Democracy begins at home: Democratic parenting and adolescents' support for democratic values

Although it is generally assumed that support for democratic values and beliefs develops as a result of social learning, the concrete socializing circumstances through which this occurs are less obvious. This study investigated the relationship between democratic family functioning and democratic values of adolescents. Adolescents' (N = 1,341, 16- to 17-year-olds) reports on their parents' psychological control, autonomy granting, warmth, and behavioural control were considered predictors of adolescents' democratic orientation. The results demonstrated that the democratic functioning of families was positively related to adolescents' support for democratic values when controlling for the effects of gender, political experience, authoritarianism, empathy, and political activism. Additionally, this study examined the possible role of empathy as a mediator in the relation between democratic family functioning and adolescent's democratic values. The results show that empathy was a partial mediator of a family's contribution to adolescents' democratic orientation.     

GENDER AND ETHNOCULTURAL COMPARISONS IN STYLES OF LOVE

Ethnocultural background and gender were investigated as correlates of love styles in an ethnically diverse sample of university students in Toronto. Women viewed love as more friendship oriented, more pragmatic, but less permissive than did men, findings consistent with previous research with American college students. Ethnocultural differences or Gender x Ethnocultural Background interactions were also found. In line with an expected contrast between Asian and Western cultural traditions regarding love, Chinese and other Asian respondents of both sexes were more friendship oriented in their love relationships than were respondents of Anglo-Celtic or European ethnocultural backgrounds. Expectations of greater gender role differentiation among Asians were partly supported by finding that women from Asian ethnocultural backgrounds other than Chinese were less likely to view "love as a game" than were either their female or male counterparts. Women from Asian ethnocultural backgrounds other than Chinese also expressed a more altruistic view of love than did Anglo-Celtic women.     

Aquinas and the Democratic Virtues: An Introduction

Can the theology of Thomas Aquinas serve as a resource for reflection on democratic civic virtue? That is the central question taken up by Mark Jordan, Adam Eitel, John Bowlin, and Michael Lamb in this focus issue. The four authors agree on one thing: Aquinas himself was no fan of democracy. They disagree, though, over whether Aquinas can offer resources for theorizing democratic virtues. Bowlin, Eitel, and Lamb believe he can, and propose Thomistic accounts of tolerance, civic friendship, and democratic hope, respectively. Jordan, in contrast, issues a cautionary note against such enterprises. This divergence is due in part to different judgments about what it would mean to claim certain resources as “Thomistic.” In part, too, it flows from a disagreement about whether Aquinas himself countenances genuine virtues among non‐Christian citizens, and about whether Christians and non‐Christians can be said to share even proximate ends. This conversation is an important one, since accounts of the democratic virtues constructed using Thomistic resources have the potential to move discussions of democratic and theological virtues beyond common impasses.     

Prototype-based assessment of laypeople's views of love

Empirical work on love has focused mainly on romantic/passionate love. Recent research suggests that other kinds of love, such as friendship love and familial love, may be more salient to laypeople (Fehr & Russell, 1991). One purpose of this research was to offer a more complete picture of how laypeople conceptualize love by exploring a broad range of types of love. The other major purpose was to develop a methodology for studying laypeople's conceptions of different kinds of love. Four studies were conducted. In Study 1, dating couples were presented with prototypes of 15 different types of love. They were asked to rate how similar the conception of love depicted in each prototype was to their own view of love. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1 with subjects who were not dating one another. In Study 3, the validity of the prototype measures was explored by asking subjects to determine the kind of love depicted in each prototype. Study 4 investigated the relation between the prototypes of love and existing love scales and therefore addressed issues of convergent and discriminant validity. These prototype-based measures showed considerable promise as valid, reliable instruments for assessing people's views of love. They revealed that laypeople regard friendship love and familial kinds of love as closest to their own view. Passionate kinds of love (e.g., passionate, infatuation, puppy love) received the lowest ratings. The measures also proved useful in elucidating the relation between laypeople's and experts' conceptions of romantic and passionate love.     

Requirements for a Democratic Education Organization

What makes a democratic school democratic? This question is answered using the example of the Swiss education system; the focus, however, is not on the usual pedagogic perspective of teaching democracy, but on the democratic organization of the education system. The discussion concentrates on two basic requirements for a democratic education organization: on the one hand, education for all under the equal rights premise calls for the definition of an educational minimum for all students. At the same time, defining this minimum presupposes selection among the students. For part of the students are -- through the use of public funds -- being educated beyond the minimum; a situation which needs to be democratically legitimized. The selection is based on academic performance; as yet, a valuable alternative to this type of selection does not exist. On the other hand, it is essential in a democratic education organization that the authorities put in charge of certain responsibilities are democratically legitimized and controlled. The same applies to newly created authorities, such as principalships or autonomous schools, the introduction of which has been demanded repeatedly for some time now.

     

Plato,Thomas and the Daring Ethics of Friendship

Abstract

Fergus Kerr observed that Thomas Aquinas inaugurates a new way of doing Christian ethics focused on human flourishing. It is based on a daring model of Christian friendship that has, though, found little success. Why? Because it stems from Aristotle's model of friendship which is, in turn, based upon self-love and exclusivity. Augustine, in particular, is a figure who portrays such friendship as antithetical to God's selfless and universal love: friendship, for him, needs to be ‘triangulated’ in divine love. However, Thomas suggests charity as friendship because he recognizes that friendship is the best ‘school of love’ for human beings: within the ambivalences of friendship, Christians can practise the habits of divine love so that it becomes an overarching principle in their lives. But, there is an irony in Thomas turning to Aristotle for a model of love that embraces rather than transcends human experience, since Aristotle too cannot quite shake off a vision of the ideal life that is uneasy with friendship. For that, we must turn to the work of Plato on friendship, in his dialogue the Lysis, which not only offers a model of friendship wholly committed to it as a school of love, philosophy and the good life, but does so recognizing the ‘in between’ status of human beings similar to that with which Thomas was concerned.     

Sitting With Eros and Psyche on a Buddhist Psychoanalyst's Cushion

This paper's psychoanalytic view of love rests on the assumption that adult erotic life has its origins in the early mother/baby sensual/relational matrix. Under optimal conditions, erotic sensuality is enlivened by developing capacity for empathy so that passionate pleasure involves mutuality and intersubjective attunement compatible with Buddhist views of interbeing and compassion.     

Schools as promoters of moral judgment: the essential role of teachers’ encouragement of critical thinking

The assumption that high level functioning is characterized by a great deal of autonomy is central to some major theories of moral development [Kohlberg (in T. Lickona (ed.) Moral development and behavior: Theory, research and social issues, 1976); Piaget (The moral judgment of the child, 1932)] and to the self-determination theory of motivation [Ryan and Deci (The American Psychologist, 55, 68–78, 2000)]. Based on these theories, we hypothesized that students’ perceptions of their teachers as autonomy supportive, mainly in the form of encouragement of critical thinking, and perhaps also choice, would be positively associated with students’ advanced moral judgment. Data collected from 12th grade students in two regular schools and two democratic schools supported this hypothesis. Results also showed that being a student in a democratic school (as opposed to a regular one) was associated with autonomous moral judgment, and that this association was mediated by students’ perceptions of teachers as encouraging criticism, but not choice. A possible implication is that programs of moral education should explicitly promote teachers’ inclination to encourage critical thinking in their students.

中学生心目中的教师形象研究

采用自制的词表对初一至高三六个年级510名中学生心目中现实与理想的教师形象进行研究。结果发现:(1)当前中学生心目中现实的教师形象特征主要表现在:学识广博、热爱教学,活泼开明、富有个性,关爱学生、友善认真,脾气暴躁、偏见苛刻,其中,学识广博、热爱教学尤为突出;(2)中学生心目中理想的教师形象特征主要是:关爱学生、友善认真,学识广博、热爱教学,相貌好、有气质,严谨持重,其中关爱学生、友善认真尤为重要。现实与理想教师的形象不仅在因素结构上不同,而且相同因素的重要性也不同。(3)年级、性别与学业成绩的不同对中学生心目中现实与理想的教师形象有一定影响。(4)现实中的教师形象特征离学生心目中的理想尚有距离,尤其是在教学技巧方面。     

Unrequited love: The role of prior commitment,motivation to remain friends,and friendship maintenance

ABSTRACT

This study tested a moderated mediation model that commitment prior to an unrequited love episode will be related to higher levels of friendship maintenance behaviors after the episode and that this relationship will be mediated by the individual’s motivations to remain friends with the rejecter. We predicted that rejection distress would weaken the mediational model among those reporting high distress. Participants wrote about an unrequited love experience as a pursuer and completed measures of pre-unrequited love commitment, rejection distress, motivations to remain friends, and friendship maintenance behaviors. Our results confirmed the moderated mediation model when the motivations to remain friends measure overall score, the interpersonal connection motivation, or the social connections motivation was the mediator. When covariates were added, only the model with the overall motivations score as mediator was supported. These data can help laypersons and mental health professionals understand and potentially repair friendships following an unrequited love episode.     

Problems in the Theory of Democratic Authority

This paper identifies strands of reasoning underlying several theories of democratic authority. It shows why each of them fails to adequately explain or justify it. Yet, it does not claim (per philosophical anarchism) that democratic authority cannot be justified. Furthermore, it sketches an argument for a perspective on the justification of democratic authority that would effectively respond to three problems not resolved by alternative theories—the problem of the expert, the problem of specificity, and the problem of deference. Successfully resolving these problems is at least evidence for the viability of a justification of democratic authority. This perspective integrates procedural concerns with those about the quality of democratic outcomes. It shows that democratic authority, if there is such a thing, requires reliable democratic procedures as the only sort citizens could rationally accept.     

What Do Liberal Democratic States Owe the Victims of Disasters? A Rawlsian Account

Is there a principled way to understand what liberal democratic states owe, as a matter of justice, to the victims (survivors) of disasters? This article shows what is normatively special and distinctive about disasters and argues for the view that there are substantial duties of justice for liberal democratic states. The article rejects both a libertarian and a utilitarian approach to this question and, based on broadly Rawlsian principles, argues for a ‘political definition’ of disasters that is concerned with the restoration of citizens' dignity and their capacities for effective citizenship.     

In Defense of a Democratic Productivist Welfare State

In this article, I defend a democratic form of the productivist welfare state. I argue that this form of the state can best cope, theoretically and practically, with the diversity of deeply morally pluralistic democratic societies for two reasons. First, the justification of this form of the state rests solely on general facts about human nature, basic human needs, and efficiency considerations in a world of moderately scarce resources. Second, this state does not aim to promote a specific view of justice, but human flourishing more generally, expressed in terms of individual and collective productivity. The proposed democratic productivist welfare state supports its citizens up to the level that allows them to develop and exercise their talents and abilities without providing incentives for free riding. I argue that, under the specific empirical circumstances that I describe, in particular certain informational restrictions concerning the precise productive and destructive capacities of the members of society in practice and the soundness of the Aristotelian principle, this goal may best be achieved in practice by the introduction of an unconditional basic income at subsistence level, if society is sufficiently developed economically to provide such an income. On productivist grounds, such an unconditional subsistence income also addresses, pragmatically and partially, the problem of historical injustices against the weakest members of society and provides all group members with the means for democratic participation.     

Leadership Style and Leader Title

In a 2 by 4 design, leadership style (authoritarian versus democratic) was varied against form of address (Mr., Ms., Miss, Mrs.) in a simulated small group case study. Subjects (374 college and high school students) read the case study and then rated their reactions to the leaderson behavioral differential factors of "subordination" and "friendship." These ratings indicate significant effects due to leader style (i.e., greater subordination and stronger friendship attraction to democratic rather than authoritarian leaders). Leader title produced no significantmain effects although authoritarian leaders using the title Ms. evoked higher subordination (p <.001) than other authoritarian leaders.     

How School can Teach Civic Engagement Besides Civic Education: The Role of Democratic School Climate

Civic engagement, defined as involvement in community life, is influenced by reciprocal relationships between individuals and contexts and is a key factor that contributes to positive youth development. The present study evaluates a theoretical model linking perceived democratic school climate with adolescent civic engagement (operationalized as civic responsibility and intentions for future participation), taking into account the mediating role of civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Participants were 403 adolescents (47.9 % male) ranging in age from 11 to 15 years old (mean age = 13.6). Path analysis results partially validated the proposed theoretical model. Higher levels of democratic school climate were associated with higher levels of adolescent civic responsibility; the association was fully mediated by civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Adolescents’ civic responsibility, then, was positively associated with a stronger intention to participate in the civic domain in the future.     

A Compassionate Space‐making

Using the lens of trinitarian theology of friendship, this article discusses the idea of compassionate space‐making. By showing the primacy of friendly love (philia) over agapeic love, it argues that the idea of trinitarian friendship can offer a creative and imaginative way for constructing a theology of friendship in the communal and broader social contexts. The article then presents five marks of theology of friendship that enable Christians to participate in this trinitarian friendship by making space for and befriending others: vulnerability, unpredictability, reimagination, propheticity, and compassion. The article concludes with a practical spiritual exercise which exemplifies this trinitarian theology of friendship.     

Self-Efficacy,Emotions and Work Engagement Among Teachers: A Two Wave Cross-Lagged Analysis

The aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations between teachers’ work engagement and their emotions, both positive and negative, and experienced in relation to their students, by implementing a two-wave panel design. The predictive role of self-efficacy with respect to teachers’ emotions and work engagement was also explored. The study included a sample of 941 teachers from various state schools in Croatia. A cross-lagged analysis demonstrated the reciprocal nature of the relationship between emotions and work engagement. Teachers who reported higher levels of positive emotions of joy, pride and love at first time point, tended to be more engaged in their work at subsequent assessment. The association between negative emotions and work engagement showed the opposite direction—teachers who experienced more anger, fatigue, and hopelessness in the first measurement point, were also less engaged at second time of assessment. Furthermore, teachers who were more engaged in their work in the first time point, also reported about lower levels of negative emotions but higher levels of positive emotions 6 months later. At last, teachers with higher perceived self-efficacy are more engaged in their work, experience more joy, pride and love, and less anger, fatigue and hopelessness, towards their students. However, these effects did not hold upon control of baseline levels of emotions and work engagement.     

Social interest: Relating Adlerian psychology to Christian theology

Adlerian psychology begins with several assumptions congenial to the Judeo-Christian view of man-in-community. It views people holistically as responsibly pursuing goals in a social context. The social challenges of work, friendship and love hold the key to human well-being and are not incidental to it. Adlerians present some particularly helpful observations on the uses of guilt to avoid life's tasks.     

Women and men in love: who really feels it and says it first?

A widely held belief exists that women are more romantic and tend to fall in love faster than men. Responses from 172 college students indicated that although both men and women believe that women will fall in love and say "I love you" first in a relationship, men reported falling in love earlier and expressing it earlier than women reported. Analyses also showed no sex differences in attitudinal responses to items about love and romance. These results indicate that women may not be the greater "fools for love" that society assumes and are consistent with the notion that a pragmatic and cautious view of love has adaptive significance for women.