Individual Values Research Articles

The impact of cultural values on students’ communication apprehension in online classrooms: The moderating role of gender

In the post-COVID-19 era, online learning has become an integral part of higher education institutions (HEIs). However, limited evidence suggests that communication apprehension (CA) is a core issue in the lack of engagement in online classrooms. This study seeks to investigate how students’ CA dimensions (i.e., communication participation avoidance and low level of communication confidence) can be predicted by their cultural values using horizontal and vertical individualism/collectivism (HVIC) classification. Moreover, this study examines gender differences as a moderator in the relationship between CA and cultural values. This quantitative survey used an online questionnaire for data collection. A total of 498 samples of data were collected From MBA students studying at the seven most prestigious Iranian business schools. The results of data analysis using SmartPLS4 indicated that the CA levels of MBA students are affected by their cultural values in the HVIC classification (excluding vertical collectivism). Additionally, this study revealed that gender plays a moderating role in the relationships between cultural values and CA dimensions. In general, the results indicated that HEIs should foster a culture that supports individualistic values—such as privacy, independency, self-fulfillment, and individual decision-making—in order to lower CA levels among MBA students.

Does individualism lead to longer working hours?

AbstractObjectiveIn this article, utilizing the European Social Survey (ESS), we empirically analyze the effect of individualism on working hours at the micro level.MethodWe use the European Social Survey (ESS), which is a biennial survey conducted in European countries. The ESS provides us five different proxies to measure individualism. In our empirical analyses, we first use proxies separately as our measure of individualism in the regressions. Second, we create a composite indicator for individualism by using the principal component analysis (PCA). We use two different methods for polychoric PCA.ResultsIn four of our individualism proxies, we find that individualism is positively and significantly associated with working hours. Our PCA results also show that survey participants with higher individualistic attitudes tend to work longer hours.ConclusionWe find robust empirical evidence that people who place greater emphasis on individualistic values have a tendency to work longer. The results show that individuals who give more importance to money, expensive things, success, recognition of achievements, showing abilities and being admired, and freedom on his/her decisions are inclined to work longer hours.

Institutional Anomie Theory and Country-Level Public Corruption

Public-sector corruption siphons trillions of dollars from the global economy and contributes to social instability. Institutional Anomie Theory, with its focus on the links between social institutions, individualistic and achievement-oriented cultural norms, and crime, offers a possible framework for understanding corruption. This possibility is contrasted with research indicating that individualistic values and free markets reduce corruption. Using twenty years of data from 83 countries, this study finds institutional imbalance toward the economy is associated with higher levels of corruption. The lowest levels of corruption are found in highly individualistic countries, though institutional imbalance had a strong positive effect on corruption in such countries. Conversely, corruption is high in collectivistic countries regardless of institutional imbalance. Findings underscore the importance of institutional and cultural configurations, and their interplay, for corruption. We discuss the implications of our study for Institutional Anomie Theory and directions for future research.

"I want to succeed for her, so I can assure a better future for her": Parenting in Bedouin society in Israel.

Bedouin society in Israel is characterized as a marginalized minority (Muslim) society struggling to maintain its uniqueness in a Western (Jewish) dominant society. In this unique qualitative study, we aimed to shed light on the distinctive characteristics of Bedouin parenting practices in the context of social change by exploring Bedouin parents' accounts of factors contributing to or hampering their parenthood. Ninety-nine parents (Mage = 33.25, SD = 4.89) were interviewed about their parenting and their perceptions of Bedouin society. Interviews were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. Parents' accounts indicated a tension between preserving traditions, social norms, and religious rules that offer cohesion, comfort, and security and embracing individualistic values and cultural changes to promote social mobility for future generations. Bedouin mothers were conflicted between seeking self-fulfillment and meeting societal expectations. Whereas some emphasized investing time and effort in parenting as a form of ensuring their children's success, others saw investing in themselves as a means to improve family mobility. The findings suggest the need to be mindful of cultural values that are important to parents (e.g., maintaining traditions) and of barriers to help-seeking (e.g., viewing secular ideas as threats to religiously based social structures) when working with parents from minority indigenous societies such as the Bedouin. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fear of Happiness: Description, Causes and Prevention

Studies in mental health is to increase the positive emotions of the person and to reduce the negative emotions, beliefs and thoughts. Especially after positive psychology, many studies have been carried out to ensure that individuals have positive emotions. However, in recent studies, it has been determined that individuals avoid not only negative emotions but also positive emotions. Thus, you suppress your positive emotions because of fear of happiness. The individual's beliefs and cultural values also affect mental health. The person is afraid of being happy because of these beliefs and cultural values. Fear of happiness is the avoidance of happines. When people believe thet unhappiness will come immediately after happiness or that the environment will be harmed after being happy, fear of happiness occurs. Fear of happiness harms both the mental health and social relations. Morever, fear of happiness is associated with alexithymia, anxiety, stress, fear of compassion, antisocial, cognitive distortions related to relationships, panic disorder and especially depression. It is extremely important to know and define the fear of happiness for an effective treatment interventions. Fear of happiness rests in maladaptive schemas in early life, not meeting their needs warmly and sincerely in childhood, punishing them when they experience positive emotions, and growing up in a family with unhealthy family patterns. In this study, it is aimed to define fear of happiness, to determine the protective and risk factors, to determine the causative factors, to explain the related concepts, and so to raise awareness about fear of happiness.

Differences in Marital Satisfaction and Intention for Subsequent Childbirth by Latent Profile of Family Values among Parents with Young Children in Korea.

The focus is on family values, marital satisfaction, and the intention for subsequent childbirth. By classifying parents based on family values and examining marital satisfaction and the intention for subsequent childbirth within these groups, the study will provide insights into future childbirth trends and identify factors influencing the intention for subsequent childbirth among different groups. This study was conducted with parents of children aged 0 to 5 attending six daycare centers in Korea, using a questionnaire to gather responses regarding family values, intention for subsequent childbirth, and marital satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the characteristics of the key variables, and latent profile analysis was conducted to classify latent groups based on family values. In the verification of differences, the three-step approach was used. First, the latent profile analysis revealed three groups: the 'neutral values group' with lower emphasis on gender roles compared to other group, the 'individualistic values group' with lower values on marriage and children but higher emphasis on gender roles, and the 'family-centered values group' characterized by higher levels of various sub-factors in overall family values. Second, comparing marital satisfaction and intention for subsequent childbirth among latent groups, the FCVG showed significantly higher levels than the TVG and the IVG. In their marriages, couples differed in the values they held regarding parenting, marriage, and children. Therefore, maintaining strong values in marriage and parenting and establishing a family serve as the foundation for realizing new selfhood through parenthood. Simultaneously, forming values within the new roles of being a spouse and a parent is crucial.

Next-generation lung cancer pathology: Development and validation of diagnostic and prognostic algorithms

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. In this study, we develop a clinically useful computational pathology platform for NSCLC that can be a foundation for multiple downstream applications and provide immediate value for patient care optimization and individualization. We train the primary multi-class tissue segmentation algorithm on a substantial, high-quality, manually annotated dataset of whole-slide images with lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinomas. We investigate two downstream applications. NSCLC subtyping algorithm is trained and validated using a large, multi-institutional (n= 6), multi-scanner (n= 5), international cohort of NSCLC cases (slides/patients 4,097/1,527). Moreover, we develop four AI-derived, fully explainable, quantitative, prognostic parameters (based on tertiary lymphoid structure and necrosis assessment) and validate them for different clinical endpoints. The computational platform enables the high-precision, quantitative analysis of H&E-stained slides. The developed prognostic parameters facilitate robust and independent risk stratification of patients with NSCLC.

Prediction of the individual response to treatment of skeletal Class III malocclusions and their long-term stability. A Case Report.

Abstract. Predicting the outcome of the treatment and its stability over time is an invaluable tool for the clinician when initiating therapy for correction of class III skeletal malocclusions. This work reports the predicted response to treatment of a 5-year-old female patient with skeletal Class III malocclusion and its long-term stability. The individual prediction cephalometric model of Baccetti and Franchi was applied in this case. As a result of the predictive equation, an in-dividual value of -0.958 was obtained (norm = -0.4065), which predicted a “very good response to treatment”. The Class III malocclusion and anterior crossbite were corrected, and the profile was harmonized with rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and a facemask projecting the maxilla forward 12 mm, in addition to the mandible’s 9° total downward rotation. After 15 years and three months of com-pleting the treatment, the stability of the results was confirmed. In conclusion, the individual prediction cephalometric model used in this case report allowed us to accurately predict the results in facial, skeletal and dental changes and the long-term stability of the treatment of class III skeletal malocclusion.

Moral Intelligence –Theory and in Education

Morality and intelligence influence various aspects of human life and action. They contribute to a certain stabilisation of a young person's functioning in a given society. The development and technological progress that is taking place is conducive to the development of young people, the satisfaction of certain needs, but it cannot guarantee the possibility of shaping basic values such as freedom, justice or responsibility. Currently, material and individualistic values are increasingly promoted. References to moral ideals based on truth, honesty and love, on the other hand, are less frequent. These are important when making future choices or decisions. A particularly important task today, in the face of various threats, addictions and value crises, is to shape the moral intelligence of young people. It involves having strong ethical and moral convictions and acting in accordance with them. The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of moral intelligence, to provide a definition and a conception of the research issue under consideration on a psychological level. It also shows some conditions of its formation during childhood and adolescence. The considerations undertaken in the article show the importance of moral intelligence in developing appropriate social attitudes, behaviour, acquiring moral principles, teaching responsibility, sensitivity to the suffering of others in adolescents.

Value-consistent rehabilitation is associated with long-term psychological flexibility and quality of life after traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT Meaningful steps have been taken toward using holistic approaches in outpatient rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury (TBI) (i.e., treating the whole individual); however, research and practice continue to disproportionately focus on adapting to physical and cognitive changes. Research suggests treatment focusing on individual values may be important for psychological adjustment after TBI. The current study sought to explore individual values across multiple life domains in those with TBI as well as what values outpatient rehabilitation was helpful for, and to examine discrepancies between these factors (i.e., value-consistent rehabilitation) in relation to important long-term treatment outcomes. 215 adults with a history of TBI who had participated in outpatient rehabilitation completed online surveys assessing how consistent outpatient rehabilitation was with individual values, psychological flexibility, and quality of life. The life domains with the greatest discrepancies between individual importance and rehabilitation helpfulness were spirituality, intimate relations, and family relations. Greater value-consistent rehabilitation was associated with higher levels of psychological flexibility and quality of life beyond demographics and injury characteristics. Our findings provide further support in favour of holistic, client-centred approaches that are facilitated by neurological rehabilitation programs.

End-to-End Statistical Model Checking for Parameterization and Stability Analysis of ODE Models

We propose a simulation-based technique for the parameterization and the stability analysis of parametric Ordinary Differential Equations. This technique is an adaptation of Statistical Model Checking, often used to verify the validity of biological models, to the setting of Ordinary Differential Equations systems. The aim of our technique is to estimate the probability of satisfying a given property under the variability of the parameter or initial condition of the ODE, with any metrics of choice. To do so, we discretize the values space and use statistical model checking to evaluate each individual value w.r.t. provided data. Contrary to other existing methods, we provide statistical guarantees regarding our results that take into account the unavoidable approximation errors introduced through the numerical integration of the ODE system performed while simulating. In order to show the potential of our technique, we present its application to two case studies taken from the literature, one relative to the growth of a jellyfish population, and the other concerning a well-known oscillator model.

Cultural values, parenting, and child adjustment in the United States.

We examined whether cultural values, conformity and parenting behaviours were related to child adjustment in middle childhood in the United States. White, Black and Latino mothers (n = 273), fathers (n = 182) and their children (n = 272) reported on parental individualism and collectivism, conformity values, parental warmth, monitoring, family obligation expectations, and child internalising and externalising behaviours. Mean differences, bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses were performed on variables of interest. Collectivism in mothers and fathers was associated with family obligation expectations and parental warmth. Fathers with higher conformity values had higher expectations of children's family obligations. Child internalising and externalising behaviours were greater when Latino families subscribed to individualistic values. These results are discussed in the context of cultural values, protective and promotive factors of behaviour, and race/ethnicity in the United States.

Studying value orientations of adolescent students by the proverbs method

Introduction. Adolescence is characterized by qualitative changes in the value sphere that undergoes transformation into an autonomous and coordinated system. Value orientations of young people mutate faster and adjust to the altering socio-cultural conditions, thus reflecting the general trends of social value system transformation. Therefore it is important not only to study the content of adolescents’ value orientations but also to search for new methodological approaches to their investigation.Materials and Methods. The author's methodology "Value orientations in proverbs and sayings" is used. It is focused on identifying respondents’ inclination towards socially significant or egoistic values. The study was conducted on a sample of students aged 16-19; the total number of respondents was 387 people (146 boys, 241 girls).Results. Value orientations of adolescent students are largely formed and function as an individually configured system. The common vector of the value sphere in both boys and girls is directed to socially significant and socially approved values. This is especially clear with regard to "Study, work" and "Family, relatives" values reflecting the age-specific needs and interests of the surveyed. Still, there are significant differences in value orientations due to the gender of the respondents: young men are more inclined to the common cause values and their close circle (family, friends), whereas individualistic values, as well as those related to the external social and activity circle, are more attractive for girls. As for the general structure of value orientations, the categories "Money, wealth" and "Country, homeland" get mixed assessments.Discussion and Conclusions. We showed the productivity of the proverb method used to explore value orientations of adolescent students. The consistency of the results obtained with the data of psychological and sociological studies indicates that they not only register a certain stage of formation of young people’s value system but also reflect the complexity of value self-determination in modern society.

Individualism and Collectivism in Pro-Environmental Behavior of an Environmentally Educated Community (Case Study of Bendungan Village, Bogor, Indonesia)

The major element impacting environmental sustainability is the public's lack of awareness about the importance of maintaining and caring for the environment. Minimising environmental damage can be achieved by individuals by engaging in more positive behaviours, such as not littering, becoming rescue volunteers, and raising environ-mental awareness. This will help alleviate psychological problems, like low levels of satisfaction with environ-mental conditions. Using natural resources efficiently and implementing environmentally friendly development are two of the primary goals of environmental management, yet this is incorrect. Pro-environmental behavior refers to a deliberate activity taken to reduce the adverse effects caused by hu-man activities in one's surroundings. Pro-environmental behavior refers to the degree to which behavior affects the accessibility of natural resources or energy from the environment. Engaging in pro-environmental conduct is a beneficial action that helps to reduce environmental harm and enhance environmental conditions and behavior. The Bendungan village where this research is conducted has been educated and informed by the government by its Ecovillage program. The program has successfully educated the village people to be environmentally friendly, especially regarding waste management. This research is conducted using mix methods and questionnaires using the Slovin formula to determine the number of samples. The research showed that individualist values from surpassing collective values and exerting dominance over the majority of village people, internalization of behavior failed to establishing norms and policies that prioritize a more collectivist orientation. Furthermore, it is imperative to have a collective dedication in order to effectively execute these measures. Only a minority of individuals in research location properly dispose waste. Properly disposing waste enhances an individual's self-assurance when donning it, but most individuals in this research location chose not to done it. Different approach besides, education needed to mitigate littering and to promote pro environmental behavior for a community that already have adequate and basic knowledge for environmentally friendly behavior. Internalization approach, although a long process is needed to solve individualism behavior that are endangering the environment. Knowledge and information, based on this research does not correcting people behavior. This research also showed that knowledge does not determining individualism behavior and collectivism behavior has not over-come the power of individualism in this village.

The Rule of Law: A Slogan in Search of a Concept

Regularly invoked but rarely defined, ‘the rule of law’ has over the last few decades been converted from a legal term of art into one of the most ambiguous slogans of contemporary public policy. Political scientists claim it as a crucial test of a regime’s legitimacy. Economists maintain that it provides an essential foundation of a flourishing market economy. Philosophers suggest it captures the essence of the state as a moral association. Historians acknowledge that, even if they might distrust such an abstract notion, the imposition of effective inhibitions on power is an ‘unqualified human good’. And lawyers, of course, have treated it as the foundation of their discipline ever since the mid-thirteenth century when Bracton asserted that ‘there is no rex where will rules rather than lex’. Those who extend its usage beyond the confines of professional legal discourse commonly give it a positive valence. But the rule of law also has its detractors. These critics assert that it promotes purely formal, individualistic values at the expense of substantive justice, or that it is a smokescreen preventing us from seeing the impact of recent global developments that signal the rule of lawyers. Some anthropologists even denounce it as an imperial ideology that legitimates European conquest and the plunder of the rest of the world. But given the fact that almost every state in the world now claims to act in compliance with the rule of law, these critics seem to have done little to dent its appeal. Yet, the sheer range of views and perspectives that now exist about the meaning, purpose, and value of the rule of law considerably complicates any inquiry into its current standing. In this paper, I will try to bring some clarity to the issue by providing a sketch of the main varieties of ways in which the term is being invoked. The paper comprises five sections, which each address a specific aspect of the term’s usage: (1) its coinage in English law, (2) the adoption of a superficially similar terminology in the German concept of the Rechtsstaat, (3) the jurisprudential innovations that complicate its meaning, and finally its most recent invocation (4) first in development work and (5) secondly in constitutional rejuvenation.

Gendered cultural tightropes: bicultural Latinas navigating and negotiating familismo in American doctoral programmes

ABSTRACT Research underscores the ‘gender reversal’ in college enrolment and educational attainment that appears to favour women today. However, less is known about how Latinas navigate doctoral study demands and gendered cultural expectations within their ethnicity. We use Chicana/Latina Feminist Theory to explore how the ethnic cultural script of familismo intersects with the demands of doctoral study for bicultural Latina doctoral students of various generational and class levels. Drawing on 20 interviews with Latinas enrolled in American doctoral programmes, we find that they negotiate what we term gendered cultural tightropes as evinced by the importance of (1) Maintaining closeness amidst geographic separation; (2) Appraising parental consejos [nurturing advice] and; (3) Navigating familism within individualist values of the academy. We argue that these gendered cultural tightropes, imbued with the ideals of familismo, are placed upon them because of the social categories they inhabit and are independent of class and immigrant generational level.

Examining acculturation at the daily level: Adding nuance to acculturation scholarship

The present article reviews the growing literature on micro-level (daily or situation-specific) acculturation processes and provides new empirical evidence regarding the link between macro-level (general) and micro-level acculturation indices. The review covers the evolution of acculturation theory and research to focus on separate heritage and destination cultural dimensions and on specific domains (e.g., practices, values, identifications), to include longitudinal research designs, and to incorporate daily diary methodologies. The empirical study includes 824 Hispanic college students in Miami (76.1 % female) who participated in a 12-day diary study. General (macro-level) acculturation measures were administered on Days 1 and 12, and daily (micro-level) acculturation measures were administered on Days 2–11. Each of six acculturation components (dimension-domain pairings) – U.S. practices, Hispanic practices, individualist values, collectivist values, U.S. identity, and ethnic identity – was assessed using full scales on Days 1 and 12 and using single items on Days 2–11. Daily means and daily fluctuations, computed as the standard deviation of Day 2–11 scores, were included during the daily portion of the study. Analyses examined the extent to which earlier macro-level acculturation scores would predict daily means and fluctuations, as well as the extent to which these daily means and fluctuations would predict later macro-level acculturation scores. For each acculturation component, daily means were related to Day 1 and Day 12 scores, though the strengths of these associations varied across components. Daily fluctuations were negatively associated with Day 1 and 12 scores for U.S. and Hispanic practices, but these associations were less consistent for the values and identifications components. These results are discussed in terms of the overlap between micro and macro level acculturation processes, and in terms of the future of acculturation research.

Relative Fundamental Frequency in Individuals with Globus Syndrome and Muscle Tension Dysphagia.

Relative fundamental frequency (RFF) has been investigated as an acoustic measure to assess for changes in laryngeal tension. This study aimed to assess RFF in individuals with globus syndrome, individuals with muscle tension dysphagia (MTDg), and individuals with typical voices. RFF values were calculated from the speech acoustics of individuals with globus syndrome (n=12), individuals with MTDg (n=12), and age- and sex-matched controls with typical voices (n=24). An analysis of variance was performed on RFF values to assess the effect of group. There was no statistically significant effect of group on RFF values, with similar values for individuals with globus syndrome, individuals with MTDg, and control participants. These results suggest that individuals with these disorders do not appear to possess paralaryngeal muscle tension in a locus and/or manner that directly impacts voice production.

The Short-Term Effect of Sleeve Gastrectomy on Blood Lipid Parameters and Emotional Appetite in Morbidly Obese Individuals

Background: Obesity is a public health problem that has an increasing effect all over the world and affects health in many ways. In cases where the BMI exceeds 40 kg/m2 or in individuals with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 and accompanying diseases, weight loss cannot be achieved, thus bariatric surgeries are applied. Methods: In this study, the relationship between blood lipid parameters and emotional appetite status in the pre-operative and early post-operative periods of individuals who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (n = 47) was investigated. Results: As a result of the study, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol values of individuals in the early post-operative period were statistically significantly decreased (p< 0.001). It was found that there was a weak positive correlation between individuals' early post-operative total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol values, positive mood and state total scores, and negative emotion and state total scores (p

Worldviews more than experience predict Californians’ support for wildfire risk mitigation policies

California must adapt to increasing wildfire activity concurrent with climate change and expanding housing development in fire-prone areas. Recent decades have seen record-breaking fire activity, economic costs, and human health impacts. Residents more frequently face home evacuations, prolonged periods of unhealthy air quality, and power shut-offs. Understanding how these experiences influence support for risk mitigation policies is essential to inform action on climate and fire adaptation. To better understand linkages between experience and policy support, we surveyed California residents (n = 645) about their wildfire-related experiences, risk perceptions, and support for 18 wildfire risk mitigation policies. To assess how the relationship between policy support and wildfire experience is modulated by preexisting worldviews, we measured the extent to which respondents are motivated by individualistic or communitarian values as proposed in the cultural theory of risk. We surveyed residents across a gradient of wildfire impacts, spatially stratifying residences based on wildland-urban-interface type and proximity to large 2020 wildfires. Support was generally high for most policies, though most respondents opposed incorporating future risk into insurance rates and coverage. Policy support models showed that communitarian worldviews were more consistently associated with greater support for diverse wildfire mitigation policies than were measures of recent experience with wildfire. These results suggest that California residents within our sample regions already support many wildfire risk mitigation strategies, and preexisting societal beliefs are a stronger predictor of these views than personal experiences with wildfire. Policy-makers can utilize this understanding to focus on crafting policies and messaging that resonates with individualistic values.