Definition of Financial Abuse: A Culture-Centered Construct among Korean Elders

One of the critical issues in addressing financial abuse in Korea is the absence of an appropriate definition voiced by the elderly. This study is designed to explore how Korean elders define financial abuse in given social and cultural contexts. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with 124 elders, aged 60 to 79, residing in Korea. The results of qualitative data analysis using grounded theory revealed that a vast majorty of Korean elderly respondents defined financial abuse as lack of provision of financial support to elder parents, and a small portion of respondents defined it as financial exploitation by adult children. The definition of financial abuse reflects cultural beliefs based on filial piety about financial expectations within the parent–child relationship. Education on financial abuse for both elders and their adult children and establishment of income support programs are urgently needed efforts to increase the financial well-being of elderly Koreans.     

Musical Thought in the Zhuangzi: A Criticism of the Confucian Discourse on Ritual and Music

Musical thought in the Chinese tradition is frequently discussed in terms of the Confucian discourse on “ritual and music (lǐyuè 禮樂),” but how this Confucian discourse has been viewed by its critics has seldom been addressed. This paper aims to explore musical thought in the Zhuangzi as a serious critique of Confucian musical discourse. Zhuangzian thinkers doubt whether Confucian ritual music can avoid restricting music within a specific musical tradition, impeding the freedom to enjoy music, and distorting the nature of music. Unlike Confucian discourse, which emphasizes music’s external effects, Zhuangzian musical thought ultimately leads us to focus on the essential questions: how to cultivate one’s own sensibility toward musical harmony, how to open one’s mind to comprehend different musical sources, and how to eventually reach musical Dao.     

目标定向的因素结构及其与自我效能感、目标设置和绩效关系的初步研究

目标定向作为一种重要的动机变量,从社会认知的角度解释个体的成就动机和成就行为。早期的研究者提出个体具有的目标定向分为学习目标定向和绩效目标定向两类,并将目标定向视为单因素结构。此后,Button等人通过实证研究,首次用数量化结果否定了目标定向的单因素论,证明学习定向和绩效定向是两个不同的维度。近期VandeWalle提出了目标定向三因素论,认为除学习目标定向外,绩效目标     

Effect of Child Gender on the Bidirectional Relationships between Parental Monitoring and Delinquent Behavior

This study examined the effect of child gender on the bidirectional relationships between perceived parental monitoring and self-reported delinquent behaviors from childhood to adolescence, using data from the Korean Youth Panel Study. In this longitudinal study, different age cohorts for childhood (ages 9–12; N?=?2283) and adolescence (ages 13–16; N?=?2722) were analyzed. The findings from cross-lagged path analyses showed that the parent–child relationships differed for boys and girls. For girls, delinquency had a stronger effect on parental monitoring in childhood, whereas parental monitoring had a stronger effect on delinquency in the childhood–adolescence transition and adolescence. Boy’s delinquency similarly had a stronger effect in childhood. Parental monitoring, however, did not affect boy’s delinquency at any age. This study highlights the importance of considering gender when developing interventions to support families with delinquent children and adolescents.     

The Effects of Marital Conflict on Korean Children’s Appraisal of Conflict and Psychological Adjustment

This study examined the effects of marital conflict on Korean children’s psychological adjustment and appraisal of hypothetical marital conflict situations. Children between the ages of 10 and 12 were divided into “high-conflict” (n = 58) and “low-conflict” (n = 58) groups based on their self-reported degree of perceived interparental conflict in the home environment. Hypothetical marital conflict situations were provided in cartoon format, and were differentiated based conflict intensity (verbal versus physical aggression) and content (child-related conflict versus non-child-related conflict). In general, children reported greater negative affect and perceived threat to hypothetical conflict situations involving physical aggression compared to situations involving verbal conflict. In child-related conflict situations, children reported more fear of being drawn in and endorsed coping strategies that involved direct intervention. “High-conflict group” children evidenced stronger reactivity in responding to marital conflict situations in general and endorsed indirect intervention strategies—a finding previously not found in similar studies conducted with European-American children—indicating the possibility of cross-cultural difference in coping preferences in interparental conflict situations. Furthermore, “high-conflict group” children manifested more indices of maladjustment as indicated by externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, in addition to more self-reported depressive symptoms. Results highlight the effects of marital conflict on children’s psychological adjustment and indicate the possibility of cross-cultural differences in preferred coping mechanism in interparental conflict situations for Korean children.     

Too powerless to speak up: Effects of social rejection on sense of power and employee voice

Enabling and amplifying the voice of employees creates opportunities for organizational improvement. Prior research has shown that employees' sense of power has impact on their voice behavior. As such, when would employees feel too powerless to speak up in the workplace? The current study investigates the indirect effect of social rejection (via sense of power) on employee voice. We use conservation of resources theory to explain this relationship. Experimental data from two studies demonstrate that participants reminded of social rejection (vs. acceptance) exhibit a lower sense of power. Specifically, we observe that social rejection diminishes a person's sense of power, and that social acceptance does not enhance this sense. That is, social rejection has an indirect effect on employee voice through sense of power. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings with regard to social rejection, sense of power, and workplace voice behavior.     

与彼得·辛格的对话

对话的主题涉及辛格对马克思、全球伦理、道德责任、动物解放、伦理思维中的直觉层次与批判层次以及伦理的客观性问题。辛格哲学的特点不仅在于他始终不懈地将伦理的思维与减少痛苦与苦难的价值付诸行动,而且也在于他拓宽伦理思维的能力。辛格博采生物学、历史学、人类学、经济学以及博弈论研究成果,丰富并阐明了伦理理论与实践何以可以被现实赋予活力。当我们转向辛格的哲学时,我们会发现一种伦理的生活方式:不仅仅为此刻活着,也不仅仅根据个人喜好活着,而是去过一种具有更广意义的生活,它要求献身于所有有感受能力的生命的福祉和环境保护之中。     

The effects of four days of intensive mindfulness meditation training (Templestay program) on resilience to stress: a randomized controlled trial

The interest in mindfulness meditation interventions has surged due to their beneficial effects in fostering resilience and reducing stress in both clinical and non-clinical populations. However, the relaxation benefits that may occur while practicing mindfulness meditation and long-term benefits of these interventions remain unclear. Fifty-one participants were recruited and randomized into the experimental and control groups, which underwent 4 days of Intensive Meditation (Templestay program, n = 33) and Relaxation (Control, n = 18), respectively. The self-report measures of Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS) and the modified Korean version of the Resilience Quotient Test (RQT) were administered pre-, post- and 3 months after the intervention to measure participants’ levels of mindfulness and resilience. Participants in both the Templestay program and Control groups showed significant increases in their scores on CAMS and RQT after completing the program. During the 3-month follow-up, a significant interaction effect of the intervention method and time was revealed for the individuals’ CAMS and RQT scores. Our findings support the hypothesis that while relaxation practices may have certain stress reduction effects, the effects are predominantly mediated by the mindfulness meditation practice. Furthermore, the long-term benefits of increased resilience observed in the Templestay program group suggest that the practice may be a possible treatment strategy in clinical populations, such as patients with depression and anxiety.     

The Wick in the Candle of Learning: Epistemic Curiosity Activates Reward Circuitry and Enhances Memory

ABSTRACT— Curiosity has been described as a desire for learning and knowledge, but its underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We scanned subjects with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they read trivia questions. The level of curiosity when reading questions was correlated with activity in caudate regions previously suggested to be involved in anticipated reward. This finding led to a behavioral study, which showed that subjects spent more scarce resources (either limited tokens or waiting time) to find out answers when they were more curious. The functional imaging also showed that curiosity increased activity in memory areas when subjects guessed incorrectly, which suggests that curiosity may enhance memory for surprising new information. This prediction about memory enhancement was confirmed in a behavioral study: Higher curiosity in an initial session was correlated with better recall of surprising answers 1 to 2 weeks later.