General education,cultural diversity,and identity

The issue of this paper is cultural plurality as a problem for public, general education and for (personal) identity. In order to examine this question, one needs to be clear about the meaning of the concepts of general education, on the one hand, and cultural diversity on the other. In the first section, we will fix the meaning of these concepts. A conceptual distinction between cultural diversity and cultural pluralism will be introduced. In the second section, it will be argued that open pluralism can only be maintained if there is a basic common culture apart from the cultural diversity that pluralism affirms. Therefore, there is yet an indispensable role for general education in an open, pluralistic society. In the third section we will look at two metaphors that give an opposite significance to the relation between identity and diversity: the conversational metaphor and the food metaphor mishmash. The final section expands on the conversational metaphor by way of an exposition of Ricoeur's hermeneutics of the self. It supplies us with a promising concept of identity that is not in complete opposition to diversity.     

The quest for identity

This paper offers an analysis of the notion the quest for identity. The discussion emphasizes the importance of communal belonging, but rejects the view that one ought to belong to the community one was born to. It suggests that the quest for identity may lead individuals to follow many avenues: while some individuals might affirm their inherent affiliations and traditions, others may remain within their community of origin and strive to change its ways, or chose to leave their social group and opt for membership in a new one. This analysis suggests that choice, characteristic of the liberal conception of the person, and rootedness, characteristic of the communitarian conception of the person, both play an important role in the formation of personal identity.     

军队初级指挥官PM领导行为类型的研究——与中、日企业领导行为的比较

本研究采用日本三隅二不二教授的PM领导行为理论 ,用中国修订版的PM量表对 2 64名初级军官的领导行为类型进行了评定 ,并与对中、日企业界的有关研究结果进行了比较 ,目的是研究初级军官所特有的领导行为特征以及与其相对应的情境因素。研究结果显示 :①在军事组织中 ,PM型是较理想的领导类型 ,其次为P型。这与中、日企业的结果有所不同。②方差分析结果表示 ,在与领导行为类型相关的八项情境因素中 ,初级军官在工作激励、连队满意度、团队精神和会议成效等因子上高于中、日企业界 ;但在心理卫生、对待遇满意度、信息沟通和绩效规范等因子上均低于中国企业界。③ χ2 分析结果显示 ,三种组织与四种PM行为类型之间在六项情境因素上的差异显著 ,提示三种组织在领导行为和情境因素上各有其特点 ;另外 ,与军事指挥官领导行为类型关系最为密切的是工作激励因素和团队精神 ,这是军事集团突出的特征之一。④中、日企业界在会议成效和信息沟通两因素上的差异较大 ,反映了两国在企业管理方面不同的特点。     

The effect of additional variables on factor indeterminacy in models with a single common factor

Determinate solutions for the indeterminate common factor ofp variables satisfying the single common factor model are not unique. Therefore an infinite sequence of additional variables that conform jointly with the originalp variables to the original single common factor model does not determine a unique solution for the indeterminate factor of thep variables (although the solution is unique for the factor of the infinite sequence). Other infinite sequences may be found to determine different solutions for the factor of the originalp variables. The paper discusses a number of theorems about the effects of additional variables on factor indeterminacy in a model with a single common factor and draws conclusions from them for factor theory in general.     

The polyserial correlation coefficient

The polyserial and point polyserial correlations are discussed as generalizations of the biserial and point biserial correlations. The relationship between the polyserial and point polyserial correlation is derived. The maximum likelihood estimator of the polyserial correlation is compared with a two-step estimator and with a computationally convenient ad hoc estimator. All three estimators perform reasonably well in a Monte Carlo simulation. Some practical applications of the polyserial correlation are described.By coincidence, the first author and the second and third authors learned that they were working independently on closely related problems and, consequently, decided to write a jointly authored paper.     

A CULTURAL EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO MODERNITY: WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH?

This essay introduces, for theological consideration, some recent work in the field of cultural evolutionary theory, specifically the kin-influence hypothesis. This theory holds that, following the beginnings of industrialization and economic growth, a nation's fertility rate commences a decline, which is further abetted by the consequent and increasing imbalance in the relative influence of kin versus nonkin influences on individuals in favor of the latter. It is further proposed that this process is itself a major independent factor in the emergence of many of the features of what is called modernity, among which is that of secularization. Extending further this work, I argue that, given the historic alignment of family and religious values in Christian nations, a loss of religious belief and practice is, at least in part, the spill over effect of the opposing influence of values emerging from ever more dominant nonfamily social interaction. I conclude with some reflections on possible theological implications.     

Things fall apart. The cultural complex in contemporary times1

These extraordinary months due to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests, set as they are against a backdrop of the increasingly worrying climate emergency, have brought fear, anxiety and discord across the globe. But we have also experienced a deepening of our understanding of our connectedness, protests against injustice, expressions of social concern and a demand for change. The concept of the cultural complex as developed by Singer & Kimbles (2004) offers a helpful means of connecting the psychology of the individual psyche and the political phenomena of power relations. Using a small example to illustrate how it might operate at a local level, I suggest that a fundamental shift is taking place raising profound levels of anxiety as we move from the known to the unknown. The bipolar nature of these complexes means the extremes are surfacing bringing fears of the very real possibility of more entrenched attacks on democracy from the far right and the hunkering down behind armed borders. But there is also hope that different ways of living together may be developing from the ground up, ways that are rooted in our sense of interdependence – with each other and our planetary home.     

自我-朋友冲突情境下智慧推理的文化差异及其机制

相对于面对自己的人际冲突, 以独立自我为主的西方人在面对朋友的人际冲突时表现更智慧(所罗门悖论)。在以互依自我为主的中国人身上所罗门悖论是否会有不同特点?研究1通过在线平台招募中美两国被试, 随机分配到自我与朋友冲突组考察其智慧推理水平, 并考察自我类型的影响。对齐法与方差分析的结果均显示美国文化下朋友组智慧推理显著高于自我组, 而中国文化下两组差异不显著, 进一步分析发现中国文化下独立自我与冲突类型的交互项显著预测智慧推理。在此基础上, 研究2~4在中国文化背景下, 通过启动不同自我类型, 考察个体在自我或朋友冲突组中的智慧推理差异, 结果显示启动独立自我的朋友组显著高于自我组, 而启动互依自我的两组差异不显著。研究表明所罗门悖论可能只存在独立自我高的人身上, 并不具有普适性。可见心理学研究除了关注样本多样性问题外, 更需关注使用单一样本却默认结论具有文化普适性的研究者。     

听觉线索与个体差异对音乐紧张感加工的影响

音乐无他, 张弛而已。音乐紧张感架起了客观音响与主观体验之间的桥梁, 是音乐情绪产生的前提和基础。音乐紧张感加工的影响因素主要来自客体与主体两方面。研究发现, 声学要素与调性结构是影响音乐紧张感诱发的声音线索, 而文化背景与音乐能力是影响听者对紧张感加工的个体因素。未来需要对时间结构与长时程调性结构诱发的紧张感及其机制进行深入探究, 这将有助于深化我们对音乐紧张感与情绪加工的认识。