The Impact of Value Similarity and Power on the Perception of Threat

Threat perception is a powerful tool in international and intergroup conflict. Realists in international relations argue that the perception of threat in intergroup conflict is a function of power asymmetries between groups. In contrast, social constructivists in international relations suggest that a shared sense of identity or similarity can reduce, and in some cases eliminate, perceptions of intergroup threat. Consequently, threat perception might be influenced by both the value similarities and the power asymmetries between the ingroup and the outgroup. In this article, we present an attempt to test empirically how individuals evaluate the similarity of cultural and political values compared with another nation (outgroup) and assess its implications for cooperation among states in the international system. The results of two experiments demonstrate that both power and perceived value similarity play an important role in threat perception among states and discuss implications for future research.     

Operant Variability: A Conceptual Analysis

Some researchers claim that variability is an operant dimension of behavior. The present paper reviews the concept of operant behavior and emphasizes that differentiation is the behavioral process that demonstrates an operant relation. Differentiation is conceived as change in the overlap between two probability distributions: the distribution of reinforcement probability as a function of some response property (S distribution) and the probability distribution of the response property itself (R distribution). This concept implies that the differentiation process can be measured only if S distribution and R distribution are both established on the same response property. To determine whether the differentially reinforced behavioral variability fits the proposed concept of operant behavior, I examine the main procedures (lag n and threshold procedures) and the main dependent variable (U value) employed in the studies of operant variability. Because lag n and threshold procedures establish their S distributions on properties distinct from U value, differentiation cannot be measured over the change in U value. I conclude that studies of operant variability have failed to provide a direct demonstration that variability is an operant dimension of behavior. Hence, studies in which measures of variability provide a basis to measure differentiation can better support the claim that variability is an operant dimension of behavior.     

感知音乐音质的EEG探究

欣赏音乐是一种审美的体验活动,不同的音质会使人产生不同的感受。为探究音乐和EEG的关系,本文选用音乐《黑人舞曲》,运用主成分分析等方法,研究了11位在校大学生在欣赏不同音质音乐时的EEG特征。结果发现:在欣赏不同音质音乐时大脑皮层右颞等处快波功率差异显著。大脑对音乐的精细加工与大脑右颞等区的电活动密切相关。     

价值观取向理论结构及实证

尝试用新的视角——取向研究视角,对价值观进行整合研究,建构一种与社会情境结合更紧密、更具概括性的价值观取向理论。价值观取向理论的假设结构模型包括四种价值观取向维度：社会取向,个人取向,积极取向和消极取向。根据理论模型编制价值观取向量表,以974名被试为研究对象,运用探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析方法对该理论模型进行实证研究。结果证明了该理论结构的存在,理论结构中各维度的因素负荷和拟合指数良好,价值观取向量表具有良好的信度和结构效度。     

Values as Predictors of Anticipated Socio‐cultural Adaptation Among Potential Migrants from Russia to Finland

This study examined the role of value patterns of potential migrants from Russia to Finland (N = 229) in predicting expectations of post‐migration socio‐cultural adaptation. Furthermore, the fit between migrants' personal values and the values they expect to encounter in the new home country (i.e. perceived value congruence) was hypothesized to predict anticipated socio‐cultural adaptation (ASCA). The study took into account perceived cultural distance variables as well as socio‐demographic controls traditionally related to adaptation outcomes among migrants. According to the results, familiarity with the host country (i.e., the number of Finnish friends/relatives in Finland), the openness to change value and perceived value congruence significantly predicted potential migrants' ASCA. When using four sub‐scales (interpersonal relations, cognitive understanding, impersonal perils and bureaucracy) of the ASCA‐scale, a more complex picture emerged. The results suggest that future work should include values, particularly perceived value congruence, in the analysis of the cultural fit hypothesis, as well as find better means of supporting immigrant adjustment starting at the pre‐migration stage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国传统文化以人为终极关怀的当代价值研究

中西文化比较有一种强势话语误导,即认为中国古代文化忽视人的价值。这是片面的。相反,中国文化的特质就是以人为终极关怀的人本文化,而不是像西方一样诉诸宗教信仰的神本文化。中国传统文化以人为终极关怀的价值观主要体现在几个方面：人与万物相比,以人的生命和道德理义为终极关怀;在国家和社会生活中,以民（人）为终极关怀;在对待人本身的道德理想问题上,以人格意志为终极关怀。中国文化对人的终极关怀的思想是最为值得珍贵的文化财富。它所包含一些优秀的思想仍然对我国当代以人为本价值观在人的内涵、人的素质培育、人的全面发展的具体内容和途径等的理解方面有重要的价值和意义。     

情绪即社会信息模型的理论及应用

情绪即社会信息(EmotionsasSocialInformationmodel,EASI)模型旨在阐释他人情绪如何通过情感反应和推断加工机制影响观察者的决策,以及认知动机和合适性判断在其中的调节作用。文章将EASI模型与相关理论进行了辨析,并基于对63项使用该理论的实证研究的分析,梳理归纳了EASI模型在领导力、团队、顾客服务、谈判及说服领域展开的应用,以及影响EASI模型的边界条件——信息加工程度和合适性判断的具体因素。未来研究需加强系统化验证、深化与其它理论的整合、拓展应用情境和优化测量方法。     

Embodied Critical Realism

Christian Smith's What Is a Person? provides an account of the person from the perceptive of critical realism. As a fellow critical realist, I support that philosophical position and in this response I seek to support it by connecting it to the embodied realism developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. In order to bring the two forms of realism together, I critique both the relativism of embodied realism and the idea, found in Smith, that the person's awareness of the world is mediated by her experience. The goal of this paper, then, is an embodied critical realism, a more coherent realist position that combines the best parts of each.     

Robustness of Additive Value Function Methods in MCDM

A simulation model is constructed of choice between a discrete number of non-dominated alternatives. The long-run goals of the decision maker are assumed to be consistent with a hypothetical preference structure which satisfies assumptions of completeness, transitivity and additive independence for an ideal set of criteria. The use of additive value functions to aid the decision maker in this choice is simulated for a variety of contexts and under a number of non-idealities such as the omission of criteria, confounding of criteria and inconsistent responses. It is found that ideal preference orderings are well identified by additive value functions provided that the non-idealities are moderate and that sufficient effort is put into modelling changing marginal values for different levels of performance. One of the potentially most sensitive areas is that of shifts in the decision maker's reference points as a result of the types of preference information asked.     

On Empty Compliments and Deceptive Detours A Neopragmatist Response to Theodore W. Nunez

The philosophical question Nunez raises is whether we can have, as he thinks we need, a theoretical grounding for appeal to the intrinsic value of nature. This article examines the neopragmatist reasons for repudiating metaphysical realism's notions of intrinsicality and subject-independent reality. Following the holism of Donald Davidson and Richard Rorty rather than the epistemological premises of Holmes Rolston and Bernard Lonergan, the author concludes that coping with the ecological crisis does not require conjuring an epistemic crisis. Environmental ethics in neopragmatist hands would seek procedures for bringing about agreement in improving our practices, not our epistemology.