Personal values and political activism: A cross‐national study

Using data from 28 countries in four continents, the present research addresses the question of how basic values may account for political activism. Study (N = 35,116) analyses data from representative samples in 20 countries that responded to the 21‐item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ‐21) in the European Social Survey. Study (N = 7,773) analyses data from adult samples in six of the same countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, and United Kingdom) and eight other countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States) that completed the full 40‐item PVQ. Across both studies, political activism relates positively to self‐transcendence and openness to change values, especially to universalism and autonomy of thought, a subtype of self‐direction. Political activism relates negatively to conservation values, especially to conformity and personal security. National differences in the strength of the associations between individual values and political activism are linked to level of democratization.     

Assessing Adult Attachment Across Different Contexts: Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire

The Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures questionnaire (ECR–RS) is one of the most recent measures of adult attachment. This instrument provides a contextual assessment of attachment-related anxiety and avoidance by measuring these dimensions in various close relationships (mother, father, partner, friend). To further explore its psychometric properties and cross-cultural adequacy, this study presents the validation of the ECR–RS in a sample of Portuguese community individuals (N = 236). The Portuguese version showed adequate reliability and construct validity. The original 2-factor structure was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis. The ECR–RS is a psychometrically robust measure of attachment, representing an important advance in the measurement of adult attachment.     

Ethnic identity and self‐esteem among Asian and European Americans: When a minority is the majority and the majority is a minority

Three studies were conducted to examine the impact of being a numeric majority or minority in Hawai'i and U.S. mainland on the ethnic identity and self‐esteem of Asian and European Americans. Results of Study 1 (N = 214, M age = 19.85 years) and Study 2 (N = 215, M age = 18.20 years) showed that Asian Americans who grew up on the U.S. mainland, where they are a numeric minority, reported higher ethnic identity than did Asian Americans who grew up in Hawai'i, where they are a numeric majority. In addition, ethnic identity was significantly associated with self‐esteem for Asian Americans from the U.S. mainland and European Americans from Hawai'i (numeric minority), but not for Asian Americans from Hawai'i and European Americans from the U.S. mainland (numeric majority). Study 3 (N = 88, M age = 18.12) examined ethnic identity and self‐esteem among Asian and European Americans who had moved from the U.S. mainland to attend a university in Hawai'i over a 1 year time period. The results showed significant relations between ethnic identity and self‐esteem for Asian Americans when they initially moved to Hawai'i, but this relation decreased after they had lived in Hawai'i for 1 year. The findings highlight contextual variations in ethnic identity and self‐esteem for members of both minority and majority groups in the U.S. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neurophysiologic markers of primary motor cortex for laryngeal muscles and premotor cortex in caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus investigated in motor speech disorder: a navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study

Transcranial magnetic stimulation studies have so far reported the results of mapping the primary motor cortex (M1) for hand and tongue muscles in stuttering disorder. This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for locating the M1 for laryngeal muscle and premotor cortical area in the caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus, corresponding to Broca’s area in stuttering subjects by applying new methodology for mapping these motor speech areas. Sixteen stuttering and eleven control subjects underwent rTMS motor speech mapping using modified patterned rTMS. The subjects performed visual object naming task during rTMS applied to the (a) left M1 for laryngeal muscles for recording corticobulbar motor-evoked potentials (CoMEP) from cricothyroid muscle and (b) left premotor cortical area in the caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus while recording long latency responses (LLR) from cricothyroid muscle. The latency of CoMEP in control subjects was 11.75 ± 2.07 ms and CoMEP amplitude was 294.47 ± 208.87 µV, and in stuttering subjects CoMEP latency was 12.13 ± 0.75 ms and 504.64 ± 487.93 µV CoMEP amplitude. The latency of LLR in control subjects was 52.8 ± 8.6 ms and 54.95 ± 4.86 in stuttering subjects. No significant differences were found in CoMEP latency, CoMEP amplitude, and LLR latency between stuttering and control-fluent speakers. These results indicate there are probably no differences in stuttering compared to controls in functional anatomy of the pathway used for transmission of information from premotor cortex to the M1 cortices for laryngeal muscle representation and from there via corticobulbar tract to laryngeal muscles.     

Social Identification and Well-Being Following a Terrorist Attack: A Longitudinal Study of Israeli Adolescents

The authors examined the role of familial and national social identification in shaping the well-being (positive self-esteem [PSE] and satisfaction with life [SL]) among Israeli adolescents following a terrorist attack. Adolescents living in an attacked town (n = 259; M age = 16.19 years, SD = 0.74 years) and adolescents living in a not attacked town (n = 281; M age = 16.14 years, SD = 0.69 years) were studied longitudinally at 3 weeks and 1 year after the attack. Family identification promoted SL concurrently and PSE concurrently and longitudinally in both groups. Israeli identification hindered subsequent PSE and SL among trauma exposure group adolescents. The authors apply the findings to explain the protective and detrimental potential of social identification following traumatic experiences.     

The Temporal Dynamics of Regularity Extraction in Non‐Human Primates

Extracting the regularities of our environment is one of our core cognitive abilities. To study the fine‐grained dynamics of the extraction of embedded regularities, a method combining the advantages of the artificial language paradigm (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996 ) and the serial response time task (Nissen & Bullemer, 1987 ) was used with a group of Guinea baboons (Papio papio) in a new automatic experimental device (Fagot & Bonté, 2010 ). After a series of random trials, monkeys were exposed to language‐like patterns. We found that the extraction of embedded patterns positioned at the end of larger patterns was faster than the extraction of initial embedded patterns. This result suggests that there is a learning advantage for the final element of a sequence that benefits from the contextual information provided by previous elements.     

Ensuring quality in online career mentoring

This article explores the issue of quality in online career mentoring. It builds on a previous evaluation of Brightside, an online mentoring system in the UK which is primarily aimed at supporting young people's transitions to further learning. The article notes that participants in Brightside's mentoring programmes reported satisfaction with their experiences, with many stating that it helped them to make decisions and to positively change their learning and career behaviours. However, the article argues that there are challenges in ensuring quality and consistency connected to both the voluntary nature of mentoring and the online mode. The article proposes a 10-point quality framework to support quality assurance, initial training and professional development for online mentors.     

Wisdom as a Meditation on Life: Spinoza on Bacon and Civil History

In letter 37 to Johannes Bouwmeester, Spinoza identifies a historiola mentis à la Bacon as an important tool for distinguishing more easily between adequate and inadequate ideas. This paper contends that Spinoza's advice is to take into account Baconian-style ‘Civil History’ as providing instructive material for contemplating the variety, complexity, and persistency of human passionate behaviour. Specifically, it argues that Baconian civil history forms an integral part of Spinoza's reflections on provisional morality. Although for Spinoza, philosophical beatitude ultimately demands understanding affects through their first causes – the intuitive perception of things sub specie aeternitatis – in the realm of everyday Spinoza allows for a different, more pragmatic approach to morality. This paper argues at this stage that a philosophical understanding of the mind and its affections is not needed. Spinoza, following Bacon, holds that conduct of practical affairs is particularly improved when those so engaged acquire historical knowledge of the human condition and apply it. Specifically, both authors place special emphasis on a history of men's characters, actions, and vices as providing the material basis for concrete, directly applicable moral and civil precepts.