Culture Marker Versus Authority Marker: How Do Language Attitudes Affect Political Trust?

Is public trust in government representatives (i.e., bureaucrats, police, public servants) affected by the language they use? The conventional theory holds that, in a multilingual society, people favor government representatives who speak the listeners' dialects because it indicates a shared cultural identity, that is, the “culture-marker” effect. This article offers an alternative mechanism in which people's attitudes can be affected by the government designating the official language as a marker of political authority. Listeners will then project their respect for the political authority to the government representatives who speak this marker language. This mechanism is named an “authority marker” effect. Using a set of adjusted matched-guise experiments in China, this study examines the culture-marker and authority-marker effects. The results support the authority-marker effect by showing that listeners have significantly more trust in the bureaucrats who speak the official language than in those who speak the dialects of the listeners. The study also finds that this is a unique effect for speakers when they represent the government. Without that political identity, listeners will still respond more positively to speakers of their own dialects.     

Tracing enhances problem-solving transfer,but without effects on intrinsic or extraneous cognitive load

People can make pointing gestures and tracing actions with the index finger with little or no conscious effort. From the perspective of cognitive load theory, such “biologically primary” gestures and actions might help people learn “biologically secondary” concepts and skills requiring extended cognitive effort, such as reading, science, or mathematics. Studies on tracing or tracing and pointing have yielded mixed findings regarding hypothesized effects on intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load. The present study investigated whether computer-based instructions to trace elements of worked examples on angle relationships would affect school students' (N = 106) self-reports of intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, as well as problem-solving transfer test performance. The tracing effect on transfer posttests seen in prior studies was replicated, but cognitive load hypotheses were not supported. Implications for educational practice and future research are discussed.     

Whose promises are worth more? How social status affects trust in promises

Promises are among the most widely used tools for increasing trust in social hierarchies; yet the effect of social status on trust in promises is unknown. Here we used a modified version of the Trust Game, in which participants, acting as Investors, were paired with Trustees of varying social status who were given the opportunity to promise (or not) to return at least half of the multiplied amount (i.e., 4 × the amount invested). No return feedback was provided. Participants invested more in partners who promised than those who did not or whose promise information was concealed. Importantly, in both lab-manipulated (Exps. 1–3: math-induced) and pre-existing (Exp. 4: university-based) hierarchies, participants invested more in promises given by high status than low status partners. Post-experiment measures suggest that this may be due to greater expectations of honesty for high status than low status others. Potential explanations and implications are discussed.     

简论明末清初道耶之争--以成都教案为中心

1644年天主教在川传播过程中发生了成都教案,是为明清天主教进入中国后与本土宗教道教唯一的一次正面冲突。这场教案并未留下太多的中文记载,但在传教士记录的西文文献中可以觅得踪迹。该文从早期入华传教士对道教的态度出发,并立足西文原始材料,详细阐述成都教案产生的过程、特点及背后的社会文化因素,进而分析道耶是如何在中国文化框架内进行宗教对话的。     

Prevalence of depressive symptoms and its correlates among medical students in China: a national survey in 33 universities

We conducted a national survey among medical students in China to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and explore associated risk factors based on an established questionnaire composed of demographic information, life events in the past four weeks before survey, and the validated Chinese version of the 21-item Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The mean age of enrolled 9010 students was 20.7 (standard deviation: 1.6) years. BDI scores indicated that 19.9% had depressive symptoms based on the cut-off score of 14. Socioeconomic factors and student characteristics such as male sex, low monthly income per capita, father’s poor education background, and higher year of study were associated with higher prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students. Students who studied in comprehensive universities were more likely to have depressive symptoms compared with those from medical universities. Habitual smoking and alcohol drinking, sleep deprivation, and hospitalization or medication for one week or more in the last four weeks also predisposed students to higher risk of depressive symptoms. Our results indicate that depressive symptoms are becoming a highly prevalent health problem among Chinese medical students. Primary and secondary prevention should be prioritized to tackle this issue based on potential risk factors.     

Sexism and the Effectiveness of Femvertising in China: A Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective

The present study draws on theories and prior research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and gender attitudes (i.e., sexism) to understand young Chinese peoples’ responses toward women-empowering advertising (i.e., femvertising). We conducted two experiments in which male and female Chinese college students (232 in Study 1 and 231 in Study 2) were exposed to either women-empowering or control advertisements (traditional ad in Study 1 and gender-irrelevant ad in Study 2) and reported their attitudes about the ads as well as their purchase intentions toward the advertised products (shampoo and smartphone, respectively). In line with our predictions, both experiments showed that messaging about women’s empowerment in advertising can induce perceptions of CSR, thereby increasing favorable responses such as enhanced positive ad attitudes and increased purchase intentions toward the advertised products. Moreover, hostile sexism was negatively associated with consumer responses toward femvertising such that the lower participants’ hostile sexism, the more positive ad attitudes and stronger purchase intent participants they reported. However, benevolent sexism was not predictive of consumer responses toward femvertising. These results offer insights into people’s responses toward women-empowering advertisements and also have practical implications for advertisers and marketers who are interested in using such an advertising tactic to promote products and services.

     

Does Cognitive Style Moderate Expected Evaluation and Adolescents' Creative Performance: An Empirical Study

Two studies investigated the effects of cognitive and school environmental factors on adolescents' creative performance. The first study tested the effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on creativity among 89 high school students. The second study tested the effects of evaluation type and cognitive style on creativity among 92 high school students. Study 1 found main effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on creativity. The interaction between expected evaluation and cognitive style was statistically significant. Under an experimental condition of expected evaluation, field‐dependent adolescents performed more creatively (i.e., higher originality) than those without expected evaluation. Study 2 uncovered main effects of expected evaluation type and cognitive style on creativity but no interactions between expected evaluation type and cognitive style. Adolescents performed better on the dimension of flexibility in a controlling evaluation condition, compared with adolescents in informational evaluation condition, and field‐independent adolescents showed more fluency and originality than field‐dependent adolescents. Together, this research provides a better understanding of the effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on adolescents' creative performance. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Health Effects of Religion,Spirituality, and Supernatural Beliefs in Mainland China: A Systematic Review

Effects of religion, spirituality and supernatural beliefs (RSS) upon health in mainland China remain poorly understood, despite strong RSS beliefs influencing Chinese society. We conducted a Chinese–English bilingual systematic review to summarize the state of RSS-health research in mainland China. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool. We screened 1858 studies, 162 of which were included in the review. From 2000–2004 to 2015–2019, the number of RSS-health studies in China increased from five to 73. However, only 7% of studies were rated as higher quality. Cross-sectional and case–control studies represented the vast majority of study designs (94%) and religious affiliation was the only RSS measure for 58% of studies. Higher, moderate, and lower quality studies indicated that RSS has both beneficial and adverse health implications. RSS-health research in China has accelerated rapidly in the last 20 years, but fundamental gaps in knowledge remain. Longitudinal study designs and nuanced RSS measures are needed to advance understanding of RSS health effects in China.