Boundaries of American Identity: Relations between Ethnic Group Prototypicality and Policy Attitudes

We sought to document that the extent to which different ethnic groups are perceived as embodying the American identity is more strongly linked to anti-minority policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies among majority group members (European Americans) than among minority group members (Asian Americans or Latino/as). Participants rated 13 attributes of the American identity as they pertain to different ethnic groups, and reported their endorsement of policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies. We found a relative consensus across ethnic groups regarding defining components of the American identity. However, European Americans were perceived as more prototypical of this American identity than ethnic minorities, especially by European American raters. Moreover, for European Americans but not for ethnic minorities, relative ingroup prototypicality was related to anti-minority policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies. These findings suggest that for European Americans, perceptions of ethnic group prototypicality fulfill an instrumental function linked to preserving their group interests and limiting the rights afforded to ethnic minorities.

COMPARISON OF AS, HG AND TL HIGH-FREQUENCY ELECTRODELESS LAMPS FOR DETECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Nowadays, there is an increasing necessity to determine the concentration of different substances in the environment in low concentrations, as more and more attention is paid to environmental pollution. This work is devoted to the comparison of main characteristics of high-frequency electrodeless light sources with different fillings for their use in high precision atomic absorption analysers.The spectral line intensities and profiles were studied in special design light sources, manufactured at Institute of Atomic Physics and Spectroscopy, with arsenic, mercury and thallium filling. Special attention is devoted to the UV lines of 193.7 nm and 197.2 nm of As, 276.8 nm, 377.6 nm of Tl and 253.7 nm of Hg spectral lines. The intensities and profiles were measured by means of a Fourier transform spectrometer.The deconvolution procedure was implemented to obtain the real form of emitted profiles for further analysis, since in the case of low –pressure or cold plasma, the instrumental function is on the same order that experimental profile and it has to be taken into account. The instrumental function can distort the real spectral line shape significantly, for example, it changes the width of the spectral line that leads to the uncertainties in the determination of such important plasma parameters like temperature. The instrumental function can conceal a detailed structure of the spectral line, like the dip in the line center caused by the self-absorption (self-reversal) and characterizing the radiation trapping.The integrated areas, values of self-absorption, and other parameters were obtained and compared for all fillings as a function of working regimes.

Federalism and Reformed Scholasticism

Jonathan Edwards’s understanding of the covenant is treated in this chapter. It is made clear that Edwards developed this theology in the broader context of reformed theology and in his own specific context. In his reflections on the covenant, Edwards concluded that one must draw a distinction between the covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace if one is to understand Arminianism and Antinomianism. Drawing this distinction also allows one to interpret God’s works in history. In his understanding of the covenant of grace, Edwards developed a stricter view of the covenant. In comparison with the reformed tradition and the puritan tradition of Westminster, he minimized the instrumental function that the covenant has, because he interpreted it as a marriage between Christ and his believers. The emphasis on the indwelling of the Spirit in the covenanted believers caused him to reject the preaching of law to believers. Ultimately he also rejected the Half-Way Covenant.

Персуазия, манипуляция и религиозный язык: теоретический аспект

This article is an attempt at a theolinguistic description of such concepts as manipulation, persuasia, and religious language. The author focuses primarily on the theoretical aspect of the stated problem. In the first part of the work, such concepts as manipulation, persuasia and speech influence are analyzed. Their hierarchy is being organized and it is concluded that persuasia and manipulation, when considered in “pure form” is the polar form of speech influence, different in means of achieving the goal: if persuasia is an open speech influence, suggesting a deliberate choice by the recipient, speech influence with the sign “+”, then the manipulation is speech influence, often using hidden mechanisms with the aim of achieving a result, do not necessarily coincident with the interests of the recipient, speech influence with the sign “–”. The second part of the work describes the religious language and its functions. Special attention is paid to the instrumental function – the function of using langu age as a means to achieve certain goals. Attention is drawn to the fact that the use of the form and content of religious language not only opens the way for various kinds of manipulations with language and with the help of language, but also for persuasia: the transfer of relevant knowledge, the formation of beliefs, ideas about true values.

Constructions of surrogates, egg donors, and mothers: Swedish gay fathers’ narratives

The study explored in detail how Swedish gay fathers (through surrogacy) talked about the surrogate mother and the egg donor. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with 22 gay fathers were conducted and analysed using critical discursive analysis. The surrogates were primarily constructed as a close family member, but occasionally in terms of their instrumental function. They were often described as active and independent, but occasionally as vulnerable or exploited. The egg donors were in some interviews constructed as close family members, while others talked about them as distant acquaintances. Further, donors were constructed either as a significant individual (for the fathers), or as an instrumental provider of the oocyte. While some participants constructed the surrogate and/or donor as their child’s mother(s), others were more reluctant or ambivalent about the mother construct. In conclusion, the participants engaged in rhetorical work that shed a positive light on surrogacy, and their own decisions were depicted as solid, ethical and genuine. The participants’ positive framing can be understood as the production of a counter discourse, in relation to an ongoing debate in Sweden, in which surrogacy is constructed as exploitation, dehumanization and prostitution.

Deity and Display: Meanings, Transformations, and Exhibitions of Tibetan Buddhist Objects

This paper analyses the values and uses of Tibetan sacred artefacts in their original contexts as well as the transformation of meanings once placed in museums. It discusses the perception of statues, paintings, ritual instruments and books from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, examining the iconographic and iconometric functions of the images, and asserting that a primary purpose is as a ‘support for practice’ (tib. sku rten, ‘body-support’). Sacred images represent the embodiment of the Buddhas, deities and masters and, once consecrated by lamas, are considered to have the power to confer blessings. Despite the instrumental function of such artefacts, however, it is also possible to identify and delineate a complex Himalayan concept of aesthetics. The text moves on to analyse the effects of the transition of Tibetan Buddhist images into different museological contexts, comparing the display of Tibetan material in the consecrated spaces of Himalayan monastery museums with their exhibition in secular museological sites in the West.

Synchrotron radiation diffraction in a single crystal of paratellurite investigated with a new experimental scheme

First results are presented for synchrotron radiation diffraction in a paratellurite (TeO2) single crystal investigated with a new experimental scheme consisting of a standard monochromator and a relatively narrow slit for collimation and monochromatization of an incident beam. The Bragg case reflection geometry is used. The monochromator, a pair of Si crystals, maintains the initial direction of the beam propagation. The theory is developed for a precise description of the instrumental function in such a scheme. A new rocking curve registration technique with use of an adaptive bending piezoactuator is applied for the first time with the aim to record the narrow diffraction peaks with high accuracy. A sample is attached to one edge of the bidomain lithium niobate single crystal piezoactuator used. The piezoactuator is bent under the influence of an electric field and it changes the angular position of the sample with a very small step. The experimental curves are compared with the calculated diffraction rocking curves of a perfect paratellurite crystal, both the theoretical one and the one calculated taking into account the instrumental function. An instrumental function account allows a complete coincidence of the simulated curves with the experimental results to be obtained if the experimental curve does not coincide with the theoretical rocking curve. A small discrepancy between the theory and the experimental data has been discovered in cases where the incident beam is sufficiently collimated and monochromated. This indicates the presence of a certain number of lattice defects in the sample under study.

Transformations of Value Orientations when Migrating Internationally

Value differences of various ethnic groups present a challenge for today’s multinational city. Arriving in a new cultural environment the individual has to adjust – to change his previous views and values. In the case of a general cultural code, this process occurs quite rapidly and without difficulties. But if cultural differences are essential, then the process of adaptation requires a longer period, and the migrant can face considerable difficulties. The study aims to examine value orientations before and after resettlement. We believe that values are not yet the established imperatives and capable of undergoing dynamic alterations. And due to a changing social situation, they can transform in response to personal purposes and motives. In the study, we used the S. Schwartz Value Scale. The data were collected two times: before and after migration with a period of 14 months. The results revealed both significant differences in the respondents’ value orientations after their immersing in an alien culture and the dynamics of value orientations of the Russianspeaking migrants living abroad. While migrating, a behavioral level of value orientations transforms more than a normative does. Value profile of personality changes together with tasks the individual faces; values accomplish an instrumental function of satisfying needs and motives.

Negotiating justice: Ceasefires, peace agreements, and post-conflict justice

Post-conflict justice is an integral component in maintaining stability and building peace in the aftermath of civil conflict. Despite its instrumental function, scholars routinely find that policymakers’ choice of justice is shaped by the structural conditions of the post-conflict environment, with outright victories leading to retributive forms of justice and negotiated outcomes yielding restorative forms of justice. However, existing literature conflates ceasefires and peace agreements into a single phenomenon, thereby overlooking the independent effects of each outcome. Leveraging the dual sovereignty framework, this article argues the conflation of negotiated outcomes is problematic because peace agreements and ceasefires generate different post-conflict environments. Relative to ceasefires, peace agreements lead to a reduction in the degree of dual sovereignty because they resolve a conflict’s incompatibility, thereby encouraging efforts to move society beyond war through restorative forms of justice. Due to the persistent threat of recurrent war generated by high levels of dual sovereignty, policymakers following ceasefires will be inclined to pursue retributive forms of justice that may target political opponents or potential defectors to bolster organizational strength. Statistical analyses confirm the underlying expectation that ceasefires and peace agreements yield different post-conflict justice outcomes. Peace agreements, relative to ceasefires, are more likely to be followed by the implementation of amnesties and reparations, whereas ceasefires exhibit a greater probability of yielding purges in the post-conflict environment.