Western Cultural Context Research Articles

Does mindfulness moderate the relationship between anxiety, uncertainty, and intercultural communication effectiveness of the students in Pakistan?

The current study tests key variables of anxiety uncertainty management (AUM), a well-known theory of interpersonal communication, within the context of Pakistan. Previous research has been more concerned with the extension of AUM rather empirically testing its major components; plus, previous studies were conducted primarily in Western cultural contexts. This study proposes a direct effect of anxiety, uncertainty, and mindfulness on intercultural communication effectiveness (ICE). In addition, interaction (moderating) effects are proposed for mindfulness on the relationships between anxiety, uncertainty, and ICE. This study incorporates a quantitative research design to address the relationships between the variables. Data were collected from a survey technique of students (N = 549) of the capital city of Pakistan through convenient sampling. Findings reveal that anxiety and uncertainty have a negative influence on ICE. However, mindfulness has a positive impact on ICE. Furthermore, mindfulness significantly moderated the relationship between anxiety, uncertainty, and ICE. Even though this study considered a new cultural context (Pakistan), still the findings were in accordance with the predictions of AUM. This study empirically validates the theoretical framework and axioms of AUM within the context of Pakistan. This study is useful for the policy makers of Pakistan to develop new policies regarding internationals. Furthermore, they can train their nationals how to manage anxiety and uncertainty and to be mindful during intercultural interactions to avoid problems and confusions among people.

Study of the Physical Environment of Waiting Areas and Its Effects on Patient Satisfaction, Experience, Perceived Waiting Time, and Behavior in China.

This study examines the physical environment in the outpatient waiting area and its effects on overall satisfaction, experience, perceived waiting time, and behavior. Waiting can be a frustrating experience for patients. Previous studies on waiting areas in hospitals have been rooted mainly in the Western cultural context, and research focusing on the impact of the physical environment on the waiting experience with the denser patient concentration in China is important. Physical environment measurements, observations, and questionnaire surveys were employed. The actual lighting intensity and sound level did not meet the national standards. Sound level and satisfaction with the size of the waiting area, signage system, and visual art on the wall were significant predictors (R2 = .463, p = .000) for overall satisfaction. Experiences related to the size of the waiting area, seating, signage system, and restrooms were significant predictors (R2 = .373, p = .000) of overall waiting experience. The experience related to the acoustic environment (β = -.184, p = .006) had a significant relationship with perceived waiting time. The increase in participants' behaviors of looking out of a window and the decrease in looking at other people, looking around, dozing, and looking at a wall might result from a substantial increase in lighting and the availability of a nature view from the window. The effect of the physical setting of waiting areas may positively impact patient satisfaction, waiting experience, perceived waiting time, and behavior, which has implications for patient-centered design.

Implementation of the Bologna system in higher education in Russia: problems and results

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problems and prospects of Russia’s innvolement in a single European area of higher education, better known as the Bologna process, its purpose being to create an unlimited scientific environment in the field of education and scientific activity. The study aims to consider the features of Russia’s entry into the Bologna system, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of this process, and outline the importance of higher education in the formation of national identity and national mentality. The main research methods are system-analytical, comparative and axiological ones. Also, the study employs other methods relevant to the objectives of the work: the method of sociological observation, description, linguoculturological analysis. The problem of higher education integration is debated a lot in the pedagogical community. Our teachers, methodologists, culturologists also participate in scientific discussions. Despite a number of advantages, Russian education does not quite fit into the context of Western culture: the unification of the educational process leads to the destruction of scholarly traditions, the ideas of “educational tourism” and “double” diplomas cannot be fully implemented, especially in provincial universities, Russian universities fail to take their worthy place in international rankings. As a result, the authors of the article come to the reasonable conclusion that the task of the cultural and educational community is to preserve national identity, basic values, traditions of elite imperial education and their integration into European educational space. The main mission of university education is the formation of a universal educational idea based on the priority of the humanities. This is what scientists and educators should strive for, regardless of nationality and linguistic affiliation.

Recycled Lives: A History of Reincarnation in Blavatsky's Theosophy by Julie Chajes

Reviewed by: Recycled Lives: A History of Reincarnation in Blavatsky's Theosophy by Julie Chajes Keith Cantú Keywords Helena Blavatsky, Henry Olcott, Theosophy, reincarnation, the New Age, Kabbalah, Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, Spiritualism, Anthroposophy, metempsychosis, transmigration, Platonism, Naturphilosophie, Darwinism, Orientalism julie chajes. Recycled Lives: A History of Reincarnation in Blavatsky's Theosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. xii + 215. Concepts such as "reincarnation" and "karma" have in past decades been cemented into anglophone popular imagination, even if many people ultimately hold other views on what happens after death or do not give these terms any thought. Julie Chajes's groundbreaking historical study on Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (née von Hahn, 1831–1891), specifically her teachings on reincarnation, demonstrate that the intellectual foundation of these concepts as currently understood in most Western cultural contexts is intertwined with related concepts like "metempsychosis," "transmigration," "spiritism," "astral [End Page 423] soul," and even "permutation," all of which at present remain much further removed from common discourse. As Chajes skillfully demonstrates, these, along with a wider variety of other concepts, have their own genealogical histories that are waiting to be critically excavated through a closer reading of Blavatsky's writings. Indeed, Chajes's book is explicitly intended to be part of a larger project that eventually supplies a "detailed analysis of Blavatsky's thought as a whole" (12), a project that is already helping to sort out the entangled web of metaphysical ideas left in the wake of her profound influence on modern occultism for almost a century and a half. Recycled Lives is divided into an introduction, six chapters, and a final section of "Conclusions." The introduction supplies useful background information about and references to the controversy generated by the so-called Mahatma Letters that Blavatsky claimed to receive from enlightened masters, about her scope of influence on occultism and metaphysical milieus culminating in the advent of popular New Age spirituality, and about her engagement with Jewish and Christian Kabbalah. Chapter 1 tracks the development of Blavatsky's theories of rebirth; Chapters 2 and 3 supply what Chajes calls "internalist" data about Blavatsky's own views on reincarnation as contrasted in two of her principle works, Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888); finally, Chapters 4 through 7 concentrate on currents external to Blavatsky's literature and are divided into four respective categories: Spiritualism, science, Platonism, and Orientalism. The chapters are followed by a concluding section that emphasizes the "historically and culturally contingent amalgamation" of her specific moment in time that supplied the foundation for later Theosophists, for the advent of Anthroposophy, and for writers on mediumship. Chajes deserves much credit for her meticulous referencing of sources that reveal the scope of contested discourses on reincarnation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, throughout which Blavatsky and her Theosophical co-founder Henry Olcott (1832–1907) played a central role. One of her arguments that shines through with an especially clarifying force is the assertion that Blavatsky's views on reincarnation shifted away from the earlier doctrine, in Isis Unveiled, of metempsychosis, that is, the spirit and soul's conjoined ascent to subtle realms. Blavatsky's later model, as outlined in The Secret Doctrine, instead admitted the possibility of rebirth after death of an individual (the essential unit of which she called a "monad") onto a new spiritual level of a vast chain of evolutionary being according to one's karma incurred as a human being. I found Chajes's analytical intervention into the period's discourses surrounding this shift to be nothing short of extraordinary, especially her nuanced treatment (33–37) of the way in which Blavatsky's thought was engaged by the Spiritualist lecturer Edward Maitland (1824–1897). Maitland claimed that Blavatsky had adopted her theory of reincarnation [End Page 424] from a similar doctrine expounded by himself and his associate Anna Kingsford (1846–1888), author of The Perfect Way, based on the writings of Marie, the Countess of Caithness (d. 1895). The book's chapters on the "external" factors of Spiritualism, science, and Platonism are well-researched explications of the many cultural ideas that Blavatsky drew upon to construct her theory of reincarnation, especially by the time...

Identity development in the era of globalization: Globalization-based acculturation and personal identity development among Danish emerging adults

ABSTRACT Cultural globalization, which has led to increased intercultural contact, has emerged as a defining influence on contemporary societies worldwide. In the present study, we examined individual differences in endorsement of multicultural acquisition and ethnic protection, as well as their links with well-being indirectly through dimensions of personal identity development, in a sample of Danish emerging adults (N= 377;M age = 22.68;SD = 2.25). Results indicate that a defensive reaction to cultural globalization, characterized by endorsement of ethnic protection, was directly and negatively associated with psychological well-being, whereas a proactive reaction characterized by multicultural acquisition was positively and indirectly linked to well-being through identification with identity commitments and through reflective identity exploration in depth. In terms of direct links between identity dimensions and well-being outcomes, identification with commitments was linked with satisfaction with life and with the hedonic dimension of psychological well-being, and reflexive exploration in depth was associated with the eudaimonic dimension of psychological well-being. These findings emphasize, within a Western cultural context, the ways in which an ethnic-protectionist approach to viewing diversity can be detrimental to well-being – and that embracing diversity may help to facilitate well-being.

Toward contextual understanding: antecedents of work-family interface in India

PurposeThe current study examined cultural (diffuse orientation), organizational (organizational work-family climates) and individual (role centrality) antecedents of key work-family (WF) experiences (WF conflict, WF enrichment and WF boundary management) in India.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 586 white-collar employees in India. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsAnalyses revealed interesting culture-specific insights into the WF dynamic. For example, less demarcation between WF boundaries (diffuse orientation) did not increase WF conflict, but significantly fostered WF enrichment, challenging the findings in the Western cultural contexts. A supportive organizational WF climate was found to be a crucial factor that alleviated WF conflict, whereas greater investment in work role led to greater WF enrichment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study addresses a dearth of research on antecedents of WF interface that simultaneously examines the positive and negative aspects of WF interface. It also advances the WF literature by generating empirical evidence related to the cultural dimension of diffuse orientation.Originality/valueThis study provides a holistic view of WF interface in the Indian context by incorporating various antecedents in one model.

Piecing Together J. G. Ballard’s "The Atrocity Exhibition"

<p>J.G. Ballard’s <em>The Atrocity Exhibition</em> can easily be classified as his most experimental novel, one that, more than any other of his works, succeeds in presenting, or perhaps representing, the fragmented condition of a media-saturated Western culture. On the surface, it does appear to be a postmodern and seemingly chaotic bricolage of pop iconography, landscapes, and medical references arranged non-linearly and without plot, and yet there is a unifying principle at work, anchoring the texts in a specific ideological context of 1960s Western culture. The main argument of this paper expands on Debord’s study of spectacle and regards <em>The Atrocity Exhibition</em> as a work that not only attempts to frustrate reading expectations, but also addresses the cultural shift towards spectacular society.</p>

Gao Xingjian’s Dialogue with Literary and Visual Traditions

The paper is devoted to the contemporary Chinese prose and drama writer, painter,stage director and author of experimental art films, Gao Xingjian. My aim is topresent his innovative solutions in the field of different arts and media. I try toanalyze his works in a broad context of Eastern and Western culture and to showthe flexibility with which he crosses the narrow borders of arts, makes use of therich heritage of his native traditional culture, Chinese Taoist philosophy with itsprocessual understanding of reality. I also point at his interest in the aesthetics ofemptiness and artistic minimalism.

How robust is the own-group face recognition bias? Evidence from first- and second-generation East Asian Canadians.

There is mounting evidence that North Americans are better able to remember faces of targets who belong to the same social group, and this is true even when the social groups are experimentally created. Yet, how Western cultural contexts afford the development of this own group face recognition bias remains unknown. This question is particularly important given that recent findings suggest that first-generation East Asian Canadians do not show this bias. In the current research, we examined the own-group bias among first- and second-generation East Asian Canadians, who vary systematically in their exposure to and engagement in a Western cultural context, and tested mediators that could explain any difference. In Study 1, second-generation East Asian Canadians showed better memory for same-group (vs. other-group) faces. In Studies 2 and 3, as well as a meta-analysis of all three studies, we found some additional evidence that second-generation East Asian Canadians show better memory for same-group (vs. other-group) faces, whereas first-generation East Asian Canadians do not, but only when each cultural group was examined separately in each study, as no interaction with generational status emerged. In Study 2, and in a higher powered pre-registered Study 3, we also examined whether second- (vs. first-) generational status had a positive indirect effect on same-group face recognition through the effects of acculturation and perceived relational mobility in the immediate social environment, however this mediation model was not supported by the data. Overall, the results provide some additional evidence that the effect of mere social categorization on face recognition may not be as consistently found among East Asian participants.

Cultural Differences in Emotion Suppression in Belgian and Japanese Couples: A Social Functional Model.

Emotion suppression has been found to have negative psychological and social consequences in Western cultural contexts. Yet, in some other cultural contexts, emotion suppression is less likely to have negative consequences; relatedly, emotion suppression is also more common in those East-Asian cultural contexts. In a dyadic conflict study, we aim to (a) conceptually replicate cultural differences found in previous research with respect to the prevalence and consequences of emotion suppression, and (b) extend previous research by testing whether cultural differences are larger for some than for other types of negative emotions. We postulate that cultural differences in suppression are less pronounced for socially engaging emotions (e.g., guilt) than socially disengaging emotions (e.g., anger), because the former foster the relationship, whereas the latter emphasize individual goals. Belgian (N = 58) and Japanese (N = 80) couples engaged in a 10-min conflict interaction followed by video-mediated recall, during which participants rated their emotions and emotion suppression every 30 s. As predicted, Japanese participants reported more suppression than their Belgian counterparts, but the cultural difference was more pronounced when participants experienced more socially disengaging emotions than when they experienced more socially engaging emotions. These results suggest that the type of emotion should be considered when describing cultural differences in emotion suppression. Finally, and consistent with previous research, emotion suppression was negatively associated with interaction outcomes (i.e., conflict resolution) in Belgian couples, but not in Japanese couples.

Transformational Leadership and Employees’ Reactions to Organizational Change: Evidence From a Meta-Analysis

Numerous studies have empirically tested the linkage between transformational leadership and employees’ reactions to organizational change. However, no systematic attempt has been made to organize and summarize those findings. Based on a sample of 30 empirical studies that included 39 independent effect sizes and 12,240 participants, this meta-analysis found that transformational leadership exhibited (a) a positive relationship with commitment to change, openness to change, and readiness for change; (b) a negative correlation with resistance to change and cynicism about change; and (c) a nonsignificant correlation with support for change. Moderation analyses showed that in cross-sectional (vs. longitudinal) designs, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with openness to change and cynicism about change. Using Bass and Avolio’s scale (vs. Podsakoff et al.’s), transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with resistance to change. In the Eastern (vs. Western) cultural context, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with commitment to change and resistance to change. In low-level (vs. high-level) journals, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with commitment to change, openness to change, and support for change. This study highlights the value of incorporating transformational leadership theory into the literature on change reactions to obtain a better understanding of how leaders facilitate or hinder organizational change.

Culture and well-being in late adulthood: Theory and evidence.

Aging happens to everyone everywhere. At present, however, little is known about whether life-span adult development-and particularly development in late adulthood-is pancultural or culture-bound. Here, we propose that in Western cultural contexts, individuals are encouraged to maintain the active, positive, and independent self. This cultural expectation continues even in late adulthood, thus leading to a mismatch between aspirations to live up to the cultural expectation and the reality of aging. This mismatch is potentially alienating. In contrast, in Asian cultural contexts, a critical task throughout life is to achieve attunement with age-graded social roles. This ideal may be more attainable even in late adulthood. Our review of existent evidence lends support to this analysis. Specifically, in late adulthood, Americans showed a robust psychological bias toward high-arousal positive (vs. negative) emotions. This positivity, however, concealed a somber aspect of aging that manifested itself in more demanding realms of life. Thus, Americans in late adulthood also showed marked declines in certain desirable personality traits (e.g., extraversion and conscientiousness) and some aspects of the meaning in life (e.g., personal growth and purpose in life). None of these effects were apparent among East Asians. The current work underscores a need to extend research on life-span development beyond Western populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

My Fair Ladies [Book Review

Julie Wosk's My Fair Ladies is an engaging historical account of female automata, with sidelights on dolls, disembodied electronic female voices, masks, make-up, and the sexual and gender implications of efforts to create artificial humans. Wosk focuses mainly on the Western cultural context, although recent Japanese and Korean explorations of the female-robot theme are presented toward the end of the book. The impressive filmography serves as the archival database from which she draws, along with citations to many works of art. Some print sources are cited as well. There are numerous black and white illustrations, and a very welcome and well-chosen section of color plates.

What matters to patients with stroke in India and why: a qualitative study

Purpose To gain insight into the preferred outcomes of patients with stroke living in India and develop a conceptual framework of participation in daily activities based on patient perspectives informed by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Methods This study took a phenomenological approach. A purposive sample of 30 patients with stroke and diverse socio-demographic and disease related characteristics participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews consisted of open-ended questions about their post stroke rehabilitation goals. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results Patients expressed preference for outcomes such as the use of eastern toilets, squatting and sitting on the floor, eating with the right hand, taking a “bucket bath,” walking for long distances (1–2 km) and the use of public transportation. Patients attributed their outcome preferences to contextual factors such as the physical environment (natural and built environment), family structure and living conditions, cultural values, norms and practices. Based on the outcomes identified by the patients, we developed the conceptual framework of participation in daily activities relevant to Indian context consisting of Mobility, Self-care, Domestic Life, and Social participation domains informed by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Conclusions Outcome preferences of patients with stroke are not universal. The conceptual framework including its domains and contents developed in this study can be a useful guide to clinicians and researchers in choosing what to measure within Indian as well as other similar sociocultural contexts. Implications for rehabilitation Post-stroke functional outcome measurement is meaningful only when it is conceptualized within the context in which the personal, social, and cultural values of patients are well-recognized. There are notable differences in the type of activities constituting daily activities and how they were performed in India compared to a western cultural context. Patients’ daily functioning is characterized by the differences in personal preferences, cultural norms and practices, family and living arrangements, lifestyle, and characteristics of natural and built environment and the available public infrastructure. Differentiating activities patients cannot do from the “no need to do” or “don’t want to do” should be viewed as a critical aspect of patient reported outcome measurement.

Exploring Self-Mention in The Yemeni EFL Argumentative Writing Across Three Proficiency Levels

Self-mention used by university-level Yemeni writers is regarded as a challenging task. The overuse use of this feature is often considered as less formal and objective in academic writing. Despite the significance of this feature in academic writing, previous studies were mostly conducted in the Western cultural context. Research on self-mention produced by EFL learners of Arabic cultural background seems to be overlooked. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and compare the use of the first-person pronouns across three proficiency levels in an argumentative paragraph written by 80 third-year undergraduate students. Data were collected, assessed by ELT specialists, and then quantitatively analyzed. The results revealed that Yemeni EFL learners make extensive use of the first-person pronouns in their argumentative paragraphs. Differences were found in the occurrences of the first-person pronouns across three proficiency levels. The results also indicated that learners with a high proficiency level tend to use the first-person pronouns less than learners at low and intermediate proficiency levels. Since low-proficient learners rely more on the use of the first-person pronouns than those at higher levels, learners need to be exposed to a variety of strategies of how they can project their voice appropriately in their written texts.

The ABCs of Math Attitudes: Reliability and Validity of the Three Factor Model

Although the Attitudes toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI; four-factor model with 40 items) has been well-established as a viable tool to test the multidimentionality of math attitudes, studies have pointed out that the ATMI is lengthy, and analyses have typically been conducted on individual samples from either western or non-western cultural contexts. To address these concerns, the present study aimed to evaluate a shorter version of math attitude scales (three-factor model with 11 items) using data from three nationally representative samples (USA, Hong Kong, and Singapore). The primary goal of the current investigation was to establish reliabilty and validity of the factor structure of Affective-Behavioal-Cognitive math attitudes. Alpha coefficients (.74 - .91), factor loadings (.49 - .90), and inter-item correlation matrices supported strong reliability and clear convergent and discriminant validity of all three subscales of math attitudes. Findings were consistent with the well-documented theoretical model of ABC math attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998, 2007; Walker, 2018; Zan & Di Martino, 2007, 2014) as well as the classical tripartite model of attitudes from social pyschology (Breckler, 1984; Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960). Implications of the ABC model of math attitudes on math education, limitations of the present study, and future research are discussed.

Longitudinal Profiles of Psychological Well-Being and Health: Findings From Japan.

Studies have reported relationships between psychological well-being and physical health in Western cultural contexts. However, longitudinal associations between well-being and health have not been examined in other cultures where different values and beliefs about well-being exist. This paper examined whether longitudinal profiles of well-being predict prospective health among Japanese adults. Data came from 654 people who completed two waves of the Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) Study collected 4–5 years apart. Health outcomes were assessed with subjective health, chronic conditions, physical symptoms, and functional health. The results showed that persistently high well-being predicted better health over time. High-arousal positive affect, which is relatively less valued in Japanese culture, was also associated with better health. The findings add cross-cultural evidence to the cross-time link between well-being and health.

The Janus-faced Dilemma of Rock Art Heritage Management in Europe: A Double Dialectic Process between Conservation and Public Outreach, Transmission and Exclusion

ABSTRACT In this paper, we discuss the management strategies applied to rock art in Western cultural contexts (France and northern Spain). How do the persons responsible for rock art sites manage the tension between their conservation and long-term transmission, and their opening to the public to enable their heritage value to be shared and transmitted in the present? Drawing on a typology of the many possible configurations, we discuss the choices made by the actors in charge of decorated sites. We thus demonstrate that the implementation of quotas depends on the priorities of the decision-makers and their interpretation of the preservation of a decorated site. Finally, our empirical approach leads to a discussion of the accessibility of rock art sites from the angle of heritage access rights and the heritage-making process. What meaning do we ascribe to sites that remain closed and thus cannot be experienced by the public?

Understanding Taiwanese adolescents’ connections with nature: rethinking conventional definitions and scales for environmental education

Losing contact with nature has become a serious concern in recent years, not only because it depletes children and adolescents’ physical health and well-being, but also because it creates apathy towards natural environments. Most past research has developed scales to measure adult’s connection with nature (CWN), leaving adolescents’ CWN a less examined academic question. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study is therefore to understand what Taiwanese adolescents experienced and perceived as CWN and thus re-evaluate existing CWN definitions and assumptions proposed in western cultural contexts. We adopted phenomenology and grounded theory as guiding methods to interview 10 junior and senior high school students (age 16-18) in northern urban Taiwan through open and relational sampling. We developed a three-construct CWN model that consisted of sensory engagement, emotional attachment, and symbolic meaning-making. Our findings also indicated that adolescents’ CWN was distinct from children and adults, and cultural differences may exist. Rather than a stable personality trait, adolescents’ CWN continued to develop and change with educational interventions. Based on our findings, we suggest designing a specific CWN scale for adolescents for future research and propose pedagogical principles to help educators to strengthen adolescents’ CWN.

We Want a Team Player: A Formative Cross-Cultural Investigation in the United States, China, and South Korea

The term “team player” originated in a Western cultural context and can be summarized in the form of five task and two social roles. Yet, can these roles be replicated outside of a U.S. context and will their endorsement vary across cultures and employment status? To answer this exploratory question, we collected data from a total of 483 participants comprising 269 U.S. Americans, 110 Chinese, and 104 Koreans. Participants were asked to describe a team player in their native languages. Three coders per cultural group found more than 3,000 coding units based on the seven predetermined team player roles. The results, based on chi-square tests, show that participants from all three cultural groups consider a team player’s responsibilities to be multidimensional, possessing both task competencies and social skills. Nevertheless, the extent to which each culture emphasizes these two dimensions differs. Both U.S. American and Chinese participants prefer a balance between task roles and social roles, whereas Korean participants prioritize task roles over social roles. These findings provide empirical evidence that across the three cultural groups, broadly the same roles are expected of a team player; however, the U.S. and Chinese understandings were more similar than across the two Asian samples, questioning the often simplistic view of Asian cultures as being homogeneous and of Western and Asian cultures being at different ends of a spectrum of difference. Finally, findings suggest that incorporating explicit discussion about what being a team player entails is a necessary step in multicultural workplaces.