scholarly journals Autonomy-connectedness, gender and culture: A comparative study on the interplay of personality functioning and social context

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Carla Moleiro ◽  
Laurence Marto ◽  
João M. Santos ◽  
Inês Ratinho

Abstract Autonomy-connectedness refers to the need and ability the individual has for self-governance, as well as the capacity for intimacy and interpersonal relationships. The present study aimed to examine and compare participants (N=121) of four different cultural groups, namely Portuguese natives as well as Brazilian, British and Ukrainian immigrants residing in Portugal, on the different autonomy-connectedness components (self-awareness: SA; sensitivity to others: SO; capacity for managing new situations: CMNS). It also aimed at investigating the relationship between autonomy-connectedness and acculturation among the groups of immigrants. The results showed significant gender differences and among the cultural groups on SO. Adherence to the heritage culture was associated with the distinct dimensions of autonomy-connectedness differently for the various groups, and time of residence was also key in how the dimensions were endorsed cross time. This study contributes to the theoretical framework of the concept of autonomy-connectedness in light of cross-cultural perspectives.

Asian Studies ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristýna VOJTÍŠKOVÁ

 According to some thinkers, in the 21st century, the Japanese society is facing a crisis of values. The postmodern approach to the individual and society may be one of the causes of this problem. In this point of view, an inadequate grasp of the relationship between the individual and the society seems to play an important role. The problem of this relationship was elaborated by the early 20th century philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō who endeavoured to re-define the role of an individual in the society. This paper attempts to examine the contemporary problem of Japanese identity from the perspective of Watsuji’s conception of interpersonal relationships. 


1989 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Deregowski

AbstractThis paper examines the contribution of cross-cultural studies to our understanding of the perception and representation of space. A cross-cultural survey of the basic difficulties in understanding pictures—ranging from the failure to recognise a picture as a representation to the inability to recognise the object represented in the picture— indicates that similar difficulties occur in pictorial and nonpictorial cultrues. The experimental work on pictorial space derives from two distinct traditions: the study of picture perception in “remote” populations and the study of the perceptual illusions. A comprison of the findings on pictorial space perception with those on real space perceptual illusions. A comparison of findings on pictorial space perception with those on real space perception and perceptual constancy suggersts that cross-cultural differences in the perception of both real and representational space involve two different types of skills: those related exclusively to either real space or representational space, and those related to both. Different cultural groups use different skills to perform the same perceptual tasks.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Halmi

The ageing Goethe was fascinated with Byron whom he called the greatest poetic talent. Though suspicious of Byron’s Philhellenism, Goethe found in Byron an openness to encounter non-English cultures, an attentiveness to national histories and in interest in the relationship of the individual to social life. Byron’s self-contextualising, self-historicising narrative poems constitute a parallel to Goethe’s own literary campaigns for cross-cultural engagement in the 1810s and 1820s and, despite Byron’s alienation from England, offer hope for the prospects of what Goethe was to call “world literature”.


Author(s):  
Cezary Kuśnierz ◽  
Aleksandra M. Rogowska ◽  
Iuliia Pavlova

Background: This study examined the relationship of academic performance with the Big Five traits of personality, academic motivation, and gender in a cross-cultural context. Methods: Participants in the study were 424 university students of physical education (PE) departments from Poland (53%) and Ukraine (47%). Undergraduates completed a brief version of the International Personality Item Pool (Mini-IPIP) to assess the Five-Factor model of personality, the Academic Motivations Scale (AMS), and grade point average (GPA). Results: Polish PE students scored higher in emotional stability and extroversion and had a higher GPA than Ukrainian PE undergraduates. Gender differences were found in both personality traits and academic motivation scales. Intrinsic motivation may predict academic performance. Conscientiousness and intellect emerged as mediators of the relationship between intrinsic motivation and academic performance and gender was found as a moderator in the relationship between conscientiousness and academic success. Conclusions: Women are more motivated regarding academic achievements than men. In addition to intrinsic motivation, the most important factors for academic grades are some personality traits, gender, and cultural differences. Openness and conscientiousness in men are mediators between intrinsic motivation and academic performance. The results of this study may be useful for PE academic teachers to improve the motivation of their students.


1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Bryce ◽  
T. T. Olney

This study explores the possibility of gender and cultural differences in consumption aspirations using two different approaches. The first approach is designed to elicit stereotypes with regard to consumption dreams or the “good life”: “What do you believe most Americans (New Zealanders) wish for or want to achieve in their lives?”. The second approach probes for individuals' actual aspirations: “Three years after graduation, how do you want your life to be in terms of …”. Specific consumption categories examined in both approaches allow an assessment of individuals' relative emphasis on Having, Doing and Being (Sartre, 1956). Priority rankings of these categories provide information regarding the relative importance of each class of possessions/experiences. In addition, materialism and life satisfaction measures are included to assess the relationship between these two constructs and consumption aspirations and dream stereotypes. Content analysis of the data indicates that (1) significant gender differences in consumption aspirations and dream stereotypes do exist, although the form of these differences varies as a function of culture, and (2) culture has a more significant effect on aspirations and dreams than does gender. Findings are discussed in terms of gender theory and cultural differences between the two countries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1686) ◽  
pp. 20150071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Nielsen ◽  
Daniel Haun

As a discipline, developmental psychology has a long history of relying on animal models and data collected among distinct cultural groups to enrich and inform theories of the ways social and cognitive processes unfold through the lifespan. However, approaches that draw together developmental, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives remain rare. The need for such an approach is reflected in the papers by Heyes (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150069. ( doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0069 )), Schmelz & Call (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150067. ( doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0067 )) and Keller (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150070. ( doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0070 )) in this theme issue. Here, we incorporate these papers into a review of recent research endeavours covering a range of core aspects of social cognition, including social learning, cooperation and collaboration, prosociality, and theory of mind. In so doing, we aim to highlight how input from comparative and cross-cultural empiricism has altered our perspectives of human development and, in particular, led to a deeper understanding of the evolution of the human cultural mind.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Lois Spitzer

<p>The majority of students who took this general education undergraduate course in developing cross-cultural understanding at a state college in the northeastern United States reported that their level of cross-cultural competence and global awareness increased by the end of the course. The primary course objective was to help students better understand their own cultural roots and become more globally aware of other cultural groups. This limited study revealed that this one undergraduate college course was successful in increasing cultural self-awareness, cross-cultural competence, and global awareness among the students who took the course. In addition, it points to the need for more courses to be added to college curricula and for more statistically significant studies to be conducted.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-183
Author(s):  
Christopher Macklin

AbstractThere are many historical repertories of interest for which documentary evidence is scant. In such areas traditional models of musicological research, driven by notation, may be of limited use, and there is thus a need to develop alternative formulations for the relationship between the performance, the performer and the text. In this study, textual analysis and ethnographic comparisons of structurally similar performance cultures (namely, classical Greece and Rome and bardic traditions of south-eastern Europe and eastern Africa) are combined to examine one such tradition: the secular music of the bards of medieval and early-modern Wales. Contemporary accounts pertaining to this repertory are characterized by a systematic ambiguity in their description of speech and song, and a selective use of musical notation for instrumental but not vocal figuration. Comparisons with other musical cultures that share this ambiguity lead to the development of a model of performance that accounts for these textual features.


Curationis ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Arthur

Culture shock is an intensely personal universal human experience that may emerge in any cross cultural social encounter. Therefore, it may be deduced that culture shock is an experience that may occur in all spheres of life in which individuals are confronted by world views and life styles that differ from their own whether in terms of health, education or occupation amongst others. It is a situation that calls for adaptation or adjustment on the part of the individual. TTtis article explores the relationship between culture shock and culture adaptation as an aspect of learning which has been developed by Thelma Barer-Stein. Stress is laid on the role of the individual, as health educator, and the choices must make if he/she is to gain an understanding of the community in which he/she serves and to attribute new meanings to the situation by which he/she is confronted


Psychology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Cavazza ◽  
Vincent Pillaud ◽  
Fabrizio Butera

Research on attitudinal ambivalence started in the early 1970s, forty years after the first wave of research on attitudes. Ambivalent attitudes consist of both positive and negative evaluations of the same object. Early approaches proposed different measurement methods, and ambivalence can now be measured either directly (referred to as “felt ambivalence”) or indirectly (referred to as “potential ambivalence”). Because of its duality, ambivalence has been studied in comparison with univalent attitudes—which consist of either positive or negative evaluations of an object—to uncover their specific features, antecedents, and consequences. Relevant research has focused on identifying the prevalence of ambivalent attitudes, and on whether they could stem from particular personality traits or situations. Researchers have found that ambivalent attitudes seem to be widespread and can be held for a long period of time. Their relationship with behaviors has also been widely studied. At the individual level, ambivalence increases response latency when a choice has to be made, extends information processing, can affect attitude stability, and can even lead to discomfort. At the behavioral level, studies have highlighted the moderating role of attitudinal ambivalence on the relationship between attitudes and behavior. A different field of research focuses on its strength to question whether ambivalence leads to more resistance or susceptibility to persuasion and influence. It appears that ambivalent attitudes are pliable and, depending on the context, can either help individuals to be more adaptive or prevent them from arriving at a satisfying conclusion. The role of ambivalent attitudes in interpersonal relationships and self-presentation also highlight some benefits in holding an ambivalent attitude. This article opens by reviewing general overviews to provide a detailed picture of the current state of research. It then presents early approaches to attitudinal ambivalence, and reviews studies that highlight the moderating role of attitudinal ambivalence on the relationship between attitudes and behavior, as well as studies that question whether ambivalence might lead to more resistance or susceptibility to persuasion and influence. The article then focuses on the impact of ambivalence at the individual level. Antecedents of attitudinal ambivalence will be reviewed, as well as its consequences on the individual. The article concludes by presenting research questioning its functions as well as some applied work.


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