The structure of trust as a reflection of culture and institutional power structure: Evidence from four East Asian societies

Using the Global Trust Inventory, an integrated measure of trust toward 21 relationships and institutions, the structure of trust was explored in four East Asian societies (Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). The Western model, in which trust is distributed among seven factors representing different branches of society, did not generalize to these East Asian societies, perhaps due to differences in culture and institutional power structures. Instead, two unique structures of trust were identified. Mainland China had a top‐down structure of trust (the China model), in which trust is hierarchically separated between the central government and subordinate implementing bodies. The other three democratic East Asian societies shared a hybrid structure of trust (the Democratic East Asian model) that has a degree of similarity to both the China model and the Western model. Having established two similar, but still distinct models, a cross‐cultural comparison was made on the proportions of trust profiles generated by latent profile analysis. Mainland China had the largest proportion of people with a high propensity to trust, followed by Japan and South Korea, and Taiwan was the least trusting. Implications of the structure of trust and this alternative approach to conducting cross‐cultural comparisons are discussed.     

Claiming best or better? The effect of target brand's and competitor's puffery on holistic and analytic thinkers

Previous empirical studies have yielded contradictory results about how consumers react to puffed claims in advertisements. This study addresses this issue by considering how consumers' thinking style and competitors' puffery interact to influence consumers' brand attitude in terms of product puffery. Drawing upon experiments using fictitious and real brand names, three studies provide converging evidence that holistic thinkers will form a more positive brand attitude when exposed to the target brand's low‐puffery (vs. no puffery or high puffery) claims. In contrast, analytic thinkers are less sensitive to puffery, and their brand attitude will not change. Further, holistic thinkers are more sensitive to the presence of competitor's puffery. Holistic thinkers exposed to competitor's high‐puffery (vs. low) claims form a more positive brand attitude toward the target brand. For analytic thinkers, competitor's puffery level will not significantly affect their attitude toward the target brand. Our findings shed fresh light on the inconclusive results of prior studies and offer practical implications for marketing puffery.     

Self–other differences in change predictions

Individuals live in a changing world in which they predict future events based on past trends. Every event changes between two extremes (e.g., increases and decreases, successes and failures, and peaks and bottoms). People will anticipate changes if they can see the correlation between two extremes. This study investigates whether predictions about changes differ when individuals make predictions about events regarding themselves and others. Based on construal level theory, we hypothesized and found that people who made predictions for others anticipated more changes between two extremes than those who made predictions for themselves. However, self–other differences had boundary conditions. These differences were found in past trends without reversals but not in those with reversals. These results provide novel insights into change predictions.     

寻找善的定义：“义利之辨”和“因信称义”

寻找善的定义是一个恒古话题.本文分别考察了中国儒家的"义利之辩"和中国基督教的"因信称义"中对善的定义方式.本文的考察展示了如下重要事实:首先,从逻辑上看,它们是两种对立的善定义方式.前者强调人在诚中完全占有善恶判断权,而后者则要求人在信中完全放弃判断权.其次,从生存上看,前者因拥有善恶判断权而必然走向霸权话语和思想僵化,而后者则因放弃判断权而可能走向迷信.再次,当这两种善定义方式合二为一时,我们就进入一种悖论式的生存状态.     

生态学研究的道教视角--兼评乐爱国的《道教生态学》

生态危机的化解需要宗教的参与,"道教生态学"的兴起便是宗教回应生态危机的积极成果.道教凭借其"道法自然"、"贵生恶死"、"天人互盗"等思想观点,在处理人与自然关系方面积累了丰富的生态智慧.因此,充分发掘道教的生态思想,对于丰富和发展生态学研究具有重要意义.     

Alzheimer amyloid beta-peptide inhibits the late phase of long-term potentiation through calcineurin-dependent mechanisms in the hippocampal dentate gyrus

The perforant path projecting from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampal dentate gyrus is a particularly vulnerable target to the early deposition of amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides in Alzheimer's brain. The authors previously showed that brief applications of Abeta at subneurotoxic concentrations suppressed the early-phase long-term potentiation (E-LTP) in rat dentate gyrus. The current study further examines the effect of Abeta on the late-phase LTP (L-LTP) in this area. Using multiple high-frequency stimulus trains, a stable L-LTP lasting for at least 3 h was induced in the medial perforant path of rat hippocampal slices. Bath application of Abeta(1-42) (0.2-1.0 microM) during the induction trains attenuated both the initial and late stages of L-LTP. On the other hand, Abeta(1-42) perfusion within the first hour following the induction primarily impaired the late stage of L-LTP, which resembled the action of the protein synthesis inhibitor emetine. Blockade of calcineurin activity with FK506 or cyclosporin A completely prevented Abeta-induced L-LTP deficits. These results suggest that Abeta(1-42) impaired both the induction and maintenance phase of dentate L-LTP through calcineurin-dependent mechanisms. In the concentration range effective for inhibiting L-LTP, Abeta(1-42) also reduced the amplitude of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic currents in dentate granule cells via a postsynaptic mechanism. In addition, concurrent applications of Abeta(1-42) with the protein synthesis inhibitor caused no additive reduction of L-LTP, indicating a common mechanism underlying the action of both. Thus, inhibition of NMDA receptor channels and disruption of protein synthesis were two possible mechanisms contributing to Abeta-induced L-LTP impairment.     

The potential mediating role of anxiety sensitivity in the impact of mindfulness training on anxiety and depression severity and impairment: A randomized controlled trial

The benefits of mindfulness-based interventions to alleviate anxiety and depression have been supported by many studies. Given the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on anxiety and depression, the underlying mechanisms need to be explored. Using a randomized waitlist-controlled design, this study investigated whether anxiety sensitivity was a potential mechanism for the impact of mindfulness training on anxiety and depression. Participants with high psychological distress were randomly assigned to an eight-week mindfulness intervention (N = 35) or a wait-list control group (N = 34). Before and after the intervention or corresponding waitlist period, participants completed measures of anxiety and depression severity and impairment and anxiety sensitivity. Separate mixed ANOVA demonstrated significant group (intervention vs. control group) × time (pre- vs. post-test) interactions for anxiety sensitivity and overall anxiety severity and impairment and marginally significant interaction for overall depression severity and impairment. Moreover, simple mediation models showed that reductions of anxiety sensitivity from pre- to post-test mediated the impact of mindfulness training on changes in anxiety and depression severity and impairment. The findings suggest that anxiety sensitivity is a potential mechanism underlying the effect of mindfulness training on anxiety and depression, which provides a new perspective for the study of processes of change of mindfulness-based interventions.     

学习困难儿童的神经心理研究

本研究用中国修订的HR成套神经心理测验(HRB(m)-RC)、韦氏儿童智力量表(WISC-CR)、韦氏记忆量表(WMS-RC)和分类测验测查9—14岁学习困难儿童和正常儿童各50名。研究了学习困难儿童的神经心理特点和神经心理功能与学习成绩的关系,从神经心理学角度来讨论学习困难的教育干预。