Are conservatives happier than liberals? Not always and not everywhere

Prior research has shown that conservatives report higher levels of subjective well-being than liberals (happiness gap). We investigate to what extent this phenomenon exists in different time periods within the United States (Study 1, N = 40,000) and in different countries (Study 2, N = 230,000). Consistent with our hypotheses grounded in the “shared reality” and person-culture fit literature, conservatives were happier and more satisfied with their lives than liberals to the extent that the conservative political ideology prevailed in their socio-cultural context, be it a specific time period in the U.S. or a specific country. These results show that the happiness gap between conservatives and liberals is less universal than previously assumed.     

Stripped of illusions? Exploring system justification processes in capitalist and post‐Communist societies

Sociologists and political scientists have often observed that citizens of Central and Eastern Europe express high levels of disillusionment with their social, economic and political systems, in comparison with citizens of Western capitalist societies. In this review, we analyze system legitimation and delegitimation in post‐Communist societies from a social psychological perspective. We draw on system justification theory, which seeks to understand how, when and why people do (and do not) defend, bolster and justify existing social systems. We review some of the major tenets and findings of the theory and compare research on system‐justifying beliefs and ideologies in traditionally Capitalist and post‐Communist countries to determine: (1) whether there are robust differences in the degree of system justification in post‐Communist and Capitalist societies, and (2) the extent to which hypotheses derived from system justification theory receive support in the post‐Communist context. To this end, we summarize research findings from over 20 countries and cite previously unpublished data from a public opinion survey conducted in Poland. Our analysis confirms that there are lower levels of system justification in post‐Communist countries. At the same time, we find that system justification possesses similar social and psychological antecedents, manifestations and consequences in the two types of societies. We offer potential explanations for these somewhat complicated patterns of results and conclude by addressing implications for theory and research on system justification and system change (or transition).     

The rehabilitation of the case-study method

The controversy surrounding the scientific nature of the case-study research method in psychotherapy is not new and can be traced to the time when Freud started publishing his works. Traditional, quantitative researchers have argued thatthe case-study method is anecdotal and non-scientific, dismissing the results and findings obtained by this method on the grounds that they lack validity and reliability.This article seeks to dispel the traditional misconceptions about case study.It conclusively argues that the case study,perceived from the postmodern perspective, is a completely legitimate research method and, moreover, better suited to a holistic, democratic psychotherapy as a discipline dealing with the understanding and change of interwoven complexities of intrapsychic and interpersonal processes that emerge and unfold within a wider socio-historical context.     

Antecedents of political trust in adolescence: Cognitive abilities and perceptions of parents

This study examined the predictors of political trust in late adolescence. Three waves of longitudinal data (ages 11, 15, and 17) from 1116 Czech adolescents (346 participated at least in the first and last wave) were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that high verbal cognitive ability in early adolescence predicted greater political trust in late adolescence. This effect was explained by adolescents' greater cognitive political engagements, but not by their more positive relationships with authorities (e.g., school or parents) during adolescence. Next, early adolescents who perceived more parental warmth demonstrated greater political trust when they reached late adolescence. These results suggest that some young people might enter adulthood more skeptical regarding politics based on their abilities and early nonpolitical experiences.     

Altruism at the ballots: Predicting political attitudes and behavior

The role of stable individual differences for political ideologies is quite undisputed. Herein, we add texture to the recent finding that dispositional altruism plays a noteworthy role for political orientation. More precisely, besides aiming to replicate this link, we assumed that altruism also influences hypothetical and actual voting behavior as well as endorsement of specific, currently debated political agendas. In a study which comprised two times of measurement prior to and after a nation-wide election in Germany, support for these hypotheses was obtained. Indeed, dispositional altruism was shown to consistently predict both attitudinal and behavioral criteria in the realm of politics.     

翻译的政治性——马克思文本研究中的一个议题

在马克思文本的翻译过程中,本土化的政治议题始终是马克思主义中国化的基本视域。从传入之初,马克思思想就作为一种陌生化的思维冲击着中国旧有的语言体系,与其他国外思潮共同构成了近代思想启蒙的基础。同时,翻译也是多种差异性共存的场域,其中既包括本土文化与陌生文化的相互冲撞,又包括多种话语方式的权力争夺。最后,面对马克思充满激情与卓越文采的原文,翻译不仅需要忠实原文的意图,更需要保持原文的风格,作为一种政治的修辞学,翻译其实是一种面对读者的再创作过程。     

政治文明的伦理分析

政治明不是一种孤立的明,它与道德明有着十分密切的关系,它们有着共同的契合机制和互补机制;从西方政治明的发展来看,始终没有离开理性主义、制度主义、个体主义等伦理精神;政治要真正实现明,必须使政治意识要宽容、政治制度的制衡、政治行为要有序。