The adaptation of non‐western and Muslim immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands: An immigrant paradox?

van Geel, M. & Vedder, P. (2010). The adaptation of non‐western and Muslim immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands: An immigrant paradox? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 398–402. This article addresses the possible existence of an immigrant paradox in a sample of immigrant adolescents attending vocational schools in the Netherlands. An immigrant paradox is the finding that first generation immigrants show a more positive pattern of adaptation than nationals despite poorer economic conditions. Second generation immigrants regress to the nationals in terms of adaptation. A sample of 152 first generation immigrant adolescents, 285 second generation immigrant adolescents and 406 national adolescents completed self‐reports about socio‐economic status, psychological problems, behavioral problems and self‐esteem. The results supported the existence of an immigrant paradox in this sample. This indicates that further assimilation among immigrant adolescents does not necessarily lead to increased well being.     

“A Dream,Dreamed by Reason … Hollow Like All Dreams”: French Existentialism and Its Critique of Abstract Liberalism

The recent claiming of Simone de Beauvoir's legacy by French feminists for a policy of assimilation of Muslim women to Western models of self and society reduces the complexity and richness of Beauvoir's views in inacceptable ways. This article explores to what extent a politics of difference that challenges the ideals and political strategies of abstract liberalism can be extracted from and legitimized by the philosophies of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean‐Paul Sartre. Without assuming their thought is identical, we can read them as elucidating each other and as implicitly exposing weak and strong points in their respective philosophies on ethnocultural relations and social identities.     

A prototype analysis of vengeance

The authors examined the concept of vengeance from a prototype perspective. In 6 studies, the prototype structure of vengeance was mapped. Sixty‐nine features of vengeance were identified (Study 1), and rated on centrality (Study 2). Further studies confirmed the prototype structure. Compared to peripheral features (e.g., religion, shame, and self‐esteem), central features (e.g., humiliation, honor, and power) were more often recalled and recognized in memory tests (Study 3), classified as vengeance more often and faster (Study 4), and rated higher in participants' autobiographical vengeance recalls (Studies 5 and 6). Lay conceptions of vengeance included the view that vengeance is planned, personal, and aggressive, and involves intense feelings of anger, humiliation, envy, and vindictive feelings, as well as negative thoughts.     

The effects of adult attachment style on post‐transgression response

Two studies examined the relation between adult attachment styles and post‐transgression responses. Secure participants were predicted to be forgiving, preoccupied participants to be grudge oriented, fearful participants to be avoidant, and dismissing participants to be vengeful. Study 1 was nonexperimental, using a community sample of adults (N = 565). Participants wrote about a moderately severe past transgression. Results supported the predictions. In Study 2, undergraduates' (N = 134) attachment styles were manipulated by varying working models of self and other. Model of self was manipulated with false performance feedback. Model of other was manipulated by altering a confederate's availability and responsiveness during a bonding exercise. Response trends replicated Study 1 with the exception of avoidance. Dismissing individuals were the most avoidant.     

Schadenfreude as a mate‐value‐tracking mechanism: Replication and extension of Colyn and Gordon (2013)

The present research provides a replication and extension of L. A. Colyn and A. K. Gordon's (2013) study on gender differences in schadenfreude. An experiment—in which both the gender of the unfortunate other and the dimension on which the misfortune occurred were manipulated—showed that female participants reported more schadenfreude when a same‐gender other (vs. an opposite‐gender other) experienced a misfortune on the dimension of physical attractiveness (vs. social status), whereas male participants reported more schadenfreude when a same‐gender other (vs. an opposite‐gender other) experienced a misfortune on the dimension of social status (vs. physical attractiveness). In the discussion, differences between our results and those of Colyn and Gordon are discussed.     

NOTES AND COMMENTS Philosopical Periodicals in Russia Today (Mid-1995)

Studies in East European Thought -