Identity configurations: a new perspective on identity formation in contemporary society

This paper deals with the theoretical construct of "identity configuration." It portrays the different possible ways in which individuals configure the relationship among potentially conflicting identifications in the process of identity formation. In order to explicate these configurations, I analyzed narratives of identity development retold by individuals describing personal identity conflicts that arise within a larger context of sociocultural conflict. Thirty Jewish modern orthodox young adults were interviewed regarding a potentially conflictual identity issue (i.e. their religious and sexual development). Their deliberations, as described in the interviews, were examined, and four different configurations were identified: a configuration based on choice and suppression; an assimilative and synthesizing configuration; a confederacy of identifications; and a configuration based on the thrill of dissonance. The different configurations are illustrated through exemplars, and the possible implications of the concept of "configuration" for identity theory are discussed.     

Language acquisition as concept formation; an experimental approach

Abstract.— A concept formation task which in important respects was meant to simulate a natural language acquisition situation was constructed. The experimental focus was on the establishment of the semantic relation between names and their objects. The task contained both relevant and irrelevant stimulus and response items, and different types of informative feedback were given. The results showed that a self-controlled selection strategy was more efficient than a fixed reception strategy. However, the superiority of the selection strategy was found to depend on the level of task difficulty. With an easier task, no difference between the two strategies was observed. Ambiguous feedback turned out to be less effective than unambiguous feedback. The findings suggest that word learning takes place as a concept formation process.     

Self and society in the claims of individualism

The paper argues that an assessment of individualism requires distinguishing five individualistic claims about the self and society: 1) Philosophical Individualism holds that individuals are distinct from society in their reality and capacity for knowledge; 2) The dignity of the individual is a moral belief about the status of human beings; 3) The ideal of individuality is a value belief about the value of diversity; 4) Moral individualism is a comprehensive moral theory based upon philosophical individualism; 5) Political liberalism is a theory of social justice based on construing human dignity in terms of equal liberty. It is argued that philosophical individualism should be rejected and, hence, moral individualism, that individuality is desirable but not obligatory, and that political liberalism, if it can avoid a tendency toward favoring individualistic conceptions of the good, is necessary for dignity in a modern society.     

Violence and the disaggregated society

This paper reviews the evidence that social disaggregation is a major cause of destructive violence in non-human animal societies. The multifactorial theory of agonistic behavior is modified into a polysystemic theory which relates factors on each level to each other in an integrated model. As a result, it is suggested that disaggregation of systems on any level may lead to maladaptive violence. On theoretical grounds it is concluded that disaggregations of ecosystems and social systems are more probable and hence more dangerous than those of physiological and genetic systems. Applications of these findings to human affairs are discussed, both as explanations and as guides to positive action.     

Justice in the genetically transformed society

This paper explores some of the challenges raised by human genetic interventions for debates about distributive justice, focusing on the challenges that face prioritarian theories of justice and their relation to the argument advanced by Ronald Lindsay elsewhere in this issue of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. Also examined are the implications of germ-line genetic enhancements for intergenerational justice, and an argument is given against Fritz Allhoff's conclusion, found in this issue as well, that such enhancements are morally permissible if and only if they augment primary goods.     

语言经验可以改变双语者的主导语言

使用语义启动词汇判断范式,研究维吾尔语-汉语和朝鲜语-汉语大学生双语者词汇加工的模式如何受语言经验的影响.实验一表明,维汉双语者既存在语言内、也存在语言间的语义启动效应.不管目标词是维吾尔语还是汉语,以维吾尔语(母语)为启动词的效应要大于以汉语为启动词的效应.实验二表明,朝汉双语者语言内产生了类似大小的效应;但当目标词是汉语、启动词是朝鲜语时,却没有启动效应.进一步的问卷调查表明,朝汉双语被试虽在小学和中学阶段听说和阅读母语的概率大于听说和阅读汉语,但在大学阶段却是汉语占优势;维汉双语被试在小学、中学、大学时的口头语言都是母语占优势;虽然他们在大学阶段阅读汉语的概率要大于母语,但两者的差异要明显小于朝汉双语被试.这些结果说明,语言经验可以改变词汇形式表征的加工速率以及从形式表征出发激活词汇意义的模式,从而使得第二语言有可能取代母语而上升为主导语言.     

Jewish Identity, Hostility Toward Germany, and Knowledge About the Holocaust in the United States and Germany

This study examined the relationships among Jewish identity, hostility toward Germany, and knowledge of the Holocaust in American and German Jews. Questionnaires were distributed at synagogues in the United States, and packets were sent to heads of Jewish communities in Germany. Participants were 109 Americans and 31 Germans. Results suggested that hostility toward Germany and knowledge of the Holocaust are related to Jewish identity in American Jews, but that the variables are not related to Jewish identity for Jews in Germany. Additionally, Jews in Germany knew more about the Holocaust than did their American counterparts. Clinical psychology internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California,it>Faculty position at Connecticut College in 1965 and served in its department of psychology for 33 years, until his retirement in 1998