Mutual Misunderstanding Research Articles

Extending Double Empathy: Effects of Neurotype-Matching on Communication Success in an Expository Context.

Milton's theory of double empathy posits that the difference in communication styles between people of different neurotypes contributes to mutual misunderstandings. The current quasi-experimental study seeks to expand on research indicating that matched neurotype pairs tend to communicate more effectively than mixed neurotype pairs by examining communication across and within neurotypes in an expository language context. Thirty autistic adults and 28 nonautistic adults were paired in either a matched neurotype or mixed neurotype condition. The pairs' interactions involved giving and listening to directions to draw an image. Interactions were recorded, transcribed, and coded for communication accuracy, rate, and clarity. Participants also completed a survey about the rapport they experienced in the interaction. Matched neurotype pairs were significantly more accurate in their communication than mixed neurotype pairs. Rate was fastest among mixed neurotype pairs, but clarity did not differ significantly across conditions. Matched autistic pairs reported significantly lower rapport than other pairs. This finding lends further support to the neurodiversity model by demonstrating that autistic communication is not inherently deficient. Further research is necessary to investigate a variety of influences on rate, clarity, and rapport development. Clinical implications include considerations for neurodiversity-affirming communication supports for expository contexts such as classroom directions or workplace instructions.

Профилактика межнациональных конфликтов в современном воинском коллективе

The content of interethnic conflicts and the process of their prevention is revealed. The interethnic conflict in the social groups of military personnel is revealed as a type of social conflict that determines the growth of contradictions of values and interests, mutual misunderstanding of cultural priorities, hostility, inconsistency of service and labor behavior, conditions, as well as actions. It is proved that interethnic conflicts in the military team are the result of the deterioration of the level of interethnic culture of communication of military personnel. At the same time, the prevention of interethnic conflicts is the result of the targeted construction of the culture of interethnic communication of military actors. The latter can manifest itself both at the superficial level (characterized by the degree of understanding and assimilation in the consciousness of the peculiarities of various ethnic groups: the presence of necessary ideas, ethnic values, rules, as well as the norms of interethnic communication of military personnel), and at the practical service-labor level (the level of effectiveness of the practices of service implementation of interethnic communication). It is proved that the prevention of interethnic conflicts is the result of the project actions aimed at the formation of the effective culture of interethnic communication, as a result of which the conditions preventing the occurrence of ethnic conflicts among military personnel are created. The prevention of ethnic conflicts through political design determines the process of removing the conditions for the growth of tension, eliminating objective socio-cultural contradictions in the system of interethnic relations. It defines systemic transformations aimed at a temporary homeostatic conflict-free state of the modern military collective.

Neurotype and participatory autism knowledge predict perceptions of an autistic employee in the workplace

IntroductionAutistic adults are unemployed at much higher rates than the general population. Differences due to autistic traits, including social skills differences, are often barriers to autistic adults obtaining and retaining employment in non-autistic workplaces. The double empathy problem (DEP) posits that autistic social differences are not due to assumed autistic social impairment but to mutual misunderstandings within the autistic/non-autistic social interaction. Consistent with the DEP, autistic adults are more likely to accurately interpret the behavior of an autistic employee, compared to non-autistic adults. This study examined additional factors, beyond neurotype, that are associated with accurate interpretation of the behavior of an autistic employee.MethodsA sample of 73 autistic and 140 non-autistic participants read a vignette about a hypothetical autistic employee in a non-autistic workplace having a difficult workday. Participants completed questions about their interpretation of the employee's behavior, an autism knowledge measure, autism experience questions, and demographic information.ResultsGeneral autism knowledge, but not autism experience, was an influential predictor of accurate behavior interpretation toward the autistic employee and negated the predictive influence of education level, income, and gender identity of participants (OR = 1.12, p < 0.001). However, regardless of the level of autism knowledge, autistic participants continued to be significantly more likely to accurately interpret the behavior of the autistic employee, compared to non-autistic participants (OR = 2.94, p = 0.02).DiscussionResults continue to contribute support for the DEP within the context of autistic employment challenges. Findings also point to autism education as a promising autism workplace support in addressing the DEP and barriers autistic adults face with obtaining and retaining employment.

Mutual Misunderstandings: Herman Bavinck and Dumitru Staniloae in Dialogue

Abstract This paper examines the criticisms of Protestantism articulated by Romanian Eastern Orthodox theologian Dumitru Staniloae, highlighting over-generalizations in his assessments. Staniloae contends that Protestantism embodies dualism, anthropological pessimism, denigration of the sacraments, and indifference to sin, among other issues. This paper argues that some of these assertions reveal a lack of serious engagement and perhaps comprehension of the diverse range of the Protestant tradition. By scrutinizing Staniloae’s contentions through conversing with neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck, this paper attempts to demonstrate possible misinterpretations in Staniloae’s evaluations related to Protestant soteriology. In the reverse, the paper also evaluates some of Bavinck’s claims related to Palamist thought. Ultimately, this examination confirms that many of Staniloae’s criticisms of Protestantism are misinformed, just as Bavinck’s criticisms of Palamist thought lack both nuance and depth. By engaging in theological dialogue between these two theologians, this paper hopes to promote a greater appreciation for both traditions and the potential for further dialogue.

Response to Comment on “On the Evolution Equations of Nonlinearly Permissible, Coherent Hole Structures Propagating Persistently in Collisionless Plasmas” [Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 2023, 2300102

AbstractOur critical analysis of Hutchinson's work, expressed in our recent article in the Annalen der Physik, which goes beyond mutual misunderstandings and misrepresentations, is also maintained in light of his Comment. The main reason for the limited yield in structural description is the author's adherence to the BGK method and the associated lack of a nonlinear dispersion relation (NDR). Even with an additional asymptotic constraint, as a supposed replacement for the NDR, the author's theory remains inferior to the pseudo‐potential method.

A Bridge Over Troubled Water: How Worldview Helps Overcome the Religious-Secular Divide in Development Cooperation and Beyond

As research has shown, collaboration between religious and non-religious actors in the context of international development is often difficult and limited. Though various barriers exist, mutual misunderstanding and prejudices appear to be the main reason for the religious-secular divide. This essay argues that this divide—both within the development sector and beyond—can be bridged more effectively by understanding religion in terms of “worldview.” As everyone holds a certain worldview, this concept challenges the current dichotomy and creates a more level playing field as starting point for dialogue. Problematic for the development sector, however, is the widespread equation of secularity with neutrality, and of neutrality with professionalism. The “professional identity” concept can help uncouple this connection.

Autism and Employment Challenges: The Double Empathy Problem and Perceptions of an Autistic Employee in the Workplace.

High unemployment rates are found among autistic adults. Difficulties with social functioning in non-autistic workplaces can be significant barriers to employment success. Autistic social functioning challenges in non-autistic spaces have traditionally been attributed to assumed impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). Alternatively, the Double Empathy Problem (DEP) posits that autistic social challenges arise not from assumed impairments within the autistic person but instead from mutual misunderstandings in the autistic/non-autistic social interaction. The purpose of this study was to compare the ToM impairments explanation of autistic social functioning with the DEP, within the context of autistic employee social functioning in a non-autistic workplace. This study compared autistic and non-autistic participants' ability to accurately interpret the behaviors of an autistic employee at work. A sample of 254 participants (173 non-autistic and 81 autistic) read a vignette about a hypothetical autistic employee having difficulty coping in the workplace. Participants answered open-ended questions regarding their interpretation of the employee's behavior and emotional state. A significantly greater proportion of autistic participants (50.7%) accurately interpreted the behavior of the employee compared with non-autistic participants (31.2%) (χ 2 = 8.65, p = 0.003). Autistic participants with the highest behavior interpretation scores had significantly higher mean self-reported autism traits scores (M = 26.8) compared with autistic participants who scored lowest on behavior interpretation (M = 19.3, p < 0.001). The opposite relationship was found for non-autistic participants. Results from this study contribute to evidence supporting the DEP, shifting the paradigm of autistic social functioning away from a deficit model and toward addressing mutual misunderstandings in the autistic/non-autistic social interaction. The pattern of findings between neurotype groups by behavior interpretation abilities on an autism traits measure points to mutual misunderstandings as a clash of neurologically different social cultures. Addressing the DEP in the workplace would contribute to removing barriers to successful employment for autistic adults.

The subject ‘music’ from inside versus outside the music teaching profession: a comparative case study on the views of music and non-music primary education teachers in Spain

ABSTRACT Music as a subject in compulsory education is thought to have both a low reputation and a globally declining relevance. However, research findings have been contradictory in exploring the beliefs of teachers on the subject and have mainly targeted the Anglo-Saxon context. With the present study, we aim to shed light on how teachers understand this subject by adopting an approach that is novel to the extant research. By means of a comparative multi-case study, we contrasted the views of purposefully selected music and non-music teachers in the context of primary education in Spain. Our findings indicate that both cases shared a relativistic perspective on the subject's value, which is conceived as highly dependent on the advocacy and in-class teaching methodology adopted by each music teacher, as well as concerns about its teaching methodology. However, our analysis also reveals several discrepancies between the beliefs of both cases that may lead to mutual misunderstandings. Furthermore, our study suggests a lack of understanding of the role and needs of the music teacher by their counterparts, alongside music teachers having false assumptions about their counterparts’ views on their subject. Finally, we provide implications for increasing the perceived relevance of the subject that may also contribute to a better school climate for music teachers in the context of our participants.

Strangers in a Strange Land: Translating Catholicism in Early Modern Japan

Though many scholars have understood Tokugawa Japan's encounter with Christianity (1549-1650) to have ended in failure, an analysis of the period's religious literature demonstrates the considerable extent to which missionaries engaged with Japanese culture. This article examines several Kirishitan (Japanese Christian) texts printed between 1590 and 1620, devoting particular attention to the theological and philosophical terminology they employed. While sometimes borrowing directly from Latin and Portuguese, the new Catholic lexicon also drew from pre-existing Japanese vocabulary in the context of Buddhist and Neo-Confucian spirituality. Along with the education reforms introduced by the accommodationist Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, projects of Catholicism in translation complicate the picture of defeat and mutual misunderstanding that are often thought to characterize Japan’s Christian Century.

CONFLICT AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF THE ACEH ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN MEDIA OPINION

Increased political interests in a nation may lead to isolated citizens and conflicts of interest; so that ethnic minorities are oppressed, such as the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar. The Rohingya group as a minority in Myanmar, who fled to save themselves in Southeast Asia, were stranded in Aceh almost every year. The process of rescuing and sheltering the Rohingya refugees in Aceh experienced various problems, and one of them was cultural conflicts between the Rohingya refugees and the Acehnese people. The theory used in this study was a symbolic interaction with a descriptive qualitative method, and to understand the Rohingya issues through the mass media, the researchers used the media as data sources. The results of this study revealed that the Acehnese people were eager to save the Rohingya refugees due to religious similarities. Likewise, the regional government in coordination with the central government was also willing to save them on humanitarian grounds. In addition, UNHCR and volunteers from various organizations and non-governmental organizations were also working to serve and taking care of the needs of the Rohingya refugees. There were cultural conflicts between the Acehnese people and the Rohingya refugees due to cultural differences and mutual misunderstanding between their cultures. However, cultural adaptation could occur properly so that the refugees could survive and be comfortable in their daily lives in refugee camps. Cultural differences were an obstacle in the adaptation of the refugees in Aceh, but the similarity of religion was one of the factors of the cultural adaptation.

Stuck in Limbo: how sensemaking discrepancy over strategy-related performance leads to disjointed collaboration in an international joint venture

A major issue in international business is why many International Joint Ventures (IJVs) fail to live up to partners’ expectations. Research into why IJVs underperform centres on differences between partners’ equity, resources, technical knowledge and cultural values, but seldom internal sensemaking conflicts. We address this research gap: specifically, the sense managers make of their own and their partner managers’ perceived performance in relation to strategy practices, and the effects of sensemaking upon collaboration. Some IJV studies examine outright organizational failure, but we focus on a common situation where partner firms’ expectations about each other’s performance are not met. Our case is a major Sino-New Zealand dairy IJV in a Limbo-like state of severe sensemaking discrepancy. Here, managers struggled to perform strategy effectively in a context of mutual misunderstanding and profound miscommunication, rooted in sensemaking differences. Using a strategy practice lens, we explore how this sensemaking discrepancy arose over organizational identity, learning and experience, strategizing, communication and trust. This eroded meaningful cooperation over strategy, leading to disjointed collaboration: a new concept capturing a state of compromised engagement, where the IJV continued operationally, but collaboration became increasingly difficult. We provide a theoretical framework to help understand sensemaking discrepancy in IJVs, based on a reconceptualization of sensemaking discrepancy in terms of own and others’ expected and perceived performance. We also offer essential practice-based insights into cognitive barriers to strategy collaboration.

Suicidal Behavior and Difficulty of Patients, as Perceived by Community Mental Health Nurses

Mental health professionals who work in community mental health services play an important role in treating patients after attempted suicide or deliberate self-injury. When such behaviors are interpreted negatively, patients may be seen as difficult, which may lead to ineffective treatment and mutual misunderstanding. The goal of this study was to assess the association between the grading of suicidality and perceived difficulty. We hypothesized that a higher grading of suicidality is associated with increased perceived difficulty. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 176 patients who participated in 2 cohort studies: 92 patients in the MATCH-cohort study and 84 patients in the Interpersonal Community Psychiatric Treatment (ICPT) study. The dependent variable was perceived difficulty, as measured by the Difficult Doctor-Patient Relationship Questionnaire (DDPRQ) and the Difficulty Single-item (DSI), a single item measuring the difficulty of the patient as perceived by the professional. Grading of suicidality was considered as the independent variable. Multiple linear and logistic regression was performed. We found a significant association between perceived difficulty (DDPRQ) and high gradings of suicidality (B: 3.96; SE: 1.44; β: 0.21; P=0.006), increasing age (B: 0.09; SE: 0.03; β: 0.22; P<0.003), sex (female) (B: 2.33; SE: 0.83; β: 0.20; P=0.006), and marital status (being unmarried) (B: 1.92; SE: 0.85; β: 0.17; P=0.025). A significant association was also found between the DSI and moderate (odds ratio: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.355-6.854; P=0.007) and high (odds ratio: 7.11; 95% CI: 1.8.43-24.435; P=0.005) gradings of suicidality. In this study, we found that perceived difficulty was significantly associated with moderate and high gradings of suicidality, increasing age, female sex, and being unmarried.

The tale of two empires: Ukraine between the West and Russia

Ukraine has been, since its independence in 1991, located between two qualitatively different types of geopolitical environments - modern to its east and post-modern to its west. Given the tendencies of both to growth, nonetheless, using different means and seeking divergent goals, Ukraine turned into a geopolitical battlefield that due to the internal developments in Russia stepped into a hot phase in 2014 with further escalation in 2022. The article presents an interpretation of the events through neomedieval and imperial lenses, explaining the behaviours of both the West and Russia and the consequences their foreign policies had for the current situation in the country. It concludes that the mutual misunderstanding about the nature of the respective projects - mainly of the voluntary enlargement of the EU and NATO - led to unnecessary clashes and escalation of the contest by the Russian modern empire.

КАНАДСКО-АМЕРИКАНСКИЕ ОТНОШЕНИЯ В 1957–1963 ГГ.: ЭТАПЫ И ИСТОРИЯ РАЗВИТИЯ

The article discusses the relationship between Canada and the USA during Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s premiership in 1957–1963. Based on the analysis of the relevant source and historiographical background, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that personal hostility and mutual misunderstanding between John Kennedy and John Diefenbaker shaped the nature of the relationship between Canada and the USA in 1961–1963. The author believes that Diefenbaker’s anti-Americanism in 1961–1963 did not have a clear ideological background, and was the result of a number of factors, and, above all, the populism of the Prime Minister of Canada, as well as his poor personal relations with John Kennedy. On the contrary, according to the author, in the 1957–1960 period, anti-Americanism was missing in the foreign policy strategy of Diefenbaker, and that is why the latter advocated a close military cooperation with the United States, which was implemented in 1958 through the conclusion of the NORAD agreement. From the author’s point of view, the relations between Canada and the USA in 1957–1963 underwent a serious transformation – from the consensus with Eisenhower to the complete lack of understanding with Kennedy. The latter failed to find a necessary approach to Diefenbaker who, guided by negative emotions towards Kennedy during the Caribbean crisis, did nothing to fulfill his allied obligations with regard to the United States. The author emphasizes that both sides are to blame for the deterioration of the relations between Canada and the USA in 1961–1963

Reflections on the healing power of collaborative filmmaking

Reflections on the healing power of collaborative filmmaking

Образы чудаков в новеллистике Р. Карвера (на материале рассказов из сборника «Прошу тебя, замолчи!»)

The article deals with the images of eccentric characters in the short stories “Jerry and Molly and Sam” (1972), “Fat” (1971), “They Are Not Your Husband” (1973), “Neighbors” (1971), “The Idea” (1972) written by an outstanding American writer of the second half of the 20th century R. Carver. The definitions of the concepts of “eccentricity” and “grotesque” are given, the fundamental difference between “eccentric” and the related concepts of “jester” and “rogue” is highlighted, examples of the interpretation of “eccentricity” in the previous literary tradition are given. The selected stories are analyzed and the main features inherent in Carver’s eccentrics, such as passivity, self-deception, substitution of values, following false ideas about future happiness, and others, are highlighted. In his stories, the author again actualizes the problems of loneliness, control, alienation and mutual misunderstanding, traditional for American literature of the 20th century; touches upon the themes of voyeurism, appearance and personality, midlife crisis, invasion of personal space and private property, portrays characters who happen to be victims of broken communication, who make attempts to identify themselves, but invariably fail. The infantile and absurd actions of Carver’s heroes not only hide the mental discord and the tragic inability of an individual to gain control over their own life, but at the same time reflect the general social disorder and spiritual trouble. Thus, the characters in the stories of R. Carver stand on a par with other eccentric heroes of American and world literature, in particular with the grotesque heroes of one of the founders of the modern American short story, S. Anderson.

Особливості етикету дарування ділових подарунків у різних країнах

Abstract. Introduction. The present article deals with the gift giving etiquette in different countries. It is noted that mutual communication is becoming an increasingly universal phenomenon for people of different cultural backgrounds. A substantiated opinion is that business partners typically give gifts to show appreciation, respect, express best wishes or congratulations, and show goodwill to continue working together and maintain relationships. It is noted that business etiquette plays a crucial role in the smooth development of international business. It has been established that the gifts exchange has a long history and since ancient times high foreign guests have always arrived in another country with gifts. Purpose. The purpose of this research is a comprehensive investigation of the business gifts giving etiquette in different countries, identifying and studying the key common and distinctive features of this process. Results. It is especially difficult to communicate effectively with business partners of different cultures. Hence, it is necessary to study not only the issues to be discussed in business meeting with foreign business partners, but also business ethics of the relevant country. An effective way to improve the relationship between business partners is a gift giving. This prosess can express different types of emotions and reduce mutual misunderstandings or conflicts, mutual emotional distance and strengthen relationships between business partners. And vice versa, the wrong gift can lead to the contract ending. Under those circumstances, it is important for the gift sender to respect the culture of business partners, to understand the customs of the country. Conclusions. Therefore, the gift-giving etiquette is closely linked to different social customs, historical traditions, religious beliefs and lifestyles of different countries. At the end, the comparing of gift-giving different aspects between countries will help to understand the different cultural values, and hence to ensure an effective mutual communication between different nations.

Exploring the Impact of Submarine Saturation on Strategic Stability in South Asia

Due to the growing rivalry between local and external actors, the Indian Ocean region is increasingly the site of an underwater Cold War. India and Pakistan are actively developing their submarines, contributing to regional maritime saturation. While India plans to increase the number of conventional vessels and nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, Pakistan is working on launching nuclear-capable cruise missiles from diesel-electric submarines. This maritime saturation leads to the emergence of new threats and the revitalisation of old ones. The danger of accidental collisions between nuclear-powered submarines and diesel submarines, in some cases both with nuclear weapons on board, is increasing. Mutual misunderstanding of strategic imperatives and mistrust can lead to accidental conflicts, and incidents on board nuclear submarines. This essay argues that it is necessary to raise awareness of these challenges and of strategic cultures in the region to prevent incidents with nuclear weapons. Keywords: Indian Ocean, People’s Liberation Army Navy, Indian Navy, Pakistan Navy, Submarine

Cultural Diversity: Exploring Eco-Cultural Memories in Hilary Tham’s Tin Mines and Concubines

Motivated by the theme of cultural diversity in Hilary Tham’s Tin Mines and Concubines (2005), a Malaysian fiction that depicts various family stories of multiethnic Malaysians in the 1960s, this article examines the ways in which the author draws on her cultural memories of Malaysian society through the lens of ecocriticism. While cultural memories convey the memories embedded in physical monuments, eco-cultural memories signify memories implanted in ecological substances. Eco-cultural memories entwine both natural and cultural aspects and are essential to the subject of ecocriticism, which emphasises human-non-human links. The research sheds light on Malaysia’s varied cultures by examining cultural memories incorporating animal, plant and culinary aspects. Tham’s perceptions of cultural variety vary according to ethnic origins, cultural upbringing, belief systems, social classes, cultural practices and experiences. In general, examining Tham’s eco-cultural recollections about bodily functions, weddings, superstitions, cultural alienation and social class reveals how the organic relationship between the animal, food and plant components fosters intercultural consciousness and interracial mutual understanding and misunderstanding in Malaysian society.

Darwin and the French: The species question and ‘man’ in Oceania

Reading Darwin with a strong sense of déjà vu, French scholars often give him a long French intellectual genealogy. So the physical anthropologist Topinard averred in 1876 that ‘transformism is of French origin … the honour is entirely due to M. Lamarck’ and defined Darwinism as ‘Natural selection through the struggle for existence, applied to Lamarck's transformism’. Using detailed exegesis, this article traces antecedents, intersections, rebuttals, appropriations, shifts, and mutual misunderstandings in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transmutationist thinking in France and Britain. With specific reference to unstable concepts of evolution and species, the article samples French and francophone reception and interpretation of Darwin's writings and his responses to critics or supporters. Relative to ideas of race or civilization, human unity or diversity, and the interplay of empirical or deductive logic, I compare Darwin's work with that of the French physical anthropologist Broca in debates on racial ranking, extinction, and the ‘descent of man’, particularly in Australia and Oceania more widely. I conclude that, notwithstanding Darwin's personal humanitarian values, his science of man made important contributions to the theoretical underpinnings of the science of race, or raciology, which had emerged and developed mainly in France in the half century after 1800.