How Exceptional Is the West? An Investigation of Worldwide Trends in Societal-Average Levels of Religiosity, 1981–2020

Research shows most Western societies became less religious over recent decades. But we know much less about the rest of the world. Is the non-Western world also becoming less religious, as some varieties of secularization theory would lead us to expect? Using 1981-to-2020 World/European Values Survey data from 103 countries, this study describes, and uses mixed-effects models to rigorously estimate, religious trends in eight world regions and five former Soviet and Eastern Bloc (FSEB) subregions. Results indicate that religious decline occurred in Latin America, Central and Baltic Europe, and (recently) in the Mideast and North Africa. But there is little evidence of such decline elsewhere in Asia, Africa, or the FSEB—despite the broad reach of many modernizing social trends. These findings do not lend support to a strong version of secularization theory but may be consistent with some versions of the idea that modernization can make people less religious.     

Emotional,cognitive, and social functioning in children and early adolescents living in post-armed conflict: Testing mediating mechanisms

This study examined whether, and to which extent, the associations between conflict intensity and children's and early adolescents' functioning problems were mediated through parental harsh discipline in a post-armed conflict setting. Data from 9623 Iraqi mothers and their children who participated in UNICEF MICS showed that the associations between conflict intensity, parental discipline and child functioning were similar for children and early adolescents. Higher conflict intensity was indirectly associated with increased anxiety and depression, greater learning and cognitive difficulties, and greater social and behavioural problems through parental harsh discipline. The proportion mediated effect sizes emphasised the importance of parent-focused interventions in improving child and adolescent functioning outcomes in conflict-affected populations.     

Swapping Gender Traditionalism: Christianity,Buddhism, and Gender Ideology in South Korea

South Korea provides an ideal setting for studying religion and gender because Western and local religions are both prominent, and Confucianist beliefs still shape gender norms. Using the 2018 Korean General Social Survey, this study examines the extent to which two dimensions of gender traditionalism in South Korea–Confucian patriarchal ideology (i.e., belief in the subordination of women for Confucian patriarchy) and separate spheres ideology (i.e., belief that men are better suited to work and women to domestic responsibilities)—vary across Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and the nonaffiliated. The findings show that Christians have the lowest endorsement for Confucian patriarchal ideology while supporting separate spheres ideology as much as Buddhists, who are most gender traditional in both dimensions. The results illustrate the dynamics between religion and gender norms in South Korea's context, demonstrating how Christianity combines Western modernization with gender-essentialist traditionalism, while Buddhism maintains Confucian patriarchal values.     

The educational pyramid: A model for community intervention

Urban adolescents represent a group who are at special risk for a variety of psychological and behavioral problems. A life skills program was implemented with middle and high school students, using an educational pyramid approach to maximize the ecological appropriateness of the intervention and to increase the likelihood that the program will be continued with progressively lessened university facilitation. Additionally, the educational pyramid offers the opportunity for all participants—university faculty, graduate students, collaborating professionals in the community, and high school leaders—to be both teachers and learners.     

Computer self efficacy and gender: a cross cultural study of Scotland and Romania

Research has indicated that in West Europe males on average are often found to be more experienced about computing than females, and to have more positive attitudes and self efficacy (self confidence) towards computing than females. Research has also shown that some East Europe countries have had relatively greater female involvement with technology, engineering and computing than West Europe. 200 Romanian and 148 Scottish students completed a computer self efficacy scale. Overall males were more confident than females in advanced and file and software computer skills, but of similar confidence for beginning skills. Scots of both genders were more confident than their Romanian equivalents for beginning computer skills, whilst Romanians were more confident for advanced computer skills. The 3 elements of the self efficacy scale — beginning, advanced and file and software skills — correlated positively with each other. The results were interpreted as showing both similarity and difference in computing self efficacy between Scotland and Romania.     

What are the Marital Problems of Happy Couples? A Multimethod,Two-Sample Investigation

How couples handle marital conflict may depend on what issues they are facing, as some issues may be more difficult to resolve than others. What is unclear, however, is what issues happy couples face and how these issues may be different for couples depending on their developmental stage. To explore this possibility, the current study used both self-reports and observations drawn from two separate samples of happily married couples—one early in middle adulthood (N = 57 couples; average marital duration = 9 years) and one in older adulthood (N = 64 couples; average marital duration = 42 years). Results indicated that all issues were relatively minor, but early middle-aged couples reported more significant problems than did older couples. As to determining the most salient topic for happy couples, it depended on the spouses’ gender, developmental stage, and how salience was assessed (i.e., highest rated issue vs. most discussed issue). Only moderate links were found between what happy couples said was their most serious concern and what they actually tried to resolve during observations of marital problem-solving, but there were differences in how spouses behaved based on the proportion of their time discussing certain topics. Findings suggest that more attention should be devoted to understanding what marital issues happy couples discuss and why, as doing so may reveal how couples maintain their marital happiness.     

Bonding and bridging social capital and their associations with self‐evaluated community resilience: A comparative study of East Asia

The purpose of this study is to test key social capital indicators in a disaster context by considering the bonding and bridging types of social capital. Using the East Asian Social Survey, this study chooses three behavioural/cognitive elements of social capital—social trust, voluntary association membership, and personal networks—and divides them into bonding and bridging social capital, in‐group and out‐group trust, homogeneous and heterogeneous membership, and strong and weak ties to test their effects on self‐evaluated community resilience to natural hazards. The results showed that social trust and personal networks had strong positive effects, but the effect of voluntary association membership was positive in societies with high rates of membership (Japan and South Korea) and negative in a society with a low rate of membership (Taiwan). Furthermore, while bonding social capital generally showed a stronger effect than bridging social capital in East Asia, a society with more frequent and intense disasters (Japan) showed a strong effect of heterogenous membership on self‐evaluated community resilience. This study connects two aspects of social capital studies—the elements and the types of social capital—and the findings imply that the relationship between social capital and community resilience may have some mediator variables.     

Relationship between the internal locus of control and collective action: A comparison of East Asian and Western Countries

This study tested factors related to collective action in East Asian and Western countries. Although the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) could explain which factors relate to collective action in Western countries, previous studies have found that some of the SIMCA variables did not predict collective action in non‐Western countries. We hypothesised that the internal locus of control would be positively related to collective action even in East Asian countries because previous studies have demonstrated that the former can positively influence proactive behaviour when factors inhibiting such behaviours exist. We analysed the 2010 World Values Survey data from seven countries (three East Asian and four Western countries). The results demonstrated that the internal locus of control was positively related to collective action more so among East Asians (Koreans, specifically those with low political interests, the Taiwanese, and Japanese people with lower income) than among Westerners. These results suggest that the internal locus of control is a key individual difference that predicts collective action in the presence of factors that inhibit such participation (e.g., cultural values, low political interest, and low income).     

German Unification as a Turning Point in East German Women's Life Course: Biographical Changes in Work and Family Roles

In order to explore the effects of German unification on the life course of East German women of three age cohorts, 36 biographical interviews were conducted. The purpose of the research was to examine whether unification meant a complete break with the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) standard biography in terms of a voluntary acceptance of West German patterns, or a modification of old patterns based on necessity. Results demonstrate that the historical moment of 1989/90 (the Wende or turning point) has changed the life plans of the three cohorts of women in East Germany in different ways, depending on its timing in their life course. The life patterns of the youngest cohort differ most significantly from the standard biography of the GDR woman in that family formation is postponed and employment prioritized over family. Rather than being a complete break with tradition and a voluntary adoption of Western norms, this means a modification of the life course, because the desire to combine work and family continues to dominate.     

农村重点高中学生学校人际关系状况的调查研究

采用《中学生师生关系测验问卷》和《中学生同学关系测验问卷》对随机选取的1120名苏北农村省级重点高中生进行测试。结果发现：绝大多数高中生的师生关系、同学关系是良好的和一般的,师生关系较差的只有6%左右,同学关系较差的却有20%左右;师生关系和同学关系都存在着显著的年级差异和性别差异。