An examination of premarital sexual behavior among college students in hong kong

Abstract

This study examined the determinants of Hong Kong Chinese college students' intentions to engage in premarital sexual behavior. Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action (TOFA) and Ajzen's (1985) perceived behavioral control were used as the theoretical framework for our investigation. Two hundred and thirty eight students completed a questionnaire designed to measure constructs of the two theories. Results from the regression analysis: (a) support the applicability of TORA in predicting these students' intentions to engage in premarital sex; (b) suggest that while attitudes toward engaging in premarital sex were more important in predicting male students' intentions, subjective norms were more important for female students; (c) reveal that the additional prediction contributed by the behavioral control components was relatively weak. Other findings were basically consistent with premarital sex research conducted in Western societies. Given the fact that promoting abstinence is one way to stop the transmission of the AIDS virus, both the theoretical and applied implications of our results for health intervention are discussed.     

Collective contributions to career efficacy in adolescents: A cross-cultural study

This study extended the concept of collective efficacy to supplement the variable of career self-efficacy to predict vocational exploration and commitment among adolescents. We developed a Collective Contributions to Career Efficacy Scale (CCCE) to measure adolescents' perceived contributions from parents, teachers, and peers on their career-related matters. A total of 1175 high school students from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Michigan participated in the study by completing the CCCE, the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE-SF), and the Vocational Exploration and Commitment Subscale (VEC). Using multi-sample Structural Equation Modeling, we found that the effect of CCCE on VEC was mediated by CDSE. Although we found cultural differences in the overall level of the vocational measures among the Hong Kong, Shanghai, and American students, the mediation model was confirmed in all three groups of students.     

Negative valence can evoke a liberal response bias in syllogistic reasoning

Recently, studies have demonstrated that negative valence reduces the magnitude of the belief-bias effect in syllogistic reasoning. This effect has been localized in the reasoning stage, in the form of increased deliberation on trials where validity and conclusion believability are incongruent. Here, using signal detection theory, we show that the attenuation of belief bias observed when valence was negative can also be evoked by a liberal response bias at the decision stage. Indeed, when valence was negative participants adopted a more liberal criterion for judging syllogisms as “valid,” and were overconfident in their judgments. They also displayed less sensitivity in distinguishing between valid and invalid syllogisms. Our findings dovetail with recent evidence from memory research suggesting that negative valence can evoke a liberal response bias without improving performance. Our novel contribution is the demonstration that the attenuating effect of negative valence on belief bias can take multiples routes—by influencing the decision stage as was the case here, the reasoning stage as has been demonstrated elsewhere, and potentially both stages.     

The role of religion in moderating the impact of life events on material life goals: some evidence in support of terror management theory

How would religion and a life event carrying an existential threat (LEET) jointly impact a person's life goals of becoming wealthy and successful in one's career? Goal reprioritisation, socioemotional selectivity, and gerotranscendence theories predict a shift away from material goals following a LEET, independent of the effect of religion. However, terror management theory (TMT) predicts that the effect of death thoughts depends on one's prevailing cultural values. As religion can be regarded as a culture, it is possible that Christians' and non-believers' material life goals would be differentially altered by LEET. Data from 1259 young Chinese adults reveal no main effect of LEET, but a strong effect of religion. Moreover, there was an interaction effect between LEET and religion on material life goals: LEET weakened material goals for Christians but not for non-believers. These findings suggest that TMT is more suitable than the other theories for predicting life goal changes.     

Ego-Identity Achievement and Perception of Risk in Intimacy in Survivors of Stranger and Acquaintance Rape

One hundred twenty-two women participated in a study of the relationship between acquaintance/stranger rape and the respective variables of ego-identity achievement (attainment of self-image during adolescence that integrates one's ideas of what one is and what one wants to be) and perception of risk in intimacy (perception of close interpersonal relationships as a risky proposition). Results showed that compared to women who had not been sexually assaulted, survivors of rape in general reported lower ego-identity achievement and greater perception of risk in intimacy. Focusing on acquaintance rape and stranger rape with age at the time of assault as possible moderator, it was found that lower ego-identity achievement was systematically related to acquaintance rape in women who had been raped during their adolescent years, but not in survivors of rape during adulthood. Perception of risk in intimacy was significantly higher among women who had been raped when adolescents compared to those who had been raped during adulthood, but only in relation to acquaintance rape.     

Underachievement and Attributions Among Students Attending Schools Stratified by Student Ability

Underachievement among students tends to be a social product. In this case, schools stratified to admit students of lower academic ability might be more likely to produce underachievers. A reason for this is the encouragement of external attribution and the discouragement of internal attribution among students in these schools. These hypotheses get support from a study of 2720 junior high school students in Hong Kong. This study shows that the hypothesized relationships generally held for six alternative methods of identifying underachievers.     

变性术后患者心理状况的影响因素分析及对策

变性术后的患者是个特殊的弱势群体,心理问题非常突出,它是生理、个人、家庭、社会等多种因素交互影响的结果;因此,通过社会、家庭及个体的共同努力,帮助其建立良好的个体心理模式,稳定其心理状态,可促进其心理的健康发展,这对于变性手术的成功和帮助变性后患者重新走向社会有重要意义.     

The Advanced Programmer's Reliance on Program Semantics: Evidence from some Cognitive Tasks

This study examined the effects of programming expertise on the semantic processing of computer programs. Experiment 1 showed that sensitivity to semantic changes (i.e. changes of actual program functions) in a BASIC program recognition task increased with programming experience. No such pattern was observed for surface changes (i.e. changes of program syntax without functional alterations). The magnitude of semantic priming for BASIC keywords in a lexical decision task also increased with expertise, but the pattern was not found with normal English priming. In Experiment 2, novice BASIC programmers detected more semantic changes than the controls (non-programmers) in BASIC programs; the reverse was found for surface changes. Both the controls and the novices detected more semantic than surface changes in English passages. The BASIC priming effect was found only with the novices whereas English priming was demonstrated with both the control and the novice participants. The present findings support the view that the programming expert relies particularly on semantic processing and such reliance is specific to programming activities. Practical implications of the present results are discussed.