THE ORIGINS AND GOVERNANCE OF COMPLEX SOCIAL SYSTEMS

The new science of Complexity explains that limited knowledge prevents societies from predicting and controlling their developments. But Complexity further suggests that nature uses the limits of knowledge to evolve, which turns an apparent obstacle into an opportunity to reevaluate governmental institutions. As in nature, the limits of knowledge lead social systems to evolve by individuating, liberating, and empowering their members. Societies individuate and liberate their members to probe environments and exploit opportunities. Societies empower individuals to globalize their findings which requires constitutionally constraining governmental powers. Societies that respect human rights thus gain selective advantage. Showing that what nature is models what societies ought to be, Complexity may finesse the “naturalistic fallacy” of Hume and Moore.     

Relationship Between Acculturation and Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians in the Vietnamese American Community

We examined the impact of acculturation on attitudes toward gay men and lesbians in the Vietnamese American community. We recruited 114 Vietnamese American participants at a large community organization. The Suinn–Lew Asian Self‐Identity Acculturation Scale ( Suinn, 1992 ) was used to measure participants' acculturation levels, while the Attitudes Toward Lesbian and Gay Men Scale ( Herek, 2004 ) was used to measure participants' attitudes toward homosexuality. It was hypothesized that Vietnamese Americans with higher levels of acculturation would have more positive attitudes toward homosexuality. The results supported this hypothesis. Additionally, we found a complicated pattern of results explaining attitudes based on acculturation level, age, and gender.     

A Four‐Country Study of the Relationship of Affect‐Based Trust to Turnover Intention

In this study, employees' affect‐based trust of their supervisor was used as the main predictor of turnover intention. It is hypothesized that affect‐based trust has a curvilinear U‐shaped relationship with turnover intention. The sample consisted of U.S., Polish, Russian, and Turkish participants, all with work experience. Regression results indicated that only the responses of the Russian sample supported the hypothesis, suggesting that Russian participants with either weak or strong affect‐based trust of the supervisor had higher intentions to the leave the organization. The Turkish, Polish, and U.S. results showed a negative linear relationship between affect‐based trust and turnover intention.     

Extinction: guidelines for its selection and use

This article focuses on the use of “extinction” as a classroom behavior modification technique: whether or not the counselor should suggest its use in a given situation and how to insure its maximal effectiveness once it is chosen as an appropriate procedure. The authors present some questions to be considered when deciding whether or not to use extinction and give guidelines for its best use. The questions and guidelines are presented in a flow chart format in order to facilitate easy and quick use by practitioners.