Evidence for indirect loss of significance effects on violent extremism: The potential mediating role of anomia

Psychological research suggests that violent extremism (e.g., terrorism) stems partly from existential motives, such as individuals’ need to achieve significance in life after experiencing failure, ostracism, or humiliation (Significance Quest Theory; SQT). Parallel investigations from sociology and criminology established similar findings by linking anomia—a syndrome including feelings of meaninglessness, powerlessness, isolation, self-estrangement, and normlessness—with violent behavior. In line with SQT, this contribution tested if anomia could mediate Loss of Significance effects on violent extremism. Accordingly, three studies conducted in France highlight indirect effects of exposure to discrimination on legitimation of political violence (Study 1, cross-sectional, minority population sample, N = 110), violent behavioral intentions (Study 2, experimental, undergraduate sample, N = 249), and support for ISIS fighters (Study 3, experimental, undergraduate sample, N = 221) through anomia. A subsequent study shows this indirect effect to be robust when controlled for Social Dominance Orientation and Political Extremism (Study 4, cross-sectional, undergraduate sample, N = 279). A final investigation re-analyzing data collected in Turkey highlights a reverse effect when the independent variable tapped into social inclusion (rather than exclusion; Study 5, cross-sectional, undergraduate sample, N = 321). This indirect effect was also robust to Political Extremism and Intolerance as control variables. These results support the usefulness of considering anomia as a proximal predictor of violent extremism in a SQT perspective.     

Chinese Marxist Philosophy Since Reform and Opening-Up

Since reform and opening-up began in 1978, Chinese Marxist philosophy has undertaken the double mission of enhancing the emancipation of the mind in society and of realizing its own ideological emancipation. It has gone through an evolutionary process from “extensive discussion about the criterion of truth” to “reform of philosophical textbooks”; from the proposal of the philosophical conception of “practical materialism” to reflection on “modernity”; and from the carrying-out of dialogues among Chinese, Western, and Marxist philosophies to the exploration of “new forms of civilization.” Chinese Marxist philosophy has shifted its way of doing research with practical materialism as a core conception, and it changed such modes of thinking as the intuitive theory of reflection based on na?ve realism, the theory of linear causality based on mechanical determinism, and the reductionism of essence based on abstract substantialism. As a result, it has boosted changes that were already underway in Chinese philosophy, worldviews, theories of truth, conceptions of history, and views of development, and it has further endowed the discourse system of Marxist philosophy with laudable subjectivity and originality.     

系统论在胰腺外科中的意义

胰腺作为一个消化器官,不过是人体中很小的部分,但由于胰腺在人体内发挥的重要作用以及在人体中的重要解剖毗邻关系,胰腺外科为广大普外科医生关注的焦点,成为普外科研究的热点问题。将系统论的整体性、联系性、有序性、综合性、动态性、最优化等原则运用到胰腺外科临床及科研工作中去,能更好地改进胰腺手术技巧和手术方式,能更好地提高胰腺疾病的诊治水平。     

重型肝炎治疗方案的理性选择

针对我国重型肝炎治疗现状,对重型肝炎常用的以及部分有争议的治疗药物和方法进行分析和讨论,就如何选择治疗方案提出医疗原则,认为应采取内科治疗-人工肝-肝移植的综合治疗模式,结合患者的治疗愿望及经济承受力,理性地选择治疗方案,以期达到合理、有效和经济的目的.     

哲学的教化与教化的哲学——论儒学精神的根本特质

Edification 教化 is one of the central concepts of Confucianism. The metaphysical basis of the Confucian edification is the “philosophical theory” in the sense of rational humanism rather than the “religious doctrine” in the sense of pure faith. Confucianism did not create a system of ceremony and propriety owned by Confucians only. The system of ceremony and propriety on which Confucians depend to carry out their social edification is that of “rites and music,” the common life style of ancient China. After continual metaphysical explanation and elevation, the system of ceremony and propriety and that of rites and music have undergone a sort of ever-evolving historical fluctuation, and evinced a sort of openness and forgiveness comparable to that of any other religious form. Compared with typical religious practices, whose ceremonies and rituals that have their own special fixity and exclusivity, Confucian ceremonies and rituals are fundamentally different. The edification of Confucianism can be labeled as “edification in the sense of philosophy.” As a “philosophy”, Confucianism’s vision did not focus on cognition but on completion and realization. Translated by Lei Yongqiang from Tianjin Shehui Kexue 天津社会科学 (Tianjin Social Sciences), 2005, (6): 19–26     

The importance of meta-ethics in engineering education

Our shared moral framework is negotiated as part of the social contract. Some elements of that framework are established (tell the truth under oath), but other elements lack an overlapping consensus (just when can an individual lie to protect his or her privacy?). The tidy bits of our accepted moral framework have been codified, becoming the subject of legal rather than ethical consideration. Those elements remaining in the realm of ethics seem fragmented and inconsistent.Yet, our engineering students will need to navigate the broken ground of this complex moral landscape. A minimalist approach would leave our students with formulated dogma—principles of right and wrong such as the National Society for Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code of Ethics for Engineers—but without any insight into the genesis of these principles. A slightly deeper, micro-ethics approach would teach our students to solve ethical problems by applying heuristics—giving our students a rational process to manipulate ethical dilemmas using the same principles simply referenced a priori by dogma. A macro-ethics approach—helping students to inductively construct a posteriori principles from case studies—goes beyond the simple statement or manipulation of principles, but falls short of linking personal moral principles to the larger, social context. Ultimately, it is this social context that requires both the application of ethical principles, and the negotiation of moral values—from an understanding of meta-ethics.The approaches to engineering ethics instruction (dogma, heuristics, case studies, and meta-ethics) can be associated with stages of moral development. If we leave our students with only a dogmatic reaction to ethical dilemmas, they will be dependent on the ethical decisions of others (a denial of their fundamental potential for moral autonomy). Heuristics offers a tool to deal independently with moral questions, but a tool that too frequently reduces to casuistry when rigidly applied to “simplified” dilemmas. Case studies, while providing a context for engineering ethics, can encourage the premature analysis of specific moral conduct rather than the development of broad moral principles—stifling our students’ facility with meta-ethics. Clearly, if a moral sense is developmental, ethics instruction should lead our students from lower to higher stages of moral development.     

Peirce, Perry and the Lost History of Critical Referentialism

This paper traces a lost genealogical connection between Charles S. Peirce’s later theory of signs and contemporary work in the philosophy of language by John Perry. As is shown, despite some differences, both accounts offer what might be termed a multi-level account of meaning. Moreover, it is claimed that by adopting a ‘Peircian turn’ in his theory, Perry might overcome alleged shortcomings in his account of cognitive significance.

水资源态度与节水行为关系研究现状及发展趋势

文章综述了相关水资源态度与节水行为的概念,介绍了近些年来有影响力的模型。如理性行为理论、计划行为理论,价值—态度—行为层次理论,并简述了水资源态度与节水行为关系的相关研究,最后提出了对未来相关研究的的几点启示。     

大力促进心理学的理论研究

虽然心理学作为一门独立的学科已有100多年的历史,但是心理学一直缺乏带有“范式”特点的心理学理论。这导致了心理学的破碎和分裂。探讨心理学的“元”理论,大力促进心理学的理论研究,是心理学发展的当务之急。     

The Career Human Agency Theory

The authors propose a constructivist theory of career human agency to integrate and update the existing career theoretical models to better address the current postmodern zeitgeist. The career human agency theory (CHAT) represents a metatheory of career psychology guided by the principles of Bandura’s human agency framework and informs career development practice and counseling interventions. CHAT promotes the enactment of personal, proxy, and collective agency in the face of uncertainty and adversity. This article describes 4 pillar principles of career agency and provides concrete examples for career counseling application.