Television Commercials as a Lagging Social Indicator: Gender Role Stereotypes in Korean Television Advertising

Previous studies of mass media in many countries have confirmed that images of women are stereotypical and unrealistic, particularly in television advertising. This study was designed to analyze the representation of gender roles in Korean television advertising and to compare the results with previous studies conducted in other countries. A sample of 878 Korean television advertisements from the MBC network in 2001 was content analyzed. Findings indicate that women in Korean television advertising were portrayed as young (48.2%), as dependent (37.5%), and as nurturing children (12.1%); they were often depicted in the home (37.2%). These stereotypical images of women have been found in television advertising in many countries. Korean society has changed a great deal in recent decades, but the images we analyzed do not reflect the current situation. Therefore, television commercials are a lagging social indicator of role changes.     

Gender Differences in the Job Satisfaction of Public Employees: A Study of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea

A central paradox in studies of gender and job satisfaction is why women’s job satisfaction is not lower than men’s, given that women’s jobs are often inferior in terms of pay, autonomy, and promotional opportunity. The purpose of this study was to investigate this paradox by asking two questions: How does the job satisfaction of female public employees compare with that of male employees? How can we explain the gender differences in job satisfaction? Data from a survey of 5,128 public employees in Seoul Metropolitan Government indicate that women are more satisfied with their jobs than are men. Among demographic variables gender was the only significant predictor of job satisfaction; women emphasized intrinsic rewards, whereas men emphasized extrinsic rewards. The reasons for women’s high job satisfaction are discussed and explained.     

Attention problems and executive functions in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

This study addressed the incidence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) subtypes in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele and shunted hydrocephalus (SBH) as well as differences in executive functions among these subtypes. Parent rating scales revealed that 31% of the group with SBH could be identified with AD/HD, mostly the Inattentive type (23%). The group with SBH differed from normal controls on cognitive measures of executive functions, but subtype differences were not significant. Multivariate tests showed that children with SBH were rated with greater difficulties on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) compared to controls; those with SBH and any subtype of ADHD differed from those with SBH and no ADHD; and those with ADHD (Combined Type) differed significantly from those with ADHD (Predominantly Inattentive Type). Subtype differences on univariate tests in the latter comparison were significant on the BRIEF Inhibit scale, showing more disinhibition in those with SBH and ADHD (Combined Type), but no significant differences were apparent on the BRIEF Sustain, Shift, and Initiate scales. The results show that the incidence of ADHD in children with SBH exceeds the population rate, is represented by problems with inattention rather than with impulsivity and hyperactivity; and that as with non-brain injured individuals, subtype differences in cognitive function remain to more clearly delineated.     

A statistical estimate of infant and toddler vocabulary size from CDI analysis

For the last 20 years, developmental psychologists have measured the variability in lexical development of infants and toddlers using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) - the most widely used parental report forms for assessing language and communication skills in infants and toddlers. We show that CDI reports can serve as a basis for estimating infants' and toddlers'total vocabulary sizes, beyond serving as a tool for assessing their language development relative to other infants and toddlers. We investigate the link between estimated total vocabulary size and raw CDI scores from a mathematical perspective, using both single developmental trajectories and population data. The method capitalizes on robust regularities, such as the overlap of individual vocabularies observed across infants and toddlers, and takes into account both shared knowledge and idiosyncratic knowledge. This statistical approach enables researchers to approximate the total vocabulary size of an infant or a toddler, based on her raw MacArthur-Bates CDI score. Using the model, we propose new normative data for productive and receptive vocabulary in early childhood, as well as a tabulation that relates individual CDI measures to realistic lexical estimates. The correction required to estimate total vocabulary is non-linear, with a far greater impact at older ages and higher CDI scores. Therefore, we suggest that correlations of developmental indices to language skills should be made to vocabulary size as estimated by the model rather than to raw CDI scores.     

To the Ends of the Earth? Minority Biblical Criticism in Motion – They were All Together in One Place? Toward Minority Biblical Criticism – Edited by Randall C. Bailey,Tat‐siong Benny Liew,and Fernando F. Segovia

What is minority biblical criticism? Why do all biblical scholars need to engage with it? Do race and ethnicity, sex and gender, and political and socio‐economic concerns matter in interpreting the Bible? Leading minority scholars of the Bible from African American, Asian American, and Latino/a American communities come together to answer these questions and break grounds for further cooperation and development of this much‐needed hermeneutical strategy. The authors in this volume willfully disobey the rules of objectivity and universality and shatter the pretension of those who claim that one's context has no bearing on their interpretation of the text. They push the boundaries of the discipline of biblical studies and take the interdisciplinary turn in order to create a space in which minority biblical criticism can stand on its own.     

Assessing mobility in an aging society: Personal and built environment factors associated with older people’s subjective transportation deficiency in the US

This study analyzed subjective transportation deficiency, in terms of missing activities due to lack of transportation, of the older population aged 65 and over in the United States. This study found that those who have lower personal automobile accessibility and minority females are more likely to experience transportation deficiency. Older people who have lower income, have lived for a relatively short period (3–10 years) in their communities, and live with minors are also more likely to experience lack of transportation. Older people who live in suburban communities have greater transportation deficiency, but the placement of activity locations within walking distance can improve transportation deficiency among older people who do not drive. The availability of public transit services within walking distance and knowledge about transportation alternatives do not significantly affect the transportation deficiency of the older population. The results indicate that a substantive focus should be given to how to help the older population keep driving as long as they can, and aid communities with high concentrations of older minority females. Also, developing activity clusters containing commercial and social service facilities in suburban areas with high concentrations of older populations, has the potential to alleviate transportation deficiency among this widely observed group of people who age in place.     

Uncertainty matters: impact of stimulus ambiguity on infant social referencing

Most infant social referencing studies have assumed that infants would be more likely to engage in social looking and be influenced by adults' message when a context is ambiguous. The present study empirically tested the effect of stimulus ambiguity on infants' referencing behaviours, with three different stimuli (positive, ambiguous, and negative), two different messages (happy and fearful), two different message providers (mother and stranger), and in two age groups (12 and 16 month olds). A typical social referencing paradigm was used and infants' social looking and regulation were measured. Infants looked at adults more frequently and faster during ambiguous situations than during unambiguous situations. They also tended to regulate their affect and behaviour based on adults' message only towards ambiguous toys. Older infants tended to look at adults faster, and showed stronger reactions towards ambiguous stimuli than younger infants, suggesting that infants' social development may moderate the effect of stimulus ambiguity on social referencing. Overall, results indicated that the ambiguity postulate is a legitimate assumption for infant social referencing. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From Desire to Civility: Is Xunzi a Hobbesian?

This article argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Xunzi’s and Hobbes’s understandings of human nature are qualitatively different, which is responsible for the difference in their respective normative political theory of a civil polity. This article has two main theses: first, where Hobbes’s deepest concern was with human beings’ unsocial passions, Xunzi was most concerned with human beings’ appetitive desires (yu 欲), material self-interest, and resulting social strife; second, as a result, where Hobbes strove to transform the pathological (anti-)politics of resentment into the politics of recognition by creating rational egalitarian citizenship under the all-encompassing constitutional sovereign power, Xunzi attempted to nourish human beings’ basic appetitive desires (yu 欲) by instituting a li 禮 ordered civil entity. This article concludes by showing how Confucian civility that Xunzi reconstructed by means of the li 禮 can effectively deal with unsocial passions.     

Exploring the relationship between facets of mindfulness and eating pathology in women

Although researchers have examined the efficacy of acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of eating disorders, few studies have explored the association between trait mindfulness and eating pathology. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to examine the unique associations between multiple facets of mindfulness (acting with awareness, nonreactivity, nonjudgment, describing, and observing) and eating pathology. Undergraduate women (N = 276) completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, and the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that four mindfulness facets (awareness, nonreactivity, nonjudgment, and describing) were uniquely associated with eating pathology above and beyond anxiety and depression symptoms. Results are discussed with regard to the potential role of various facets of trait mindfulness in eating pathology as well as the possible utility of mindfulness-based treatments for eating disorders.     

The impact of online brand community type on consumer's community engagement behaviors: consumer-created vs. marketer-created online brand community in online social-networking web sites

The current study proposed and tested a theoretical model of consumers' online brand community engagement behaviors, with particular attention given to online brand community type (consumer vs. marketer-created). By integrating attribution and social identity theories, this study investigated the causal linkages between intrinsic motives of altruism, social identification motivations, and online brand community engagement behaviors. The results showed that consumers' online brand community engagement intentions were indirectly influenced by the different types of communities through different levels of consumers' attributions to intrinsic motives of altruism. This study also found that, in the attribution processes, consumers' intrinsic motives of altruism motivated them to identify themselves socially with the online communities they join. Finally, this study demonstrated that the intrinsic motives of altruism and social identification motivations provided strong social incentives to motivate consumers to engage in subsequent online brand community behaviors.