The Dynamics of Cyber China: The Characteristics of Chinese ICT Use

This paper provides a preliminary examination of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)—limited to mobile phone and internet use—in contemporary China. Based on fieldwork undertaken since 2003 in Guangzhou and Beijing, the paper focuses on the relationship between society and technology in the Chinese cultural context. An analysis of the data on ICT use in China shows how Chinese cultural traits and the speed of the ICT evolution in China have combined to bring about a unique cyber experience. This analysis may be helpful to other scholars who wish to compare the impact of ICTs in various cultures or who are interested in discovering how Mainland China went ‘cyber’.

Stated reasons for reducing work-commute by car

A survey is reported that requested work-commuters by car to state reasons that would make them reduce car use for the work commute. All participants (n = 1218) were employed by companies located in the center of a medium-size Swedish city (pop. 82,000). Among 76% of the car users (n = 602) who stated any reasons, the most frequent were improved public transport and work from home some days. Shorter travel times, an increased frequency of service and lower fares were the most frequent reasons for increasing public transport use.     

公共服务动机测量的发展与展望

公共服务动机理论是西方管理心理学领域的一个新兴流派,其概念的正式提出仅有20年历史。文章简要回顾了公共服务动机测量研究的发展历程,总结了测量工具信度和效度及其跨文化验证研究中出现的问题,对理论构念和模型建构中进行了反思,并总结了测量工具的几种不同修订。最后指出,公共服务动机测量在中国的发展,至少有三个方面的发展空间：1）多动机同时测量;2）内隐测量;3）测量的本土化。     

Measuring goal involvement in specific achievement situations: Development and validation of a 6-goal questionnaire

IntroductionCurrently, there is a growing interest regarding the dynamics of achievement goals and its consequences on motivational patterns, which urges researchers to focus more and more on states of goal involvement.ObjectiveBased on Elliot, Murayama, and Pekrun's (2011) 6-goal framework, this research aimed to develop and validate a state-like form French Achievement Goal Involvement Questionnaire (FAGIQ-6).MethodFirst, a 40-item preliminary version was created. Its clarity was assessed among 152 French undergraduate students. Then, its factorial structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses on data collected among 439 French junior high school students. Finally, regression analyses on data collected among 317 other junior high school students were used to test how the instrument relates to constructs known to be related to the different achievement goals.ResultsThe structure of the FAGIQ-6 included 18 items that were deemed clear and that were organized into six factors (task-approach, self-approach, other-approach, task-avoidance, self-avoidance, and other-avoidance). Regression analyses showed that: Perceived competence positively predicted all approach goals and task-avoidance; an entity theory of ability positively predicted other-referenced goals; an incremental theory of ability positively predicted all task and self goals; task-approach and self-approach positively predicted intrinsic motivation and task absorption; approach goals and task-avoidance positively predicted intrinsic motivation; and other-avoidance positively predicted anxiety.ConclusionThe FAGIQ-6 can reliably measure goal involvement in specific achievement situations and thus enables new avenues of research on the dynamics of achievement goals.     

Understanding the motives behind male filicides to better intervene

IntroductionThe present study focuses on gaining an understanding of the motives of men who commit a filicide. Motivation is a concept at the crossroads of psychology and criminology that allows for a better understanding of filicide.ObjectiveOn one hand, our study evaluates the motives of men who have committed a filicide, and on the other, it compares groups of men with regard to socio-demographic, psychological and criminological characteristics according to the underlying motivation.MethodThe 50 male filicides committed in the province of Quebec between 1997 and 2012 were analyzed using a Grille d’analyse multidimensionnelle de l’homicide intrafamilial and subgroups based on motivation.ResultsMale filicides are mainly motivated by marital separation or fatal physical abuse (ill treatments causing death). Some characteristics help distinguish these men according to motivation including: the victim's age, hospitalizations that occurred during the year preceding the crime, the presence of depressive and/or psychotic symptoms, and the sentence rendered.ConclusionOur results highlight the presence of distinct profiles based on motivation and the relevance of considering motivation in order to develop specific and effective prevention strategies.     

Love in Action: An Integrative Approach to Last Chance Couple Therapy

This article presents an integrative approach to the special challenges of therapy with couples on the brink of dissolution or divorce—who often describe this therapy as their “last chance.” In some, one partner is considering ending the relationship, and in others, both partners are considering ending it. Often, these couples have had prior dissatisfying experiences in couple therapy. Four types of last chance couples are described: high‐conflict couples; couples in which partners have differing goals for their lives or different timelines for reaching shared goals; couples in which one or both partners have acted in a manner that violates the values, expectations, emotional comfort, or safety of the other; and couples in which there has been a gradual loss of intimacy. The Therapeutic Palette, a multiperspectival, theoretically eclectic integrative approach, is enlisted as a general framework for selecting and sequencing use of particular theories and their associated practices, based on the three “primary colors” of couple therapy: time frame/focus, level of directiveness, and change entry point. An additional complementary framework, the creative relational movement approach, is proposed to provide an integrative frame encompassing both language‐based and action‐based practices, suggesting that meaning is held and expressed as much through interaction or “relational motion” as it is through language. Principles of change are described. Due to the couple's level of crisis and desire for immediate evidence of possible improvement, priority is given to action‐based interventions in early stages of therapy, by engaging couples in “experiments in possibility.” Typical action approaches are described. An extended vignette follows.     

Emotional states influence forward gait during music listening based on familiarity with music selections

Music elicits a wide range of human emotions, which influence human movement. We sought to determine how emotional states impact forward gait during music listening, and whether the emotional effects of music on gait differ as a function of familiarity with music. Twenty-four healthy young adults completed walking trials while listening to four types of music selections: experimenter-selected music (unfamiliar-pleasant), its dissonant counterpart (unfamiliar-unpleasant), each participant’s self-selected favorite music (familiar-pleasant), and its dissonant counterpart (familiar-unpleasant). Faster gait velocity, cadence, and stride time, as well as longer stride length were identified during pleasant versus unpleasant music conditions. Increased gait velocity, stride length, and cadence as well as reduced stride time were positively correlated with subjective ratings of emotional arousal and pleasure as well as musical emotions such as happiness-elation, nostalgia-longing, interest-expectancy, pride-confidence, and chills, and they were negatively related to anger-irritation and disgust-contempt. Moreover, familiarity with music interacted with emotional responses to influence gait kinematics. Gait velocity was faster in the familiar-pleasant music condition relative to the familiar-unpleasant condition, primarily due to longer stride length. In contrast, no differences in any gait parameters were found between unfamiliar-pleasant and unfamiliar-unpleasant music conditions. These results suggest emotional states influence gait behavior during music listening and that such effects are altered by familiarity with music. Our findings provide fundamental evidence of the impact of musical emotion on human gait, with implications for using music to enhance motor performance in clinical and performance settings.     

Motivationally selective risk judgments: Do fear and curiosity boost the boons or the banes?

Recent theories of judgment and decision-making have focused increasingly on the role of motivation, affect, and other drive states. The current research examined whether specific motivational orientations associated with approach versus avoidance might be linked selectively to judgments of positive versus negative decision outcomes and future events. Findings from three studies suggest that fear—an emotion intrinsically linked to threat avoidance—was more strongly associated with judgments of negative outcomes than judgments of positive outcomes. In contrast, curiosity—a motivational orientation associated with approaching desired information and experiences—was more strongly associated with judgments of positive outcomes than judgments of negative outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to functionalist theories of motivation and selective cognition.     

The role of the hyperintellectual in civil society building and democratization in the Balkans

Although intellectuals have been a part of the cultural landscape, it is in post-conflict societies, such as those found in Kosovo and Bosnia, that there has arisen a need for an intellectual who is more than simply a social critic, an educator, a man of action, and a compassionate individual. Enter the hyperintellectual. As this essay will make clear, it is the hyperintellectual, who through a reciprocating critique and defense of both the nationalist enterprise and strong interventionism of the International Community, as well as being a man of action and compassionate and empathic insider, strives to create a climate of understanding and to enlarge the moral space so as to reduce the divisiveness between opposing parties. In this way the hyperintellectual becomes a catalyst for the creation of a democratic culture within the civil societies of Kosovo and Bosnia.