A Comparative Study in the levels of Human Values: People's Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States

This study investigates the relative importance of human values at four levels: (a) global, (b) national, (c) family, and (d) individual, among university students from four countries – the United States (137 females, 78 males, one unspecified), the People's Republic of China (66 females, 170 males, one unspecified), Taiwan (156 females, 101 males), and Singapore (148 females, 119 males). Students rated the importance of passing on the 68 items in the Child Socialization Value Survey to their children or to future generations. Principal Components Analysis was performed on the pooled sample of student responses and revealed a five-factor solution described by: universalism, family, nationalism, prestige, and autonomy. This study demonstrates that the values endorsed by samples of Chinese across different geopolitical backgrounds are not consistent.     

Motivation and Management Styles in the Public and Private Sectors in Taiwan and a Comparison With the United States

Motivation studies in organizations have focused primarily on private sector organizations in the U.S. The current study looks at motivation and managerial styles in the private and public sectors in Taiwan (Republic of China). The results were also compared to nonnative data for the U.S. The findings indicate that motivational levels are much higher in Taiwan than in the U.S. and consistent between the public and private sectors. There is also a strong positive perception of public sector work in Taiwan and a greater understanding and commitment to participate in motivationally based managerial styles in all types of organizations. The study suggests the need to explore the motivational processes in organizations other than those based in the Western culture.     

Cancer Metaphors: Taiwan and the United States

The Cancer Metaphors Test, a measure of the imagery of cancer, was administered to a sample of 138 Taiwanese college students and 167 United States college students, equated on age and gender, and presumed not to be different on academic achievement and socioeconomic level. A factor analysis of the Taiwanese protocols replicated the factor structure previously found on the CMT for United States respondents. Significant differences were obtained on two of the four CMT factors, with Taiwanese students scoring higher on both Terminal Pessimism and Future Optimism. Such differences are discussed in terms of differential coping strategies.     

Influence of Efficacy and Resilience on Problem Solving in the United States,Taiwan, and China

This study explores factors that influence problem‐solving coping style across cultures. There was no significant difference in applying problem solving across U.S., Taiwanese, and Chinese samples. The effective predictors of problem solving in the U.S. and Chinese samples were self‐efficacy and trait resilience, respectively. In the Taiwanese sample, predictors were self‐efficacy and trait resilience. Trait resilience was found to mediate the effect of self‐efficacy on problem solving in the Taiwanese and Chinese samples. Practical implications are discussed. Este estudio explora factores que influyen en el estilo de afrontamiento a la resolución de problemas aplicado a distintas culturas. No se halló una diferencia significativa en la aplicación de resolución de problemas entre muestras estadounidenses, taiwaneses y chinas. Los predictores efectivos de la resolución de problemas en las muestras estadounidense y china fueron respectivamente la autoeficacia y los rasgos de resiliencia. En la muestra taiwanesa, los predictores fueron las autoeficacia y los rasgos de resiliencia. Se halló que los rasgos de resiliencia mediaron el efecto de la autoeficacia sobre la resolución de problemas en las muestras taiwanesa y china. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas.     

A Comparison of Work Motivation in Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Netherlands: Test of a Model

This article describes a study into the antecedents and consequences of job involvement and organisational commitment of workers in Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Netherlands. On the basis of the literature a general model of work motivation is developed which depicts job characteristics, opportunities to satisfy needs, and extrinsic work factors as determinants of job involvement and organisational commitment, and considers effort expenditure, performance, job satisfaction, turnover, and work stress as outcomes. Data from worker samples in the three countries obtained with equivalent instruments are used to test the validity of the model. Path analysis shows that the model has a modest fit when applied to the three samples simultaneously. A better fit and more meaningful results are obtained by developing optimal models for each country. The peculiarities of these models can be largely explained from cultural and economic factors. Since the differences between Bulgaria and Hungary are as great as the differences with the Netherlands, there seems to be little evidence for a motivational after-effect of communism.     

A comparison between the development of the appearance-reality distinction in the People's Republic of China and the United States

A study of the appearance-reality distinction in American 3- to 5-year-olds was replicated with Chinese 3- to 5-year-olds. The error patterns, age changes, and absolute levels of performance were similar in the two samples. It was speculated that the acquisition of this distinction may be a universal, possibly age-linked development that is probably fueled by experiences with appearance-reality discrepancies that are available in all cultures.     

Work Passion Through the Lens of Culture: Harmonious Work Passion,Obsessive Work Passion,and Work Outcomes in Russia and China

Purpose

This cross-cultural study with employee–supervisor dyads in Russia and China examines links between harmonious and obsessive work passion and four job- and organization-focused outcomes (job satisfaction, intentions to quit, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors) and two career-focused outcomes (career satisfaction and occupational commitment).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from employee–supervisor dyads in Russia (N = 223) and China (N = 193). We undertook a series of hierarchical regressions to examine the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

We found considerable support for the harmonious passion–work outcome relationships and less support for the obsessive passion–work outcome relationships. In both Russia and China, harmonious passion predicted all six hypothesized outcomes. However, obsessive work passion predicted job satisfaction and occupational commitment in Russia, but was unrelated to any of the hypothesized outcomes in China. We also identified several culture-specific work passion–outcome relationships.

Implications

Our research extends the duality of the work passion construct to non-Western cultures. The examination of a variety of work passion outcomes provides a finer-grained approach to how two types of passion uniquely link to different work consequences. Several culture-specific findings refute the traditionally held assumption that harmonious passion relates to solely positive outcomes, whereas obsessive passion relates to solely negative outcomes. Collectively, the results augment the nomological framework of the passion construct. The study informs managerial practices by suggesting when work passion needs to be encouraged or tamed.

Originality/Value

This is the first study that examines a variety of job-, organization-, and career-focused outcomes of work passion in non-Western organizations.

     

Personality correlates of HIV stigmatization in Russia and the United States

To determine whether stigmatizing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS are associated with personality traits, and whether these associations are generalizable across two cultures, we administered the English and the brief Russian version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a standardized measure of a comprehensive model of personality traits, together with items assessing HIV stigmatization. We hypothesized that stigmatization would be associated chiefly with low Openness to Experience. Self-reports and observer ratings of personality and self-reports of HIV attitudes were collected from volunteers recruited by research assistants. HIV stigmatization was more pronounced in Russia than in the United States, but it was similarly related to personality traits, chiefly low Openness to Experience, a variable associated with other forms of prejudice, and low Agreeableness, suggesting a lack of altruism and sympathy. HIV stigmatization is especially likely to be a problem with people, and in cultures, low in Openness to Experience.     

Gender Differences in Interest and Knowledge Acquisition: The United States,Taiwan, and Japan

The relationship between interest and knowledge was investigated in a representative sample of 11th grade students from cultures that differ in the strength of their gender-role stereotypes and their endorsement of effort-based versus interest-based learning. Among 11th graders from the United States (N = 1052), Taiwan (N = 1475), and Japan (N = 1119), boys preferred science, math, and sports, whereas girls preferred language arts, music, and art. General information scores were comparable across the three locations; however, boys consistently outscored girls. Gender and interest in science independently predicted general information scores, whereas gender and interest in math independently predicted mathematics scores. Cultural variations in the strength of the relationship between gender, interest, and scores indicate that specific socialization practices can minimize or exaggerate these gender differences.     

Gender and Deviance: A Comparison of College Students in Japan and the United States

Although evidence abounds in American criminology that young males are more prone to deviance than females, relatively little is known about the magnitude of the gender gap in deviance across cultures. Drawing on the literature concerning “risk taking” in power-control theory and on theory and research concerning cultural variability in “uncertainty avoidance,” we offer a rationale for predicting that the gender differences in levels of deviance are less among Japanese youth than Americans. Among Japanese, the level of male deviance should be closer to that of females because “uncertainty avoidance” is a strong component of Japanese culture that affects socialization of both males and females. Analysis of identical survey data from college students in Japan and the United States provides strong support for our argument.     

中美邪教定义的比较与对话

由于文化背景和现实国情的差异,中美两国学者对邪教的理解不尽相同。中国学者在论及邪教的识别与防治时,往往更强调邪教冒用传统宗教名义的欺骗性及其对社会和国家的危害;美国学者则较少关注邪教同传统宗教的关系,往往更强调邪教形式的多样性及其在心理生理上对信徒个人和家庭的侵害。然而,两国学者对于邪教的破坏性、封闭性、教主崇拜、强制性劝诱和精神控制等特征的相似论述,不仅为双方的学术交流提供了对话中介,而且为扩大两国在邪教问题上的共识和实现打击邪教犯罪的跨国合作提供了可能条件。     

中美教学医院门诊病历管理对比研究

通过文献检索、走访调研并结合笔者时美国教学医院门诊病历管理的实地考察,本文对中美两国教学医院人员对门诊病历管理的认识理念、门诊病历管理的方式、病历的规范设计以及门诊病历的质量控制等方面进行了对比研究.显示我国教学医院在门诊病历管理方面与发达国家存在着差距.从提高临床医疗和医学教学质量、有利于患者疾病的诊治和培养当代优秀医务工作者,促进医学科学技术发展出发,教学医院管理者和临床指导医生应高度重视和规范门诊病历管理.     

The Effect of Unemployment on Life Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison Between Canada,Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States

This paper investigates the effect of unemployment on life satisfaction from a comparative perspective. It also tests whether the link between unemployment and life satisfaction is moderated or reinforced by contextual unemployment across regions within a country—either through a negative spillover or a positive social-norm effect, or both. The results suggest that noticeable non-pecuniary costs are associated with unemployment in the four countries studied. Cross-national differences also emerged in the impact of the moderating factors. Regional unemployment is a strong moderating factor of own unemployment in Canada and to a lesser extent in the United States; the effect is ambiguous in the United Kingdom and exacerbating in Germany. The results also support a negative spillover effect of regional unemployment on the employed in the United States and Germany, no spillover effect in the United Kingdom and, surprisingly, a positive overall spillover effect in Canada. Sensitivity testing further revealed that this Canadian anomaly was a phenomenon mainly in Atlantic Canada, not across the whole country.

     

Changing Gender Roles in Prime-Time Commercials in Malaysia,Japan, Taiwan,and the United States

This study showed that during prime time, a new paradigm of gender role depiction has emerged in prime-time commercials in Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Even though some stereotypes about the presentation of gender in commercials persist (for setting, product type, voice-over), the study found an equal number of males and females appearing as primary characters in commercials during prime time. In Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan, the majority of commercials depicted males and females in nonstereotypical gender roles. Some shifts were also observed for role depiction in prime-time commercials in the United States. Reasons for these changes are discussed.     

Cross-National Explorations of the Impact of Affect at Work Using the State-Trait Emotion Measure: A Coordinated Series of Studies in the United States,China, and Romania

Drawing on the social information process perspective, we hypothesized that transformational leadership fosters psychological safety climate leading to enhanced individual-level creative process engagement. Furthermore, psychological safety climate was hypothesized to strengthen the relationship between creative process engagement and employee creativity. The hypothesized model was tested with data obtained from a sample of 358 employees and their supervisors from two organizations in the People’s Republic of China. Results of hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that transformational leadership influenced creative process engagement via psychological safety climate. Furthermore, psychological safety climate moderated the creative process engagement–creativity relationship such that the relationship was stronger in groups with high rather than low psychological safety climate.     

A cross-cultural study of infant temperament: Predicting preschool effortful control in the United States of America and Russia

Effortful control (EC) has been conceptualized as a dimension of temperament related to self-regulation and associated with the development of executive attention skills. Research has focused on documenting the development of EC, but there has been little systematic study of its precursors. The present study was designed to examine infant temperament characteristics as potential predictors of EC in the toddler/preschool period across two countries: Russia and the USA. Specifically, contributions of negative emotionality (NE), positive affectivity/surgency (PAS), and regulatory capacity/orienting (RCO) measured in the first year of life were expected to explain EC in the preschool period. For the US sample, toddler NE, infant PAS and RCO explained significant amounts of EC variance, whereas infant RCO was the single significant predictor of later EC in the Russian sample. Analyses with the combined sample provided an opportunity to evaluate temperament-by-culture interactions, one of which (PAS×Culture) reached statistical significance. Follow-up analyses indicated that higher levels of infant PAS were related to higher EC scores for US children only, whereas for the Russian youth preschool EC did not vary as a function of infant PAS. Results of this study support the importance of early appearing regulation in contributing to the development of EC and illustrate the value of cross-cultural longitudinal research.