Perception of the Potential for Interaction in Social Scenes

In urban environments, humans often encounter other people that may engage one in interaction. How do humans perceive such invitations to interact at a glance? We briefly presented participants with pictures of actors carrying out one of 11 behaviors (e.g., waving or looking at a phone) at four camera-actor distances. Participants were asked to describe what they might do in such a situation, how they decided, and what stood out most in the photograph. In addition, participants rated how likely they deemed interaction to take place. Participants formulated clear responses about how they might act. We show convincingly that what participants would do depended on the depicted behavior, but not the camera-actor distance. The likeliness to interact ratings depended both on the depicted behavior and the camera-actor distance. We conclude that humans perceive the “gist” of photographs and that various aspects of the actor, action, and context depicted in photographs are subjectively available at a glance. Our conclusions are discussed in the context of scene perception, social robotics, and intercultural differences.

Sustainable Tourism: The Elephant in the Room

Research on sustainability and sustainable tourism has thus far avoided evaluating how tourists actually understand these terms. Instead, scholars have focused on the supply side, presuming a common and precise understanding of sustainability and sustainable tourism among all tourists and stakeholders. This study shows that most consumers link sustainability only to environmental issues, and understand sustainability differently from sustainable tourism. It finds significant interpersonal and intercultural differences regarding consumers’ conceptualisations of sustainability. The results illustrate that empirical research methodology for conceptualising consumers’ sustainability understanding frequently is doubtful or weak. This research exposes tourists’ limited understanding of sustainability, and helps tackle widespread scepticism about the effectiveness of sustainable tourism, by creating better informed sustainable tourism marketing.

NAM—help or burden? Intercultural evaluation of parental stress caused by nasoalveolar molding: a retrospective multi-center study

Objectives Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) was developed to facilitate easier treatment and better outcomes for cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the parental burden and possible intercultural differences of this treatment modality, which is often argued to burden parents to an extraordinary amount. Materials and methods Standardized questionnaires (available in English, Mandarin, and German) with 15 non-specific and 14 NAM-specific items to be retrospectively answered by Likert scales by parents of unilateral CLP patients with completed NAM treatment. Results The parents of 117 patients from two treatment centers in Taiwan and Germany were included. A very high level of overall satisfaction was found in both countries with significant intercultural differences in prenatal parent information, feeding problems, dealing with 3rd party’s perception, and experienced personal effort. Conclusion NAM is an effective treatment tool for children’s CLP deformities and their caregivers in overcoming the feeling of helplessness. Intercultural differences may be due to infrastructural reasons, cultural attitudes and habits, or different public medical education. Clinical relevance In addition to facilitating easier surgical treatment, NAM can be seen as a powerful coping strategy for parents dealing with a CLP deformity of their child and does not seem to burden them extraordinarily.

Exploring Intercultural Differences between East and West throughout Cultural Dimensions and Literature

The article explores intercultural differences between East and West throughout cultural dimensions and literature. Already existing sociological research is supplemented with literary one, thus creating a modern way of performing research in the field of interculture. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions became the basis of the presented research as well as literary texts originally written in English, whose plot is set in the selected Muslim countries (Iran and Afghanistan).

Gerard Hofstede and His System for Measurement of Cultural and Organizational Differences

The article offers a brief introduction to a great contemporary scientist – Professor Gerard Hofstede. Three reasons are underlined in connection with the question why Bulgarian researchers, some of them from NBU, are proud to have contributed to the development and implementation of its model for understanding intercultural differences and those in different organizations. The six Hofstede’s dimensions are discussed theoretically. These are: Power Distance; Individualism Versus Collectivism; Masculinity Versus Femininity; Uncertainty Avoidance; Long- and Short-Term Oriented National Cultures; and Indulgence Versus Restraint. Empirical results for Bulgarian culture are presented along with comparisons between Bulgaria and some other cultures using the principle of similarities and differences.