Forgiveness in The Arab and Islamic Contexts

This essay explores the current and historical meaning of forgiveness in Arab and Islamic cultural and religious contexts. It also hopes to encourage further empirical research on this understudied topic in both religious and peacebuilding studies. In addition to the perceived meaning of forgiveness in an Arab Islamic context, this essay examines the links between forgiveness and reconciliation. Relying on religious sources including the Qur'an and Hadith, as well as certain events in Islamic history, the essay identifies various ways to conceptualize and explain the meaning of forgiveness. This theoretical and conceptual segment is followed by a section which explores current perceptions of forgiveness among Arab Muslim teachers in five different communities. The empirical data for this analysis is based on a larger comparative regional study that has been completed through surveys and structured interviews with educators from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestinians from the West Bank and Israel. Our study concluded that the teachers' perceptions of forgiveness were mainly derived from religious sources and identities and that Islamic religious discourse provided a solid foundation for framing the meaning of forgiveness.     

Effects of Visual Representation on Social Influence in Computer‐Mediated Communication

Two experiments investigated if and how visual representation of interactants affects depersonalization and conformity to group norms in anonymous computer‐mediated communication (CMC). In Experiment 1, a 2 (intergroup versus interpersonal) × 2 (same character versus different character) between‐subjects design experiment (N= 60), each participant made a decision about social dilemmas after seeing two other (ostensible) participants’ unanimous opinions and then exchanged supporting arguments. Consistent with the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE), when the group level of self‐identity was rendered salient in an intergroup encounter, uniform virtual appearance of CMC partners triggered depersonalization and subsequent conformity behavior. By contrast, when the personal dimension of the self was salient, standardized representation tended to reduce conformity. To elucidate the mediation process, Experiment 2 investigated the causal links between depersonalization, group identification, and conformity. The results show that depersonalization accentuated adherence to group norms, both directly and indirectly via group identification.     

Moral Persuasion and the Diversity of Fictions

Narrative representations can change our moral actions and thoughts, for better or for worse. In this article, I develop a theory of fictions' capacity for moral education and moral corruption that is fully sensitive to the diversity of fictions. Specifically, I argue that the way a fiction influences our moral actions and thoughts importantly depends on its genre. This theory promises new insights into practical ethical debates over pornography and media violence.     

李淳风数学功绩简论

一、道教学者:李淳风李淳风是唐朝著名的天文学家和数学家,他是道士之子,是中国古代著名的道教学者。他的父亲李播曾出家为道士,据《新唐书·列传第一百二十九方技》记载:“李淳风,岐州雍人。父播,仕隋高唐尉,弃官为道士,号黄冠子,以论撰自见”。这么说来,“李淳风出身于道士之     

"去工业化"与人民公社的困境

人民公社承载着组织农村工业化之重任,普遍试办社队工业企业、就地转移劳动力、使农民尽快富裕起来是人民公社工农商学兵、农林牧副渔综合发展的题中之意.然而1962的政策大调整将其"去工业化"之后,人民公社被归结为一种纯农组织而失去了它应有的功能,并由此开始陷入困境而走向终结.     

两种触觉长度知觉方式的比较

在主动触觉中,长度知觉通过手的各种触摸动作而实现,构成各种触觉长度知觉方式。例如,可以用食指沿物体表面从一端摸到另一端,或用拇指和食指夹住物体两侧并触摸。这两种触觉长度知觉方式在感知长度时是不一致的(Hohmuth)。我们已经报     

瑞文标准推理测验在聋童中的使用报告

本研究采用瑞文标准推理测验对9-17岁的聋童的智力发展情况进行了研究,结果表明:聋童智力的发展随着年龄的增长而增长,呈非直线性,各年龄组内不存在显著的性别差异;与中国城市版常模相比,聋童智力的发展水平要明显地低于城市正常儿童.从各年龄组均分差异来看,聋童要落后2至3个年龄段;统计检验还表明同一年龄组中,有残余听力聋童与无残余听力的聋童的智力发展水平差异并不显著;测题难度和区分度分析表明,原测题排列顺序及鉴别力基本适合聋童被试,信度和效度测定表明,瑞文标准推理测验测量聋童的智力可靠而有效.     

Movement and focused attention: A failure to replicate

Our original goal was to explore the nature of the grouping-by-movement phenomenon reported by Driver and Baylis (1989). In their studies, distractors that moved in common with a centrally located target had a larger influence on focused-attention performance than did more proximate but stationary distractors. These results seemed particularly important since they suggested, contrary to the predictions of space-based models of attention, that attention could be allocated to noncontiguous regions of the visual field. Their results also suggested mandatory processing of stimuli with common motion. Unfortunately, we were unable to replicate this grouping-by-movement effect. In the conditions of Experiment 1 in which we replicated Driver and Baylis’s methodology, stationary distractors produced a larger response-compatibility effect than did the more distant distractors that moved in common with the target. In Experiment 2, we redundantly coded the centrally located target and the far distractors with common movement and color. However, the results were identical to those obtained in Experiment J. The stationary near distractors that appeared in a different color from the target and the far distractors produced the largest response-compatibility effect. In a final experiment, we attempted to compensate for the reduced acuity of the moving distractors by adjusting their size by a cortical magnification factor. However, even with this manipulation, we found a larger response-compatibility effect for the stationary near distractors than for the moving distant distractors. Our results suggest that subjects are capable of selectively processing a target item that moves in common with distractors.     

Attributional Style and Engagement/Disengagement Responses in the Chinese Workforce

Internal attribution for bad events, along with stable and global attributions, has been regarded as a component of pessimism, a precursor of negative work outcomes. Most evidence in support of this conceptualisation has come from research conducted in individualist cultures. We questioned if internal attribution has the same pessimistic implication in a collectivist culture. Findings from two studies conducted on Chinese employees supported our expectations that the stability and globality dimensions (but not the internality dimension) would predict disengagement responses (such as quitting and being neglectful at work) and lack of engagement responses (such as voicing suggestions and being loyal to the organisation). A reconceptualisation of pessimism in the workplace is therefore necessary. A dimensional, rather than a composite, scoring method is proposed for maintaining the predictive and construct validities of attributional style as an indicator of pessimism.