Work stress,work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.     

Disability Cosmology: The Practice of Making Disability Worlds

The practice of making disability worlds is investigated both theoretically, in the context of developments in disability studies, in particular in the cultural model of disability, and practically in two examples, namely inclusive education environments and public environments. Theoretically, we argue that disability worlds can be better understood by introducing the notion of disability cosmology as the largest possible perspective on the making of disability worlds. A cultural model research perspective of disability consists then of the complementary study of disability identity, culture and cosmology. The practical examples work out the particularities of making and understanding disability worlds. In the making of disability worlds, much attention goes to the ways in which disability worlds relate to the normative world; for example in the formation of boundaries and transgressions, but also fundamentally how disability adds to becoming human.     

How European is the European Journal of Developmental Psychology?

This paper tries to make clear why a European journal of developmental psychology makes sense. First it is explained that so-called European culture is a complicated matter: historically and culturally many fault lines are to be detected, from the borders of the Roman empire to the iron curtain. These fault lines separate different cultural areas within Europe.

Developmental thinking came into existence within the eighteenth century (Enlightenment), especially with the work of Rousseau, which offered the theoretical building blocks for Western education and for modern Piagetian developmental psychology. Empirical developmental research found its origins in Germany, especially in Jena, with the work of William Preyer. The Jena ideas were brought to the USA by Stanley Hall. And in the twentieth century the Rousseau–Piaget tradition was brought to the USA by John Flavell.

A European Society for Developmental Psychology and its flagship the European Journal of Developmental Psychology should devote itself to the study of the European roots of developmental psychology as well as contributing to European developmental psychology, which in an open, new Europe moves across the original fault lines.     

The octopus and the child—Another perspective on American culture: A commentary on Stearns

Stearns argues that, in the twentieth century, American parents increasingly treated their children as frail and vulnerable. But the parental protectiveness that he describes is only one part of the story. Some American parents did hover over their children; others ignored, neglected, or abused them. Some did shore up their suspect self-esteem; others trusted in their strength and sturdiness and even demanded a new toughness and competitiveness. American culture is more complicated and contested than Stearns allows.     

The cultural salience of moral character and virtue declined in twentieth century America

In a large corpus of American books, we tracked how frequently words related to moral excellence and virtue appeared over the twentieth century. Considering the well-established cultural trend in the USA toward greater individualism and its implications for the moral domain, we predicted that terms related to morality and virtue would appear with diminishing frequency in American books. Two studies supported our predictions: Study 1 showed a decline in the use of general moral terms such as virtue, decency and conscience, throughout the twentieth century. In Study 2, we examined the appearance frequency of 50 virtue words (e.g. honesty, patience, compassion) and found a significant decline for 74% of them. Overall, our findings suggest that during the twentieth century, moral ideals and virtues have largely waned from the public conversation.     

Explanations for cultural differences in thinking: Easterners’ dialectical thinking and Westerners’ linear thinking

ABSTRACT

Since Easterners’ naïve dialectical thinking, which is contrasted with Westerners’ linear thinking, was introduced, many cross-cultural studies on human thinking have been conducted, and explanations for the cultural differences have been proposed. First, after examining the robustness of these cultural differences, two existing explanations are discussed in this paper. The first is based on the discinction between Westerners' analytic cognition and Easterners' holistic cogntion. This is related to the distinction between Westerners’ independent self and Easterners’ interdependent self. The second is based on the philosophical tradition of China’s Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, which is contrasted with that of Ancient Greece. Second, we propose a new explanation based on the distinction between Westerners’ low-context culture and Easterners’ high-context culture (Beyond culture. Garden City, NJ: Anchor Books/Doubleday.). Finally, we show that this distinction can be based on socioecological approaches, and it is expected to explain the cultural differences between the Chinese and Japanese.     

On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Lithuanian Philosophy in the Twentieth Century

Modern Lithuanian philosophy originated as aresponse to the questions formulated in Russianphilosophy – religious, moral, and social.Later it turned to Continental Europeanphilosophy, preoccupying itself with German andFrench existentialism, hermeneutics, andphenomenology. Yet the loss of independentpolitical and intellectual existence Lithuaniaexperienced for five decades isolated andmarginalized the then lively and promisingintellectual culture. In the 1980s, Lithuanianphilosophy started recovering and reorientingitself, again, to Western currents of moderntheoretical thought. Drawing on the example ofmodern Lithuanian philosophy, the articlepresents a detailed historical overview of whatmight be termed the East-Central European routeto political and cultural modernity.     

试论《周易》的原初意义与现代意义

文章首先阐述了考察《周易》价值的方法,然后运用这一方法全面考察了《周易》的原初意义与现代意义。作者认为,《周易》的产生标志着中华民族抽象思维能力的关键性跃迁;《周易》的内容折射着当时的自然、社会和人文状况,记载着古代先民对于当时复杂的自然、社会和人生问题的特别关注与初步思考;《周易》的人生智慧和行为原则,反映着趋利避害和预见未来的价值取向;《周易》的思维方式汇集着当时的思维工具和认识方法,表达着最初的终极关怀和哲学意识。而《周易》所提供的始源性材料,有助于我们从根源性上来把握中华文化及其当代特点;易学史的演变与发展则为我们更好地把握历史文化发展进程提供了重要的思想资料;《周易》所表达的人生智慧和思维方式对于当今人类把握现实与面向未来也具有极为重要的启示和借鉴意义。