Cross‐Linguistic Differences in Processing Double‐Embedded Relative Clauses: Working‐Memory Constraints or Language Statistics?

An English double‐embedded relative clause from which the middle verb is omitted can often be processed more easily than its grammatical counterpart, a phenomenon known as the grammaticality illusion. This effect has been found to be reversed in German, suggesting that the illusion is language specific rather than a consequence of universal working memory constraints. We present results from three self‐paced reading experiments which show that Dutch native speakers also do not show the grammaticality illusion in Dutch, whereas both German and Dutch native speakers do show the illusion when reading English sentences. These findings provide evidence against working memory constraints as an explanation for the observed effect in English. We propose an alternative account based on the statistical patterns of the languages involved. In support of this alternative, a single recurrent neural network model that is trained on both Dutch and English sentences is shown to predict the cross‐linguistic difference in the grammaticality effect.     

Individualism/Collectivism and Social Identity

On the basis of data collected in three representative national surveys carried out in 1990, 1991 and 1993, the relationship between an individualistic/collectivistic orientation and social identity is investigated. Individualism/collectivism is measured using a specially constructed Bulgarian scale. Individualists and collectivists are characterized by specific profiles of social self-identification which differ only slightly from one another. The characteristic of the individualists' profile is that they tend to identify themselves with the political opposition as being republicans, as not being religious, as being distant from those who are rich and close to those of low social status. In contrast, the collectivists profile themselves as people who identify with a socialist political orientation, as being monarchists, religious, close to those who are rich, as standing higher in the social hierarchy and as connected with the structures of power. In terms of the direction of social transition, collectivists emerge as the more conservative part of Bulgarian society. A strongly European identity is associated with those who score highly on the individualism scale. (© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)     

Community Psychology in higher education in Europe: Results of a survey and discussion of the basic competency approach

This report from the Standing Committee on Community Psychology of the European Federation of Psychological Association provides an overview of higher education in Community Psychology (CP) in 14 European countries. Our findings show that 10 countries have some kind of CP teaching in their educational system. Twenty European universities offer a CP‐oriented Master degree, two universities at the Bachelor level and 16 universities also have CP‐oriented Ph.D. programmes. The profiles of the universities focus on two areas: Community psychology in a pure form and a combination of social psychology and community psychology. The other universities vary between clinical, organisational psychology, and a pedagogical focus. Within a certain European emphasis, these universities are analysing and changing the social conditions of community life and mental health. The responding universities failed to report adequately on comprehensive core competences and key elements in CP. To compensate for this deficit, the Standing Committee on Community Psychology proposes to develop a primer of basic CP competences for inclusion in programmes like EuroPsy.     

Day and Night Overlap: Jan Patočka’s Phenomenological Interpretation of the Front-Line Experience

With insight from the methodology of phenomenology, Jan Patočka draws multiple meanings from the special front-line experience, including new understanding of the fringe of death, absolute freedom, universal responsibility, and solidarity with enemies. The front-line experience is in sharp contrast with daily life experience, and is regarded by Patočka as a continuous consciousness of problematization toward history. This consciousness, which the front-line experience gives rise to, can be maintained through true care for reality and history. Patočka names this “care for the soul” and regards it as the core of the European spirit. The potential philosophical and historical value of the front-line experience urges Patočka to maintain an eternal fight, and he eventually concludes that it is this eternal fight that brings forth eternal peace.     

Merah and Breivik: A Reflection of the European Identity Crisis

While the cases of Anders Behring Breivik and Mohamed Merah clearly demonstrate the impact of social networks and the role of the Internet and prison on the radicalization process, the killings in Norway and France in fact expose larger issues that exist within contemporary Europe, including profound identity crises manifesting as Islamist extremism in some quarters and far-right extremism in others. This article discusses the individual pathways towards extremism of Merah and Breivik, the interconnectivity of two extremisms and how these can be understood as mirrored manifestations of an identity crisis in Europe.¹1. A shorter version of this article was presented at the international conference on “Europe and Islam in the 21st Century,” organized by the Monash European and EU Centre, Monash University, Prato, Italy, June 20–21, 2013. I would also like to thank Associate Professor Pete Lentini, and Dr Natalie Doyle for having inspired me to continue this research that is close to my heart.     

When Does Sexuality‐Based Discrimination Motivate Political Participation?

The established consensus in political behavior research is that discrimination by political institutions motivates marginalized groups to vote and protest their conditions. However, existing studies miss a comparison between states with high and low levels of political discrimination, and they miss a comparison between states before and after the development of opportunities for groups to mobilize. In particular, a growing body of research shows that sexual‐minority groups face discrimination to varying degrees across Europe. Sexual minorities in states with high levels of discrimination lack the support of other minority‐group members, which encourages political participation. The analysis is based on surveys of 30 European countries, conducted before and after the 2004 European Union enlargement, which provided a stronger political‐opportunity structure for sexual minorities in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe and Western Europe provided contexts with relatively high and low levels of sexuality‐based discrimination, respectively. In Western Europe, those who report sexuality‐based discrimination exhibited higher levels of participation, in comparison to those who did not report discrimination. In Eastern Europe, those who report sexuality‐based discrimination exhibited lower levels of participation before the 2004 enlargement, but they did not exhibit these lower levels after the 2004 enlargement.     

Who among European youth are active citizens at the EU level and why?

Abstract

The current generation of European youth is coming of age in the European Union. Compared to the generation of their parents and grandparents, this generation has been afforded new opportunities of travel and employment that transcends the borders of nations. How is this new reality experienced by youth from different European nations and from different social classes? Do younger generations feel more of a connection to their European identity, to their national identity, or to both? Such questions are addressed in the papers of this special issue, which draw data from the EU Horizon 2020 Constructing Active Citizenship with European Youth (CATCH-EyoU) project. Together these studies suggest that to address these questions we need to decompose who the youth are and what the historical context of their experience is. For example, youth from higher socio-economic status families living in post-communist or low wealth nations differ in their loyalties and commitment to the EU, compared to their counterparts. The papers in this special issue reveal important insights as well as gaps in the scholarship concerning youth active citizenship at the European level.     

Young European citizens: An individual by context perspective on adolescent European citizenship

Abstract

This study examined the effects of individual, school-level and country-level variables and their interactions on two components of adolescents’ active European citizenship: trust in European institutions and participation at the European level. For comparison, country-related institutional trust and participation were also predicted. Using multilevel regression models, we re-analysed a subsample of survey data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, collected from 14-year-old students (n = 72,466) in 22 European countries in 2009. Results showed that higher cognitive engagement with politics (e.g., political interest), more opportunities for learning about Europe at school, and country wealth and social equality were positively associated with both aspects of adolescents’ active European citizenship. In contrast to country-related participation, the participatory dimension of active European citizenship was also positively related to a higher socioeconomic status of adolescent’s classroom and family, an association that was more pronounced in less wealthy and post-communist countries.     

On the Concept of Fair Competition Prevalent in Today’s European Soccer Leagues

The notion of competition depicted in sport literature appears to be inconsistent with the goals of current European soccer competitions. This paper examines two misconceptions of fair competition which are prevalent in these competitions. First, it aims at refuting the view that professional soccer only requires some basic equality of chances beyond the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy. In other words, it refutes the view that professional soccer only demands a notion of fair competition understood as fair play. Second, the paper also aims at refuting the view that fair competition, in professional soccer, is simply a matter of financial viability. Hence, it calls for both genuine legal and ethical reforms, since professional soccer competition requires a notion of equality as both a goal and a right. Such a notion, we argue, must conceive of the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy as one of the primary factors in establishing a platform founded in fair competition. Therefore, this paper calls for a radical change of attitude toward or a radical approach to fair competition among European sport fans, policy-makers, and administrators.