Attitudinal and behavioral resistance: A marketing perspective

Resistance to ritual practice and related consumption behavior has been under‐researched in both marketing and consumer research, although it has significant implications for business and consumers. In this paper, the authors offer an explanation of attitudinal and behavioral resistance by reporting on the findings of a qualitative interpretative study of those self‐identifying as high school prom resistors. Four types of resistance are posited, that is, identity‐positioning resistors, identity‐protecting resistors, emotional resistors, and apathetic resistors. Characteristics of the typology are developed and consequences of their behaviors discussed. Theoretical and managerial consequences are proposed. Understanding resistance to prom may lead to improved service provision, better targeting of communication messages (e.g., advertising), overcoming event dilution as well as generating positive word of mouth, and reducing consumer regret. This research expands the theoretical understanding of attitudinal and behavioral resistance by bringing new evidence as to the individual and social identity processes by which resistance develops. This study helps to better understand opposition to positional consumption as well as extending our understanding of why individuals resist consumption and related practice. Two new concepts are also identified and discussed, namely “event dilution” and “regret through resistance”. Managerial implications (contextual and for marketplace rituals) are posited. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religious studies in Scotland: A persistent tension with divinity

This article treats the history of the study of religions in Scotland as a chapter in the history of the academic study of religions in the UK and Continental Europe. After sketching traditions of ‘Scottish comparative religion’ from the late nineteenth century to the interwar period, the authors map out an institutional history of ‘Religious Studies’ as a distinctive disciplinary formation in Scotland since 1970. The emergence, consolidation and in some cases decline of this relatively new academic field are charted at the five main contemporary university sites in Scotland where religion, as a distinct subject, is taught: Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and the Open University. In the cases of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the authors argue that ‘Religious Studies’ has had to fashion its niche in the context of the ecclesiastical authority enjoyed by Scottish Divinity faculties, resulting in an ongoing ‘tension’ between Religious Studies and Theology. The development of the subject at Stirling and the Open University underscores the historical alignment of Religious Studies with non-Presbyterian educational values in Scotland, whereas the persistence of Religious Studies in Schools of Divinity at the other Scottish universities may veil the traditionally ‘religionist’ stance of most scholars of religion working in these institutions.     

Career guidance in Scotland: retrospect and prospect

Devolution of powers to Scotland has accentuated pre-existing divergence from the rest of the UK with respect to education, training and career guidance provision. Scotland now has an all-age national careers service—Careers Scotland. It is suggested that it is unlikely that a national, publicly-funded careers agency would have been established in the absence of devolution. The article outlines the development of career guidance in Scotland over the last 25 years and how the pre-existing Scottish context and the new context of devolution have impacted upon it. The role of Careers Scotland and its relationship with other providers of career guidance in Scotland are examined. Other key issues considered include: the allocation of resources based on need; relationships with local authorities and schools; and training and professional identities in an increasingly diverse UK guidance context.     

图片部分线索效应的学习时间分配的发展

部分线索效应指让学习者学习一系列材料, 在随后的测试阶段, 给学习者提供先前所学材料的一部分作为提取线索, 让其回忆剩余的材料, 回忆成绩反而比没有提取线索时回忆成绩差的现象。通过3个实验, 以图片为实验材料, 考察了图片部分线索效应学习时间分配的发展特点。实验1考察了图片部分线索效应的边界条件, 结果发现：图片学习中, 以物体名称为线索时, 不存在部分线索效应; 而以图片为线索时, 存在部分线索效应。结果表明：跨域线索是图片部分线索效应的边界条件。实验2利用图片作线索, 考察了图片部分线索效应的发展特点, 结果发现：图片学习中, 不同年龄被试均存在部分线索效应。结果表明：年龄不是图片部分线索效应的边界条件。实验3考察不同年龄被试对部分线索消极作用的记忆监控的发展变化趋势, 结果发现：小学二年级儿童即使经过多次学习, 也不能意识到部分线索的消极作用; 小学五年级儿童经过二次学习后, 方可意识到这种消极作用, 并在部分线索条件下安排了更多的学习时间; 初二和高二年级学生经过一次学习, 即可意识到部分线索的消极作用, 他们均在部分线索条件下安排了更长的学习时间。结果表明：儿童的学习时间分配决策能力在小学二年级到小学五年级之间有一个质的提高; 与初二学生相比, 高二学生对部分线索带来的消极影响做了更多的时间补偿。     

The Mental Health Benefits and Costs of Sabbath Observance Among Orthodox Jews

This study aimed to examine the perceived psychological costs and benefits of Sabbath (Shabbos) observance among 13 practising Jews, 9 UK residents and 4 US residents. Emerging themes were as follows: Shabbos as a special day, giving time to contemplate on profound issues, withdrawal and rest from mundane concerns, and deepening relationships. These aspects can potentially improve feelings of mental well-being, and were indeed often said to do so. Some difficulties were described: some found they were prone to worry more on Shabbos because of the freedom from distractions, and there were reports of the difficulties of explaining to non-Jewish work colleagues the religious need to be free from work commitments. These findings were related to the literature on religious ritual observance and generally accord with other work in anthropology and psychology of religion examining the psychological impact of ritual. Work on the mental health implications of ritual observance needs to be expanded. It has received only limited attention, and understanding has been constrained by a misleading confusion between ritual and obsessionality. Other impacts of religion on mental health are better documented and understood, and religious ritual and its impact needs further documentation and attention.     

Two kings and two kingdoms: the Church of Scotland,the monarchy,national identity and establishment

The debate about Scottish independence raises questions about church–state relations and religious establishment in Scotland as well as about national identity. This article surveys and summarises attitudes in the Church of Scotland on these subjects over the 450 years since the Scottish Reformation. It identifies and explores several key themes, notably the spiritual independence of the church and national recognition of religion. They were hotly debated topics during the reign of King James VI, enshrined in law in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and prompted the use of the royal veto by Queen Victoria. The Articles Declaratory of the Church of Scotland, embodied in the Church of Scotland Act of 1921, which provide a unique definition of church establishment, will have to be renegotiated in the event of Scottish independence. There are competing views within the Kirk about the constitutional position of Christianity and more specifically of the Church of Scotland in an independent Scotland.     

Being Chinese or being Scottish: National identification and intergroup attitudes of British born Chinese children

This study explored the age differences in national identification, and intergroup attitudes among British born Chinese (BBC) living in Scotland. Participants comprised 70 children in three age groups (8, 11 and 14 years). The study included three tasks: task 1 investigated children's national self-categorization; task 2 examined children's national self-identification; task 3 explored children's perception of the positive and negative traits of Chinese and Scottish people across the age groups (using card-sorting tasks). The results indicated that BBC children identified their national identity as Scottish, however, it varied with age and national contexts. Most BBC children identified themselves as both Chinese and Scottish but they attributed significantly more positive traits to Chinese than to Scottish people and showed significantly more liking for Chinese people than Scottish. The study concludes that BBC children experience a dual identity in which different components are integrated.     

The Scottish Reformation was not Protestant

This article argues that the generally accepted term for the Protestant revolution of 1559–60 in Scotland, ‘The Scottish Reformation’, hides the remnant of a sectarian denominational historiography and should be abandoned. These events should be called ‘The Scottish Protestant Reformation’ while ‘The Scottish Reformation’ should be used for a ‘long reformation’ including Catholic and Protestant reform movements extending from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. This terminological change represents a new way of understanding the Scottish Reformation as a long process in the Christian culture of Renaissance Scotland. It brings historical research in line with developments in other disciplines, which have uncovered a flourishing early Scottish Renaissance. Making Christianity the primary category in the religious history of this period, rather than the polemical binary ‘Catholic/Protestant’, enables a more balanced appraisal of the various religious and cultural movements in Scotland.     

Ecumenism in Scotland

This article examines the history of Scottish ecumenism through the institutional ecumenism of the Scottish Churches Council, the Scottish Ecumenical Committee, the second Scottish Churches Council and Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), looking at the significant contribution of Scottish Churches House and the ‘Tell Scotland’ Movement. It also looks at the history of ‘participative ecumenism’ and how it has related to ‘representative ecumenism’. It gives a brief reflection on local ecumenism and notes the history of discussion for organic union.     

Retrieval practice and retention of course content in a middle school science classroom

We investigated the effect of retrieval practice (i.e., the use of testing to enhance learning) by middle school students on science learning in an authentic educational setting. For initial study, all students (n = 39) read a science text and made study notes about the text, a regular study activity in their course. For restudy (2 days later), students either copied their notes or did retrieval practice. For the final test (an additional 2 days later), all students did a recall task from memory. Students in the retrieval practice condition showed better retention of information than students in the copy condition. These results add to a growing body of research on the use of retrieval practice as an effective learning tool for retention within authentic school settings.     

Authenticity as meaning validation: An empirical investigation of iconic and indexical cues in a context of “green” products

Authenticity judgments involve how individuals distinguish what appears to be real versus fake, genuine versus phony. In this investigation, we bring authenticity into the laboratory to assess it in a manner quite different from most extant approaches. Taking a Peircian semiotic view in a context of environmentally conscious consumption, we develop and test a set of hypotheses concerning the effects of indexical and iconic cues to an authentic “green” product meaning. Results suggest that effects of these indicators of authenticity can be induced in a controlled manner with products being assessed as more or less “green” on the basis of particular cue arrangements. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these semiotic cues is moderated by a basic distinction among products. Taken together, the results provide evidence supporting a meaning validation process as the basis of authenticity judgments and suggest new directions for theory building in a domain where there is substantial practitioner interest. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Limited capacity for contour curvature in iconic memory

We measured the difference threshold for contour curvature in iconic memory by using the cued discrimination method. The study stimulus consisting of 2 to 6 curved contours was briefly presented in the fovea, followed by two lines as cues. Subjects discriminated the curvature of two cued curves. The cue delays were 0 msec. and 300 msec. in Exps. 1 and 2, respectively, and 50 msec. before the study offset in Exp. 3. Analysis of data from Exps. 1 and 2 showed that the Weber fraction rose monotonically with the increase in set size. Clear set-size effects indicate that iconic memory has a limited capacity. Moreover, clear set-size effect in Exp. 3 indicates that perception itself has a limited capacity. Larger set-size effects in Exp. 1 than in Exp. 3 suggest that iconic memory after perceptual process has limited capacity. These properties of iconic memory at threshold level are contradictory to the traditional view that iconic memory has a high capacity both at suprathreshold and categorical levels.     

Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.     

The Ritual Use of Music in US Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Communities

US Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist songs in the style of Christian hymns—what the community refers to as gāthā—are an integral part of the lived experience of North American Shin Buddhism. Rather than focusing on processes of acculturation, in the following paper I take gāthā seriously as a form of Buddhist practice, asking questions related not to their origins or legitimacy but to their function and purpose. I argue that gāthā function as a mechanism by which shifting ideas, attitudes, and practices become normative within the community. This function becomes apparent when gāthā are placed within their larger ritual context and are performed by the community as a whole. Following on Rappaport's analysis of ritual, gāthā serve as indexical expressions of canonical orientations toward Buddhist practice and teachings.     

Am I ‘Chinese’ or ‘Scottish’? children’s perceptions of the adaptive nature of Chinese Scottish children’s dual identities

Chinese Scottish children (children who are born and live in Scotland with Chinese parents) face challenges in establishing their identity. However, there is lack of research that investigates ethnic minority Chinese children’s identity and associated feelings about the dual social context in which they live. The study introduced a social identity vignettes task to examine Chinese Scottish and White Scottish children’s perceptions of Chinese ethnic identity and Scottish national identity of a Scottish born Chinese character within two contrasting socio-cultural contexts (Scottish vs. Chinese). This study examines whether children’s ethnic and national identity and feelings of positivity are adaptive and sensitive to social context. In addition it explored age-related changes in perceptions of ethnic and national identification in the vignettes. The sample comprised of 161 children (8, 11, and 14 years). The results found Chinese Scottish children and White Scottish children’s judgments of the characters’ ethnic identity changed with the cultural context. Both groups of children had a similar perception of vignette characters’ feeling of positivity. Both Chinese and White Scottish children judged that the character would feel more positive about him/herself in the Chinese context. There was no main effect of age.     

‘To Whom Say You Your Pater Noster?’: Prayer on the Eve of the Scottish Reformation

In 1551, a resident English Dominican, Richard Marshall, sparked a fierce controversy in St Andrews, Scotland, by arguing in a sermon that the Lord’s Prayer, the ‘Our Father’, should be prayed to God only and not to the saints. According to John Foxe, the dispute led to much cursing, a regional synod, and one Franciscan fleeing the city in disgrace. The St Andrews quarrel was one of many controversies about prayer in sixteenth-century Europe. Why was prayer such a contentious topic? Scottish prayer controversies revealed a fundamental struggle between traditional and reformist views over the value of ritual in relating to God. Protestants like George Wishart, Catholic reformers like Marshall and Archbishop John Hamilton, and more radical ‘devotional humanists’ like the poet, Sir David Lindsay, proclaimed new understandings of prayer that undermined the structures of traditional devotion by pitting the personal and vernacular aspect of prayer against priestly Latin ritual.     

'The Haemorrhage of Faith?' Opinion Polls as Sources for Religious Practices,Beliefs and Attitudes in Scotland since the 1970s

Scotland has traditionally been seen as a religious country which, according to Callum Brown, has latterly succumbed to the same secularising tendencies which have affected many Western civilisations. Brown has described the Scottish process as so severe as to be tantamount to 'the haemorrhage of faith'. Commercial opinion poll data for representative samples of the Scottish population, a source not greatly used by Brown, are reviewed here for evidence of religious practices, beliefs and attitudes in contemporary Scotland. Considering these data in isolation, and more briefly in relation to equivalent British and world poll data, it is concluded that there has undoubtedly been religious decline since the 1970s, especially during the 1990s. While Scotland is far from being a post-Christian nation, according to the polls, it is no longer-outwardly or inwardly-significantly more religious than Britain as a whole and much of Western Europe.     

Living liver donation: Attitudes of the general public and general practitioners in Scotland

In April 2006, the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in Edinburgh became the first NHS transplant unit in the UK to offer adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). This procedure allows a healthy individual to donate part of their liver to someone with end-stage liver disease. With donations from the deceased in short supply, this procedure has the capacity to save lives. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of the general public and general practitioners (GPs) towards LDLT, before its implementation. A total of 1041 members of the Scottish general public and 155 GPs working in Scotland completed a short questionnaire devised for this study. The majority of participants supported the option of LDLT, but frequency counts showed that only 34% of the general public wish to donate their organs following death compared to 85% of GPs. With regards to an acceptable risk of death before volunteering to donate, 25% of GPs would accept a 1 in 20 risk of death, whereas 50% of the general public either could not make a decision or selected ‘No risk’. The question of how well people understand the concept of risk was again highlighted in this study.     

Making Time Protestant in Early-Modern Glasgow

This article, drawn largely from the under-utilized Kirk session records from late-sixteenth-century Glasgow, by way of example, demonstrates how changing dispositions towards time were at the heart of the Reformation change of religion in Scotland. From the expansion of time obligations of Christians, the alteration of holy days, and the re-definition of basic units of time, alternative understandings of time were among the most tangible effects of the establishment of Protestantism in Scotland. In introducing time as a new way to examine the broad influence of the Reformation on the lives of the Scottish people, the article builds on recent research on the European Reformations while also introducing new perspectives on the uniqueness of the Scottish case.