Modernization of Confucian ontology in Taiwan and mainland China

The present paper compares three models of modernized Confucian Ontology. The philosophers under debate belong to the most important, well-known and influential theoreticians in modern Taiwan and mainland China respectively. Through a contrastive analysis, the paper aims to critically introduce three alternative models of ontology, which have been developed from the Chinese philosophical tradition by the most well-known Taiwanese philosopher Mou Zongsan and by two most influential mainland Chinese theoreticians, Li Zehou and Chen Lai respectively. In this paper, I will analyze and critically introduce Li Zehou’s and Chen Lai’s respective critiques of Mou Zongsan’s basic assumptions that have been reflected in his methodological paradigms, while also exposing some major differences within their own lines of thought.     

Spirituality and natural mentoring relationship among adolescent girls and boys in Slovakia

The aim of the article is to explore the association between natural mentoring relationships and spirituality among adolescent boys and girls, controlling for perceived parental support and year of high school attendance. The sample consisted of 177 Slovak adolescents (53% girls; M_age = 16.92, SD = 1.69). Spirituality was measured by the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory, the existence of a mentoring relationship by single item measure, and the perceived parental support was examined via the Resilience and Youth Development Module questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results confirm an association between spirituality and the existence of a natural mentoring relationship. Mentoring relationships were associated with a lower level of cognitive orientation towards spirituality among boys and girls and with a lower level of existential well-being among girls. Results confirm the importance of mentoring due to the development of adolescent spirituality and emphasize the need to examine its correlates.     

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and Cattell's personality traits

The ratio between second and fourth finger (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic; it is lower in men than in women. Studies using broad personality domains yielded correlations of 2D:4D with neuroticism, extraversion or agreeableness, but the obtained results have been inconsistent. We correlated 2D:4D of 184 women and 101 men with their scores in Cattell's 16 Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire. We found women with a higher (more ‘feminine’) right hand 2D:4D to score lower in emotional stability and social boldness and higher in privateness. Mediator analysis showed emotional stability to be probably primarily correlated with 2D:4D and to act as a mediator between 2D:4D and social boldness. Privateness appears to be mediated by an even more complex path. We discuss the usefulness of primary‐level personality questionnaires and mediator analyses in the investigation of psycho‐morphological associations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative tapping: Time control under different feedback conditions

The same isochronous tone sequence was presented simultaneously to two mutually isolated subjects. In half the trials, accentuation in this sequence was accomplished by doubling the duration of the first and then of every fourth tone; in the other half, by doubling the frequency of those tones. The subjects’ task was to follow the rhythm of the resulting four-tone patterns by finger tapping to tone onsets. There were four auditory feedback (FB) conditions: (1) no FB; (2) FB from the subject’s own motor responses; (3) “alien” FB from the motor responses of the other pair member who, in turn, was listening to FB from his/her own tapping; (4) mutually “crossed” FB, where each pair member listened to FB from the tapping of the other. Tap onsets regularly preceded stimulus onsets. The observed order of the amount of this anticipation (from least to greatest) was: (1) own FB, (2) no FB, (3) alien FB, and (4) crossed FB. No mutual dynamic influence between simultaneously performing subjects was-detected. Anticipation was more pronounced for sequences that were accentuated by frequency rather than by duration changes. The type of accent also influenced timing of intertap intervals in the rhythmic patterns. For the frequency accent, regular timing was produced, whereas for the durational accent, shortening of the second and lengthening of the fourth (the last) intertap interval were observed. The presence and source of feedback as well as the character of accentuation are therefore relevant factors in the timing of auditorally controlled rhythmic motor behavior.     

Some types of clustering with relational constraints

For the clustering problem with general (not necessarily symmetric) relational constraints, different sets of feasible clusterings, also called clustering types, determined by the same relation, can be defined. In this paper some clustering types are discussed and adaptations of the hierarchical clustering method compatible with these clustering types are proposed.     

Education and conspiracy beliefs: A replication of van Prooijen (2017)

The main aim of the study was to replicate and extend van Prooijen's findings on how education and its outcomes (cognitive complexity, subjective social standing, self-esteem, a feeling of control and powerlessness, cognitive reflection, epistemic curiosity and scientific reasoning) predict conspiracy beliefs. In two studies (Study 1: N = 497, M_age = 49.06, SD_age = 14.92; Study 2: N = 482, M_age = 47.45, SD_age = 15.87), subjective socioeconomic status and cognitive reflection (Study 1) and a feeling of powerlessness and scientific reasoning (Study 2) contributed to the negative relationship between education level and belief in conspiracy theories. These results showed the connection of education to socioeconomic status, a feeling of control and analytic thinking (cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning) and their power to reduce conspiracy beliefs.     

Psychological research and practice in former Yugoslavia and its successors

This paper presents a brief history of Yugoslav psychology and a review of the current state of psychological research and practice in the former Yugoslav countries. Bibliometric mapping was used to explore the knowledge domain and international visibility of psychological research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Judging by the number of papers visible in Scopus, psychological research activity in these countries is similar to the other former communist countries. In a relative sense, it is even higher in Slovenia and Croatia. However, psychologists still rely heavily on national journals indexed in Scopus when publishing their papers. Regarding psychological practice, former Yugoslav countries are facing challenges that are more or less typical for all small countries in the global scientific and economic market. Keeping in mind all the obstacles and traumas in the past decades, it should be considered a success that psychology in the former Yugoslav countries is now a fully established profession and a recognized scientific discipline.     

Gender and well-being in the Czech Republic

American women are stressed by network events and men by economic events outside the home, with women internalizing distress symptoms and men externalizing them. This gender pattern of stress-distress in the United States was tested in the 1990–1991 Czech Republic with a two-wave panel based on 294 households, 90% of which are Czech. This analysis is restricted to the 192 respondents who completed questionnaires in the second wave, 1991. The country was in the shock phase of its transition from state socialism to democracy and a market economy, and people were experiencing economic hardship and uncertainty. Czech women and men reported similar exposure to economic and network stress and were similar in their vulnerability to stress (mastery and social support) as well. Women reported higher levels of internalized distress symptoms (depression, anxiety, and somatization) than men, but there were no significant gender differences in externalized symptoms (hostility). The effects of economic and network stress on the distress symptoms were the same for women and men. Mastery buffered the relationship between economic stress and somatization and hostility, but social support was not a buffer between the stressors and distress, and these were true for both men and women. Interpretations of the results rest on the convergence of gender roles in the Czech Republic since 1948, which exposed Czech women and men equally to the shock phase of the post-communist transformation.Research for this paper was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health (MH50369), NATO, and IREX, with funds provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of State. Partial support was provided by Iowa State University and the Agriculture University of Prague as well. Lorenz was also funded by the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experimentation Station. None of these organizations is responsible for the views expressed.     

Sequent-systems and groupoid models. II

The purpose of this paper is to connect the proof theory and the model theory of a family of prepositional logics weaker than Heyting's. This family includes systems analogous to the Lambek calculus of syntactic categories, systems of relevant logic, systems related to BCK algebras, and, finally, Johansson's and Heyting's logic. First, sequent-systems are given for these logics, and cut-elimination results are proved. In these sequent-systems the rules for the logical operations are never changed: all changes are made in the structural rules. Next, Hilbert-style formulations are given for these logics, and algebraic completeness results are demonstrated with respect to residuated lattice-ordered groupoids. Finally, model structures related to relevant model structures (of Urquhart, Fine, Routley, Meyer, and Maksimova) are given for our logics. These model structures are based on groupoids parallel to the sequent-systems. This paper lays the ground for a kind of correspondence theory for axioms of logics with implication weaker than Heyting's, a correspondence theory analogous to the correspondence theory for modal axioms of normal modal logics.Below is the sequel to the first part of the paper, which appeared in the previous issue of this journal (vol. 47 (1988), pp. 353–386). The first part contained sections on sequent-systems and Hilbert-formulations, and here is the third section on groupoid models. This second part is meant to be read in conjunction with the first part.