Levinas,recognition and judaism

I seek to draw out the unique character of Levinas’ theory of recognition by highlighting its transitional character in a double sense. It is transitional, firstly, in that it stands between two models of recognition: the earlier agonistic model of Kojeve and the later model of Honneth which takes as its point of departure a primordial relation of mutual affirmation between individuals. It is transitional secondly in the sense that, while Levinas initially employs the concept of recognition, he is later explicit in his rejection of it. The interest of Levinas’ transitional model of recognition for the philosophy of religion is that Levinas negotiates both transitions by calling on archetypes borrowed from the Jewish tradition. An exploration of this model thus provides us with a fresh vantage point from which to address anew the question of the articulation of social philosophy and the philosophy of religion in his work.     

Stability and change in interests: A longitudinal study of adolescents from grades 8 through 12

The pattern of RIASEC interests and academic skills were assessed longitudinally from a large-scale national database at three time points: eight grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade. Validation and cross-validation samples of 1000 males and 1000 females in each set were used to test the pattern of these scores over time relative to mean changes, stability, crystallization, and interest-career choice congruence as well as how these patterns were moderated by gender. Results indicate that the pattern of interests was fairly stable in grades 8-12 for males and females. Interests were also found to become more crystallized over time; however interest-career choice congruence evidenced an inverted V pattern. With further examination, student interests became less people based and their career choices more people based in grade 12. The results support the importance of grade 12 as a time of focus for research and intervention, and for continuing investigation of gender differences in adolescent career and academic development.     

Three versions of the Interpersonal Adjective Scales and their fit to the circumplex model

The Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) is a well-supported instrument that is designed to map interpersonal traits onto the interpersonal circumplex. However, three versions of the IAS exist and these vary with respect to the degree to which they included item definitions (i.e., glossary added at the end, definitions attached to each item, and no definitions). The focus of this study was on comparing the structural similarity of each version. Each of the versions was given to different samples (N = 920) of college students. Results of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and randomized tests of order relations demonstrated that all versions were well and equally described by the circular model. There were no structural differences in the different IAS versions and thus each can be used with this population.     

Male entertainment award winners are older than female winners

It has been said that in the entertainment industry after a certain age women have a harder time being as successful as men. Four analyses of the ages of male and female Oscar winners, Oscar nominees, Emmy winners, and Grammy winners over the past 25 years showed that in all four groups women were, on the average, younger than the men. Two interpretations of these differences are delineated.     

OBSERVATION AND COMPARISON OF MEALTIME BEHAVIORS IN A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN WITH AVOIDANT/RESTRICTIVE FOOD INTAKE DISORDERS AND A CONTROL SAMPLE OF CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

Despite widespread use of behavioral observations to evaluate child feeding behaviors in research and clinical practice, few studies have comprehensively characterized mealtimes or identified features that differentiate children with and without disordered feeding; these were the aims of the current study. Mealtime observations were conducted for 18 children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and 21 typically developing children. Observations were coded inductively, and associations between disorder and observed mealtime actions were examined. Most behaviors were observed across both clinical and nonclinical mealtimes, and many did not differ in frequency between children with and without ARFID. However, significant group differences were observed in the frequencies of behaviors relating to food intake, visual and physical engagement with feeding, and movement during mealtimes. The comparability of behaviors across clinical and nonclinical groups suggests that eating behaviors exist on a continuum from “normal” to “abnormal,” with group differences relating to frequency rather than type of behavior. The behavioral differences observed in this study suggest that identification of children with ARFID should focus on child engagement with food and restlessness during mealtimes. Reliance on emotional and escape‐maintained behaviors will lead to underrecognition of families in need of clinical support.     

Variations of career decision ambiguity tolerance between China and the United States and between high school and college

The variation of career decision ambiguity tolerance (CDAT) by cultures and development stages was examined in a sample of Chinese high school students (n = 339), a sample of Chinese college students (n = 356), along with U.S. college students (n = 328). It was hypothesized that career decision ambiguity tolerance decreases when individuals experience more societal/cultural pressure on decidedness and responsibility for their career decision making. Based on the three-factor structure of CDAT (i.e., preference, tolerance, and aversion), measurement invariance was examined between Chinese and U.S. college students and between Chinese high school and college students. While the factor of tolerance was not upheld in both Chinese samples, the factors of preference and aversion were found to be structurally invariant across cultures and developmental stages. The analyses comparing means of preference and aversion found that U.S. college students had a higher level of preference relative to Chinese college students. It was also found that in comparison to Chinese high school students, Chinese college students had a higher level of aversion. The criterion validity of CDAT in Chinese culture was supported in the findings of preference and aversion being associated with career exploration and career indecision. The implication of this study was discussed along with its limitations and suggestions for future research.