. Withthat end in view, the special literature together with the field ethnographicdata collected by the author during the years 1976-89throughout Georgia had been used in the paper. Purposely, the ritualprocess associated with the early-Christian tradition had beendescribed not as a stereotyped activity, but as related events locatedwithin Georgian history. It has also been shown that the mentionedcustom bore the function of the ethnic and culturalidentification, as foreigners and aliens infiltrated from other countrieswho performed the custom, in that way were adopted and integratedinto the Georgian Christian culture. An emphasize hasbeen made on the importance of the performance of the ritualwhich became so inseparable and immanent among the inhabitantsof Georgia, that in spite of the confessional turbulences of thelater periods, it persisted in the environment of a new faith. Themain task of the paper was organized around the question:whether it is possible to experience the feeling of identity andwholeness within the Georgian culture throughout the centuriesby means of performing an established ancestral ritual. The analysisof the ethnographic data provided the author with clues to theidentity, culture and self-understanding of an age-old Georgian society.

“Repository of Cochlear Implant Information:” A Multi-Institutional REDCap Database

PurposeTo describe the creation of a multi-center cochlear implant database as a template for future medical database design. The first clinical question examined was the association between BMI on cochlear implant surgical time and postoperative outcome. Materials and methodsA retrospective repository in REDCap, named the “Repository of Cochlear Implant Information” (ROCII), was created and collected de-identified data on patients who underwent cochlear implantation. Data was exported and stratified into three BMI groupings (<25, 25.0–29.9, ≥ 30.0). Differences in surgical time and AZBio Sentence Test postoperative score changes were analyzed using the mixed-effect model. ResultsThe mean BMI (n = 145) was 28.52, and the mean surgical time was 128.9 min. The BMI < 25 reference group (n = 50) and the BMI 25.0–29.9 group (n = 50) had an identical mean surgical time of 127.5 min. The BMI ≥30.0 group (n = 45) had a mean surgical time of 132 min, however this difference was not statistically significant when compared to the reference group (p = 0.4727). The mean AZBio postoperative score change (n = 74) was 63.32. The BMI < 25 reference group (n = 29) had a mean postoperative change of 56.66. The BMI 25.0–29.9 group (n = 22) and BMI ≥30.0 group (n = 23) had mean postoperative changes of 61.32 and 73.65 respectively, however these differences were not statistically significant compared to the reference group (p = 0.5847, 0.0637). ConclusionBMI did not have a significant association with surgical time or postoperative outcome and therefore should not be a contraindication for implantation. ROCII will facilitate a deeper understanding of the evaluation process, outcomes, and patient experience of cochlear implantation across institutions. Level of evidenceLevel 1.

Dualities of Place among Rural and Urban Periphery Homegrown Adults in Israel☆

AbstractFollowing the general idea of place matters and based on the particular features of rural/peripheral settlements, people, and communities, the current study aims at exploring the development and meaning of peripheral identity and its construction, as perceived by adults who were born and raised in the northern periphery of Israel. Using the phenomenological genre, 40 interviews were conducted with adults aged 26–40 who grew up in the periphery at least until the age of 21. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted, based on the principles of grounded theory. The analysis yielded four main categories that represented four dimensions of a conflict or a paradox that characterizes life in the periphery: (1) Personal chronology from childhood to adulthood; (2) Family as an anchor vs. an obligation; (3) Settlement as inner vs. the outside environment; (4) Region as empowerment and powerful vs. deficit and powerless. The findings indicate that the embedded identity of the peripheral homegrown is ambiguous, conflictual, and contradictory. The current study aims to demonstrate how the social constructive approach can challenge the meanings of rurality/peripherally as an experience that is shaped in different ways.

Thermal and superthermal noise signals as resources for underwater quantum communication

Quantum technologies have opened new perspectives for enhancing communication speed and security, particularly in challenging underwater environments, where conventional protocols rely on acoustic wave propagation. In this study, we introduce an innovative communication protocol built upon the utilization of mesoscopic twin-beam (TWB) states, entangled in the number of photons, and photon-number-resolving detectors. Our approach involves transmitting information by mixing the part of TWB that propagates through water with two signals having identical mean values but different statistical distributions. Specifically, we explore the advantages and limitations associated with employing pseudothermal states and two distinct types of superthermal states in our communication protocol. Through both theoretical analysis and experimental investigation, we assess the feasibility of accurately discriminating which state has been superimposed onto the TWB by evaluating the noise reduction factor. Our findings demonstrate promising outcomes, suggesting the practical implementation of this protocol in real-world underwater communication scenarios.

‘Since They Can’t Put Venezuela in Their Suitcase, They Take Mosaic Tiles from the Maiquetía Airport’1

In the process of displacement caused by the current political and economic crises in Venezuela, the Caracas airport has become a place of powerful significance. The floor­ of the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía features Additive Colour (1974–1978), a mosaic by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923−2019). This public work has acquired exceptional symbolic meanings of political migration due to traveller rituals, documented in newspapers and on social media. Migrants are taking tiles of the airport floor as personal memory triggers of the democratic Venezuela that commissioned Kinetic art. This article analyses how these airport tiles, and Kineticism more generally, have come to acquire meanings of collective memory and national identity for Venezuelans and explains how and why Cruz-Diez’s work has become an intrinsic part of Venezuelan culture.

“There Should be More Outrage”: Making Meaning of Racial Identity During Times of Increased Anti-Asian Hate

Abstract: The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to examine how Asian American college students made sense of themselves as racialized beings during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that saw a drastic increase in anti-Asian hate. We were particularly interested in how emotions that students experienced in response to racism shaped their meaning-making of racial identity. We embraced tensions of a constructivist approach and a grounding in Asian critical theory to gain a more nuanced picture of Asian American college students’ meaning-making of racial identity while also problematizing and critiquing racism. Data collection consisted of three interviews with 14 participants from the Midwest and East Coast of the US. To engage the reader’s imagination and tell a nuanced story, we present findings as a fictional conversation between four individuals using direct quotes from participants. Our findings highlight the importance of considering transnational context when examining Asian American college students’ racial identity development. Our findings further showcase the role emotions played in fostering development and the agentic ways participants responded to these emotions while also underscoring the high price participants paid for the more complex understanding of their racial identity. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Charlemagne’s Legacy: A Consensus Analysis of Affective Meanings in French and German Culture

We investigate between- and within-country consensus about affective meanings of social identities along the evaluation, potency, and activity dimensions from the affect control theory research tradition. Ratings for 387 (194 male and 193 female) identities were collected from two samples representative of the French (N = 700) and German (N = 700) populations for age, gender, and region. Guided by two preregistered hypotheses based on previous cross-cultural research, our analysis points to considerable cultural consensus between French and Germans who seem to share a common “Carolingian” affective culture; yet some culture-specific patterns concerning the evaluation dimension and evaluation-potency interactions were found to be statistically significant. We interpret these results in terms of known cross-cultural features such as power distance and conceptions of power.

Prefrontal Cortex Codes Representations of Target Identity and Feature Uncertainty.

Many objects in the real world have features that vary over time, creating uncertainty in how they will look in the future. This uncertainty makes statistical knowledge about the likelihood of features critical to attention demanding processes such as visual search. However, little is known about how the uncertainty of visual features is integrated into predictions about search targets in the brain. In the current study, we test the idea that regions prefrontal cortex code statistical knowledge about search targets before the onset of search. Across 20 human participants (13 female; 7 male), we observe target identity in the multivariate pattern and uncertainty in the overall activation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and inferior frontal junction (IFJ) in advance of the search display. This indicates that the target identity (mean) and uncertainty (variance) of the target distribution are coded independently within the same regions. Furthermore, once the search display appears the univariate IFJ signal scaled with the distance of the actual target from the expected mean, but more so when expected variability was low. These results inform neural theories of attention by showing how the prefrontal cortex represents both the identity and expected variability of features in service of top-down attentional control.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Theories of attention and working memory posit that when we engage in complex cognitive tasks our performance is determined by how precisely we remember task-relevant information. However, in the real world the properties of objects change over time, creating uncertainty about many aspects of the task. There is currently a gap in our understanding of how neural systems represent this uncertainty and combine it with target identity information in anticipation of attention demanding cognitive tasks. In this study, we show that the prefrontal cortex represents identity and uncertainty as unique codes before task onset. These results advance theories of attention by showing that the prefrontal cortex codes both target identity and uncertainty to implement top-down attentional control.

Prominence and Salience Effects on Identity Nonverification

Identity verification occurs when individuals’ situational identity meanings match the meanings in their identity standard. When a person verifies an identity, they feel understood, and they feel good. When an identity is not verified, people feel misunderstood, and they feel bad. Two identity characteristics that may moderate people’s negative reactions to identity nonverification are identity prominence or importance and identity salience or time spent in the identity. We study these moderating effects on a national sample of adults who had problems verifying their identities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The identities included worker, friend, romantic partner, and family member. The results show, as hypothesized, that identity prominence increases the negative responses to nonverification, while identity salience decreases the negative responses to identity nonverification. We discuss how these countervailing effects advance our understanding of identity prominence and salience.

Forms of National and European Identity: A Research Note Reviewing Literature of Cross-National Studies

AbstractIn the past decades, numerous publications have been addressing questions of national and European Identity on the micro level. Only few shed light on the contents that constitute these identities in the minds of Europeans. As different meanings of national and European identity are connected to different consequences such as hostile attitudes toward immigrants or Euroskepticism, reviewing attempts to measure these contents in existing cross-national surveys seems to be promising. This research note summarizes relevant literature on whether and which different forms of national and European identity have been found empirically, which specific contents constitute them, and which determinants and consequences of them are relevant. By comparing articles relying on cross-national survey data since 1995, it will be shown that the field of forms of national and European identity involves different operationalizations and numerous methodological concerns. This leads to considerations for further research in the field.

Loyalty and patriotism: the role of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine’s nation-building project

ABSTRACT During the Revolution of Dignity and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Crimean Tatars overwhelmingly expressed their loyalty and identification with the Ukrainian state. This article examines the factors that account for Crimean Tatars’ siding with Ukraine and interrogates the meaning of Ukrainian identity for their culturally, linguistically, and religiously distinct community. To do that, the author engages in a twofold approach of 1) macro-level, long-term historical examination of the relationship between Ukrainian state actors and Crimean Tatars, and 2) micro-level, sociological analysis of the contemporary relationship within Crimean Tatar society. Tracing the genealogy of encounters between Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian dissidents in the Soviet period, the author argues that their shared anti-Soviet outlook allowed the two nations to view each other as allies in independent Ukraine. Furthermore, the liberal, anti-colonial discourse shared widely among Crimean Tatars found its reflection in their newly embraced civic Ukrainian identity. Yet it is also important to take into account the internal struggle among Crimean Tatars during the annexation, which reflects the tensions, risks, and rewards that come with the choice of identification.