The Integrative Role of Sport in Multicultural Societies

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis ◽  
Eleftheria Morela ◽  
Anne-Marie Elbe ◽  
Olga Kouli ◽  
Xavier Sanchez

Sport participation has been recognized as an important socializing agent; the sport environment is considered a suitable setting for the development of social and moral values, particularly for youth. Therefore, it can be argued that participation in sport may reinforce understanding and respect of cultural diversity and foster the integration of migrants. In this paper, we review the existing literature on the integrative role of sport among individuals and groups with differing cultural backgrounds. The existing findings support the role sport may have in promoting integration; nonetheless, some controversy exists. On the one side, there is evidence suggesting that sport can promote interaction among people from different cultures, while also helping individuals maintain ties with their own cultural groups, thus facilitating the maintenance of their cultural heritage. On the other side, there are also indications that sport participation may accentuate cultural differences, thus evoking tensions. Therefore, it appears that sport participation per se may not have the strength to achieve the anticipated integration; rather, sport would provide a common ground where integration can be cultivated. Future directions are discussed to encourage the development of research that enhances further our understanding on the integrative role of sport in multicultural societies.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-214
Author(s):  
JungHwa (Jenny) Hong ◽  
Kyung-Ah (Kay) Byun

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of culture and future orientation in lenders’ prosocial microlending behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments examine how different cultural backgrounds, either individualistic or collectivistic, influenced microlenders’ prosocial behaviors, including the amount of microlending, the willingness to help and the length of commitment. Further, the moderating role of future orientation among individualists is investigated. Findings Results indicate that cultural differences influence prosocial microlending differently such that individualists give less to people in need compared to collectivists. Further, the author found that future orientation helps lenders in individualistic culture to improve prosocial microlending behaviors. Originality/value This paper emphasizes the role of cultural background and future orientation in promoting lenders’ prosocial giving in the context of microlending. The results assist social marketers to understand how to motivate giving behaviors via microlending among lenders in different cultures depending on future orientation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Dominik Güss ◽  
Ma. Teresa Tuason ◽  
Noemi Göltenboth ◽  
Anastasia Mironova

Creativity plays an important role in the advancement of all societies around the world, yet the role of cultural influences on creativity is still unclear. Following systems theory, activity theory, and ecocultural theory, semistructured interviews with 30 renowned artists (writers, composers, and visual artists) from Cuba, Germany, and Russia were conducted to explore the complexity of the creative process and potential cultural differences. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology. The following eight main domains resulted from the interviews: How I became an artist, What being an artist means to me, Creating as a cognitive process, Creating as an emotional process, Creating as a motivational process, Fostering factors of creativity, Hindering factors, and The role of culture in creating. Artists in the three countries similarly talked about creativity being a fluid process where ideas change, and elaborated on the role of intuition and the unconscious when creating art. Meaningful cross-cultural differences were seen among the artists of three cultural backgrounds in terms of attitudes about financial instability, in how they perceive themselves, in their art’s societal function, in the cognitive and in the emotional process of creating, and in terms of social connectedness. Results highlight (a) the complexity of the creative process going beyond cognitive factors and including motivational, emotional, and sociocultural factors, and (b) the cultural differences in the creative process. Results are beneficial for further developing a comprehensive theory of the creative process taking cultural differences into consideration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Chunyi Lei ◽  
Pamies Antonio

Abstract This study, based on the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor and Conventional Figurative Language Theory, presents a cross-linguistic comparison of the idioms on drunkenness in Chinese and Spanish, applying the analytical method with three hierarchical levels (iconic models > archi-metaphors > particular metaphors). The findings show that, on the one hand, though linguistically and culturally very distant, these two languages share some iconic models (i.e. animal, movement, body part, plant and aggression) in their idioms on inebriation; on the other hand, they also have their own ways in expressing drunkenness, due to their particular cultural backgrounds, i.e. religions, superstitions, history, ethnic prejudices, legends, etc. The present investigation also proves the universality of the cognitive thinking model of human beings as well as the cognitive specialization in different cultures, giving an insight into idiom comprehension and intercultural communication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 220-225
Author(s):  
Maryam Sadat Mirzaei ◽  
Kourosh Meshgi ◽  
Toyoaki Nishida

Teaching culture out of context may not be the optimal approach, yet it could be achieved by immersive technologies. This study uses an immersive theme-based environment and focuses on cross-cultural interactions between learners of different cultures in goal-oriented scenarios. We collected interactions among learners with different cultural backgrounds and annotated common ground formation and conversation breakdowns in those interactions. Next, we recreated the scenarios in a 3D immersive environment using an in-house situation creation toolkit to enable experiencing the situation by using choices to navigate the conversation and observing the consequences. In case the conversation derails, we provide timely scaffolding by offering appropriate communication strategies to rebuild common ground. Learners can be the actors of the scenarios but can also be the observers by switching between roles and points of view. Preliminary experiments with 20 L2 learners of English from different cultures showed that practicing with immersive conversational game-play is effective for raising cultural awareness and learning to choose appropriate strategies for smooth interactions.


Plato Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Livio Rossetti

In Plato’s Laws several passages have been clearly conceived of as preambles. The most extended, and prominent, is the one we find at the beginnings of Book five. It amounts to a complicate tour de force, not easy to be accounted for.What surfaced during the present investigation is a meandrical line of thought which ends with the unexpected adoption of a proto-utilitarianist point of view. This turn is not only interesting (and possibly surprising) per se, since it implies that the author fully acknowledges the role of subjective evaluations that may well ignore the ontological hierarchy between gods-souls-bodies as well as the force of persuasion a wise legislator avails of.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-119
Author(s):  
Aan Anisah Agustini Safari

Background: Different countries may have different cultures that are influenced by their religion, traditions, or norms. These differences affect the way they speak, such as when they are commenting or giving opinions. Due to the way people express speech acts can be varied and lead to misinterpretation because of their differences, the researcher was intrigued to conduct this study. Methodology: This cross-cultural study was carried out to observe and compare the speech act of criticism between Korean and American YouTubers and to investigate the role of their cultural background in influencing the directness level they conveyed. First, the researcher selected three Korean Youtubers and Americans as well with food review content. Second, the researcher watched one video from each channel and took notes on every expression of criticism they used. Findings: The result of this study demonstrates that in American YouTubers speech, direct strategy emerges more frequently than the indirect one. Conversely, Korean YouTubers tend to use the indirect one. The finding also indicates that their speech behavior is related to their cultural norms, in which American culture encourages clear personal opinions, while Korean culture is a restraint to express their opinion or feeling clearly. Conclusion: Due to the considerable difference between Korean and American YouTuber speech, it can be concluded that culture takes a significant part in shaping one’s speech behavior. That is why people with different cultural backgrounds may have different ways of speaking.  Keywords: Criticism; cross-culture pragmatic; directness-indirectness.


Author(s):  
María de la O Hernández López

This paper is framed within the areas of interactional pragmatics and social psychology of language, with a twofold purpose: on the one hand, applying Rapport Management (Spencer-Oatey, 2000, 2008) to the context of medical consultations in order to disentangle crucial similarities and differences between British and Spanish interactions; with the exception of Sydow Campbell’s (2005) study, Rapport Management has not been directly approached in this context. In this sense, it constitutes both a challenge in communication studies and a step forward in a well-known theory that still remains under-explored. On the other hand, Cordella’s (2004) voices in medical consultations will prove to be related to the way interlocutors manage rapport in each culture, and therefore, different voices may be relevant in different cultures. This will lead to variation in terms of the three bases of rapport (face, rights and obligations, and interactional goals). Finally, some remarks and limitations of Rapport Management will be discussed so as to give way to a more comprehensive and effective model of communication which may explain both cultural differences and situational variation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afton Nelson ◽  
Kristijan Civljak ◽  
Heather Mitchell

The rapid and ongoing evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reactionary decision-making and emphasized discord arising from uncertainty. Given that countries have dealt with the pandemic quite differently thus far, it was relevant to explore the undertones of decision-making, as well as the perspectives of the individuals who are affected. The study aimed to investigate the role of confidence and decision-making in pandemic behaviors as well as related pandemic perspectives. The present article discusses findings concerning pandemic-specific decision-making, the influence of empathy on decision-making, and qualitative reports from respondents. The analyzed sample included 561 respondents divided into three cultural groups based on response distribution, geography, and general cultural categorizations (e.g., Western vs. non-Western). The findings revealed insights into the decision-making of pandemic consequences, as well as a lack of cross-cultural differences within the sample. Subjective reports highlighted key themes including trust in science, prevention and preparedness, and suggested next steps from the respondents’ perspectives. These findings from across the globe call for further investigation into cross-cultural decision-making in the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Matus Porubjak
Keyword(s):  
Per Se ◽  

The paper deals with the so-called “Theognidean dilemma” in Plato’s Meno. The author tries to answer the question, if aretê is a matter of teaching or a natural human endowment from the view point of the Theognidea collection. First, he tries to identify both the ‘eugenic’ and the ‘didactic’ tendencies of the Theognidea and compare them. Then, he turns to the role of Kyrnos’ character in the collection. The author concludes that neither Kyrnos nor Theognis are historical personalities per se; primarily they are models, like the characters of Socratic dialogues. On the one hand, we have the moderate Theognis, the poet, master and erômenos with a sense of measure and justice, and on the other hand the erratic Kyrnos, the handsome and gifted erastês with a tendency to intemperance and hubris. Like Kyrnos, Meno in Plato’s dialogue is able to improve his skills and became moderate, but eventually, he fails in life. By choosing Theognis, Plato seems to reflect this similarity. From the viewpoint of the Theognidea, there is no contradiction in the verses quoted by Socrates in Meno. The position seems to be clear and “eugenic” in principle. Low-borns will never become good, but good high-borns often fail. The riddle of high-born failure is present in the works of many authors of the 5th and 4th centuries. All they are asking is how those who are destined to rule and be ex-cellent by birth and education can fail so much, as well as how society can be saved from ‘bastardization’. This issue links the Theognidea with Meno, and the quoted verses beautifully fit the topic of the dialogue.


Target ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Azadibougar

Nearly all scholarly works about the encounter of Iran with European modernity emphasize the role of translation not only in introducing new literary forms into the Persian literary system, but also in becoming the main engine of change and modernization of the culture. This paper concerns itself with this constructivist narrative of the available historiographical discourse and the translational environment between 1851 and 1921 in Iran. After describing the field of translation in the period in question, I challenge the uncritical conception of translation as a positive force by, on the one hand, investigating hypothetical cultural and linguistic implications, and on the other hand, questioning the power of translation per se, as ascribed to it in the above mentioned historiographical discourse, in socio-cultural modernization. This will prioritize the individual and cultural translational effects over the supposed institutional ones.


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