Ideological Views in Emerging Adulthood: Balancing Autonomy and Community

Ideological views of 140 emerging adults (ages 20–29) were explored, using the ethics of Autonomy, Community, and Divinity. Two questions were asked as part of an interview: “When you get toward the end of your life, what would you like to be able to say about your life, looking back on it?” and “What values or beliefs do you think are the most important to pass on to the next generation?” Overall, emerging adults used Autonomy and Community in roughly equal proportions, whereas Divinity was used relatively infrequently. Use of Autonomy was negatively correlated with use of Community on both questions, but the correlations were modest, and some emerging adults were able to reconcile the two ethics. Qualitative examples are presented to illustrate the findings of the study, and the findings are discussed in the context of claims about American individualism.     

Conceptions of the Transition to Adulthood: Perspectives From Adolescence Through Midlife

Conceptions of the transition to adulthood were examined among adolescents (age 13–19, N = 171), emerging adults (age 20–29, N = 179), and young-to-midlife adults (age 30–55, N = 165). The focus was on whether conceptions of the transition to adulthood would be different among young-to-midlife adults compared to the younger age groups. In all age groups, individualistic criteria were the most likely to be considered important markers of the transition to adulthood, specifically accepting responsibility for one's actions, deciding on one's beliefs and values, establishing an equal relationship with parents, and becoming financially independent. However, young-to-midlife adults were less likely than adolescents to consider biological transitions to be important, and more likely than adolescents or emerging adults to view norm compliance (such as avoiding drunk driving) as a necessary part of the transition to adulthood. In all three groups, role transitions (e.g., marriage) ranked lowest in importance.     

The Rationality of Dissensus: A Reply to Goodin

Robert Goodin claims that he has undermined my ``proof of theinevitability of rational consensus among all patient people of goodwill.' I did not intend my position as a proof of the inevitabilityof rational consensus, however, and, in fact, I insist on thereasonableness of dissensus in some cases. I welcome the opportunity,provoked by Goodin's interesting reflections, to clarify my position. Iproved with Carl Wagner that iterated weighted averaging converges towardconsensus under conditions of connectedness and constancy resulting fromthe positive weight that individuals give to each other. I allow, nevertheless,that individuals may rationally assign zero weight to each other in a waythat blocks convergence and yields dissensus. The assignment of zeroweight to others will be rational, for example, when the interests ormoral concerns of the individual would be co-opted as a result of givingpositive weight to others. The assignment of positive weight to othersrequires modification of one's position, however, for the refusal to modifyone's position is mathematically equivalent to assigning zero weight toothers. Dissent is rational to avoid being co-opted, but the cost ofdisensus may be the assignment of zero weight to others and theirrational reciprocation.     

在当今中国为合理个人主义正名并无可能——与黄显中同志《个人主义与市民社会》一文商榷

合理个人主义既不合理,也不现实,它存在着逻辑矛盾。合理个人主义不是商品经济的反映,而是资本主义私有制商品经济的必然。传统意义的市民社会在本质上是资本主义性质的世俗社会,它是政治社会的经济基础。我国当今不存在合理个人主义的经济基础。     

个人主义与集体主义结构的验证性研究

本文用实证方法通过对中国大陆303名被试的调查,对个人主义、集体主义的维度及其测量问卷的构想效度进行初步验证,结果支持Triandis提出的个人主义、集体主义可以分成水平、垂直两个维度,在个人水平上,个人主义与集体主义有四种类型的构想。验证性因素分析表明,Singelis的问卷有较好的构想效度,但在中国被试的测试结果上表现出一些题目的不适合,有待于进一步修正。     

SOCIAL DARWINISM AND NATURAL THEODICY

Abstract. Despite the harsh scientific basis of Social Darwinism, its followers strove to unify nature with humane feelings—for world views necessarily attempt such reconciliations. To answer the difficult "problem of evil" posed by natural selection and survival of the fittest, Social Darwinists such as Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Herbert Spencer resorted to three kinds of theodicy: sentimental denial of the problem, belief in progress, and belief in perfection. Spencer's writings particulary display at different times both a rigid individualism and a softer organicism. Eventually, however, T. H. Huxley would abandon the attempt, acknowledging in effect that no complete world view was possible.     

Naturalism, Science and the Supernatural

There is overwhelming agreement amongst naturalists that a naturalistic ontology should not allow for the possibility of supernatural entities. I argue, against this prevailing consensus, that naturalists have no proper basis to oppose the existence of supernatural entities. Naturalism is characterized, following Leiter and Rea, as a position which involves a primary commitment to scientific methodology and it is argued that any naturalistic ontological commitments must be compatible with this primary commitment. It is further argued that properly applied scientific method has warranted the acceptance of the existence of supernatural entities in the past and that it is plausible to think that it will do so again in the future. So naturalists should allow for the possibility of supernatural entities.

Who are the Best‐Known National and Foreign Creators — a Comparative Study Among Undergraduates in China and Germany

Separate studies of Chinese and Western individuals have suggested that there are cultural differences in perceptions of creativity, particularly in an emphasis on meritorious salience versus aesthetic salience as bases for creativity, but cross‐cultural studies are needed to substantiate that difference. In this study, undergraduates from Giessen in Germany and Hong Kong and Nanjing in China provided data on the recognition of famous creative persons. Chinese undergraduates in Hong Kong and Nanjing mostly nominated politicians, scientists or inventors, but rarely nominated artists, musicians. German undergraduates mostly nominated philosophers, artists, and writers but rarely nominated politicians. This supports our assumption that the Chinese evaluation of creators emphasizes the meritorious salience of creativity whereas the German evaluation of creators emphasizes the aesthetic salience of creativity. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed at the end of the paper.     

A Sociocultural Approach to Narcissism: The Case of Modern China

Using large Internet samples, we examined the possible influence of sociodemographic factors on the Chinese self‐concept and in particular, on the level of narcissism. We found that (i) younger persons are more narcissistic than older ones; (ii) persons from higher socioeconomic classes are more narcissistic than those from lower socioeconomic classes; (iii) persons from only‐child families are more narcissistic than those from families with multiple children; (iv) persons from urban areas are more narcissistic than those from rural areas; and (v) individualistic values are predictive of individual differences in narcissism. The findings suggest that sociocultural changes contribute to the rise of narcissism in China. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.