Consumer ethnocentrism,cultural sensitivity,and intention to purchase local products—evidence from Vietnam

• This study empirically investigates the impacts of consumer ethnocentrism and cultural sensitivity on both imported product judgment and intention to purchase local products in the context of a developing country—Vietnam. Structural equation modeling was used to test these impacts, utilizing a sample of 549 consumers. The results show that consumer ethnocentrism is negatively related to imported product judgment and positively related to intention to purchase local products. In addition, cultural sensitivity has a positive relationship with imported product judgment but not with consumer ethnocentrism. The results also indicate that the impacts of consumer ethnocentrism on imported product judgment and on intention to purchase local products are not different in terms of product categories, gender, income, and education levels. However, differences exist between younger and older consumers.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

汉语作为第二语言的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展*

以226名将汉语作为第二语言的越南大学一到四年级学生为研究对象,以低频独体字、部件熟悉假字和部件不熟悉假字为材料,采用延迟书写任务,考察了不同年级的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展及其影响因素。结果发现：（1）学习3个月汉语的大一学生能以部件作为汉字加工单元,其延迟书写部件熟悉假字显著好于低频独体字,并与高年级学生没有差异,说明越南大学生很早就发展出了汉字部件意识;（2）不同年级大学生书写部件不熟悉假字的成绩都显著低于部件熟悉假字,也低于低频独体字,表明部件构字能力是越南大学生汉字书写的重要影响因素。（3）越南大一学生的汉字书写成绩受到汉字结构的影响,左右结构优于上下结构,但其他年级的成绩不受汉字结构的影响。     

Experiences and Beliefs as Predictors of Ethnic Identity and Intergroup Relations

Factors affecting ethnic identity and other group orientation were assessed in 115 college students from 5 ethnic groups. Ethnic group self‐identification, negative and positive interracial experiences, perceptions of racial bias, social support, just‐world beliefs, and psychological distress were each associated with various components of ethnic identity and are discussed within a counseling perspective. Los factures que afectan la identidad étnica y otras orientaciónes hacia grupos fueron evaluados en 115 estudiantes colegiales de 5 grupos étnicos. La identificación de grupo etnico propio, las experiencias interraciales negativas y positivas, las percepciones del prejuicio racial, apoyo social, creencias en un mundo justo, y la afflicción psicológica fueron asociadas con varios componentes de la identidad étnica y son discutidos dentro de la perspectiva de la consejería.     

Associative memory in three aplysiids: correlation with heterosynaptic modulation

Much recent research on mechanisms of learning and memory focuses on the role of heterosynaptic neuromodulatory signaling. Such neuromodulation appears to stabilize Hebbian synaptic changes underlying associative learning, thereby extending memory. Previous comparisons of three related sea-hares (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) uncovered interspecific variation in neuromodulatory signaling: strong in Aplysia californica, immeasureable in Dolabrifera dolabrifera, and intermediate in Phyllaplysia taylori. The present study addressed whether this interspecific variation in neuromodulation is correlated with memory of associative (classical conditioning) learning. We differentially conditioned the tail-mantle withdrawal reflex of each of the three species: Mild touch to one side of the tail was paired with a noxious electrical stimulus to the neck. Mild touch to the other side served as an internal control. Post-training reflex amplitudes were tested 15-30 min after training and compared with pre-test amplitudes. All three species showed conditioning: training increased the paired reflex more than the unpaired reflex. However, the temporal pattern of conditioning varied between species. Aplysia showed modest conditioning that grew across the post-test period. Dolabrifera showed distinctly short-lived conditioning, present only on the first post-test. The time course of memory in Phyllaplysia was intermediate, although not statistically distinguishable from the other two species. Taken together, these experiments suggest that evolutionary changes in nonassociative heterosynaptic modulation may contribute to evolutionary changes in the stability of the memory of classical conditioning.     

Relationship between age and aspects of depression: consistency and reliability across two longitudinal studies

In this study, the authors examined cross-sectional and longitudinal age and gender differences in each of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale's 4 subscales of depressive symptomatology. Two independent studies (Sample 1 = 2,076; Sample 2 = 943) were used for purposes of establishing stability of findings. Results indicate a reasonable degree of stability among adults under 70 years of age. However, there were significant age-related increases in somatic symptoms and lack of well-being after approximately 70 years of age, whereas symptoms related to depressed affect and interpersonal problems remained stable. Notably, depressive affect symptoms remained stable given significant age-related somatic changes. The addition of comorbid physical illness to the analysis did not reduce the association between age and depressive symptoms, indicating that part of the association was not substantially accounted for by physical health.     

Psychological Hardiness in Learning and Quality of College Life of Business Students: Evidence from Vietnam

Vietnam’s continuing economic transformation has sharply increased the demand for highly-qualified business graduates. Vietnamese universities have responded to this increase in demand by improving the quality of their programs and raising their performance standards. The degree to which high-quality competitive programs increase students’ satisfaction with their educational experience is determined by their psychological hardiness in learning, their learning motivation, and their assessments of the functional value of business education. This study gathered survey data from a convenience sample of 1,024 business students in Vietnam, then validated measures of four constructs: Quality of College Life, psychological hardiness in learning, learning motivation, and perceived functional value of business education. The relationships among the constructs were estimated by Structural Equation Modeling. The results demonstrate that psychological hardiness in learning and learning motivation have statistically significant positive impacts on students’ perceived Quality of College Life. The impacts are significantly stronger for students with higher assessments of the functional value of a business education. These findings suggest that universities could enhance the Quality of College Life and academic performance by offering programs to cultivate students’ psychological hardiness in learning and their learning motivation, and by providing them with objective information about the functional value of business careers.     

The Role of External Sources of Information in Children's Evaluative Food Categories

Evaluative food categories are value‐laden assessments, which reflect the healthfulness and palatability of foods (e.g. healthy/unhealthy, yummy/yucky). In a series of three studies, this research examines how 3‐ to 4‐year‐old children (N = 147) form evaluative food categories based on input from external sources of information. The results indicate that children prefer to ask a mom and teacher over a cartoon and child for information about the evaluative status of foods. However, children are cautious to accept information about healthy foods from all of the external sources compared with unhealthy, yummy and yucky foods. The results also indicate that providing information about the positive taste of healthy foods helps to encourage children to select healthy foods to eat. Taken together, these results have potential implications for children's health and nutrition education. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychotherapy in France: the legacy and the future

This paper looks at the present situation of psychotherapy in France. In studying the historical background to the introduction of psychoanalysis in France since the 1920s, an assumption is made about the similar changes in paradigms brought about by the emergence of a new field, whether this be psychoanalysis or psychotherapy.     

Whispering gallery mode sensor for phase transformation and solidification studies

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) sensors are created by coupling a dielectric microresonator with the evanescent field of an optical fiber. Since the sensor is created by two separate entities, most of the existing studies are limited to using them in fluid environments, such as air or water, for the ease of manipulation and placement in the optimum configuration. This work is focused on studying the possibility of using WGM sensors inside a solid material. The sensor is immersed in water, which is cooled to solid state and the sensor survival is monitored. In subsequent studies, three remelting cycles are carried out and temperature measurements are obtained through the sensor. The sensor output is calibrated with the temperature data obtained from a thermocouple. The results show that a linear relationship exists between temperature and WGM shift, which enables application of these sensors in temperature measurement. Considering that the sensitivity of WGM sensors is very high (10^?6 N force and 10^?5 K temperature), they can be used for high resolution studies on solidification in cryogenic environments.