SOCIAL TRADITIONALISM AND PERSONALITY: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOCIAL VALUES AND PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES*

Three personality variables - field dependence-independence cognitive style, tolerance of ambiguity and machiavellianism - and two social value variables - conformity-self-assertion and fatalism-personal efficacy - were used to investigate the relationship between attachment to norms of social traditionalism and personality orientation. Subjects were 218 first-level supervisors from five industrial plants in Auckland, New Zealand. They were classified into four cultural groups depending on whether they were immigrant or indigenous Polynesians or Europeans. It was found that, with the exception of fatalism-personal efficacy and machiavellianism, social values were significantly correlated with personality attributes. The direction of these associations supported the hypothesis that attachment to norms of social traditionalism is associated with low levels of psychological development, while attachment to norms of modernity is associated with high levels of psychological development.     

关于场依存性－独立性与催眠感受性及性格的比较研究

对场依存性独立性认知方式与催眠感受性及Ｙ—Ｇ性格测验所评定的人格特征的相互关系进行了研究,结果表明：场依存性－独立性与催眠感受性之间不存在相关关系,提示两者为彼此独立的人格特征;在人格特质方面．场依存性者比场独立性者具有更强的社会外向性、社交活动主导性和乐天性;而场独立性者则具有较强的神经质倾向;在人格类型上,场依存性者和场独立性者均普遍表现为Ａ、Ａ’和Ｄ型,而Ｃ型则更可能是场独立性者所具有的特征;从人格类型的研究角度证明,内、外向性格与场依存性－独立性基本上分属两个不同的人格维度;场依存性－独立性与个体心理健康水平无关。     

Intuition, cognitive style, and hemispheric processing

200 undergraduate volunteers were administered Westcott's Test of Intuitive Ability, Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test, Paivio's Revised Individual Differences Questionnaire, and visual and aural dominance measures using a three-field tachistoscope and dichotic listening device, respectively. Field dependence was consistently related to poorer intuitive performance. No sex-related differences were found on intuition, embedded figures, Paivio's questionnaire, or dominance scores although the amount of intuition explained by cognitive style and dominance differed by hand and gender. Visual-verbal style was not associated with dominance while the relation of field dependence-independence and dominance was inconsistent. Neither dominance nor visual-verbal style was consistently related to intuition although complicated associations were indicated by hand and sex, suggesting differences in cognitive organization.     

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.     

East Asian child-rearing attitudes: an exploration of cultural, demographic and self-disclosure factors among US immigrants

Child-rearing attitudes among East Asian groups have been emphasized in the developmental psychology literature in the context of their association with academic achievement. Although child-rearing attitudes play an important role in the transmission of cultural values, much of the research on East Asian child-rearing attitudes has ignored cultural variables and has instead focused on authoritarian parenting style. The current study examined the association between three classes of variables-culture (i.e., ethnic identity, self-construal, acculturation), demographics (sex, years in the US, English fluency), and self-disclosure-and traditional child-rearing attitudes (TCRA) among East Asian immigrants in the United States. It was hypothesized that higher levels of TCRA would be associated with higher levels of ethnic identity, interdependent self-construal, separation, and guarded self-disclosure, and fewer years spent in the United States. The participants included 170 East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) immigrants (88 men, 82 women) who were administered a battery of psychometrically established measures. Our hypotheses were largely supported. We found that, while there was no significant sex by ethnicity effect for TCRA, men were significantly more likely than women to endorse TCRA and the Korean group had significantly higher TCRA than the Japanese group. Ethnic identity, interdependent self-construal, separation, years in the US, and guarded self-disclosure were significant independent predictors of TCRA. The findings suggest the need for broadening the content of assessment tools of child-rearing attitudes and measuring associated cultural and noncultural variables among East Asian ethnic groups. Future research on child-rearing attitudes among Asian ethnic groups may benefit from (1) measuring multiple dimensions of TCRA, (2) assessing associated cultural variables directly rather than inferring them in an ad hoc fashion based on observed ethnicity differences, (3) measurement of demography (including sex and years spent in the host country) and (4) examining the potential influence of guarded self-disclosure.     

高中生认知方式特点及其与学绩关系的研究

采用认知方式图形测验,对94名普通高中生进行实验研究,探讨了当前普通高中生认知方式特点及其与学绩的关系。结果表明：随着年级的增高,高中生的场独立性增强。高中生的认知方式场依存性、场独立性与学习成绩的相关不显著。在初中毕业刚进入高中,学生的认知方式存在显著的性别差异,但随着年级增长、个体成熟,这种差异逐渐缩小。文理分科对高中生的认知方式发展没有明显的影响。     

DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITIVE STYLES AMONG CHICANOS IN TRADITIONAL AND DUALISTIC COMMUNITIES*

The study examined the development of cognitive styles among 182 Chicano children growing up in two communities, one traditional and one dualistic. The Children's Embedded Figures Test was employed as the measure of field independence. In the first and fifth grades, Chicano children in the traditional community were found to have a relatively field-dependent cognitive style, whereas those in the dualistic community had a relatively field-independent cognitive style. No such difference was present in the third grade. In both communities there was a progressive increase in field independence with increasing age. There were no significant sex differences in cognitive style.     

Do self-report measures of social anxiety reflect cultural bias or real difficulties for Asian American college students?

Construal of the self as independent or interdependent in relation to others has been found to correlate significantly with social anxiety symptom ratings, raising concerns about possible cultural bias in these measures for Asian Americans. To investigate the validity of self-reported social anxiety symptoms, we examined the role of ethnicity in the associations among social anxiety, self-construal, and adaptive social functioning in a sample of 229 Asian- and European American college students. Results revealed that ethnicity moderated the relationship between self-construal and social anxiety such that interdependent self-construal was associated with higher social anxiety only for first generation Asian Americans. However, there were no significant ethnic differences in the associations between social anxiety self-reports and several measures of social functioning.     

Learning implications of field dependence-independence: Cognitive style versus cognitive ability

The relationship between field dependence-independence and learning has been the subject of much research. In particular it has been suggested that matching teachers and students on cognitive style may produce beneficial results. Much research has also related cognitive style to the way students learn, the way teachers teach, and the way students make choices and perform in various academic areas. While cognitive style has provided the theoretical framework, it is found upon re-examination that a contrasting interpretation in terms of cognitive ability is readily applicable.     

Event-related-potential (ERP) correlates of cognitive styles,abilities and aptitudes

Fifty, right-handed males were given 11 psychometric tests of cognitive styles, abilities and aptitudes. Visual (VERP), auditory (AERP) and bimodal (BERP) brain event-related-potential (ERP) amplitudes were recorded from each of these Ss. Canonical and product-moment correlations were computed. These analyses established that VERPs and BERPs elicited in the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital regions were related to abilities and aptitudes: general aptitude, reading and verbal comprehension and spatial ability; and a cognitive style: field dependence-independence. The results demonstrated the construct validity of ERPs as indicators of individual differences in cognitive characteristics, especially crystallized and fluid intelligence.     

Field dependence-independence in complex motor skills

This study analyzed the relationship between field dependence-independence and complex motor skills. According to the requirements of each sporting activity, subjects' motor system can be mainly controlled through exteroceptive or proprioceptive information. Sport performances require the athlete to disembed himself, other players, or the ball from the background, and decision-making appears to require cognitive restructuring. 26 athletes (13 men and 13 women) involved in acrobatic sports (gymnastics, trampoline, half-pipe snowboard, synchronized 3-m springboard, acrobatic rock, skateboard, and free skating) and 26 athletes (13 men and 13 women) involved in individual racket sports (tennis and table-tennis) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test. Participants (at least 10 years of practice) were from 16 to 35 years of age (M=22.0, SD=3.1). No significant difference among athletes on scores for field dependence-independence was evidenced given this expertise, sex, or age. Significantly higher scores were obtained by athletes in acrobatic sports, indicating that they tended to be predominately more field-independent whereas the lower scores were obtained by tennis and table-tennis players.     

Sex, ethnic, and social differences in test anxiety among Israeli adolescents

The effects of sex, ethnicity, and social class on levels of test anxiety were examined among a sample of 416 adolescent students in Israel. Significant sex differences in mean levels of test anxiety were found, with girls scoring consistently higher than boys across ethnic, social, and grade categories. Pupils of low socioeconomic status (SES) also scored consistently higher than pupils of high SES across grades. Nevertheless, this study provides little support for the commonly held view that sociocultural or sex group differences in school achievement are due, in any meaningful way, to differences in test anxiety. The group differences, though significant for SES and sex, were of negligible magnitude, and the correlation between test anxiety scores and grade point average was minimal for the group as a whole and nonsignificant for students of Eastern background, who have been purported to be particularly affected by high levels of test anxiety. The findings do support other cross-cultural studies, which have found only a modicum of shared variance between test anxiety and grades. It is concluded that test anxiety is not a particularly valid predictor of achievement or ability.     

An examination of Euro-American and African-American differences in social physique anxiety among college women

Many studies have examined sex differences in social physique anxiety; however, few researchers have examined possible perceptual differences in such anxiety based on ethnicity. The present purpose was to examine social physique anxiety among college-age women of Euro-American and African-American descent. Participants (N = 91) from physical activity classes at a university located in the southeastern United States completed the Social Physique Anxiety Scale. The participants were 67 Euro-Americans and 24 African Americans. An independent t test yielded a significant difference (p =.01) between groups on Eklund's scale, which supports the hypothesis.     

Men and women holding hands: II. Whose hand is uppermost?

Sex differences in the way men and women hold hands were investigated in a series of six studies. Specifically, it was hypothesized that men would have the uppermost hand in male-female couples holding hands in public significantly more often than women. Also, the American couples observed in Study 1 were classified by height, those in Study 2 by age, those in Study 3 by hand preference, those in Study 4 by ethnic group, and those in Study 6 by sex of initiator of the handholding; the handholding couples in Study 5 were Japanese adults. A combined total of 15,008 handholding couples were observed in these six studies, and across differences in height, age, hand preference, ethnicity, culture, and sex of the initiator of handholding in public, men were significantly more likely than women to have the uppermost hand.     

关于高中生认知方式的测验研究

对２５４名高中生,５７名大学生和６８名初中生（已去掉不合格者）进行了“镶嵌图形测验”,探讨了当前我国高中生认知方式场依存性－独立性发展的特点。研究结果表明：（１）在高中阶段,学生认知方式的场依存性－独立性的发展有其相对稳定性。（２）高中男女生的认知方式发展存在明显的性别差异。（３）文理分班对高中生认知方式的发展并无明显影响。（４）高中生的场依存性─独立性认知方式与其语文、数学学习成绩相关不明显。     

Futile debate on assessment of field dependence-independence

A long-standing debate on assessment has troubled research on field dependence-independence. The main arguments and a recent measurement proposal by Riding, et al., are revised to illustrate the futility of this debate and to defend the strength of the cognitive style dimension.     

大学生场依存性─－独立性认知方式分析

对二十一个学科专业１５２６名大学生的场依存性─－独立性认知方式进行调查所获得的新近常模资料表明：大学生场依存性─－独立性个体差异的群体分布是正态性的,其总体平均水平以《认知方式图形测验》成绩作指标为１３．７（ｓ为４．６）。在此基础上,对文献所报道的影响场依存性─－独立性发展水平的两个因素作了进一步的研究分析,发现,大学生场依存性─－独立性的性别差异非常接近显著水平;专业分化是不依赖于性别因素而导致大学生场依存性─－独立性水平显著不同的主要因素．     

Cross-Category Friendships and Postformal Thought among College Students

Theories of postformal thought (PFT) suggest that cognitive development is enhanced by social interactions where differences must be negotiated. Friendships provide the potential for complex social interactions and are an ideal context in which to explore the relation between cognitive development and the negotiation of social differences. The present research is the first to directly explore the relation between close cross-category friendships and level of postformal cognitive reasoning among college students. Participants from two universities completed questionnaires assessing PFT and friendship characteristics. Results indicate that individuals reported more same-category versus cross-category friendships. This was true for sex, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and age. In addition, individuals high in PFT had more social category differences in their existing close friendships than individuals low in PFT.     

Does test anxiety bias scholastic aptitude test performance by gender and sociocultural group?

This study examines the commonly held contention that test anxiety may serve as a source of bias in the scholastic aptitude test performance of gender and ethnic minority groups. In addition, this study examines sex and sociocultural group differences in the level and pattern of test anxiety among Israeli college students. The sample was composed of 163 male and 198 female students sitting for scholastic aptitude tests routinely administered to all student applicants as part of their college admissions procedures. About 67% were of Western cultural extraction whereas the remainder were of Eastern extraction. Significant differences in text anxiety scores for males and females were observed, with greater sex group differentiation on the Emotionality than on the Worry scale. Test anxiety scores were not discernible by ethnicity or social class. Furthermore, test anxiety was not differentially related to aptitude test scores by sex or sociocultural group membership. Thus, this study lends little evidence to the common contention that test anxiety differentially debilitates the aptitude test scores of females and ethnic minority student candidates.