Age and sex-related differences in threat perception in a modern urban society

A sample of 1,200 urban Israelis were tested on their perception of threatening situations in everyday life by means of a questionnaire portraying typical scenarios incorporating the variables physical threat, loss of property, and territorial invasion. Significant differences were found with regard to the age and sex of the respondents in their perception of what constituted an anxiety-provoking situation. Both young and old men and women perceived overt physical threat in public as being the most hazardous scenario. Men and women between the ages of 20 and 39 differed significantly in their perceptions of threat. Women perceived potential rape situations as being the most hazardous, whereas the corresponding variable for a high percentage of the men was loss of property. Both men and women in this age group, however, regarded invasion of personal living space while they were present and unaware as being highly anxiety provoking. The findings are discussed and biological differences in human perception of what constitutes a threatening situation postulated.     

Socialization for the democratic personality in modern society

A comprehensive analysis of socialization requires a complex model that both explicates and synthesizes the various subprocesses involved in this phenomenon. Traditional concerns with socialization that have focused almost exclusively on its objective functions, that is, on those which serve society and its institutions, need to be complemented by an equal emphasis on subjective functions in terms of the sociological and psychological development of the individual. Chiefly relevant in this latter respect is the production of basic human needs and the consequences that result from their inadequate gratification in unauthentic and/or unresponsive societies. One such outcome that is particularly crucial to both personal and societal function is that of alienation, which can be assessed specifically in terms of its significance for civic participation. Our model recognizes the limits of both human systems and social systems; and, in terms of the principles of authenticity and responsivity, it articulates the linkage among these systems constituting the essence of socialization. Our model also provides an implicit clarification of the nature and meaning of citizenship in a democracy, which by definition should be a responsive society, and delineates the required sociopsychological images for maximizing the role of political participation.     

Justification and legitimacy in global civil society

As some thinkers have sought in the concept of global civil society an ethically driven site of deliberation and even resistance, so others have criticized global civil society for its lack of legitimacy and representativeness. This article attempts to answer these criticisms – at least in part – by invoking a moral commitment to the value of justification. I argue that the idea of justification, when examined, offers us a particular understanding of legitimacy which would be attainable for global civil society actors. The article begins by setting out the case for concern about the legitimacy of global civil society. I then outline a certain understanding of justification, showing how a commitment to this conception provides both a response to critics of global civil society and an ethical baseline for humane actors within global civil society. I move on to trace the significance of the moral relevance of justification for actors' strategies. Lastly, however, I highlight the difficulty of justification in a diverse world. This is to say that the issues of legitimacy and strategy facing global civil society are only made more tractable, not dissolved, by an appeal to the importance of justification.     

社会公平:构建社会主义和谐社会的伦理基础

社会公平是社会主义最核心的价值追求,是构建社会主义和谐社会的伦理基础。社会公平是当代社会经济发展的基本理念,也是一个由机会平等、按贡献分配以及社会调节等原则组成的基本规则体系,具体表现为权利公平、机会公平、规则公平和分配结果的相对公平。在社会转型时期,必须坚持社会公平原则,对社会的有限资源和权利义务进行有效而合理的配置和安排,才能建立公正合理的社会经济生活秩序,建设一个经济繁荣、政治文明、社会秩序稳定、人民安居乐业的和谐社会。     

Values education in a democratic society

A democratic society requires a degree of consensus on values. But it is argued that the model of values education as the transmission of certain predetermined values is inadequate in a democracy, since for several reasons the transmission of predetermined values can itself be undemocratic. Education for individual autonomy in matters of values is also, by itself, inadequate. Each generation needs the resources by which it can work out its own interpretation of democratic values. What is also needed, then, is an education in a common language of discourse — which can be drawn primarily from philosophy — which will facilitate public debate.     

在公共生活与私人生活之间:传统伦理的现代境遇

In terms of life space, individuals are usually settled in different spaces according to relationships of blood, geography, and profession. In pre-modern societies, ethics were realized through customs, conventions, taboos, magical practices, and politics. Because this was not an open process in which rationality was sufficiently employed, non-reflectiveness and non-criticality were its essence, and intuitions and feelings were its basic modes of existence. In modern societies, the logic of capital movement settles groups of people according to their economic dependence, and interactions based on individuals’ desires and self-serving calculations have become widespread and frequent. A space for public interaction and life in which rationality is sufficiently employed and rational bases of the rules are constantly questioned thus finally came into being. Families and villages lost their centrality, resulting in a crisis of private interactions and life, and of its system of norms. __________ Translated by Liu Huawei from Zhongguo renmin daxue xuebao 中国人民大学学报 (Journal of Renmin University of China), 2008, (1): 78–85     

Effort denial in self-deception

We propose a mixed belief model of self-deception. According to the theory, people distribute belief over two possible causal paths to an action, one where the action is freely chosen and one where it is due to factors outside of conscious control. Self-deceivers take advantage of uncertainty about the influence of each path on their behavior, and shift weight between them in a self-serving way. This allows them to change their behavior to provide positive evidence and deny doing so, enabling diagnostic inference to a desired trait. In Experiment 1, women changed their pain tolerance to provide positive evidence about the future quality of their skin, but judgments of effort claimed the opposite. This “effort denial” suggests that participants’ mental representation of their behavior was dissociated from their actual behavior, facilitating self-deception. Experiment 2 replicated the pattern in a hidden picture task where search performance was purportedly linked to self-control.     

社会焦虑的概念辨析与根源探究

基于文献分析的方法,梳理经典焦虑理论的演变历程,揭示焦虑的本质与根源,澄清社会焦虑的主体与性质,界定社会焦虑的概念内涵。同时结合概念界定对当代中国社会焦虑的根源做进一步的探究,认为主要原因在于：欲求向需求的快速转变,阶层流动的固化趋势,以及价值观的拮抗与迷失。最后提出社会焦虑的纾解之道,即充分发挥个人的建设性力量,积极应对时代挑战;坚持以人民为中心,全面推进公正与健康社会建设。

     

早期现代哲学中的语言问题

The view of language is greatly changed from early modern philosophy to later modern philosophy and to postmodern philosophy. The linguistic question in early modern philosophy, which is characterized by rationalism and empiricism, is discussed in this paper. Linguistic phenomena are not at the center of philosophical reflections in early modern philosophy. The subject of consciousness is at the center of the philosophy, which makes language serve purely as an instrument for representing thoughts. Locke, Leibniz and Descartes consider language from a representationalist point of view. To them, language itself is idealized and represents thought as if it were thought representing itself. Like the structural linguist Saussure, the founders of phenomenology and analytical philosophy give much attention to the logical or static structure of language, and stick up for the representationalism of early modern philosophy. However, their successors refuse to accept this attitude, meaning the final collapse of representationalism. Translated by Cui Zengbao and Yang Dachun from Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Research), 2007, (8): 62–67     

Collective action and subordinate group identity in a simulated society game

Abstract: This research examined the effects of upward mobility and resource disparity on subordinates’ collective action and group identity in a context of intergroup negotiation by using a simulated society (SIMSOC) game. According to the social identity theory, it was hypothesized that when individual mobility opportunities for a subordinate group increase, the members of the subordinate group are less likely to participate in collective actions and to appreciate the merits of their own group identity. Four hundred and fifty‐four undergraduates participated in 12 separate SIMSOC games. For each game, approximately 40 undergraduates were divided into dominant and subordinate groups. Each of the four combinations of high/low levels of upward mobility and large/small resource disparity was played out three times. Subordinates in the low‐mobility condition acted collectively more frequently and evaluated their own group more positively than those in the high‐mobility condition. A signifificant positive correlation between the frequency of subordinates’ collective action and in‐group favoritism was found.     

大学生外语焦虑、自我效能感与外语成绩关系的研究

以315名大学生为研究对象,采用t检验、相关分析、方差分析和回归分析技术探讨了不同成绩水平、不同性别、不同专业学生的外语焦虑、自我效能感和外语成绩的差异及三者之间的关系。结果表明:(1)外语成绩及格组学生的外语焦虑水平显著低于不及格组学生,自我效能感显著高于不及格组学生;女大学生的外语成绩、自我效能感及能力因子和挫折因子上的自我效能感显著高于男大学生,男女大学生的外语焦虑水平无显著性差异;文科大学生的外语焦虑水平和外语成绩显著高于理科大学生,文、理科学生的自我效能感无显著性差异;(2)外语焦虑与外语成绩呈显著负相关,与自我效能感呈显著负相关,自我效能感与外语成绩呈显著正相关,性别、专业、外语焦虑、自我效能感、效能感的能力和挫折两个因子是外语成绩的显著预测变量。     

外语焦虑、紧张情绪与认知负荷对外语说谎的影响：来自中-英双语者的证据

采用错误陈述范式探究中-英双语者用母语和外语说真话和说谎时的认知神经差异,涉及外语焦虑、认知负荷和说谎诱发的紧张情绪。对P200和CNV观察发现:(1)中-英双语者用英语说真话的P200波幅比用母语大,说明被试用英语说话时受外语焦虑情绪影响;(2)中-英双语者用英语说谎与说真话的P200波幅无显著差异,但用母语说谎和讲真话的P200波幅差异显著,说明被试用外语说谎没有用母语说谎诱发的紧张情绪大;(3)中-英双语者说谎时的CNV波幅比说真话时大,说明被试说谎比说真话的认知负荷更大;(4)中-英双语者用英语说谎时的CNV波幅比用汉语说谎时大,说明被试用外语说谎比用母语说谎产生了更大的认知负荷。相关分析表明,英语熟练程度是影响中-英双语者用母语和外语说谎时的认知神经差异的重要变量。