Cross-cultural differences in the refusal to accept a small gift: the differential influence of reciprocity norms on Asians and North Americans

Asians are more likely than North Americans to refuse a small gift that is offered to them by a casual acquaintance. Five experiments confirmed this difference and explored the reasons for its occurrence. Asians, who are inclined to think of themselves in relation to others, are more likely than North Americans to invoke a reciprocity norm in exchanging gifts with casual acquaintances, and they refuse a gift in order to avoid the feeling of indebtedness they would experience if they cannot reciprocate. North Americans, however, who are inclined to think of themselves independently of others, are more likely to base their acceptance of the gift on its attractiveness without considering their obligation to reciprocate. These cultural differences are not evident when the gift is offered by a close friend with whom individuals have a communal relationship. Implications of our findings for miscommunication between members of different cultures are discussed.     

The Development and Validation of a Family Wellbeing Index for Hong Kong Chinese Families

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Family wellbeing is studied worldwide. However, there is a dearth of studies on the wellbeing of families in Chinese societies such as Hong Kong, nor is there...     

The effect of superstitious thinking on psychosocial stress responses and perceived task performance

Previous research on superstitious belief, a subset of paranormal belief (Irwin, 1993 ), has suggested that people tend to invoke luck‐related superstitions in stressful situations as an attempt to gain an illusion of control over outcomes. Based on this, the current study examined whether luck‐related superstition, in the form of a “lucky” pen, could influence the psychological response to a psychosocial stressor. Participants (N = 114), aged between 17 and 59 years (M = 22.98, SD = 4.57) from James Cook University Singapore, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) no‐stress with no lucky pen; (b) no‐stress with a lucky pen; (c) stress with no lucky pen or; (d) stress with a lucky pen. The results revealed that participants provided with a lucky pen experienced lower state anxiety when exposed to the stressor. Further, participants provided with a lucky pen perceived their performance to be better than those without it. However, superstitious belief did not significantly change following exposure to stress. Taken together, the present findings add some support to the suggestion that belief in transferable luck may facilitate coping with a stressor. However, further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind the potential benefits of superstitious belief.     

父母心理控制与对立违抗障碍儿童抑郁和攻击行为的关系:父子依恋和母子依恋的中介效应

采用父母心理控制、亲子依恋、抑郁量表对从北京市、山东省和云南省14所小学筛选出来的246名对立违抗障碍(Oppositional Defiant Disorder,ODD)儿童进行施测,并由被试的班主任填写儿童攻击行为量表,考察父、母心理控制对ODD儿童抑郁和攻击行为的影响,以及父子依恋和母子依恋在其中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)ODD儿童中男生人数更多,且男孩的抑郁和攻击行为更严重;(2)父亲对男孩的心理控制更强,而母亲在对男孩和女孩的心理控制上没有显著差异;(3)父、母心理控制与ODD儿童的父子依恋、母子依恋和抑郁均呈显著相关,但只有父亲心理控制与ODD儿童的攻击行为显著相关;(4)父子依恋在父母心理控制和ODD儿童抑郁之间没有起到显著的中介作用,母子依恋在母亲心理控制和ODD儿童抑郁之间有显著的中介作用。父子依恋和母子依恋在父、母心理控制和ODD儿童攻击行为之间均没有起到显著的中介作用。     

Conflict Management for Justice,Innovation, and Strategic Advantage in Organizational Relationships

This study proposed that conflict management affects organizations’ beliefs that they have an effective voice (procedural justice), have shared their benefits fairly (distributive justice), and are treated respectfully (interactional justice). Structural equation analysis results suggest that a cooperative approach to conflict facilitates justice in its 3 forms in organizational relationships, and that justice, in turn, results in partner strategic advantage and innovation. Results from a sample of 103 pairs of customer and supplier organizations in Shanghai were interpreted as providing support for the value of justice for collaborative work between organizations. The findings also suggest that a cooperative approach to managing conflict is an important antecedent to justice in organizational relationships in China.     

Therapeutic Assessment With Children: Intervening With Parents “Behind the Mirror”

All the steps in the model of therapeutic assessment used with children (TA–C) are designed to involve and impact the child's parents. However, a distinctive process that parallels and accompanies the testing sessions with the child might be the most significant in helping parents shift their story of their child and family. In this process, parents are invited to observe their child's testing sessions (in an adjacent room through a live video feed, through a 1-way mirror, or in the corner of the testing room) and process the experience with the assessor (either simultaneously in the case of the 2-assessor model or after the fact in the 1-assessor model). We discuss the development and evolution of what we have come to call the “behind the mirror” method. We describe the therapeutic intent of the method and delineate 13 techniques utilized to enlist parents as active collaborators. We illustrate each technique using the case study of a 10-year-old boy where the 2-assessor model and live video feed method were used. We also provide research findings from the case study that address the parents’ experience of the assessment and their changed view of their child.     

The Application of Behavioral Family Therapy to Chinese Aggressive Children

Behavioral Family Therapy (BFT) generally targets four typical disruptive behaviors among children ages from 2 to 7 years: noncompliance, aggression, tantrums, and negative talk. This study tests the effect of BFT on 20 Chinese aggressive children (16 boys and 4 girls) who were assigned to a BFT group or a control group. The results showed that the children's level of aggression in the BFT group reduced significantly compared to that of the control group, and the gains were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. These findings support the use of BFT as a treatment modality for Chinese aggressive children.     

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.     

Elimination of sex difference in direction giving

Past studies have shown that men provide more cardinal information and mileage estimates than women when describing routes learned from maps. In the current study, we examined whether this sex difference would persist if more legends were added to the maps. The participants looked at maps for 3 min and then wrote down directions from memory. Their usage of cardinal directions, mileage estimates, landmarks, and left–right directions was coded and analyzed. The results showed that men and women used cardinal directions equally for the 4-legend maps, whereas men used more cardinal directions than women for 1-legend maps as shown previously. Our results suggested that subtly drawing attention to cardinal directions successfully eliminated the sex difference in usage, although a different pattern was seen for mileage estimates. The underlying mechanisms are discussed.