Contemporary Sociological Theory and Techno-Nihilist Capitalism

The problem advanced societies have tried to answer since the last part of the twentieth century can be ascribed to a fundamental question: how to go beyond the constitutive (and unsustainable) limit of nation-state capitalism, constrained by an excessively circumscribed and univocal idea of social organization, without losing the ability to govern? Or, expressed in other terms, how can you dismantle the center (the state) without losing the power to control? The answer to this (difficult) question has been sought for along two main axes. The first has concerned the seizing of new opportunities distributed over a space larger than the national space. As historians have shown (Arrighi 1996 Arrighi, G. 1996. Il lungo XX secolo, Milan: Il Saggiatore.  [Google Scholar]), if global projection is a constant of capitalism only the disastrous politico-military vicissitudes of the first half of the twentieth century created the conditions according to which the nation-state capitalism model could be born, in the form that dominated the fifty years following the Second World War. But first the exhaustion of colonialism, then the urgency of the energy question, the signs of a possible demise of Anglo-Saxon hegemony and, subsequently, the collapse of the Soviet empire, have changed the rules of the game. Within a rapidly transforming international framework, the recovery of a global outlook promised the exploitation of important opportunities with the opening of new markets, the valorization of investment possibilities, the displacement and utilization of low-wage labor, financial speculation, the acquisition and control of energy resources and raw materials. It is a promise that Anglo-Saxon elites have contemplated since the early 1980s, the moment in which—to counter the increasingly worrying signs of decline of their hegemony—they abandoned the Keynesian doctrine to embrace the neoliberal doctrine. The second axis along which a new growth cycle has been developed has to do with the increased manipulation of meanings available individually and collectively. Such a process is formed from the combination of two rationales, the subjectivist imperative, which inscribes into social life some of the philosophical developments of the twentieth century, and the formation of De-territorialized Aesthetic Space, which makes technically possible, a degree of cultural mobility hitherto unthinkable. Both these factors facilitate the insertion of the immaterial dimension into the cycle of capitalist valorization, making it more readily available for exploitation by economic forces on a global scale.     

Youth athletes’ perception of autonomy support from the coach, peer motivational climate and intrinsic motivation in sport setting: One-year effects

Objectives

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) and achievement goal theory (AGT; Nicholls, 1989), the present study examined the temporal stability and reciprocal relationships among three key variables related to motivation: perceived autonomy support from the coach, task-involving peer motivational climates, and athletes’ intrinsic motivation.

Design

A prospective longitudinal design with data collected on two occasions one year apart over the course of a youth training season.

Method

Young athletes (N = 362, age range 11-16 years) completed measures of the Sport Climate Questionnaire and the Peer Motivational Climate in Youth Sport Questionnaire. One-year later participants completed these questionnaires again along with the Sport Motivation Scale.

Results

Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climates exhibited comparatively high stability over a one-year period. In cross-lagged analyses, perceived autonomy support from the coach positively predicted task-involving peer climate one-year later but not vice versa. In addition, both social factors demonstrated a significant direct effect on athletes intrinsic motivation measured concurrently in sport contexts. Further, an alternative structural model supported a longitudinal direct effect of autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer climate measured on the first occasion on subsequent intrinsic motivation.

Conclusion

Results demonstrated the value of perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climate in predicting athletes’ intrinsic motivation over a training year. Findings also suggest that perceived autonomy support from the coach can facilitate later task-involving peer motivational climate.     

高一学生成就目标特征模式及学业适应:基于潜在剖面分析

本研究采用潜在剖面分析技术探究高中生成就目标的特征模式及学业适应。被试为732名来自北京、广东、福州和西安各一所高中的高一学生,本研究采用问卷法收集学生的成就目标取向、学习效能、学业自我阻碍、学习策略和考试焦虑的数据。结果发现：（1）学生中存在成功导向、学业淡漠、典型掌握导向和非典型掌握导向四种类型,其中,典型和非典型掌握导向型所占比例较高,成功导向型和学业淡漠型所占比例较低;（2）成功导向组学生在学习效能、学习策略、学业自我阻碍和考试焦虑上的得分最高,学业淡漠组在各学业适应指标上得分最低,典型和非典型掌握导向组得分处于成功导向组和学业淡漠组中间。本研究结果对预防和干预学业适应不良具有重要意义。     

成就目标与教师效能感、焦虑、工作投入的关系：基于变量中心和个体中心的视角

基于变量中心和个体中心的双重视角,考察1877名教师的成就目标与其效能感、焦虑和工作投入间的关系。结果显示：（1）掌握、表现趋近目标正向预测而表现回避目标负向预测工作投入,教师效能感、焦虑、教师效能感-焦虑在成就目标与工作投入间具有中介作用;（2）潜在剖面分析识别了五类不同的教师成就目标剖面,即掌握型、低掌握低趋近型、低掌握中等趋近型、高混合型、平均型,其中掌握型适应性最佳且占比最多;（3）教师效能感、焦虑、教师效能感-焦虑在成就目标剖面与工作投入间具有显著的中介作用。     

人格对幼儿白谎行为的影响：“冷”“热”执行功能的并行中介作用

为探讨人格对幼儿白谎行为的影响,及“冷”“热”执行功能的中介作用机制,采用问卷法和测验法对218名3～6岁幼儿的人格、言语能力、“冷”“热”执行功能和白谎行为进行测试。结果显示：控制年龄和言语能力后,智能特征和亲社会性可显著正向预测幼儿白谎行为;“冷”执行功能在智能特征和白谎行为间发挥部分中介作用;“热”执行功能在亲社会性和白谎行为间发挥部分中介作用;“热”执行功能在外倾性和白谎行为间发挥完全中介作用;“冷”“热”执行功能在认真自控和白谎行为间发挥完全中介作用。研究结果进一步揭示了人格对幼儿白谎行为影响的内在机制。     

Relationship between lifestyle values and achievement goal orientation among vocational students in Thailand

This study brings models of value theory and motivational goal theory together to investigate the relationship between lifestyle values (materialism, religiosity, physical well-being and image) and achievement goal orientation of college students enrolled in vocational programmes in Thailand (N?=?1670, males?=?38.5% and females?=?61.5%). We found associations between various lifestyle values and achievement goal orientation. Multiple regression analyses found a positive association with religiosity and personal well-being on the adoption of mastery goals and a positive association with materialism and personal image on the adoption of performance goals. These findings are interpreted with respect to self-determination theory.     

目标取向、道德认同、道德推脱与大学生运动员的反社会行为的关系

研究从道德失调的观点出发探讨了目标取向、道德认同、道德推脱与大学生运动员在比赛中的反社会行为的关系.198名大学生运动员参加了本研究并完成了任务取向和自我取向问卷、道德推脱问卷、道德认同问卷和运动中的反社会行为问卷.分析发现,任务取向减少了大学生运动员的反社会行为,但是自我取向增加了他们的反社会行为;道德推脱在自我取向与反社会行为的关系中发挥着中介作用,且这一中介作用受到道德认同的调节,较低的道德认同增加了自我取向的运动员的道德推脱,并由此提高其反社会行为倾向.     

Measuring Readiness and Success at a Higher Education Institution

This study investigated readiness as a correlate of academic success among beginning university students. A total of 829 first-time entering students from a large business sciences faculty were participants (males = 319, females = 510, mean age = 19, SD = 0.50 years). They completed the Academic Readiness Questionnaire (Lemmens, 2010) during the first-year orientation week. Data on academic success, consisting of subject marks and credits were collected in 2009 after a results verification process. Data were analysed with three separate multiple regression analyses. The first analysis consisted of the overall student sample, the second and third consisted of the black and the white students separated from the overall student sample. The main findings reveal that high school marks, the number of subjects in first year (credits registered), goal orientation, race, learning-efficacy, gender and the geographical area of high school have a direct relationship with academic success. The variables that predict academic success for black students are high school marks, credits registered, and parental education. The variables that predict academic success for white students are high school marks, goal orientation, credits registered, learning-efficacy, gender, and parental education.     

Toward a Cosmic Christology: A Kerygmatic Proposal

This kerygmatic (Tillich) proposal for a cosmic christology presupposes (with Sittler) that in our times the scope of christology must be as large as the whole creation. Noting a body of extant literature pertaining to the theme (Teilhard de Chardin, Tillich, Gunton, Moltmann, Fox, McFague, Edwards), this article argues that Martin Luther's “ubiquity Christology” should receive a fresh hearing in order to broaden and deepen the current discussion, in a way that can contribute both to kerygmatic and apologetic theological constructions. Concerns of critics of Luther's ubiquity Christology are addressed and its underdeveloped character is noted, with suggestions for expanding Luther's vision. At the end, the potential ecumenical benefits of this kind of reclamation of Luther's thought are affirmed, as is the need for kerygmatic theologians to develop not only cosmic christologies, but also cosmic pneumatologies.     

Normand Laurendeau: Spirituality and Science at the Apex of His Life's Vision

Abstract

This article discusses the noteworthy approach of a twentieth-century Muslim scholar, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1877–1960), to the issue of Qur'an and science. Nursi points out the “problem of authoritarianism” in both religious and secularist discourses, arguing that many of the clashes between faith and reason result from a misunderstanding of spheres of expertise. Nursi also argues that even at the height of scientific and technological development, the Qur'an remains indispensable in humankind interpreting the world around them. Nursi's case illustrates that the task of relating the modern science and the Qur'an requires attention to their interpretive dimensions.